Review: Dragonlance – The Dragons of Chaos (Various Authors)

Of all the various book series I read that are authored by various people, Dragonlance is by far the most consistent as far as quality. The majority of writers are all fantastic storytellers who can tackle any race, anywhere on Krynn and make a good story out of it. This anthology of short stories set during the Age of Chaos, is no different. It covers many different races from all walks of life, good and evil, old and young. Such variety assures that the reading is never dull as each story is unique and unlike any other.

Where the Chaos War novels paint the big picture with broad strokes as they reveal the struggles and triumphs of a worldwide war, this anthology takes a magnifying glass and peers into the everyday occurrences. The unsung heroes, the quiet villages mostly unaffected and the singular adventures which are indirectly related to the bigger conflict. These short stories tackle everything from faith, friendship, morality, ambition, fear and valor. Each author has in his or her own way, interpreted the war from a new perspective which gives you hidden hindsight into it’s impact away from the frontlines.

While much has happened within the Dragonlance setting since this novel came out, in many ways it’s the crossroads from where the current Dragonlance is separated from the older classic stories of the War of the Lance era. Where traditional meets the “new direction” which only now, is coming back full circle. I really enjoyed this group of stories and recommend it to anyone who enjoys high fantasy. It’s more accessible than most D&D worlds and because of it, these stories don’t require any prior knowledge of Dragonlance. If however you’ve read and enjoyed this series before, it’s a monument to classic Dragonlance that is simple to enjoy and hard to put down while smoothly bridging the gap to the next era that followed.