Dragonlance Dragons Of Eternity By Margaret Weis And Tracy Hickman Coming August 6, 2024

[Helena Real]

So despite being a huge DL fan, reading everything from W&H up to and including the War of Souls, the previews from the first book in this trilogy really left me cold. I thought the writing was just bad.

So, sell me on this trilogy.

I'm a HUGE DL fan and, as much as I enjoyed the previous two entries, I have to say that they're minor works when compared to the original Chronicles—and especially Legends, their finest work IMO.

This trilogy is for those of us who missed having new novels to read about DL, but they're nothing to write home about. The first is the weakest of the two by a mile, while the second has some pretty amazing moments of character development if you buy into the whole shtick (time-travel + possibility to evolve/grow after death).

Definitely not something that I'd recommend a new reader or even an old reader who's feeling nostalgic about the old books. If you are—and don't feel like re-reading Chronicles/Legends—I recommend the Lost Chronicles. That trilogy is VERY good and fills in some gaps from the originals in elegant and satisfactory ways.

 

[WisdomOfWombats]

As excited as I am to see the conclusion of the trilogy (the second books was a big glow-up), that cover is not great. Tanis' stare is terrifying, Kitiara's pose is unnatural, and Destina is giving me a "what did you do" look. The background, at least, looks good.

Oh... the cover is bad, I didn't recognize Kitiara and Tanis at all.

I think the heydays of Dragonlance are over. If I remember correctly, the line wasn't that popular during the AD&D 2nd Edition run either. For 3rd edition WotC even licensed it away to Margret Weis Games. I wouldn't be surprised if SotDQ was the last hurrah of the gameline. Dragonlance as a gameline would have benefitted more from a world book. Something based in the venerable DL Adventures book from AD&D 1st edition or the Tales of the Lance boxed set.

Nevertheless the DL1 to DL16 modules still remain the quintessential Adventure Path.

 

[Dire Bare]

Probably WotC cutting corners.

They didn't fund this project at all. Blaming WotC for the decisions of Weiss/Hickman doesn't seem just.

This product has nothing to do with WotC.

WotC, Random House, and Weis/Hickman are all involved with this trilogy.

WotC owns Dragonlance; lock, stock, and barrel. Random House is the book publisher, and of course Weis/Hickman are the authors. The partnership of Weis/Hickman working with Random House is through a licensing deal with WotC.

So . . . WotC is not cutting corners. And Weis/Hickman, as the authors, didn't necessarily get a say on the cover art. Ultimately, that's on Random House.

 

[EthanSental]

I'm a HUGE DL fan and, as much as I enjoyed the previous two entries, I have to say that they're minor works when compared to the original Chronicles—and especially Legends, their finest work IMO.

This trilogy is for those of us who missed having new novels to read about DL, but they're nothing to write home about. The first is the weakest of the two by a mile, while the second has some pretty amazing moments of character development if you buy into the whole shtick (time-travel + possibility to evolve/grow after death).

Definitely not something that I'd recommend a new reader or even an old reader who's feeling nostalgic about the old books. If you are—and don't feel like re-reading Chronicles/Legends—I recommend the Lost Chronicles. That trilogy is VERY good and fills in some gaps from the originals in elegant and satisfactory ways.

I really enjoyed the Lost Chronicles as well, enjoyable series I missed and just read recently.

 

[Dire Bare]

Won’t happen. Hasbro/WotC and Weis/Hickman are working in different Dragonlance canonicities/timelines/etc, as has been LEGALLY very well known since the court case a few years back. W&H have the ‘Dragonlance Classic’ label, and can non-exclusively use all their old characters. WotC has minimal control over what W&H write, but get to use the original ‘Dragonlance’ branding ad is not bound by anything W&H write, have written in the past, or might write in the future.

Besides, as of SotDQ, sorcerers already are in WotC Dragonlance. The don’t need to do anything with the fiction to make it happen.

I'm fairly certain little of this is true.

WotC owns Dragonlance 100%. Weis and Hickman do not hold any copyrights, trademarks, or IP regarding Dragonlance or "Classic" Dragonlance. They cannot use anything Dragonlance without some sort of licensing deal with WotC, which they have in partnership with the publisher, Random House.

The lawsuit was over breach of contract. And, as with most lawsuits, all we really know is that the book trilogy is going forward. Rights were not transferred to Weis & Hickman.

Are there multiple canon timelines with the debut of this new trilogy? No. This is a time-travel story, but we won't know if the timeline is truly altered in any meaningful way until the end of the third book this summer. And whatever that new timeline might be, it's not going to be a separate canon from WotC canon.

 

[Reynard]

And whatever that new timeline might be, it's not going to be a separate canon from WotC canon.

It could be, if WotC said as much, since they own the IP. Not likely, I agree, but it is possible there are some plans in the works that make it important that the new novels are considered "imaginary stories."

 

[Tinker Gnome]

I hope they do not retcon anything after Legends. I loved the Fifth Age and the post War of Souls world. Far more gameable material there than the War of the Lance era.

 

[UVAtom]

Tanis’s eyes look like the ones I paint on my minis. And not in a good way.

And what’s with the blue dragon? Thats a Realms dragon, not a Krynn dragon. Keep your peanut butter out of my chocolate.

 

[pukunui]

And what’s with the blue dragon? Thats a Realms dragon, not a Krynn dragon. Keep your peanut butter out of my chocolate.

Have you been living under a rock? D&D dragons have all had a uniform look by color ever since WotC took over.

 

[QuentinGeorge]

Have you been living under a rock? D&D dragons have all had a uniform look by color ever since WotC took over.

Yep, as aptly demonstrated with the art of the 3E "noble draconians".