So, like a lot of teenagers in the mid-80s I really liked the Dragonlance novels when they first came out, especially the first trilogy.  While I thought it paled in comparison to LOTR (as it obviously does), it was cool to see someone do professionally what we were already doing as kids, turning some of our D&D adventures into stories.

But more recently I've re-read them and they haven't aged well, or maybe I've just aged too much.  Because they were among the first actual D&D novels, I don't think it's fair to say they are cliche since they kind of created that fictional space.  A few years ago, I re-read the first trilogy and found it just okay.  In particular, it seemed like it wrapped up pretty quickly and they jumped around too much at times, glossing over potentially interesting stories for less engaging ones.

Then, just over the past couple weeks, I decided to re-read the second trilogy where Raistlin & Caramon go back in time as Raistlin tries to become a god.  I didn't like this one much back in the day and I find it even weaker now.  The first two books really drag as they try to write deep characters and I found myself just skimming through things at times.  It seems like more happens in the third book than in the first two put together, but they stretched it out just to satisfy the trilogy requirement.  But definitely not a series I'll revisit.

Do others have similar experiences?  Or do you still enjoy the DL novels as much as when you were younger?  FWIW I noticed the same thing with the Drizz't novels, or at least the first six.

I was never impressed with them to begin with.

The odd cuts and jumps are sometimes referencing the modules. Other times its just bad writing.

I actually liked the Tome of the Twins set. But it also suffered from some abrupt changes.

This seems to be a thing with the writers. Stuff just happens offstage and saves having to actually write about stuff!

Quote from: Omega on July 02, 2023, 12:11:35 AM
I was never impressed with them to begin with.

The odd cuts and jumps are sometimes referencing the modules. Other times its just bad writing.

I actually liked the Tome of the Twins set. But it also suffered from some abrupt changes.

This seems to be a thing with the writers. Stuff just happens offstage and saves having to actually write about stuff!

I liked the first trilogy back in the day, mostly because I was 16 and they were the very first novels I ever read in English. However, it was clear that they were rushed. Some parts were properly told while others were clearly the summary of some module. Running the tabletop campaign was a rush, however: I cut all the fat and the result was very good. It made me learn how to write my own campaigns later in my career.

The Legends were a drag but the last book made up for it. I ditched the first two and I turned it into a satisfying ending to the whole campaign.

Looking back, I still put Dragonlance a cut above the rest pushed out by TSR - let's say on the level of "The Elfstones of Shannara" (the only Shannara book worth reading). I never liked Drizzt and I ditched him after the first trilogy. Only Elaine Cunningham with "Elfshadow" wrote something interesting. The rest was shovelware.

I have Dragonlance on my Kindle but I never re-read it. I guess I fear that it would lose the nostalgia effect..

I haven't read a huge number of gaming novels, but I read the first two Dragonlance trilogies as they came out. I re-read them a few times, most recently a couple of years ago. They're romping fantasy with a D&D bent. I never thought they were great literature, but I enjoyed them quite a bit both then and now. Hasn't changed.

The simple fact is that Weiss and Hickman just can not write well.

They shill better than they write. I saw em bragging at GenCon once.

Quote from: Omega on July 17, 2023, 05:41:16 AM
The simple fact is that Weiss and Hickman just can not write well.

They shill better than they write. I saw em bragging at GenCon once.

Tracy Hickman and his wife Laura were good module designers. Let's not forget how they created Ravenloft and Desert of Desolation beside Dragonlance (and the often forgotten gem Rahasia for BECMI). Regarding the writing, I think that it was mostly from Weiss, with Hickman creating the plot (IIRC, Weiss never even played). I remember it as "serviceable". I was a teenager reading my first novel in a foreign language and it was just perfect for my level of comprehension (I was already reading rule and modules in English, toh, and running them for my friends).

I met Hickman and Laura when they came to the Lucca Comics and Games Fair (the European ComiCon). They were genuinely sweet and nice people, quite humble. I thanked them for all the fun and the emotions their work gave me (I mean... Desert of Desolation... 'Nuff said) and we had a pleasant conversation.

Regarding the whole "Dragonlance" phenomenon, I always felt that TSR stumbled into their own Star Wars. Dragonlance was Star War-shy. I was never able to conceptualise this feeling, but when I look at the cover of DL5 by Larry Elmore I think that I was not the only one who had it.

Think thats just the artists style for this. Nothing SW to it.