Join me as I review The Dragons of Chaos edited by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, live! Share your thoughts on this third ‘Dragons’ anthology, released by Wizards of the Coast on January 1, 1997. You can buy a copy here:
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About The Dragons of Chaos
The Chaos War Rages
For fans of Dragons of Summer Flame, this is a new short-story collection, featuring the brave heroes, dark villains, differing races, and all varieties of dragons of one of the most popular fantasy worlds -- Krynn.
Edited by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, this volume highlights familiar and beloved characters (and creatures), filling in some intriguing gaps of lost Dragonlance history.
Review
1. Eyes of Chaos by Sue Weinlein Cook
This story was about a blue dragon named Clamor who suffered from PTSD after fighting with her late rider Sir Jerne Stormcrown in the Abyss during the Chaos War. Jerne leaped off her back to attack a Daemon Warrior atop his Fire Dragon and they both plummeted to their doom. Clamor fought the Fire Dragon, after it clawed her leg, letting chaos seep into her and corrupt her. She witnessed the end of the Chaos War and flew back to the Kharolis mountains, tormenting the elves and ogres around there. Going village to village taking souls to placate the chaos that was poisoning her. She felt tremendous guilt about her rider's death and wanted to bring honor to his name in his absence, but inside she knew it was not honorable. In the end she let death come to her as elves and ogres teamed up to kill her. She saw Jerne in a river calling to her, and she went to him in death. As I write this is incredibly more sad than reading the story was, and knowing about the War of Souls that wasn’t a thing when this was originally written, I know her soul will not find Jerne in death, and that is even sadder. But I enjoyed the short story none-the-less.
2. The Noble Folly by Mark Anthony
This was another sad tale. A Knight of Takhisis named Kal was headed up to meet the dragon of redstone to regain his glory after the vision left him with the gods at the end of the Chaos War. he came upon a Knight of the Rose named Brinon who was blinded and was also headed up to the dragon of redstone to slay it, proving his honor and that would bring Paladine back. The knights share a repast and Kal left to find the dragon. On his way up the mountain he loosed a boulder which crushed his leg and started an avalanche. Brinon found him and helped him. They decided to go up the mountain together. Kal would try to join with the Dragon and if he refused Brinon would slay it. It seemed the blind and crippled needed each other. One the way up the mountain we learned about their backstories. Kal was a beggar before Ariakan and he is afraid that he never had honor, just the vision, and without that, only the memories of those he killed. Brinon ran from battle and only saw the dead and horrors of war in his eyes so he blinded himself. They finally reached the summit and began attacking what they believed was the dragon only to have it revealed as a stone formation that looked like a dragon from a distance. Then Brinon believed he needed to fight Kal for his honor and Kal wanted none of it. Brinon eventually killed himself by using Kal inadvertently and thanked him. Kal walked away with the thought that without the gods, we were left to our own devices, to suffer or find meaning as we will. Its a devastating idea, yet the reality I believe we all share in real life. We are what we choose to be as The Iron Giant film tells us. And I personally love the notion.
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