#Nancy Varian Berberick

[sixofravens-reads]

November Reading Wrap-Up

This was a bad month for reading. I only finished 2 books, and DNF'd 2 others. Part of that was because I've been reaching the end of my TBR for this year and have started weeding out the books I subconsciously knew I didn't want to read, and because Tam Lin took over 2 weeks to get through, even though it was only about 450 pages long. I didn't hate it enough to DNF it, but it was a very slow read. Hopefully December is a better month so I can end the year on a high note!

Read:

Tam Lin - Pamela Dean

Dalamar the Dark - Nancy Varian Berberick

DNF:

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams

Winter's Orbit - Everina Maxwell

Currently Reading:

The Copper Crown - Patricia Kennealy

#reading wrap up #november reading wrap up

[oldschoolfrp]

The Jewels of Elvish (Clyde Caldwell cover for TSR’s 1989 novel by Nancy Varian Berberick, as reprinted in The Art of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Game, TSR, 1989; later reused as the cover for the 1992 gold box video game Treasures of the Savage Frontier)

#D&D #Dungeons & Dragons #Clyde Caldwell #fantasy art #elf #The Jewels of Elvish #dragon #Nancy Berberick #gem #jewel #candles #Nancy Varian Berberick #The Art of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Game #The Art of the AD&D Fantasy Game #dnd #Dungeons and Dragons #TSR #Treasures of the Savage Frontier #SSI #video game #gold box #gold box game

[tediousreviews]

Rebels and Tyrants

And now a few weeks late, it's time for another review from my series. This time it's back to Dragonlance. And also I’m using the word review very lightly this week.

We've got thirteen stories this time, in a collection that helps bring a close to the fifth age.

Est Solaras Oth Mithas, Scott M. Buraczewski

How was that name still available for use in a dragonlance story? Anyway, Knight, dragon, honor, death. Whatever.

Freedom's Pride, Paul B. Thompson

A dark knight gets utterly humiliated by a seemingly important new character and vows revenge. That seems like it’ll end well for him. I’ll have to see if I can remember his name when I get to the War of Souls trilogy.

Sargas's Night of Revenge, Don Perrin

So what does happen when a god declares an eternal punishment and then turns out to not be so eternal himself? A kickass party, that's what! I’d like to see the follow-up when *very old spoiler redacted*.

Sharing the Luck, Linda P. Baker

Compassion kills. Or at least it does when it comes to you out of nowhere and you’re part of a duo of murderers.

War Chest, Kevin T. Stein

As always, if you're going to make a bargain with a demon you should remember to cheat. When it comes to demonic bargaining, cheaters might not always prosper but the honest never win.

A Flight of Fancy, Jeff Crook

I've been accused of being intelligent before, often by people who really ought to know better. And yet, somehow, it never occurred to me until just now that gnomish technology is nothing more than crude, haphazard magic that uses gears in place of runes and circles and whatnot.

The Deep, Deep, Dark Place, Kevin James Kage

For every story that's meant to make you sympathize with the plight of the poor harmless gully dwarves, there's one like this where they're professional murdering bandits.

I guess that's what neutral means in D&D though, so carry on.

Catch of the Day, Jean Rabe

As if I needed more reasons to not go fishing. Also, while murdering people and taking their stuff is common in this setting, and cannibalism isn't that rare, who decides to use their stolen treasure to try fishing while squatting in the reeking, half-eaten remains of their victims? That's just tasteless.

Lost Causes, Nancy Varian Berberick

Now there's an idea for a love potion. Instead of continually forcing an obsession on a person, force them just once to truly see all of a person's virtues. Usually those things are hidden by their public facade and their glaringly obvious faults.

Blood Ties, John Grubber

In case you forgot, Krynn is a terrible place to live.

Yes I do mean the entire world.

Shard's Memory, Chris Pierson

I'd be more convinced of the heroine's sudden 'Love is enough' revelation having some sort of staying power if it hadn't come during a moment of extreme duress. Ah well, the entire world sucks anyway. What's one more soon to be miserable relationship?

Tactics, Richard A. Knaak

Maxim 29: The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy, no more, no less.

AKA think long and hard before giving weapons to people who hate you just because they also hate the same people you do.

The Raid on the Academy of Sorcery, Margaret Weis

So you know that fifth age Dragonlance is going through? Let's just crumple that up, throw it in the trash, and toss a lit match in after it, m'kay?

#rebels and tyrants #dragonlance #Scott M. Buraczewski #Paul B. Thompson #Don Perrin #Linda P. Baker #Kevin T. Stein #Jeff Crook #Kevin James Kage #Jean Rabe #Nancy Varian Berberick #John Grubber #Chris Pierson #Richard A. Knaak #Margaret Weis

[philipraath]

Read "Harvests" by Nancy Varian Berberick.

#readinglist #readinglog #dragonlance #nancyVarianBerberick

[skybeargames]

The Great DRAGONLANCE Re-Read – The Gates of Thorbardin, by Dan Parkinson

The Great DRAGONLANCE Re-Read – The Gates of Thorbardin, by Dan Parkinson

First Impressions: First published 1990, this book is unique amongst the Heroes II trilogy for being a thematic rather than literal sequel to Stormblade, its corresponding book in the first Heroes trilogy, and the only one by a different author. Was TSR unhappy with Nancy Varian Berberick or Stormblade, or was she just busy and unable to return?  Once again there are two covers to this book. The…

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#Dragonlance

[kendertales]

"I don't know why no one believes me, Tanis." Tanis wished then, for the sake of the wistful hope in the kender's voice, that he could believe in the magic pipe. But it sounded too much like all of Tas's fantastic stories.

Nancy Varian Berberick's "Snowsong" from Dragonlance Tales V2 Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes

@redqueenwrath

#Relate to this #dragonlance #redqueenwrath #dragonlance fan week #Nancy Varian Berberick

[tediousreviews]

The War of the Lance

Dragonlance time again.

Ten stories and a poem. The opening and closing stories this time are both from Weis and Hickman. By having the stories set around the time of the War of the Lance, the authors have a chance to dig into some of the events that didn't quite make it into the original trilogy. It's a nice touch, and made nicer by only touching a few of the stories.

Raistlin and the Knight of Solamnia, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Raistlin's an interesting character. He was morally ambiguous from the start, and hardly anyone trusted him. And it wasn't terribly surprising when he betrayed his friends and joined the forces of evil. What was surprising, in a way, was that he wasn't motivated by jealousy or resentment or bitter anger over the mistrust he faced. No, his friends were right about him all along, it was pure ambition. He never went through a dramatic change, he just grew a bit more firm in his convictions.

That means stories like this, that take place before his turn, let the authors show off his softer side a bit more than normal without fundamentally changing his character.

What can I say? I liked it.

Dead on Target, Roger E. Moore

Our hero dies. And then he gets angry. And then he gets revenge. And then he rests in peace.

War Machines, Nick O'Donohoe

A teenaged girl with a massive crush on a Knight of Solamnia risks her life to find the gnomish weapons that could destroy their dragonarmy enemies. She gets all that and a nice little bonus besides.

The Promised Place, Dan Parkinson

It's a gully dwarf story. Actually, it's the story that set up The Gully Dwarves. And it works much better than that did for me, mostly by virtue of being shorter.

Clockwork Hero, Jeff Grubb

Gnomes are terrible inventors. In many more senses of the word terrible than one. But they're not that bad at inventing stories when it comes right down to it. And really what's a hero but someone with a sword and the right story? It turns out there's at least one gnome with a real talent for inventing heroes.

I shouldn't have liked the thing with the love interest. It was a bit too cute. But I liked it.

The Night Wolf, Nancy Varian Berberick

With enough magic, you don't have to be a werewolf to be a man who turns into a wolf. But that doesn't mean it isn't still a curse.

It's a good story. But there's nothing about it that needed to be set near the War of the Lance, or needed to be a dragonlance story, or even a D&D story at all. I don't know if it was written for this collection or not, but if not then good job finding a home for it.

The Potion Sellers, Mark Anthony

The placebo effect is a wonderful thing. Sometimes even if it shouldn't be effective, a medicine can still be exactly what you need.

The Hand That Feeds, Richard Knaak

In a world where there are multiple, jealous, vindictive gods who can each grant some but not all miracles, it can be difficult to know how to balance your reverence and your tithes for best effect. A merchant gets an object lesson on that topic that he'll never forget.

The Vingaard Campaign, Douglas Niles

One of the things that didn't make the cut in the Chronicles trilogy was the story of how exactly Laurana almost single-handedly turned around the war. This story, told in bits and pieces of collected history from journals, only gives a view from 10,000 feet. But it's still a nice view.

The Story that Tasslehoff Promised He Would Never, Ever, Ever Tell, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

I think I'm supposed to sympathize with everyone's frustration over Tasslehoff's complete inability to keep a secret. But honestly those idiots should have all known better. And if instead of spouting off cryptically and then nodding at each other's shared understanding, they'd actually spelled things out for him, then his inability to keep a secret wouldn't have been a disaster in the making.

Final Thoughts

Nice.

#the war of the lance #dragonlance #margaret weis #tracy hickman #Roger E. Moore #Nick O'Donohoe #Dan Parkinson #Jeff Grubb #Nancy Varian Berberick #Mark Anthony #Richard Knaak #Douglas Niles

[skybeargames]

The Great DRAGONLANCE Re-Read – Stormblade, by Nancy Varian Berberick

The Great DRAGONLANCE Re-Read – Stormblade, by Nancy Varian Berberick

First Impressions: First published in 1988, Stormblade is the second book of the Heroes trilogy. Not much to say here: this isn’t a book that I remember very well! However, Nancy Varian Berberick, you may recall, wrote some of my favourite short stories in the Tales anthologies, so I’m looking forward to this regardless. We also don’t have much to say about the covers this time. The Larry Elmore…

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#Dragonlance

[kendertales]

Flint leaped, diving for Tanis, thinking to pull him away from the deadly hold of the black ghost. But, fast as he moved, he was too late. He felt for a moment the hard, real warmth of Tanis's arm beneath his hand. Then he felt nothing. "No!" he howled, hitting out at the clammy stone wall in his fear and anger. "Tanis!" But Tanis was gone, vanished as though he had never been there.

Nancy Van Berberick's "Harvests" from Dragonlance Tales V1 The Magic of Krynn

of-the-twilight-the-darkness

#dragonlance #Nancy Varian Berberick #dragonlance fan week #of-the-twilight-the-darkness