Dragons of a Vanished Moon (Dragonlance: War of Souls, Book 3) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is it: the book that is supposed to bring the Fourth Age back to devotees of classic Dragonlance while at the same time maintaining the fans of Fifth Age. Since Dragons of Summer Flame, Weis and Hickman have left the world of Dragonlance to the less-than-capable hands of other authors and creators. This, then, is their attempt to right the wrongs perpetrated by those authors and return the world to the way it was...or rather, the way it was supposed to be.
Without giving too much away, I think the authors succeeded in bringing back the flavor of the setting, and an appendix in the back explains the various timelines visited by Krynn. In addition to being a knock on the direction TSR took with the world, by implying that the Fifth Age was the result of a skew in the timeline, this book, and this series, rewrites history, so to speak. Dragons of Summer Flame was a conclusion of a sort, that in a way, ended the opportunity for the parent company to create a gaming world set after its events. TSR did so anyway and the result was the loss of many fans.
Dragons of a Vanished Moon promises a beginning, and indeed, this novel, as well as a line of game products to be published by Sovereign Press, seem to show that the authors wish this world to be viable once again for adventures and gaming.
However, this novel is good enough on its own merit, even to the non-roleplaying reader. Though the "big" mystery as to the identity of the One God was revealed in Lost Star, nevertheless, there are questions to be answered as to what exactly happened, and what can be and will be done to fix it. In this regard, however, the mysteries are not as deep, or maintained as long. The reader is not left hanging after every chapter, wishing to devour the next, but rather, they have a vague idea about what will happen, and are anticipating a grand climax. As a result, they must toil through the first 400 pages or so, of which, there were some moments, but overall, the storytelling is good, but not gripping.
The conclusion may be worth it. That would, really, depend on the reader and how he feels about the direction taken by the author. This book was written seeking the approval of fans. It ties up several loose ends but remains open enough to allow possibilities to remain. It is not a book that stands on its own so much as it stands on the opinion of the public. That, I fear, will remain as divided as ever.
But Krynn...Krynn is whole once more.

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