Jax's Book Nook: Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Title: Dragons of Winter Night
Authors: Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Narrator: Paul Boehmer
Genre: High Fantasy

I purchased this audiobook and chose to do an honest and unbiased review. The authors and Audible Studios neither requested nor are associated with this review.

Dragons of Winter Night (Dragonlance: Chronicles, #2)

Goodreads Description:

They won their first real battle in the war for Krynn, but the war has only just begun for the Companions! Friendships born in conflict will be torn apart. Hope will rest on the shoulders of a disgraced Knight and his two inexperienced companions. Worlds long divided by hatred and prejudice will either band together in a last struggle against darkness - or perish for all time.

Here's What I Thought:
I, again, listened to this book on Audible and found it was more enjoyable than the first. As much as it pained me to see the companions separated, I think it allowed so much more depth to be added to the story.

I am not going to go much into characters as this is the second book, but I do think that a few things are worth mentioning:

I was right about my assumptions about Laurana. She had so much character growth in this book. In the first book, her bother Gilthanas was heroic, while she was a spoiled princess. I almost feel as if the roles were reversed. In fact, although Gilthanas is somewhat set up to be a key character in the first book, he starts to seem more like a forgettable side character now (I actually had to look up his name because I forgot it.) By the end of Dragons of Winter Night, Laurana was, by far, my favorite character. I still love Tas and Flint, but more in a comic relief way. Laurana is a total bad ass and everything I want in a heroine.

Tanis gained a few props in my book as with with this installment. Events lead him to make some decisions that would, otherwise, be out of character for him. He is less of the "perfect" leader in this book, which is what makes me like him so much more. I like to see flaws in characters.

Raistlin has me almost starting to like him, but I'm still not sure. Tas and Flint are just Tas and Flint. Sturm is just as chivalrous as ever. Goldmoon and Riverwind are also starting to take a backseat to other characters. For the most part, they could almost be taken completely out and nothing would have changed. Oh, and Theros Ironfield randomly reappears, although this strikes me as more of a convenience for plot development than an actual addition to the story.

And now onto the plot:

As it is divided into sub-books, there is enough intense action to hold interest throughout as each book had it's primary conflict and resolution, which I loved. My biggest complaint about the plot is that it became hard to follow at times. The scene in Silvanesti was complicated and I think I had to listen to it five times before I could completely follow it. Maybe if I had physically read it, it would not have been so confusing, but I did not feel that it translated to audio format well.

The individual political situations of the refugee elves and the Nights of Solamnia, as well as their intermingling political situations, also comes into play. At times, I felt there was not enough context. The Kagonesti Elves were very overlooked. I also thought that the separate orders within the knighthood should have been better explained in order to fully understand the depth of the situation.

Love. Let's talk about love for a second. I am not into romance, but never complain about a well developed relationship forming. Goldmoon and Riverwind were introduced as already proclaimed betrothed. That relationship is formed. The Tanis/Kitiara/ Laurana goes back to pre-first book as well, although it does get explored more in book two. Both these relationships are fine. But I do have issues with instalove. I hate it. Period. Over the past two books I have watch Caramon and Tika's relationship slowly form, and I absolutely adore watching it blossom. That is not what I am referring to when I say instalove.

I mentioned that Gilthanas almost fades into the background by the end of this book, which is true. I think the only thing he added to the book was his instalove relationship. I won't get to much into it, because, you know... Spoilers! But, seriously?!?! I kid you not. The entire thing went like: Hey! I just met you. This is crazy, but we should get married! Any Carly Rae Jepsen fans? Not my taste in music, but the most fitting reference I could find. It was instant. They were both infatuated. And I pretty much wanted to vomit. Thankfully, it was only a small part of the book, so there were plenty of other things to redeem it.

The book ended with an altercation that was both fitting and sad. Without spoilers, I will say that as much as I hate endings such as these, they are necessary. This type of ending is what separates forgettable books from the memorable and keeps me willing to continue on with the series.

My overall rating is 3 stars. I still feel like the overall story is cookie cutter in the second installment, but there has been a lot of growth. What kept me from giving this book 4 stars, or even 3.5, is the parts that were so hard to follow and the instalove (I hated it that much). Someday, when I'm a stay at home dog mom (I can dream, right?), I'll actually physically read the books and that, combined with hindsight, may be enough to increase it. It was close, but for now, I stand by the solid 3 star rating.

Any Thoughts?

I would love to hear what you think! If you have any additional thoughts or want to talk more about the book, be sure to leave a comment or send me an email!

About The Authors:

Fantasy novelist who, along with Tracy Hickman, was one of the original creators of the Dragonlance game world. I've written numerous novels and short stories set in the world of Krynn, as well as series in other, original worlds. These include: Darksword, Rose of the Prophet, Star of the Guardians, DeathGate, Dragonvarld, Sovereign Stone, Dragonships, and the Dragon Brigade. I also wrote two paranormal romance novels, Fallen Angel and Warrior Angel, with my daughter, Elizabeth Baldwin. I graduated from the University of Missouri–Columbia and now live in Wisconsin with dogs, Max, Dixie, Joey the Thug and Clancy the Hooligan.

I am currently working on the third book in the Dragon Brigade series, the Seventh Sigil. The first book is Shadow Raiders. The second book is Storm Riders, coming out from Tor in July 2013.

My hobby is flyball racing with my dogs, Dixie, a border collie, and two crackhead Shelties, Joey the Thug and Clancy the Hooligan.

I am the owner of the company, Margaret Weis Productions, publisher of RPGs. Our newest project is creating the RPG for the wonderful TV series, Firefly. Shiny!

NYT Best-selling fantasy authors Tracy Hickman, with his wife Laura, began their journey across the 'Sea of Possibilities' as the creators of 'Dragonlance' and their voyage continues into new areas with the 'Drakis' trilogy, 'Wayne of Gotham', a Batman novel for DC Comics and his 'Dragon's Bard' collector's series . Tracy has over fifty books currently in print in most languages around the world. A record of both Tracy and Laura's DNA currently orbits on the international space station and he is the writer and editor of the first science-fiction movie actually filmed in space.