iris l said:

“As of now, my favorite is still Dragonlance, those centering on the Heroes of the Lance, a trilogy (autumn twilight, winter night, spring dawning) + the ending (summer flame). I started reading Dragonlance following the Heroes series - their individual stories of the Heroes of the Lance characters - and I wouldn't say that I would tag it as exceptionally good, but it helps you know about the characters a bit before reading the trilogy, which is exceptionally good and ending with the summer flame.

Comparing it to Feist's books, I feel dragonlance is more group centered, which makes the relationship of the characters more interesting. Feist's books tend to center on the 'current' main character that the particular book features (ex. silverthorn - arutha, prince of blood - borric/erland, buccaneer - nicholas) It's like, it targets specific readers - if you like that certain character the book is featuring, you will surely like the book. For the dragonlance series, it focuses on the interactions of a group - a group of ragtag characters who were thrown into having the role of being heroes. In a way, it is sort of like the series shadow of a dark queen/merchant prince/demon/shards, which features erik and roo (only, they are 2 characters)

And the reason why I think Feist's characters are a bit flat is because in Dragonlance, not all main characters turn out to be good. Feist's characters - if they are major characters (meaning, they crop up for more than 4 books and take a chapter or two even if they're not major characters - Pug, Tomas, Miranda, Nakor.. basically the characters who don't die because of their super long lives being magicians) they are always good and the most major conflict that they face is choosing between humanity vs. selfishness vs. greater good, things that are far too impersonal for me. In Dragonlance (especially Soulforge, now that is a great book! But you must know the characters first before you can appreciate it) it tackles about personal decisions vs. ambition vs. bonds of friendship/family, and sometimes, what they choose to do is not admirable, but it makes the characters more real and with depth.”

posted Friday, June 27 2008