Dragonlance Buddy Read: Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

In case you’re not yet sick of hearing me rave about it, let me just say: I love Dragonlance! The Dragonlance Chronicles- comprised of Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning– were my gateway to adult fantasy. I remember opening Dragons of Autumn Twilight for the first time (longer ago than I care to admit) and knowing from page one that what I held in my hands was special. I was immediately drawn into a world of magic, of misfits coming together to accomplish something bigger than themselves, and of dragons. Oh, the dragons! I devoured the Chronicles. Then, I read every other Dragonlance book that had been published at that point.

I still find myself returning to the world of Krynn at least once a year, opening those almost-memorized pages of Dragons of Autumn Twilight. Rereading that trilogy is like seeing an old friend, one who’s stuck with you through thick and thin.

This year’s reread is doubly special: I got to participate in a buddy read! Myself, another Dragonlance veteran, and two new Dragonlance readers all got together and dove right into Dragons of Autumn Twilight. It was wonderful getting new perspectives on the characters (Fizan is a favorite! People are divided on Raistlin), and chatting about all things Dragonlance.

My thoughts remain pretty much the same (I’m boring like that): Laurana grows in leaps and bounds between books and is still one of my favorites for that reason (plus, she does some pretty hardcore things at later parts). Raistlin is still flat-out awesome, and I credit him for my love of complicated, morally ambiguous characters. Also, I want to travel to the Inn of the Last Home for some of Otik’s Spiced Potatoes. However, here’s the fun part: what those who read with me thought!

Sue’s Musings:

“Dragons of Autumn Twilight is the first book in a trilogy set in the land of Krynn. It is pure fantasy escapism. A light and easy read. I would recommend this book to fans of epic fantasy who like comical characters and unlikely situations. There are dragons too and strong friendship between the band of unlikely friends embarking on a journey to find out what’s happening ‘up north’ – rumours of war. The land of Krynn is being overrun by hoards of ‘draconians’ in thrall to the dragon overlord Verminaard and Pyro, the dragon he rides. The main characters are all very different and fully realized, such that you know how each of them will react in each situation they are faced with. The world building is descriptive and well done. I will definitely read the other books in this trilogy.”

Fantasy Book Nerd:

“The day was hot as I stood waiting for the taxi. How would I feel reading a book that I had loved over twenty five years ago? Would I still feel the same? Would that spark still be there? Would I feel the same as I flipped through the pages? Would I still be able to devour the book as I had once done, many years ago.

“It’ll be fine” Jodie from W&SBookclub said, smiling warmly. “I read it all the time, I still love it!”

Sue from Sue’s Musings looked at the copy that she held in her hands, “It’s got dragons in. And there’s a snarky wizard! What’s not to love?”

Carrie, who had recently joined the buddy read from her website in Canada, icanhasbooks, glanced nervously at the sky “Do you think it’s going to snow? Those clouds look menacing to me! I can tell you that they are snow clouds. Look that one is even shaped like a snowflake!”

I turned swiftly to them all, trying to keep my attention focussed on the slowly moving traffic. “It’s not that, it’s just I can’t remember a thing about it. I know that it is good and I really enjoyed it. It’s just that….” I shrugged my shoulders.

“Well, you know!” Carrie rolled her eyes “ I don’t know what you’re worried about. It’s only a book! I mean it’s not like you have the same problems as me. I mean look at them clouds! I’m going to be snowed in soon. Half an hour and this place will be covered, covered I tell you!” She held up the new book that she had just bought at the local bookshop. “Well, at least you’ll keep me entertained for a while!”

Shortly afterwards, after discussing hair and laughing when we all had all joked about what the characters would look like as Goths in the Twitter message room, I settled down with my customary cup of tea and flicked open the first page. It wasn’t long before I was gripped by the story of the book. Laughing at the antics that Tasselhoff Burrfoot got up to, accidentally pinching everything that wasn’t nailed down. I loved the fact that it moved from one adventure to another, barely stopping for Tanis’s party to get something to eat. I mean this book had all sorts going for it, Dragons, Elves, Unicorns, ghosts all sorts. It was great, everytime I read it, I couldn’t wait to get back to twitter and tell everyone about it. If we had any questions, Jodie could come up with an answer just like that. Sue and Carrie told me all sorts of stuff. Sue even showed us a video on youtube about goths getting dressed. And Carrie was an old goth too. Jodie showed us some pictures of her new hair. Everyone complimented her on how great she looked. Soon, I was getting to the end of the book. I reflected on what I had read. I needn’t have worried about revisiting the book, it was a fantastic read. I think, looking back on it, it’s a bit of an ensemble piece with each of the characters getting their time in the spotlight. My favorites were the sulky, snarky wizard, Raistlin. But then there was Fizban, the mad old wizard who can never remember the fireball spell and does not get along with trees. So, we all got together after finishing. Everyone giving their thoughts about their own favourite parts of the book and decided. We can’t wait to read the next part of the trilogy!”

I Can Has Books:

“Welcome to the world of Krynn…. It has been 5 years since our characters have last seen one an other, vowing to meet again at the Inn of the Last Home in Solace. All having their own stories and secrets to keep, some seem different, changed. Little did they know that after all this time they would be adventuring together, finding new friendships and enemy’s along they way. Stars are missing, and dragons, children’s tales are coming to life. Things that haven’t been seen since before the cataclysm. A magic staff and corrupted clerics. Has the Queen of Darkness returned? So if you are dork like myself you will instantly love Dragons of Autumn Twilight. If you like doing quests, if you like grumpy dwarves, a kender who will make you giggle, but do watch your purse around them. Cheesy songs that are beautiful regardless. You will enjoy this. If you love elves, magic, adventure, mystery, monsters, dragons, friendship and found family, you will enjoy this. D&D, RPG’s you will enjoy this. Dragonlance in my mind, was world that I new I had to visit to someday, it always screamed to me as being a staple in not only the genre of fantasy but in the overall nerd/dork/geekdoms. This book has been sitting on my shelf for many a year. And sometime during 2020 I kept on placing on each monthly tbr to only have it collecting more dust, (and no there were no draconian killed on top of it) Then thanks to Twitter and my scrolling I somehow ended in a buddy read with some great folk… I look forward to my next adventure. To learn more secrets, to see if my thoughts on certain characters are right. Also to see what else Flint complains about.”

We will be continuing our buddy read with Dragons of Winter Night, book two in the Dragonlance Chronicles. And it is the perfect time to be reading these books because it was announced today that Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are returning to the world of Krynn with a new triliogy! To say I’m excited is a bit of an understatement. If you haven’t yet experienced the world of Dragonlance, now is the time. Happy reading!