https://youtu.be/XyuBcNBWQZU

Join me as I review The Lost Chronicles: Dragons of the Hourglass Mage, live! Share your thoughts on this return to the War of the Lance, as the authors fill in the gaps of the original Chronicles trilogy.

You can buy a copy of the book here: https://amzn.to/3zKhgj2

Transcript

Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my Spoiler review The Lost Chronicles: Dragons of the Hourglass Mage. I will be spoiling the story, so if you don’t want to know it, stop watching now! I would like to take a moment and thank my collaborator patrons, the Heroes of the Lance, and invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel by visiting the links in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. This is my perspective only, and if you have any thoughts or disagree with mine, I invite you to share them in YouTube chat.

The book begins with a healthy forward explaining Berem and his sister Jasla’s story, again. In addition to a slightly expanded Canticle of the Dragon. If you are reading the Lost Chronicles as a consistent trilogy, you would have stopped at the beginning of Dragons of the Highlord Skies, as that is not the intention. This is very much a collection of novels that fill in gaps in the original Chronicles books. I suppose you could read them isolated unto themselves, but I do not think they would make a satisfying read without the context of the Chronicles. 

Book One picks up with Raistlin Majere in Palanthus. It is revealed that he teleported onto the Library of Palanthas’ steps, nearly dead and was taken in by the Aesthetics. Upon recovery he reveals his plan that he is taking the Black Robes, without the permission of Ladonna, effectively making him a renegade wizard according to a cut scene with Justarius, Par-Salian and Ladonna in the Tower of High Sorcery. In that scene it is also revealed that Takhisis is granting the magic to her black robed wizards, having fooled Nuitari and Ladonna, and is forsaking them to see her will be done.

Back with Raistlin, he desires to rid himself of Fistandantilus before traveling to Neraka to present himself to the Queen of Darkness, in order to enter into her service. He travels to the Wizards Hat, an abandoned tavern next to the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthus, and battles Fistandantilus with the Dragon Orb, effectively trapping him in it. Then he says goodbye to Astinus and Bertrem and teleports to Neraka. I skipped over an encounter with Flint and a near encounter with Tas as I felt it offered nothing to the book. We know they don’t see eye to eye. It was used as a nod to those who know Flint's ultimate fate, which was done in every book that preceded it, so at this point it’s tiring. We get it. We know what's coming. Stop leaning into it already!

The real power of this first book is to see Raistlin go from the weak youth in Dragons of Autumn Twilight to a true powerhouse as he leaves Palanthus. Once he was dependent on Caramon, his twin brother for everything, and now, he is standing on his own two feet. However, if it weren't for the Dragon Orb, he would not have been able to become powerful so the question is, do the clothes make the man or the man make the clothes here?

Book Two deals with Raistlin’s time in Neraka. He arrives in the middle of the Temple which alarms everyone, and is discovered by Iolanth after being called by the Nightlord. Raistlin is seemingly protected by Takhisis from the Nightlords torture and convin...