The Kagonesti Review

Join me as I review The Kagonesti by Douglas Niles, live! Share your thoughts on this first novel in the Dragonlance Lost Histories series, released on March 1, 1995 by Wizards of the Coast. You can buy a copy here: https://amzn.to/3NIZN3i 

https://youtube.com/live/eJj3fWhBuAk

About The Kagonesti

The Age of Light

Forests cover Ansalon. Under the legendary Silvanos, the elves of Krynn begin to tame the wilds and raise their crystal cities. But as the Elderwild Kaganos journeys toward a mystical encounter high in the mountains, he knows that, for his tribe, the woodlands must remain their eternal home. As centuries pass and Dragonwars rage, the tribe of Kaganos battles encroaching humans and the minions of the Dark Queen, aided by a potent lgacy guided by revered pathfinders.... Until the wild elves stand upon the brink of the deadliest challenge of all - a challenge that marks a choice between annihilation and survival. The Lost Histories Series probes the historical roots and epic struggles of the heretofore little - known peoples of Krynn.

Review

Intro

Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Kirinor, Holmswelth the 28th. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my Spoiler review of The Kagonesti by Douglas Niles. 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 the members of this YouTube channel, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate links. This is my perspective only, and if you have any thoughts or disagree with mine, I invite you to share them in YouTube chat.

Book One is set during the First Dragonwar, before the elves were unified under Silvanos. We are following Kagonos as he is racing through the wilderness to look upon a goat that he has spied on in the past. He sees a Silvanesti named Quithas has struck the goat with an arrow from atop his griffon and before he can kill the goat, Kagonos steps in. He refuses to let Quithas kill the Goat and they struggle, with Kagonos besting Quithas and threatening to kill him if he doesn't back down. He then takes Quithas’ ax, a gift from Silvanos, and Quithas leaves, upset. I was bothered by this because the Elven Nation Trilogy says the elves didn't use Griffons as mounts till Kith-Kanan. Yet in this book we’re led to believe there are many griffon riders to fight the dragons. This would be a simple fix if Douglas Niles only recalled the book he wrote in the Elven Nations Trilogy about that very event! The lack of consistency is maddening to me. 

Kagonos approaches the Grandfather Goat which actually speaks, thanking him, and he nurses it back to health. The Goat transforms into a massive silver dragon named Darlantan. The dragon tells Kagonos that he is the True Pathfinder of the Elderwilde, and he will be honored if he swears to never take a wife or enter the Silvanesti territory. Darlantan wants Kagonos to lead his people. Kagonos agrees and is given one of the horns from the Grandfather Ram. He is instructed to use it when in danger and that the silver dragons would come to his aid. This binds the Elderwilde elves with the Silver Dragons for all time. 

Then we fast forward to the war efforts, and a blue dragonstone was taken by the Dark Queen’s ogre forces. The elves were trapping the dragons in them to win the war. Kagonos goes after the blue dragonstone and leads a raiding party into the ogre encampment, ultimately getting it back, when Quinthas, now a general in the war, arrives to collect it for Silvanos.