by Alec Vallintine

In this guide I will be recommending only those Dragonolance novels written by at least one of the original authors, Margaret Weis or Tracy Hickman. This is for several reasons.

One, there are many Dragonlance novels written by other authors and I couldn't possibly hope to present them all here in a recommended order of reading. Therefore, I choose to omit them from this guide entirely rather than mention only a few and, probably unfairly, leave others out. Once the reader has read the "core" novels, I feel they will be in a strong position to decide which, if any, of the other authors they would like to read next.

Two, in my opinion the quality of writing by Weis and Hickman exceeds, or at least rivals, the quality of the other authors. The Weis and Hickman books hold the honor of having inaugurated the series and are responsible for its initial momentous popularity, and most likely the reason for its continuing survial. The first two trilogies, written by Weis and Hickman, were New York Times Best Sellers. Dragonlance novels written by other authors are not. Sometimes, I have the distinct impression that the Dragonlance novels written by other authors merely leech off the popularity of the Weis and Hickman books, while contributing nothing of much consequence in the process. Harsh, I know.

Three, in my opinion Weis and Hickman have the "correct" understanding of each character's personality as a unified whole, having been the creators of them. Much of this understanding has yet to be made explicit through the novels, and might never be, but resides nonetheless in the creators' minds and shapes characterization. Other authors must attempt to infer an accurate "portrait" of each character and the dynamics of their personality from the details given in the Weis and Hickman novels. Inevitably, they will fill in the missing gaps with fabrications of their own, leading to an understanding different from the intimate understanding possessed by Weis and Hickman. Attempting to write a character that was extensively developed by someone else often seems to result in a superficial portrayal, a caricature, emphasizing the most salient features of a that character's personality while avoiding the murky depths. Rather than merely being an objection on purely theoretical grounds, however, I feel that insufficient understanding of a character results in a crassness of characterization that shows in the writing, and which undermines my enjoyment of the story. I would rather have my appreciation and understanding of a character originate from a single, coherent source (Weis and Hickman) rather than the fragmented interpretations of many authors. You might be different.

I will be placing the novels in an order that takes into consideration both the dates of publication and the chronology of events in "story time". I could present them only in the order they were published, or only by chronology of story events, but I feel that either way would be somewhat artifical and would not be the most enjoyable way to read them. A mixture of both feels most natural to me. There are a few Dragonlance anthologies that feature stories by Weis and Hickman. I have not included them here, but I recommend that you seek them out.

'Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Dragonlance: Dragonlance Chronicles)', 'Dragons of Winter Night (Dragonlance: Dragonlance Chronicles)', and 'Dragons of Spring Dawning (Dragonlance Chronicles, Book 3)' form the Chronicles trilogy that kicked everything off.

'Time of the Twins (Dragonlance Legends, Vol. 1)', 'War of the Twins (Dragonlance Legends, Vol. 2)', and 'Test of the Twins (Dragonlance Legends, Vol. 3)' form the Legends trilogy.

'The Soulforge (Dragonlance: The Raistlin Chronicles, Book 1)' and 'Brothers in Arms (Dragonlance: Raistlin Chronicles, Book 2)' should be read at some point following the first two trilogies as insight into a few of the pivotal characters. This series takes place before the first two trilogies, but if read prior I don't think the reader would appreciate them. At the time of writing this, the third book in this series hasn't been published.

'The Second Generation' is a stand-alone collection of short stories by Weis and Hickman that introduce the reader to the next generation of characters.

'Dragons of Summer Flame' is a stand-alone prequel to the War of Souls Trilogy.

'Dragons of a Fallen Sun (Dragonlance: The War of Souls, Volume I)', 'Dragons of a Lost Star (The War of Souls, Volume II)', and 'Dragons of a Vanished Moon (Dragonlance: The War of Souls, Book 3)' form the War of Souls Trilogy.

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