Preludes (Dragonlance series)

Preludes is a series of novels comprising two trilogies set in the Dragonlance world of the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.

Darkness and Light
Darkness and Light, written by Paul B. Thompson and Tonya R. Carter, is the first volume in the Preludes series. This novel details the travels of Kitiara and Sturm before the beginning of Dragonlance Chronicles, as they seek to find news of Sturm's father, and eventually admit their attraction for each other.

Kendermore
Kendermore, written by Mary Kirchoff, is the second novel in the Preludes series. In this novel, Tasslehoff Burrfoot is charged with violating the kender laws of prearranged marriage, and forced to return to Kendermore due to the imprisonment of his Uncle Trapspringer.

In the book, it is said that Flint Fireforge is a mountain dwarf. However, Flint is a hill dwarf who hates the mountain dwarves.

Denzil is described as a half-orc, while orcs do not exist in the Dragonlance continuity.

The novel mentions the remains of a werewolf. Lycanthropes do not exist on Krynn.

Reviews

 * Review by Scott Winnett (1989) in Locus, #345 October 1989

Brothers Majere
Brothers Majere, written by Kevin Stein, is the third volume in the original Preludes series. This novel explores the love/hate relationship between the brothers Caramon and Raistlin as developed in the Chronicles and Legends trilogies. Raistlin is unable to forgive Caramon for allowing his ailing mother to die, or forgive himself for his inability to save her with his magic. Raistlin agrees to pursue their mother's last wish, but he is unaware that they are pawns in a power struggle between the gods.

Reception
John C. Bunnell reviewed Brothers Majere for Dragon magazine, calling it "narrowly the best of the Dragonlance Preludes", and noted that part of the success of the Dragonlance line "has been a product of its carefully stylized atmosphere; Stein captures the mood more accurately than have some recent writers."

Riverwind the Plainsman
Riverwind the Plainsman was written by Paul B. Thompson and Tonya R. Carter. It is the first volume in the Preludes II series, and the fourth volume in the overall Preludes series. This novel relates the courting quest of Riverwind for the hand Goldmoon. Riverwind, who had fallen out of favor with Goldmoon's father, chief of the Que-Shu tribe, because of Riverwind's belief in the old gods. Riverwind is given the task of discovering proof of the existence of his gods and return with irrefutable evidence.

Flint the King
Flint The King was written by Mary Kirchoff and Douglas Niles. It is the second volume in the Preludes II series, and the fifth volume in the overall Preludes series.

The main character is Flint Fireforge, hill dwarf and future War of the Lance hero. In the novel, he returns to his old hometown, Hillhome, where he uncovers a murder mystery that involves a member of his own family.

Flint the King was the first collaborative writing effort for authors Mary Kirchoff and Doug Niles, with Niles stating: "It doesn't mean that you do only half the work [...] Each of us did more than write half a book, but I think we came up with a better story because of it." According to Kirchoff, "we assumed that our strengths and weaknesses would offset each other. Doug does great battles and magic, and my strengths tend to be characters and dialogue, and that's worked out very nicely."

According to Kirchoff, "The first time I tried to make Flint talk, he just sat there with his lips moving. I paced around the house and drank another cup of coffee, but I just couldn't make words come out of his mouth." Her editor suggested she assign some famous personality the role of Flint, and she ended up choosing Wilfred Brimley and Yosemite Sam.

Tanis: The Shadow Years
Tanis: The Shadow Years was written by Barbara Siegel and Scott Siegel. It is the third volume in the Preludes II series, and the sixth volume in the overall Preludes series. In this novel, Tanis journeys into the memory of an old mage as his dying request, to search for the lost love of the old man and give her a chance to live on.