Saving Solace: 1 (Dragonlance Novels): Amazon.co.uk: Douglas W. Clark: 9780786939770: Books

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Solace is booming out of control. An important temple dedication is bringing merchants, dignitaries, and a host of ne’er-do-wells and surprise visitors to the fabled tree-top town. And lately there have been a series of mysterious incidentsÉ.

Palin has sworn off magic and nowadays acts as town mayor. He desperately needs a new sheriff, as the last one has just been murdered by malefactors unknown. Fortunately, Gerard has quit the knighthood after a quarrel with his father, and arrives just in time to don a sheriff’s badge.

Douglas W. Clark reunites two of the most popular characters
from the War of Souls epic in this new novel set in the best-selling Dragonlance¨ world.

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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars How did this ever get published?!, 21 Feb 2008

By

Deborah Valois (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saving Solace: 1 (Dragonlance Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I was so excited when I first saw this book on the shelf. Gerard uth Mondar was a stunning character in Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's War of Souls Trilogy, so a book entirely about him was sure to be excellent.

Wow, was I ever mistaken.

Douglas Clark successfully stripped away everything that made Gerard a great character - wit, intelligence, resourcefulness, confidence, competence... you name it. Instead we have a bumbling, completely inept idiot who's sole purpose appears to be as the butt of jokes and an endless source of embarrassment.

I can hardly believe that Mr. Clark even READ the War of Souls series - he's so far off the mark with his characters that Palin was only recognizable by name. He does not even address Gerard's vows to fight with the elves (or maybe he dismissed it in a sentence or two... it's been awhile since I read the book and have worked hard to repress the memory), completely abandoning what promised to be a very interesting storyline and opting instead for the inane.

And why - oh why?! - can't he leave the kender alone? There won't be another Tasslehoff Burrfoot, Mr. Clark! And if there was, I doubt you'd be the person to create one! His lame attempts at humour border on sheer desperation.

My advice - if you were a fan of the War of Souls series, don't damage your imagination and love of the characters with this misguided little tale. It will only leave you bitterly disappointed.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 4.5 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gerard, Sheriff of Solace!, 26 Jan 2006

By Fallensbane "~Fallensbane" - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Saving Solace: 1 (Dragonlance Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I got this book and left it on my desk for a few days (was finishing a different book series). Once I started reading this I couldnt put it down, read through it in less than a day.

The story centers itself around Gerard uth Mondar who was one of the main characters in the Weis/Hickman War of the Souls trilogy. Here we find Gerard has just quit the Knighthood and has a falling out with his father over it. At the same Palin Majere summons him to Solace to be the new sheriff, the old one had recently been murdered. So Gerard has to deal with the normal day to day job of Sherrifing Solace while trying to figure out who murdered the previous sheriff as well as a mysterious accident that happens at the new temple to Mishakel.

All in all a very enjoyable dragonlance novel with Kender, Gnomish inventions (and explosions!). But of course no novel based in Solace would be complete without Otik's Spiced Potato's (they make quite a few appearences).

Get this book today! 5*****

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very enjoyable, 9 Feb 2006

By Grant McKee - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Saving Solace: 1 (Dragonlance Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I very rarely read fantasy novels, mostly because I find a lot of fantasy novels (and, in fact, all genre fiction) to be horribly written. Every now and then, though, I will page through a Dragonlance book at the bookstore and wonder if I really want to get myself all tied up in this world. I'd managed to resist, but I was compelled to pick this book up when I saw the author's name. Since I had taken a creative writing class from Douglas Clark at UNM, I knew I had to give it a spin, and I found the first few pages well-written and interesting enough to fork over $7 (and change).

I was pleasantly surprised by this book, but I fear that part of that might have to do with the fact that this wasn't really the type of fantasy novel I've dreaded in the past. In fact, reading this novel, it's almost like a Western thrown into a land where humans happen to co-exist with dragons and other strange beasts. The story of the new sheriff arriving in town to investigate the murder of the former sheriff has to have been done a few times in Western and mystery stories, but Clark writes with what appears to the reader to be outright enjoyment, and it carries over to the reading of the book.

My only minor complaint is that at some points I felt lost. This, however, can't be blamed on the author so much as it's just impossible to define everything just for the handful of new Dragonlance readers without boring the crap out of the legions of faithful readers. I did wonder just what the hell a kender was for a while, but alas, I think I understood everything just fine.

Congrats on the first book. I'll look forward to reading more.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun enjoyable book, 6 Feb 2006

By Andrew Gray "Beezer Review" - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Saving Solace: 1 (Dragonlance Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Saving Solace by Douglas Clark is the first book in a series of stand alone novels in the Champions series. I believe this is Mr. Clark's first novel in the Dragonlance universe and he proves to be a quick study of all things Dragonlance.

The plot of this book is pretty straight forward and has few twists and turns. The book starts off with the town of Solace discovering a murder, who happens to be their sheriff. Palin Majere the town mayor sends for the only man he thinks can take over the sheriff's job, Gerard uth Mondar. The book centers of Gerard quest to find out who murdered the sheriff. Of course along the way there are some hurdles he has to get across, but in typical fashion, in the end everything is resolved in a nice tight package. If you are a fan of Dragonlance books, which I am, this book has everything you have come to expect from one. Some Dragonlance books written in the past few years have started deviating from the style that makes Dragonlance so popular; well have no fear here, Mr. Clark writes a traditional Dragonlance book here, and writes it well I may add.

Some of the characters in this book are carry-overs from the War of Souls trilogy. Gerard, Palin, Laura, and a few others. This gives Clark a chance to jump right into the story as the characters have already been developed. However, the one complaint about this book is that there is very little true character development. In fact, I would even venture to say that the Gerard that is written about in Saving Solace doesn't resemble the Gerard written about the War of Souls. In WoS Gerard is a gruff, quiet, introspective soldier. Ye in this book he dances, cracks jokes and does things that he never did before. A minor continuity problem from book to book is all.

In you are looking for a traditional Dragonlance book that is a light easy read, have no fear and jump into this one. If, however, you are looking for a deep plot with lots of character development, you may be disappointed by this one. Yet, in the end scheme of things I would recommend this book to most fantasy genre fans. I enjoyed this book and it is good to see that the Dragonlance setting is getting back to what I know and loved about it before. Well done Mr. Clark!

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 10 reviews 4.5 out of 5 stars

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