Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More of Raistlin, and the fascination continues!, 26 Jul 1998
By A Customer
Wow! A great, heart-wrenching book that takes the reader back to the archmage's childhood. Pick it up and read it! Whether you are a fan of the dragonlance series or not, Margaret Weis delivers a story of complex relationships and family ties. "Soulforge" is a great prequel to the Chronicles. If you weren't sympathetic towards Raistlin before, you will be after this! The portrayal of the Test was short, and perhaps more emphasis could have been placed on this turning point in the twins' lives; after all, the Test is what the mage has struggled so hard for to begin with! Still, a strong book with great characters. Don't miss out! (Didn't that "fat innkeepers" line send chills!!)
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great read, 2 Nov 2004
The original Dragonlance Chronicles were the first fantasy novels I ever read, and they affected me a great deal. Over the ten years since I've read plenty of other fantasy novels, often more original and better written than these. Yet to me few of them come close to the appeal of the Dragonlance books. I think its because they are so affectionate and heart-felt, and you can really feel that Weis and Hickman care about the characters. This is what I like most about Soulforge. Its obvious that Margaret Weis cares a great deal about Raistlin, and so the reader ends up caring too. The other great thing about the book is that anyone who has ever felt lonely, powerless or jealous of a sibling- in other words most of us- can identify with Raistlin. The scenes between Flint, Tasslehof, Tanis, Sturm, and the twins, are genuinly funny and affectionate, just as they are in Chronicles. To me its so much more enjoyable to read about heroes like these, who are ordinary people with ordinary beginnings, than to read about exotic, invincible heroes who you feel you would never encounter in "real life" and so can never quite believe in.
There are a few minor inconsistancies between this book and Chronicles- things like Sturm being described as having brown eyes in Chronicles and blue in Soulforge, and there are many more differences between Soulforge and the events descibed in the Meetings series, but this doesn't bother me. In tone and spirit Soulforge is a worthy prequel to Chronicles, and I would recommend it to all Dragonlance and fantasy fans. It may sound odd, but I'd also recommend it to people who like books like Anne of Green Gables or Emily of New Moon, because the theme in Soulforge of an unconventional character misunderstood by the people of a small town is so similar to the theme of these stories.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great book, 14 Aug 2002
This is what a prequell is supposed to be - illuminating, plausible, and well-wrought with painstaking, heart-felt attention to detail. Margaret Weis is in her most enjoyable element, writing about her favorite literary child, Raistlin Magere. Soulforge fills in many of the legendary gaps in the Dragonlance rumor pantheon, enjoyably and elegantly. It reads well, and anyone who enjoys sci-fi fantasy can take to the characters as well as those who have known them for years. An outstanding book.ALSO: read The Price of Immortality
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