456. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – Dragonlance Legends Volume 1: Time of the Twins (1986)

The first book in the second trilogy of Weis and Hickman novels, coming out 6 months after the conclusion of the Chronicles trilogy, this series picks up on some of the same characters from the Chronicles but manages to feel like a very different kind of book.

While the Chronicles series feels very much like a novelization of a campaign (which is really what it is, even if it’s a pretty good one), the Legends books feel a lot more focused and centred on the emotions of characters. Instead of a large party of main characters the number is whittled down to just 4 main characters, 3 of which we already know (Caramon, Raistlin and Tasslehoff) and a new one with the Paladine cleric Crysania. Not only is the scale of the characters reduced, it’s a book that cares a lot more about the inner states of these characters than the cut and thrust of adventuring and battles. 

Yes, there are huge events happening in the background of the story, as the characters time travel to just before the Cataclysm that changed the face of Krynn forever, but we are with out characters personal stories the whole time and even then, they spend much of the book separated from each other, as Raistlin attempts to fulfil his nefarious plans and Caramon gets sold to a gladiator ring. A great start to a new trilogy, it marks a satisfying change of pace for the Dragonlance novels.