Join me as I review Blades of the Tiger by Chris Pierson, live! Share your thoughts on this first novel in the Taladas Trilogy set after the War of Souls. You can pick up Blades of the Tiger here: https://smile.amazon.com/Maelstroms-Eye-Spelljammer-Cloakmaster/dp/1560763442/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1WGJ9LEHOU45L&keywords=the+maelstrom%27s+eye&qid=1649103950&sprefix=the+maelstrom%27s+ey%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1
About Blades of the Tiger
The first book in a series set in an uncharted land within the Dragonlance world. Blades of the Tiger explores beyond the realms of Ansalon, the traditional setting for Dragonlance novels, and into the land of Taladas. No title has ever been set in this unexplored region on the other side of the world, allowing for an infinite variety of new characters and experiences within the context of Dragonlance.
The War of Souls is over. Takhisis is dead. On Ansalon, heroes and gods have banded together to save the world from destruction. A new peace, of sorts, has taken hold. But half a world away, on the continent of Taladas, the troubles are just beginning. Sorcery, long thought lost, has returned to the world. Disasters wrack the land, nations clash, dark forces stir in the aftermath of the Godless Night. On the grasslands of the Tamire, an ambitious lord unites the barbarian tribes, streaming south for plunder and bloody conquest….
Among the fortresses and cities of the Minotaur League, a victorious general returns to his family after years away….
In the shadows, an elven thief tracks a mysterious enemy that seeks a stature of eldritch magic….
One will live, one will die, and one will wish for death. For ancient powers are waking in Taladas.
Review
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Kirinor, Yurthgreen the 27th, my name is Adam and today I am going to give you my Spoiler review of Blades of the Tiger by Chris Pierson. I will be spoiling the story, so if you don’t want to know it, stop watching now! I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this YouTube channel, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. This is my perspective only, and if you have any thoughts or disagree with mine, I invite you to share them in YouTube chat.
The setting is after the return of the gods following the War of Souls on Ansalon. But we are on Taladas. The book is split between three people and their cultures. We are first introduced to Shedara, a female elf, Moon-Thief. She is on a job to collect a painting for her speaker, Princess Thalaniya, voice of the stars. It is a portrait of Silvanos, before the elven nation of Silvanesti was formed. It is in the home of Ruskal Eight-Fingers, a retired warrior. She is not the only one entering his home looking for art objects however. A hooded figure or figures entered, slayed his dragon pet/guards and Minotaur bodyguard before cutting him down. Later we learn they stole a statue thought to be the soul of Maladar an-Desh, the Faceless one. an evil tyrannical ruler from before the cataclysm. She returns with the painting and is sent to learn more about the idol from some dwarves, but the faceless ones slaughtered their village as well. She uses necromancy to talk with the dead to hopefully learn something about them.
The second individual is Chovuk Tegin, a notable leader figure. His tribe of plainsmen discover that their chief was attacked and his men slaughtered. As they tracked them down they found their chief wounded but not dead. Chovuk kills him with only his bodyguard as witness, and once back at their village, claims the right to rule. The other tribal leaders accept save for one who fights him to the death. Chovuk can transform into a tiger, and kills the challenger becoming the leader of the plainsmen. He wants to take revenge on the tribes that attacked their former leader, then turn to the Imperial League, to drive them out of their plains. To do this, they seek out the Wretched ones, goblins in the mountains, and when faced with their king, a wyrm-goblin abomination, it attacks them. They kill it and the goblins swear fealty to Chovuk.
The third individual is Barreth Forlo a marshal of the Sixth, a battalion in the imperial army. They are returning to their capital as the emperor has died. It turns out a massive earthquake opened the ground and many died in the chaus. As the minotaur general Rekhaz An-Thurn vie for power, Barreth shows his papers from the former emperor, saying he is relieved of service after his last mission. This enrages Rekhaz as Barreth is an incredible marshal and warrior and to lose him doesn’t look good. Barreth leaves anyway and returns home to his wife and land, presumably to lead a peaceful rest of his days, but he is plagued by nightmares of past battles.
Barreth is presented with the merchant Samuel Thale whose ship was robbed by the minotaur pirate Harlan the Gray. Harlan is paid to keep out of these waters, so Forlo went to investigate. He found Harlan in a seedy inn and after beating one of his bodyguards, Forlo was welcomed to join him. It turned out that Thale was illegally smuggling goods from the Dwarves to his benefactors without paying the required taxes to Forlo, so Harlan said he would not require payment for a year to keep the stolen goods. Forlo sees this as a good punishment for the deceitful merchant but demands a payment for himself. The pirate offers him a man sized hooded statue, the very one Shedara the Moon-Thief is after! Forlo takes it and returns home with it. He ends up putting it in the catacombs as its presence has an ill effect on those near it.
Shedara spoke with the dwarf spirit who told her who the statue was sold to, and after investigation learned about the pirate attack and found Harland in his ship after having given the statue away. She was only moments earlier than the hooded assassins that have preceded her thus far and got the name of the new owner of the statue from Harland before she killed him. She did so because the hooded creatures had slaughtered the whole crew and were about to kill him after questioning him. Shedara barely escaped by killing one of what looked like twisted and evil kender, then jumping through a glass window into the sea. She traveled to Forlos keep and tripped a trap just before shrinking the statue to take it.
The Uigan tribesmen led by Chovuk Tegin met the goblin hoard, the wretched ones, and allowed them to destroy their rival tribe who supposedly killed their leader. This is starting to bother Hult, but since he is the sworn protector of Chovuk, he can’t say anything. Upon decimation of the tribal city, they turn south to drive the legion from their ancestral lands, and Chovuk calls a storm down to blast a hole in the city walls, allowing them to enter and decimate the city. Hult finds goblins torturing a human boy and defends the boy, bringing him to Chovuk who executes goblin leaders for it, and they let Hult claim the child as a son, but he sends him north as they are not done with the war.
Forlo was called away to talk with Rekhaz who demanded his support for the position of emperor. Forlo refused and left. He had a terrible dream which caused him to ride for his keep madly, and upon entering learned of the elf. He went to question her just as Samuuel Thale arrives from the newly sacked city by the Uigan barbarians, and this strikes fear in everyone. They are not far from their keep, and they could come and destroy them without resistance. Forlo rides immediately for the sixth legion he just left and after a couple days tells them of the Uigan army and intentions. Rekhaz refuses to believe it but is willing to sacrifice 600 human soldiers to defend against the army if Forlo rejoins the army and supports his claim as emperor. Caught in a bad situation with no way out, Forlo agrees, knowing the men won’t be nearly enough to stand against the barbarian horde, but as it’s his only chance at survival, he takes it.
Forlo returns and asks Shedara to help them. If he gives her the statue would the elves come help. They go to a huldrefolk ring to use its magic and reach out to her people. They are all killed by a Black dragon and a man in robes on top of it. This seems to be the same man who is helping Chovuk destroy the League and is hunting for the statue. They return and prepare for battle, knowing that they will in fact die, and no help is coming. Forlo asks Shedara to take his wife if they are all killed in battle to save her from death, and Shedara goes down to the statue and bends the hooded one to her will.
Chovuk and Hult travel to the northern wild elves and Hult sees Chovuk communing with his magical benefactor. He worries that the black robed man has evil designs that will only temporarily line up with his people and that Chovuk is under his control. Though he dares not say it till later. They are attacked by elves and Hult wakes afterward and finds himself in a pit with Chovuk and the elves above him. Chovuk made a deal that if his bodyguard kills the Hatori in the pit, that they will send an elf with them to wage war. This is all a trick to draw out Chovuk’s betrayers in his army. Hult does defeat the beast and they leave with the elf, and are confronted by the traitors. The elf kills them and Chovuk kills all those who went along with it. They prepare for war as the moons are aligning.
As soon as the water dries, the Wretched Ones hoard charges the small leagues forces, and falls into every trap they set. The soldiers make quick work of the Goblins, and the Uigans are next. They charge using the goblins as an example of what to avoid and they meet the league in battle. Chovuk changes into a tiger and kills Forlo’s Minotaur commander and friend. Then moves to find Forlo. Hult follows his master reluctantly Then the waters that the Hooded one raised at Shedara’s request from Coldhope Keep, come and flood the pass, killing thousands of Uigan and some soldiers. This decimates the Uigan tribes and provides victory for the League. Chovuk approaches Forlo and his magic fades, leaving him naked and without power. This devastates him, but he attacks anyway. He nearly defeats Forlo, but in the end, Forlo kills him. Hult chooses not to follow tradition as he feels his leader was evil and wrong. He follows Forlo.
After cleaning up the battlefield, and mourning his friend, Forlo and Hult race to Coldhope to his wife. On the way they see the rider Forlo sent swarmes with the Kender specters. They kill them and now fear for the keep. They arrive after two days and find it swarming with the shadow creatures. They fight to his wife’s room to find Shedara holding off six more wights. They kill them all and Shedara reveals that the statue and Forlo’s wife were taken by a black dragon and a hooded rider. All three, Hult, Shedara and Forlo, now are going to work together to rescue Forlo’s wife, and get the statue out from the hands of evil. The novel ends with a chapter of the cloaked evil ones atop a ziggurat welcoming the statue and woman. They caused the earthquake that began the leagues civil war and used Chovuk to fight the league and cause more disarray as they found the statue and released Maladar.
This was an amazing story. It was tense, exciting, had consequences, humor and friendship. Chris Pierson is a fantastic author and I am loving revisiting this trilogy. If you love Dragonlance, Taladas, or Pierson as an author, do yourself a favor and read this trilogy at your earliest convenience. You will not regret it.
Outro
And that’s it for my review of Blades of the tiger by Chris Pierson What do you think of the continent of Taladas? Have you ever played a campaign there? You can email me at info@dlsaga.com or comment below.
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This channel is all about celebrating the wonderful world of the Dragonlance Saga, and I hope you will join me in the celebration. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time Slàinte mhath (slan-ge-var).
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