Join me as I review Divine Hammer by Chris Pierson, live! Share your thoughts on this second novel in the Dragonlance Kingpriest Trilogy, released on October 1, 2002 by Wizards of the Coast. You can buy a copy here: https://amzn.to/3QeWKS0
About Divine Hammer
Sorcery: A Threat to the Glory of Istar.
Twenty years have passed since Beldinas the Kingpriest assumed the throne. His is a realm of unsurpassed grandeur and wealth, a testament to the mightiest age of the empire of Istar.
But evil exists in this great realm, threatening the peace and sanctity of the province. Beldinas must turn to his most loyal lieutenant, Cathan, for help. Following Cathan’s lead, the Knights of the Divine Hammer strive to extinguish a foul sorcery that will stop at nothing to serve its own dark ends.
Review
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Kirinor, Paleswelt the 16th. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my Spoiler review of Divine Hammer 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 links. 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 novel opens with two black robed wizards being attacked by Knights of the Divine Hammer. The master Nusendran the Voiceless called for his apprentice to flee, and he was caught, then burned alive. His apprentice Andras was teleported to safety by Fistandantilus. Of course we all know why, and we will get to that in time, but it’s a nice way of continuing his story arc as Beldinas the Lightbringer is developing his as well. Then we flash forward seven years to Cathan MarSevrin, leader of the Knights of the Divine Hammer, heading up his unit to exterminate a cult of Chemoshites. They lose some knights but ultimately destroy the cult. Cathan’s squire, Tithian, killed the leader of the cult by throwing his sword. This act will get him knighted but he wants Cathan to knight him. He agrees to do it for the young squire, but he will not be a knight until he goes through the official ceremony. This sets up Cathan as a proud and caring leader of his men. We are reminded of his death and resurrection, and how he genuinely is concerned for the Knights under him.
It turns out the Kingpriest wants Cathan to return to the capital as the envoy to the Wizards of High Sorcery has died, and the Orders of High Sorcery are going to send another envoy. Beldinas wants Cathan to escort this new envoy. He arrives at the capital and it is the first time some of his knights have seen it in person. He meets with the Kingpriest and it turns out that the Orders are not sending the envoy for a week. So he enjoys his time there with his men. He is confronted by an old woman whose sons were killed by the knights of the Divine Hammer for worshiping a neutral God, and we are shown that the Kingpriest has already begun ignoring the balance and not targeting only evil, but neutral priests and followers as well. If you don’t follow the good gods, then you are considered justified in being murdered.
As Cathan continues to dream about the coming Cataclysm, the Orders send the Red Robe wizard, Leciane to be the new envoy. This is to ensure the new envoy isn’t a toady to the Kingpriest like the former was. She arrives and tells Cathan to stay on the grove’s path when he comes to escort her, as the Tower of Istar has a grove of forgetfulness surrounding it. Cathan tries his best but strays, and Leciane saves him from losing more of his memory than he already has. They return to the capital hall and she refuses to be blessed by the Kingpriest who ultimately accepts her position, but the court is appalled. Since she is a red robe they see her as evil. Cathan realizes that he wasn’t sent to protect the Kingpriest from Leciane, but rather to protect Leciane from the court.
Meanwhile, Andras summons imps to spy on the kingpriest per Fistandantilus’ orders. Cathan is sent with the Kingpriest to his sister’s celebration ceremony of twenty years of Beldinas’ rule. He has been estranged from her, and is uncomfortable attending it, but must protect his liege. Leciane tries to charm Cathan but fails, worried that she doesn’t have anyone on her side in the capital. The tournament goes off without a hitch, with all the Divine Hammer knights fighting to exhaustion against each other until only Lord Tavarre and Cathan are left. They battle each other to exhaustion with Tavarre getting the upper hand. And then all Hell breaks loose. Quasits summoned by Andras and protected from divine magic swarm and attack the Knights. This is Andras’ vengeance for this master being burned at the stake. The Kingpriest tries to banish the evil imps but fails, then Leciane casts a spell which damages them, and the remaining knights are able to defeat them at last.
This blow to the Divine Hammer from a wizard is all the Kingpriest needs for justification to call all wizards evil, but neither Leciane nor the Conclave wants that. Leciane helps them find Andras, and as he makes his last stand, he is defeated by Leciane’s magic at every turn. Then he is arrested by Cathan, but Andras remembers seeing his master burn at the stake, and refuses to go out that way. He leaps on Cathans sword, hoping for death. He would have had it, but Leciane teleports him and Cathan to the Kingrpiest who heals him,only to have him burned at the stake in the arena.
On the day of execution, they begin burning him as Leciane pleads to have him returned to the conclave for their judgment. As the Kingpriest refuses, Leciane informs the High Mage, and he teleports Andras to Wayreth, and tells the Kingpriest through the garish glass statue that this is their problem to solve. Then the Kingpriest destroys the statue in anger. Andras is summoned to the conclave which asks him who had taught him the powerful magic, but Andras refuses to tell them, as he rightly fears Fistandantilus more than the conclave. As they begin torturing him for the name, Fistandantilus murdered the Black Robe conducting the interrogation, and teleports Andras back to his lair.
Meanwhile Lecianne is trying to organize a moot so everyone can find some semblance of peace between the Wizards of High Sorcery and Istar. They all agree to a moot, but Fistandantilus summoned a Fetch, and Andras gave it the form of the First Son of Paladine. At the moot, the fetch plunged a dagger into the Kingpriest, and the Divine Hammer rained bolts down on the wizards. As the Divine Hammer strikes out toward the Wizards, and the Wizards defend themselves, many on both sides die as the Kingpriest fills Cathan with the ability to heal him. This act brings fear into the Kingpriest. I am starting to think the ghost we met of the last would-be Kingpriest in the previous novel was right, Cathan should have accepted Miceram for himself and been the Kingpriest. Imaging the differences he would have made… I doubt there would’ve been a cataclysm.
In any case, Cathan saw the look the Kingpriest gave him, and when the wizards fled, a final blow killed the High Mage Vincil. Then the Kingpriest declared all wizards evil and marked them for death. The Divine Hammer split into two groups, the bulk of them heading to assault the Tower of high Sorcery in Losarcum, with the remainder staying in Istar to protect the Kingpriest. Cathan being sent to Losarcum was an act of banishment to Cathan’s mind. The Ergothian army gathered to destroy Daltigoth’s tower, and the Solamnics were to target the Palanthas tower.
As the armies moved into position over the weeks that followed, Jorelia was appointed the new High Mage and ordered the Towers to be evacuated with all items removed to Wayreth. The Kingpriest received a present from an unknown source containing seeds for each of the Tower’s protective grounds. When used, they would clear a path to the Tower’s doors. He sent these to the relevant towers and when Daltigoth received theirs, they wanted to take immediate action, even though the Kingpriest declared Losarcum would be first. They buried the seed which did as expected and the Ergoth army assaulted the Tower before the residents had time to evacuate.
As the assault continued and the wizards knew they would lose invaluable artifacts to the Ergothians, they chose to destroy the Tower instead, which wiped out the entire army and city around. This devastated both the Wizards of High Sorcery and the Ergothians. When the Kingpriest found out, his decisions were driven by fear, and insisted that Losarcum should still be invaded. As the wizards cleared out the Tower, and feared for another attack, they knew they may have to destroy this tower as well. Leciane reached out to Cathan who at this point no longer trusted the judgment of the Kingpriest, and believed this was the wrong course of action. As she tried to show him through magic what happened at Daltigoth, she was interrupted by Cathan’s men, and fled.
Then the Divine Hammer assaulted Losarcum. They fought through the guardians and lost many men before facing a single wizard. Then the Tower started to warp and Cathan knew what Leciane was trying to tell him. He knew this tower would explode as well, and tried to escape. Leciane refused to help destroy the tower and ended up saving Cathan and his former squire Tithian. Leciane was struck by a bolt before they fled and died. Cathan now believes that the Kingpriest knew about Daltigoth and ordered Losarcum’s destruction anyway. He now knows the Kingpriest is no longer in his right mind, and this is not a holy mission. The High Mage Jorelia makes peace with Istar to abandon and turn over the Towers in Istar and Palanthas to stop the fighting and the Kingpriest readily agrees.
Weeks later she dies from grief, and Merroc is named High Mage. As Cathan and Tithian are traveling to Istar, the Kingpriest is met by Fistandantilus who reveals that it was he who gave them the seeds and wants to be on the Kingpriests council. They strike a bargain, and Fistandantilus returns to Andras who has been trapped in a dungeon for weeks after his attack on the Kingrpriest. Cathan finally arrives at Istar and confronts the Kingpriest. He denounces him, and steps away from the Divine Hammer, leaving Istar for good. Fisatndantilus now tells the mad Andras what to do next, and as Merroc is handing the keys of the Tower in Palanthas to the mayor, Andras casts a curse on the tower and plunges himself to his death, corrupting and sealing the Tower until the Master of Both Past and Present comes.
Knowing that Fistandantilus masterminded this entire affair, and his insistence that Beldinas is the Kingpriest and remains alive, I think he knows Cathan was supposed to be the next Kingpriest, but his own schemes would have failed if he were. It makes Raistlin Majere even more powerful in my mind after he returned to the past and defeated Fistandantilus in the Legends trilogy.
As this book ends with such a bang, I can’t wait to start the next. This is an incredible novel that outshines the brilliant first in the series. The author is truly amazing and if you are a fantasy fan, read this novel. If you like Dragonlance, this is a must. And if you just enjoy a well written epoc, do yourself a favor and read this trilogy.
Outro
And that’s it for my review of Divine Hammer by Chris Pierson. Do you think Cathan was the true Kingpriest? Did you enjoy the fated love between Leciane and Cathan? And finally did you believe the fall to fear the Kingpriest made? You can email me at info@dlsaga.com or comment below.
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