Join me as I review Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes: Dragonlance Tales, Vol. 2 Edited by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, live! Share your thoughts on this second novel in the Tales Trilogy. You can pick up Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes: Dragonlance Tales, Vol. 2: https://www.amazon.com/Kender-Gully-Dwarves-Gnomes-DragonLance/dp/0880383828/ref=tmm_mmp_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1656019141&sr=8-1
About Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes: Dragonlance Tales, Vol. 2
“Wanna Bet?”
The three adventure-seeking sons of Caramon Majere lose a bet to a flamboyant, magnificently bearded dwarf, and wake up, shanghaied, on an incredible gnomish sailing vessel questing after the legendary Graygem.
Who is the mysterious Dougan Redhammer, and what perils are in store for Sturm, Tanin, and Palin, the young mage haunted by the legacy of Raistlin?
In nine short stories by superlative writers, the companions confront wizards and dragons, magical spectacles and daggers possessed, and survive memorable encounters with the minor races of Krynn.
Plus, a rolicking new novella by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman chronicling the outrageous fortunes of the next generation of heroes.
The Dragonlance Saga, with three million copies sold, continues
Review
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Misham, Holmswelth the 30th, my name is Adam and today I am going to give you my Spoiler review of Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes: Dragonlance Tales, Vol. 2 Edited by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. 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.
Snowsong by Nancy Verian Berberick is a wonderful little story about Tasselhoff, Flint, Sturm and Tanis traveling and getting caught in a storm. Tanis and Sturm went off in search of wood so the group could survive the night, and were attacked by a pack of wolves. Tas, who was ordered to stay put, ended up leaving, of course, much to Flint’s chagrin, and tried to use his supposedly magical flute to call out to his friends, bringing them home. Tanis and Sturm after being attacked, fled with their packs of wood but the cold and wounds became too much for them and they remained in the snow, on death’s door. Tas’ flute suddenly started blowing out a beautiful tune and lost animals began showing up at the cottage they were staying in. Flint was astonished, and Tas claimed it was due to the magical flute. He kept playing and soon Tanis and Sturm heard the tune. The weather abated and the pair found their way to the cottage. I loved that Tas saved everyone, but that’s what he does all throughout the Chronicles and Legends, so that is nothing new. I really liked the interplay between Tanis and Flint on whether they should bring Sturm with them, and the back and forth between Flint and Tas is always gold.
The Wizard’s Spectacles by Morris Simon is a tale about an old dwarf with poor eyesight that finds DalamnDalamar is aware that he is being tracked and one day goes missing, but leaves his things and a set of glasses behind. The dwarf dons them and can suddenly see and even read magic! He learns that Dalamar left him a secret note, saying someone from Qualinesti was hunting him, and that the dwarf would be rewarded for protecting his things until he returns in a month. The dwarf donned Dalamars robe and began reading the scrolls which were spells. Knowledge of the dwarfs’ magic spread through the town and eventually when Dalamar returned for his things, the dwarf had opened a portal to another realm. Dalamar closed it but not before the creatures wounded the dwarf, who subsequently died. The following day a resident from the town came to deliver goods and found the dwarves’ corpse and the spectacles.
The Storyteller by Barbera Siegel and Scott Siegel is about a Storyteller who is imprisoned and executed by the Blue Dragonarmy for Treason, for telling stories to Kender, Dwarves and Gnomes. The three races get together to try and free him, but in the end he is hung for telling stories. This is a brutal reminder about the price of standing up to faschistic rulers and the importance of never allowing them a foothold in any community or society. The end of the tale relays that the man who was in prison with the storyteller has since picked up his role and is spreading his story. This reminds me of the human condition more than any other story thus far. As a species we share stories. Sometimes they have morals or lessons embedded within, other times they are purely for entertainment, but the bottom line is that they move us. They shape our cultures and have the power to overthrow governments. Stories are what binds us to our ancestors and maintaining the tradition of crafting and telling them in this context is not lost on me. Roleplaying is no different. We collectively tell a tale that we experience firsthand.
A Shaggy Dog’s Tail by Danny Peary is a tale that Tasslehoff Burrfoot is telling a town’s children. It’s about an evil man, formerly red dragonarmy who after brutalizing the Que-Shu village, took a woman as his slave, in everyway. She eventually escaped with her lovers aid and he chased them, looking to kill them both. They entered Wayreth Forest and a sorceress offered to take care of the man. He demanded revenge and nearly killed the two Que-Shu when he found them, but for a dog who pushed him down a ravine, severing his spine. He woke in the chrones home being force fed. He tricked her into healing him and he left to kill them again, only to be placed in the same situation. She removed his ability to speak as punishment. This was a great story of just deserts that reminded me of a similar horror film tale.
Lord Toede’s Disastrous Hunt by Harold Bakst is a wonderful tale about how two kender who were captured then released by Lord Toede to be hunted and killed, ended up leading Toade to his death. They were chained together with a deer and were dragging it around, trying to fool Toade, and ultimately found themselves in a green dragons lair, where they picked the lock and tied the deer to its leg, as Toade entered to shoot the kender with his bow, he shot the dragon instead and his entourage fled at the sight of the dragon. It roasted Toade where he stood, and the kender got away. The tale is wrapped around a drunk kender trying to tell a tale and one of Toade’s entourage finishing it then trying to kill the kender, chasing him out of the tavern.
Definitions of Honor by Richard A. Knaak hit a little too close to home for me. The story is about a Knight of Solamnia seeking to prove himself. He comes to a town who is fearful of a Minotaur further down the shore. He goes to slay the beast only to discover that the Minotaur is an individual, who would like to speak of honor. It is ultimately revealed that he dishonored himself by questioning the concept of his people’s honor through their actions. He was then exiled and told to flee or fight for his family’s honor. He chose to fight and was ultimately killed by insurmountable odds. His kin, who dealt the final blow, asked the Knight to bury his body. The story talks about what honor truly is, vs what institutions and time allow it to be. It questions behaviors that are destructive in the name of honor and how foolish they are. At the heart of this story are two soldiers, connecting over honor. It makes me think of the many soldiers I have connected with over the years, and how very proud I am of their service. How civilians, like the townspeople will never know what sacrifice through service means, and how in the end, no one usually hears about the individual who lost their life for something greater. I really enjoyed this story.
Hearth Cat and Winter Wren by Nancy Verian Berberick is a tale about a wizard who wanted a woman but was rejected. So he turned her into a bird. Her lover was turned into a cat. The wren looked for help and found Tasslehoff. Tas followed her and was turned into a squirrel. The companions all went looking for Tas following the bird who told them of the wizard. Raistlin turned them all into animals and they sprung a trap on the wizard, who it seems Raistlin turned into a bird carving. This was a bit of a rough tale to get through. It felt more like a Brothers Grimm story than a Dragonlance one, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. It just felt out of place to me is all.
“Wanna Bet?” by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman is the true precursor to Dragons of Summer Flame if there was ever one. I have reviewed it in the past with another anthology so I’ll try not to repeat myself, but the premise is the Majere sons are absconded by Reorx’s avatar to retrieve the graygem. The problem is that Reorx is a degenerate gambler. He loses their armor, weapons, and nearly their freedom before they reclaim the graygem and then subsequently loses it again. The real standout of this novel are the brothers Tanin, Sturm and mainly Palin. He finally gets the respect he has earned from his brothers and together they rely on each other wonderfully. It makes me wish they spent more time writing about them before the tragedy of Summer Flame. All that being said, I like the reality presented that men left to their devices will make war and disharmony. But educating women is a first step to stemming that chaos, as is echoed in our own human history. Educated individuals traditionally make better life choices and are less able to be convinced of incredible, obvious lies. If any society wants to improve their citizens quality of life, free higher education and healthcare should be mandatory.
Into the Heart of the Story by Michael Williams is a tough read. Any time gnomes are set as the narrator, authors seem to think it’s fun to run on endlessly like a gnome would. That’s fine when it is truncated for the sake of a narrative, but when the entire story is a gnome refuting the events of the Chronicles and Legends and inserting himself into the ‘heart of the story’ it becomes tiring. Add in footnotes and a myriad of literary references and you have a challenging and not altogether enjoyable read. I understand the concept, I appreciate the author, but I will never read the short story again. It gave me a minor headache.
Dagger-Flight by Nick O’Donohoe is a tale of an intelligent dagger, given life by Takhisis to kill Flint, then other companions. Ultimately because of the course of the dagger’s use, it is taken and used by nearly all of the companions. It tried to kill many of them, even flying to them, but because it’s a dagger and has a single trajectory arc in every attempt it failed, but it tasted the blood of all of the companions’ victims, including goblins and draconians. It’s a great tale that kept me interested and engaged with the flow of the tale.
Outro
And that’s it for my review of Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes: Dragonlance Tales, Vol. 2. What do you think about the anthology? Did it draw you in further to the world of Dragonlance, or leave you frustrated? 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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