Join me as I give my review of A Warrior’s Journey by Paul B. Thompson & Tonya C. Cook live! Share your thoughts on this first novel in the Ergoth trilogy. It was released by Wizards of the Coast on May 1, 2003. You can pick up a copy here: https://amzn.to/4yT0vzZ
About A Warrior’s Journey
The first title in a new trilogy from Dragonlance author team Thompson and Cook.
Writing team Thompson & Cook once again explore the history of the ancient Dragonlance world in A Warrior’s Journey, the first title in the new Ergoth trilogy. Considered the historical specialists of the Dragonlance world, the authors take the story to a colorful and violent era of its history that has not been previously chronicled in any novel.
The mighty Ergothian empire is gripped by civil war.
Centuries before the first Cataclysm sunders Ansalon, two imperial dynasties struggle for supremacy. Brutal warlords jockey for power, while corrupt wizards sell their skills to the highest bidder. Unnatural monsters prey on the unwary.
Amid this chaos and upheaval, a brave young peasant shakes the towers of the mighty as his fate and the destiny of Krynn collide.
Review
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Kirinor, Reapember the 16th. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my review of A Warrior’s Journey by Paul B. Thompson & Tonya C. Cook. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members and Patreon patrons, and invite you to consider becoming a member or patron. You can even pick up Dragonlance media or get $10 by signing up to StartPlaying.Games 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.
Review
This is a fantastic story thus far. I have long wanted to learn more about ancient Ergoth and this is scratching that itch. It is set two thousand years before the Cataclysm. Ergoth is in the middle of a civil war between the reds, the Ackal’s and the Greens, the Pakin’s. In an attempt to unify the empire, the last king took the nake as Pakin the second and the civil war was a result after his assassination. His air, Pakin the third, is leading the empire now and the civil war brings us to the farmer Tol. His father Bakal owns the farm, and Tol is working the field when some Akal horses rush past from an ambush. Then a Lord Odovar, nearly dead, arrives on a horse asking to be hidden. He is being pursued by his ambushers, Spannuth Grane we later learn, a Pakin.
Tol hides him and sends his horse charging off as Grane and his soldiers arrive looking fro him. Tol tells them he saw them riding off and points the way. Then Grane creates a magical panther that is more half human and half beast to hunt after him, and rides off. Odovar then tells Tol to take him to his fort and he will be rewarded. Tol does so, not having much of a choice and is drawn into a much larger world. He had no idea about the Ergoth Empire that he was part of, or that Odovar was his lord. He takes him to his soldiers who lead them the rest of the way to Juramona but are attacked en route by more Pakin. This time Vakka Zan,the Pretender Pakin’s nephew nearly kills a warrior named Egrin, but Tol throws himself at the Pakin and saves Egrin, allowing Vakka Zan to be captured. Tol is gifted his sword for his heroism.
Finally arriving in Juramona, Odovan has Tol assigned to the stable and he does a great job. The local healer named Felryn is set to look after him by Egrin who thinks he should be his shield bearer. Felryn confirms he is a strong and capable lad and they are taken to Odovan to have Vakka Zan beheaded the following morning. Egrin asks about Tol being his Shieldbearer and Odovan consents. We also meet a shady Morthur Dermount, the current Emperor’s cousin, who clearly is vying for Odovan’s power. Tol says he has to get his fathers blessing first and so Egrin, Felryn, and Tol ride to his farm. They come across a Pakin slaughter and when they get to his home it is being held by Grane. He casts a spell and they all fall asleep till morning.
Tol wakes and attacks the soldiers who were with Grane, but granes body disappeared leaving his armor behind. Tol now knows who Grane is, it is Morthur in disguise! Tol’s father consents to him being a shield bearer and they return to Juramona to report the Pakin attack and Egrin confronts Morthur who escapes after being revealed. Five years pass as Tol is trained and grows quickly. He is now a very strong and capable shield bearer for Egrin and the Prince requests Odovan’s legions to rout foresters harassing settlers. Odovan gathers his host and moves to meet the Prince. They leave the shield bearers behind as reinforcement and go to kill the foresters. Felryn has a vision of danger and Tol recruits half the men to go and save their lords. They defeat rear guard foresters and dress up as them to infiltrate their camp. Tol comes across Morthur with the foresters and he flees.
That night the foresters attack the ergothian armies and Tols group flanks them. He ends up capturing the chief of the Dom-Shu clan, a great warrior named Makaralonga who admires Tol for his prowess and declares he will be a great warrior one day. They return to Juramona and learn that a new lord has been assigned to rule. Tol is given the prince’s dagger and requests to be the one to kill Makaralonga on behalf of the emperor when he learns the chief must die. The prince allows it, and Tol asks Felryn to help him allow Makaralonga to escape. He declares that his tribe will ally with Juramona and sends his two daughters to marry Tol. They are not attracted to each other so they end up being more like sisters who take care of him.
Time passes and Tol takes command of footsoldiers. He is helping build a bridge when he is recalled. He will be traveling to Daltigoth with the host. He chooses his best men to join him and his wives and they all leave with the host. En route they are stopped by a mage who puts everyone to sleep, but Tol is resistant from the Irda stone he discovered years earlier. It nullifies magic and protects him. He overcomes the mage and forces him to take him to his company which is about to be killed by none other than Spannuth Grane / Morthur Dermount! Tol ends up killing him, and frees his lord and his men. This once more makes him a man of renown and power in everyone’s eyes. He is given Grane’s ring as a reward.
They all complete the trip to Daltigoth but entry is slow and his lord demands he do something about it. He recalls the ring and with his wives he tries to use it but unknowingly the Irda stone nullifies its power. His wife uses it and it puts many citizens to sleep, and people panic. He reclaims the ring and as people clear the road, he enters the city. He ends up wandering around the palace and runs into Valaran, a young girl by happenstance. He really likes her and they arrange a meeting in the gardens. When he arrives he accidentally wanders into the wizards area. The Wizards of High Sorcery are planting the foundation stone for the Tower of High Sorcery in Daltigoth. That is why all the emperor’s hosts are being summoned, it is to be a big banquet and event.
The wizards are shocked to see him as they have a sleep spell protecting the area. THey believe it was Grane’s ring that allowed him to pass, but later learn it was the Irda stone, telling him to get rid of it, lest someone kill him for such a rare and sought after artifact. He refuses. The wizards send a spy to watch him and he sneaks out valaran to explore the city, very Aladdin-like. The spy ends up killing one of his men, which gets him fired from the wizard’s service. The assassin also is revealed to be Tol’s friend! He disappeared years back and now demands the Irda Stone. Tol refuses and they fight. Tol narrowly kills the spy and is knocked out. He woke to find Valaran waiting with him. He was calling her name. The prince, seeing how this powerful warrior wanted her, claimed her for his bride, preventing them from being together but elevating Valaran’s family. She vows to have an affair with him.
Because Tol killed this sought after assassin, and Grane, he is summoned to the prince and made a lord of the empire, and assigned as the prince’s personal head of the guard! He makes plans to stay and witnesses the placing of the tower’s foundation stone. I am really enjoying this story. It is so engaging with the deep history the story presents, the complex political machinations, it reminds me of George R. R. Martin’s writings in the best of ways.
They crammed a ton into the final third of this novel, but sweet hell was it great! The kender of Hylo has been dealing with a creature everyone refers to as XimXim due to the sound it makes, but no one has survived to discover what it is exactly. Ergoth has sent expeditions in the past but they are all killed. Now years into Tol’s newest post he is craving opportunity. He continues to have dalliances with Valaran but she is now wed to the prince. And Prince Nazramin is beginning to try to overthrow his brother, the heir to the throne in the failing health of the emperor.
Prince Nazramin confronts Valaran about her affair after having spied on her from the start and blackmails her for information on both Tol and the Prince or he will reveal her affair which would lead to her and Tol’s deaths. She reluctantly agrees, not that she actually has a choice. Tol offers to deal with the XimXim threat in Hylo and Crown Prince Amaltar is initially hesitant, but eventually relents. Sending a massive army with him to not only deal with the creature, but Tarsis has begun blockading and fighting the empire’s forces in Hylo.
Tol sets off with his wives and army and hunts the creature, but is ambushed by Bakali on the way. His men suffer from a disease which has been rampant in the area but they eventually defeat the lizardmen. They find a sorcerer who was captured by the Bakali and inadvertently working with them called Mandes. He was creating the smoke / fog they used to ambush travelers. He agrees to help Tol and his soldiers. In truth Mandes is a brutally conniving sorcerer who hates the orders of high Sorcery and demands the adoration and respect for his power. He left Tarsis because he wasn’t getting the respect and started working with the Bakali. He actually manufactured the disease in the area, but refuses to admit it to anyone.
They all go to search for the XimXim. Tol sends the army one way and he, his wives, and Mandes scout out its lair. The XimXim brutally attacks his army but runs off when wounded. Unfortunately that is when Tol and company are in its lair. They realize it is a giant mantis, and it is incredibly efficient at killing. They narrowly destroy it. Mandes loses an arm, and everyone else is hurt. They survive and report back to their army who even through their losses celebrate the victory. On to Hylo they discuss terms of support with the kender and head out to confront the Tarsan forces. They are being led by a Silvanesti named Tylocost. An ergothian force is already facing them, but Tol comes up with a dangerous plan to get in close and capture the elven general to stop the battle. The existing forces commander is killed but Tol ‘s plan succeeds with minimal loss of life. The Elven commander is stunned that a 21 year old Tol defeated him.
Tol writes missives to be sent to the crowned prince and Valaranbut Mandes is pissed about losing his arm and wants to make Tol pay, plus since he is asked to deliver the missives to the prince, he wants to make sure they present him in a glowing light, so he rewrites them and heads to Daltigoth. He is intercepted by Prince Nazramin who has them forged again to take credit away from Tol giving some to Mandes and some to the fallen ergothian general. This forces Tol to stay in Hylo for the winter. The rewritten letter to Valaran also tells her he is staying and that he is having a baby, which is all a lie. She considers killing herself then refuses, turning her heart cold to Tol instead.
This all pits Mandes, Prince Nazramin, and Valaran against Tol. Mandes has even worked his way into the elite’s service and the Crown Prince’s trust, so Tol is no longer needed in Daltigoth. When Tol discovers the treasury, he is infuriated and swears to take it all back, everything that was taken from him through their lies. And that is the end of the novel! This is setting up such a great second and third novel, I cannot wait to read them next! Look there are a lot of poorly constructed Dragonlance novels, this is not one of them. This is absolutely great with the disparate powers vying for control, from Tarsis and Ergoth, from Prince to Prince, from lord to Lord, and now Sorcerer to Sorcerer. Seriously, if you enjoy this type of a tale, do yourself a favor and read this asap!
Outro
And that’s it for my review of A Warrior’s Journey by Paul B. Thompson & Tonya C. Cook. What do you think of Tol’s journey from farmer to general? Do you think Mandes will be a genuine threat if Tol returns to Daltigoth? And finally, will Prince Nazramin get what’s coming to him? Feel free to email me at info@dlsaga.com or leave a 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).
