Join me as I review The Cataclysm edited by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, live! Share your thoughts on this second volume in the Tales II Trilogy, released on June 30, 1992. You can buy a copy here: https://amzn.to/3Rzu06G
About The Cataclysm
A continent is sundered . . .
The Kingpriest’s arrogance brings the wrath of the gods upon Krynn. The result is the Cataclysm — chaos and anarchy, despair and villainy . . . and inspiring heroism.
Mark Anthony, Nancy Varian Berberick, Todd Fahnestock, Richard A. Knaak, Roger E. Moore, Douglas Niles, Nick O’Donohoe, Dan Parkinson, Paul B. Thompson and Tony R. Carter, and Michael and Teri Williams contribute untold stories to this indespensable collection. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman enhance this lineup with an original novella and verse dedicated to the accursed Lord Soth.
Review
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Misham, Holmswelth the 27th. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my review of The Cataclysm by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Michael Williams, & Richard A. Knaak. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members, 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 year is the 40th Anniversary of Dragonlance, so join in on the celebration by submitting a video, piece of art or writing about Dragonlance to info@dlsaga.com. It will be added to the dlsaga.com/40th-anniversary celebration landing with all other contributors! 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 Word and the Silence by Michael Williams
This is set up as a son Orestes, going after his fathers slanderer. This person is a bard which Orestes learns from, and then he leaves with a suggestion that he killed him with poison. He returns home and tells the people that the lies will not be spread anymore. This was needlessly convoluted in spots, and I just don’t think I am a big poem fan when it comes to embedding narratives within them. As I try to understand rather than enjoy the crafted lyrics.
Mark of the Flame, Mark of the World by Michael and Terry Williams
This story is about Orestess’ son who was born with scars, much like his father had, and grew up not knowing him. It turned out Orestes killed himself to end the curse of his line, but did not know his wife was pregnant. Trugon and his mother went to L’indasha the druid from Before the Mask, and she told him that the past was malleable until it wasn’t, meaning his father the poet was struggling with the correct wording of a verse and in it told the truth. The son left his home to discover the truth which led him to a bandit kings lair, when they discovered him they threw him into a black dragon’s lair.
This is another one of those moments, as dragons were supposed to be extinct for nearly a millennium at this point…. But when in there the dragon swallowed him, and he learned the truth through his journey, that his grand father lit fires across Caergoth to dissuade goblin armies from raiding it, but they were misunderstood and killed by peasants uprising. His father tried to correct the narrative by killing the bard singing the song, but it only entrenched the world’s idea of the family, and with this truth, Trugon wrote the poem on the inside of the dragon. For some unknown reason the dragon left its cave, killing the bandit king, and spit the boy out onto a ship deck. His scars were heard and apparently his family curse lifted.
The story was okay, but it was still written as if it were a retelling of a poem rather than a short story. I don’t really know how to describe it, but ultimately it fell a bit flat for me.
The Bargain Driver by Mark Anthony
This was a fun story about a bargain merchant named Matya who comes across a wounded Knight of Solamnia. He’s on a quest to return a magical doll to a town supposedly destroyed in the Cataclysm. Mataya takes him there after bargaining for the doll, and the knight agrees. When they arrive they meet a woman named Ciri and the town is full of life. It turns out that Ciri wants the knight to place the doll on the altar to break a spell laid on her by her wizard uncle who wants her to marry him. In truth the whole town is an illusion and Ciri is the illusionist who was trapped here in the Cataclysm, and she needs to trade places with someone to leave.
Since the knight gave Maya the doll he can’t do it so Ciri tries to bargain for the doll and Maya can’t do it knowing that the knight would be stuck here forever. So she breaks the doll, shattering the illusion and Ciri, and takes the knight to Garnet, where they are slowly turning from friends to more. This was a fun story that is more about letting yourself find love and friendship over possession. Maya learns humanity and concern for others from the knight, and while it doesn’t change her completely, it does have an effect on her. I like how your interactions with others lead you to new understandings about yourself, your beliefs and the world. This story reminds me of that.
Seekers by Todd Fahnestock
This was a devastatingly sad story about a young man who lost his whole village to the plague, even though his mother worshiped paladine. Then set out to ask the gods why, climbing the tallest new peak. At the same time, a mercenary looking for revenge on a group of bandits who attacked and killed his family comes across the boy, suspecting he may be a lackey from the bandits. As he follows him, he sees a starved ogre try to capture the boy and he steps in and fights it, driving it off rather than killing it as he understands everyone is hard up in these times. Then the boy falls ill, and the man stays to take the dying boy to the top of the mountain to ask the gods why? When the boy doesnt get an answer, obviously, he forgives paladine, like the man forgave the ogre and let him go. The man then leaves, stating he will never forgive the gods after burying the boy.
This was so sad and beautiful about survivors seeking answers in their own way and finding a tiny moment of solace in each others company. The man taking the boy up the mountain was a beautiful moment. He knew he may get the disease but he wanted the boy to have the opportunity to challenge the gods for his loss. I loved the story, even as he forsook the gods after they took the boys life. It felt real to me in the best and worst of ways.
No Gods, No Heroes by Nick O’Donohoe
This was a funny story about a band of traders who were transporting a load of ale to a town that no longer existed after the cataclysm. They also were transporting a prisoner to the same town, and their whole plans were based on the money they would get for the ale and the prisoner. But then they were ambushed by bounty hunters and the prisoner saved them all, and they heard a tale of a terrifying man with an army coming into the territory. The strength of this story lies in the dialog and relationships of these ne’er-do-wells. They plan on doing bad things but end up doing good. Their leader never says a bad word about anyone and always looks on the bright side of life. It’s actually a refreshing change of pace. They are approached by a town who is asking for help defeating the coming army and as the group plans to go around the enemy, they inadvertently attack them with the ale barrels, only to discover the army was fake, planning to drive the people out of town and loot it. They defeat the group, and discover the town doesn’t exist. So they are offered roles as protectors and the traders pardon the prisoner who saved their hides.
I really enjoyed the silliness of it, and the characters were great. I don’t think every story has to be life and death, love and sorrow. Some can just be entertaining and funny, and this short story hit the mark.
Into Shadow, Into Light by Richard A. Knaak
Knaak knocks it out of the park again. This story is about Rennard the Oathbreaker from the Legend of Huma. He is tortured in the abyss for his actions in life, and desperately wants one sip of water. He calls out to the gods, and suddenly he finds himself on Krynn. He is a specter and a Knight of the Rose passes him. He follows the knight who eventually sees him and tells him that peasants murdered his friend, another knight, and he is off to seek vengeance on them. This is not a Knights way and against the measure, so Rennard realizes he must set this knight straight. They speak of Huma and Rennard admits who he is. The knight wants to know what Huma would do and Rennard initially refuses to play that game and tells him, but relents. They follow the peasants to see they are being killed by cultists of Morgion. The knight is captured, and so Rennard kills the cultists, freeing the knight and the knight goes to help the villagers rather than kill them. This grants Rennard a sip of water in death, then it all starts over again. He wonders what he will have to do to find rest now.
I love that Knaak returned to this character and gave us a glimpse into a traitor’s afterlife. Also provides an example of balance and justice which I truly enjoy even if it is buried in religious mumbo jumbo. It fits with Dragonlance and so I’m here for it.
Ogre Unaware by Dan Parkinson
This was a bit of a tough story for me. While I enjoyed the concept, it was a bit of a slog to get through. We pick up with an ogre traveling in the mountains, when the Cataclysm strikes. He is thrown all around as the land changes, mountains rise and crash. Ultimately he is thrown in a deep crevasse and knocked unconscious. Then we cut to the Bulp Clan from the first Tales II anthology. They left Istar and find a This Place to call home when the Cataclysm strikes. They begin to dig out and fine gold, so some bring the Highbulp to show him, and a cave in and aftershocks lock them away. His wife was making rat stew and got the other crew to search for the Highbulp, only to discover the Ogre who now thinks she is his mother and follows her around.
The Highbulp and crew make their way to the surface to be captured by human slavers. The ogre and Highbulp’s wife track them, only to find them with the slavers and the ogre bashes all the humans heads, freeing the Highbulp and Aghar. They all leave and decide to knight the ogre, but when they do they bonk him on the head and he remembers that he’s an ogre and not an Aghar, and goes to attack them, then feels sorry for the dwarves and leaves. That’s it. Its goofy dialog and situations make it entertaining, but for some reason, this sequel didn’t resonate as much as the first story did for me.
The Cobbler’s Son by Roger E. Moore
I didn’t enjoy this story at all. It’s about a Kender named Walnut Arskin who was adopted by a Cobbler named Ark who worked for Astinus of Palanthas. He had discovered Walnut’s mother sick and dying and took the child after burying her and raising him. He was given an assignment to ask people what they think of Istar now that it’s been twenty-two years since the Cataclysm, and the whole story is how the Kender went around, posing as a writer, asking different types of people this question and getting vastly different answers, which more often than not, led to trouble. The whole tale was just one misadventure after another that just didn’t resonate with me. The biggest story beat was the burning down of a bakers shop, and the owner, Goodwife Filster wanting to kill the kender and Ark for it. Even though it was clearly her fault, she was busy trying to get rid of the kender and left a rag where it ignited. The culmination was based on the Kender saying Astinus wants everyone to be able to work together as they may need to in the future, suggesting the topic of a global war, but there was nothing in the story that suggested that, so why would the kender come to that conclusion? It all just fell flat, and I hope the next story is better.
The Voyage of the Sunchaser by Paul B. Thompson and Tonya R. Carter
And we’re back! This was a great short story about a ship that was delivering a Revered Son to Istar, and the mountain hit, sinking it and making the Blood Sea of Istar. The priest refused to believe anything could happen to the Kingpriest or Istar, so he make the captain continue sailing into new disturbing waters to deliver a special bowl. They picked up a castaway who was on a house. She told them that a mountain hit Istar and waters flooded up swallowing her town. The priest refused to believe her, and they continued sailing until they were one hundred miles past the shoreline. The priest directed them to continue and when they saw the center of the maelstrom the priest told them to go through it to Istar. They hit the outer ring and saw statues of the kingpriest pierce the hull. Lightning struck the mast, and everyone was freaking out. The revered son leapt overboard in shock and the rest got in the bowl, and were washed away from the maelstrom. This was a great story that I never considered, sailors discovering the carnage of Istar for the first time. Again we are introduced to douchey priests, but that’s par for the course in this era.
The High Priest of Halcyon by Douglas Niles
This is a great horror story about the return of Takhisis. Scribe of Astinus, Forsyth Teel received word from an old acquaintance about a new cult that had proof of the gods, or miracles. As he arrived he was met by the priest Erasmoth Luker, and he said his scholar friend left. They went to the temple above Halcyon past the new sea into the mountains and found an ancient temple with five pillars of flame. Then the priests disrobed and revealed they were zombies. The priest had a female who was close to Forsyth kill herself as he watched in horror and entered a cavern. She came back out as undead. The priest wanted Forsyth to reveal that Takhisis isn’t in the world yet but she is coming. This is relayed to Astinus. I thought this was great as it shared the panic and horror wonderfully. The setting was great and it seems like it’s the dark temple of Neraka as it is building itself from the keystone Takhiss placed on Krynn. Though I am not sure.
True Knight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
This is the continuation of Nikol and Brother Michael after the Night of Dread, when all clerics vanished from Krynn. They returned to their castle which was in shambles and tried to clean it and live there, then Lord Soth arrived on his way to Istar asking for water. He told him he was on a mission from Paladine to stop the Kingpriest. Nikol found hope in Lord Soth,and life started to return to normal for a few days, till the storms grew worse, and the Cataclysm came. Michael and Niko pledged their love to each other and decided to travel to Michaels old home of Xak Tsaroth. He is looking for answers in the Disks of Mishakal, but when they finally arrive, the doors to the temple were shut. They saw an avatar of Mishakal, the mother, who they believed to be a crazy woman who redirected them to Palanthas, and the great library. Nikol believed it was the next best hope, so they set off.
They arrived in Palanthas as a revered son was raising a mob to overrun the great library. Nikol and Michael left to tell the knights of Solamnia in the High Clerist’s Tower, but the knights only tried to arrest them. Then Lord Soth stepped in and saved them. They returned to Palanthas to find the library being mobbed. They entered through a window and were led to a room with the tale of Lord Soth in it. Soth appeared and confessed to everything, showing only frustration with the code for their curse. However, when the mob began attacking the library, Lord Soth stepped side by side with Nikol to drive them off. She only saw who he was, not who he is, and they left to Abanasinia to be the ancestors of Riverwind.
I really enjoyed the end of this story, with Lord Soth knowing regret, and knowing others will read his tale as a cautionary one. I think this version of Lord Soth is my favorite.
Outro
And that’s it for my review of The Cataclysm by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Michael Williams, & Richard A. Knaak. What did you think of the collected stories? Did you have a favorite one or a favorite author? And finally, would you ever play a game set in the decades right after the Cataclysm? 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).
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