Join me as I give my review of The Wizard’s Fate by Paul B. Thompson & Tonya C. Cook live! Share your thoughts on this second novel in the Ergoth trilogy. It was released by Wizards of the Coast on February 1, 2004. You can pick up a copy here: https://amzn.to/4y06Au9
About The Wizard’s Fate
A warrior returns home to reclaim all he has lost.
After a bloody 10-year war, the mighty city of Tarsis has been brought to its knees. Lord Tolandruth – once the farmer’s son Tol – has led the armies of the Ergoth Empire to the enemy’s very gates. Poised for final victory, instead he is recalled to Daltigoth. The Emperor is dead, and civil war threatens to tear apart the empire.Tol takes a long, perilous journey back to the seat of power, not only to attend upon a new emperor and be reunited with the woman he loves, but to avenge himself on the wizard who caused his exile. Reclaiming his love and honor calls for sacrifices that will shape his destiny – and the future of Krynn.
Writing team Thompson & Cook once again explore the history of the ancient Dragonlance world in The Wizard’s Fate, the next title in the 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.
Review
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Palast, Reapember the 21st. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my review of The Wizard’s Fate 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
Let me begin by saying, this first third of the novel is just as good as the last novel. It actually has the vibe of The Odyssey to me. It begins with Tol leading his men on an assault against Tarsis. He is joining General Regobart. This is set a decade after the first novel. The battle is incredible! The Tarsans have giant turtles and on their backs are masses of archers. They got the turtles from the Silvanesti. There is a massive battle and a moment where Tol takes command of a turtle from its elven driver and steers it into the sea. The Ergothians win the battle and the Tarsans meet that night to go over terms of surrender. The city of merchants and petty lords are not happy but are forced to come to terms. The Ergothians actually give them decent terms so they don’t feel taken advantage of. Syndic Hanira of House Golden, who was mentioned a few times in the first novel, invited Tol to her estate for dinner. There he makes waves with prince Helx who wants Hanira’s hand in marriage. She ends up taking Tol to her bed. Tol wakes in the morning and is forced to fight off a handful of golems summoned to destroy him. It is later revealed it may be Helx but is actually the renegade sorcerer Mandes all the way in Daltigoth. He hears of Tol being summoned to the capital and wants him dead before he returns to reveal the truth of the claims Mandes and Prince Nazramin made about Tol.
Tol defeats them with his Irda stone and is summoned to Daltigoth as the emperor Pakin III has died. Knowing that taking a whole army north from Tarsis would take far too long, he heads up with his wives Kiya and Miya, his closest Lieutenants Frez and Darpo, and the priest Felryn. They travel through some mountainous terrain where they see remnants of an Irda civilization through massive stone statues and some sort of ancient carved drum. Then a tornado appears and whisks away Felryn, killing him. They use the stone drum to bar the tornado which moves the massive statues to block it. Then they head north and save a dwarven caravan from bandits. Tol is awarded a steel saber of dwarven craft. It is superior to any other weapon they have.
They stop at an inn and are hired on as guards for a caravan to the coast. They learn that a unicorn colt is being taken to sell and they let it go, but not before a Kagonesti tribe comes to claim it. Tol uses the Irda stone to protect himself from the Shaman and wins himself and his companions freedom. They travel to the coast and hire a ship to take them north. But they are captured by a massive pirate fleet. Tol demands one on one combat with the pirate who is forced to accept by his crew. They sail to the pirate hideout where all other pirate lords are and hold the battle for all to see. Tol defeats the pirate lord Xanka and claims his role as captain of his massive fleet. He commands them to take him north to an empirical city and he will grant them all pardons and make them part of the Ergoth fleet. More than half refuse and are allowed to leave while about 60 decide to stay. They free the slaves and sail north. Another manufactured storm ends in the death of Frez and Tol is taken to Lord Tremond who grants the pardons and welcomes the pirates.
This first third is so damn good. You really can tell everywhere Tol goes, he makes allies because of his actions and honorable dealings. Even those that do not consider him allies, respect him or outright fear him, as his reputation precedes him from his past deeds. But this doesn’t feel like he is destined for greatness or protected by the gods. He struggles, and almost dies many times. If it isn’t for his wits, and his companions he would never make it out of these wild predicaments. Tol brings the new fleet to the capital and grants Darpo the title and role of Admiral. En route he is once again attacked by Mandes but rescued by his wives who he told to stay behind for their own safety but refused. Then Tol heads into the city, and his reputation and recent deeds have preceded him! The citizens of Ergoth are incredibly excited and he is greeted by Officer Relfas who insults him by making him walk, and takes him to the emperor’s palace. There he meets the Crowned Prince Amaltar and he is visibly sicker and weakened. He looks terrible. He thanks Tol for everything he has done and tells him that the funeral for the Emperor will be in 5 days.
His wives find a villa for them. One day while shopping they see a gang attacking and bullying the citizens but no one is doing anything about it. He confronts them and ends up killing its leader, who ends up being the son of a prominent general who is arriving with five thousand men! He tells the emperor about it and he says that he has Tol’s back. Then as everyone leaves he tells Tol to discover who is vexing him. He sees ants attacking him from every angle. That coupled with his poor health tells us the prince is no idiot. Tol knows exactly who it is but needs proof. Then we cut to Prince Nazaramin and Mandes talking about how they are using magic to kill the crowned prince slowly. The plot is confirmed but they cannot seem to kill Tol no matter what they try. So they decide to use Valaran to harm them.
Tol has seen her a few times but she outright despises him at this point. Thinking he did her wrong. Then he is summoned to watch over the dead emperor one night and Valaran is there too! They don’t say a word, just feel each other’s presence. She has been spying on him and his household learning that she has been lied to this whole time, even learning who was behind it all. Then Tol is attacked again by Mandes, this time its enchanted rugs. He eventually defeated the threat with his wives and an old friend and mentor, and has had enough. He rushes to Mendes’ villa to kill him but finds Prince Nazaramin instead. He confronts him and the prince shares his disdain for Tol due to his class and birth. With no Mandes to kill, Tol leaves.
Then we get an incredible ritual ceremony of the Crowned Prince becoming the Emperor. They mock role-play the sacking of Daltigoth and crown the new Emperor, taking the name Ackal IV. This is believed to be a cursed name. At the feast Tol moves to kill Mandes but is interrupted by the engineer Elicarno who created the first crossbow, calling it a hand catapult. The emperor is fascinated but Andes is trying to downplay it. The Emperor calls for a duel between them, magic versus invention. Elicarno stays with Tol for protection until the duel. I can see how some readers may not like all this politics and factional infighting, but I love it!
The final third of the novel was rough! The duel between Mandes and Elicarno takes place and though Mandes destroyed his target, a tree, a stump remained. Whereas the catapults of Elicano decimated his tree. The Emperor declared Elicarno the winner and Mandes was banished from Court. The emperor, knowing Mandes was duplicitous, asked Tol to move into the palace and be near mi. Tol agreed and the emperor even admitted to knowing that Tol and Valaran had a connection and he seemed not to mind but inferred that was one of the reasons he was kept away for a decade.
Prince Nazaramin moved out of the capital and all seemed to be peaceful. With the new armada patrolling the bay, and the prince and Mandes away, it seemed all was well. But evil will always return. Storms began to wrack the land and eventually a Kender representative, Early Stumpwater, arrived to ask for aid. The fog and plague has returned. This was a clear call to Tol, as Mandes chose the same region to attack from as he had before with the Bakali. Tol asked to go to kill the sorcerer and was granted leave. He left knowing his previous wife Maya was to be wed to Elicarno with this blessing. And Kiya was given gold and wills to leave back to her home. All was taken care of if he couldn’t return.
The road to the mountain took time but the Kender Early was a fine companion. At one point the dead priest Felryn took over the Kender’s body and began speaking to Tol in his sleep, warning him. Then Mandes began invading his dreams, telling him to return or all he loved would suffer. Tol refused over and over again, and saw a vision of Elicarno being killed. Then another night, Darpo was killed. And finally the emperor was confronted by Nazaramine who admitted everything was by his design and the instrument of the emperor’s demise was a doll tucked into the throne itself! Knowing the emperor would not live long, Tol moved with urgency.
He and Early fought through mountain men, and met ogre guards which ended up killing Early after he saved Tol’s life. Wounded and exhausted, Tol finally confronted Mandes in his tower of Irda ruins and destroyed him. Mandes fell from the tower to his death and Tol took his head with him. He first returned to Juramona and learned refugees were fleeing west from the east due to invaders, but exactly who these invaders were is unknown. He traveled to his farm to see it empty and rode to Caergoth to find many refugees refused entry. He confronted the governor and made him take them in and feed them, learning the Emperor died a few days ago and Prince Zazaramine was the new emperor.
Shocked, Tol flees to Daltigoth to confront the prince and sees he has been successful in his coup. The prince will be crowned soon and he will take Valaran as his bride. He stripped Tol of his titles and holdings and when Tol choked him, his men beat Tol all night then abandoned him in the snow. Maya and kiya found him after being tipped off by loyal guards, and they fled the capital to the Great Green. Valaran rode to say goodbye and told him she would kill the prince or be killed trying. Tol told her to stay alive as he will return for her. And that was the end! Everything Tol loved was taken away from him. We know he will return in the next novel, but this is a real downer after everything he went through. But that is what makes the storytelling compelling and leaves you wanting more!
I can’t wait to dive into the final novel. If you enjoy tales of political intrigue and usurpation, or if you want to find out about early Ergoth, you should definitely read this novel. I highly recommend it.
Outro
And that’s it for my review of The Wizard’s Fate by Paul B. Thompson & Tonya C. Cook. What do you think of Mandes’ fate? Do you think Tol will be able to return and save Valaran? And finally, who is behind the invading armies of the east? Feel free to email me at info@dlsaga.com or leave a comment below.
Thank you Creator Patrons Aaron Hardy, D. Robert Handy & JP in MT, Producer Patrons David Galindo & Joe Lyons, Developer Patrons Chris Androu & Sam Ruiz, and all of the YouTube Members! I would also like to take a moment and remind you to subscribe to this YouTube channel, ring the bell to get notified about upcoming videos and click the like button. This all goes to help other Dragonlance fans learn about this channel and its content.
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).
