Join me as I give my spoiler review of War Wizard by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman live! Share your thoughts on this first novel in the new trilogy set in the Age of Might. It was released by Wizards of the Coast on August 4, 2026. You can pick up a copy here: https://amzn.to/4fAyfv1
About War Wizard
The first volume of a new epic trilogy set in the world of Krynn, written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, the creators of Dragonlance.
Vinus Solamnus wrote: The practice of magic is secretive, inherently deceitful, and dishonorable. Those who practice magic are forbidden to enter the knighthood, nor should they be connected to the knighthood in any way.
The boy with a rare gift for magic was born in Solamnia, a nation that despised and distrusted mages. His father tried to beat the magic out of him. The knights threatened him with imprisonment and exile. He endured tragedy and heartbreak. Yet he persisted with his magic, for the sake of the magic.
One friend stood by him when others persecuted him, a young man who was studying for the knighthood. No one could understand this unlikely friendship.
Review
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Palast, Paleswelt the 10th. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my spoiler-free review of War Wizard by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. 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
The first book, the first third of this novel, is entirely about the ancestry of both the Knights of Solamnia through Vinas Solamnus and the Rose Rebellion, but more specifically about his best friend, Adrian Ayrshire and his descendants. The last of which being Devon Ayrshire, who adopts the name Magius at the end of book one. You see, Ergoth claimed the Crimson Keep, the Tower of High Sorcery in Daltigoth as part of its territory, and Adrian, who was called Magius by his friends due to his talent in magic, decided to intercede with the Tower of high Sorcery to prevent them from interfering with the war between the emperor of Ergoth and vinas Solamnus’ rebellion. They seemed to agree, but at the behest of the emperor, black robe assassins were sent to murder Vinas. Magius interceded and died in the battle, saving his friend.
This is where the history gets convoluted. For after the loss of his best friend, a renowned magic user Vinas Solamnus wrote in the Measure that magic was inherently deceitful and dishonorable, forbidding its use to anyone in or connected to the knighthood. Apparently in doing so he never considered that he was marking his best friend as a secretive, deceitful and dishonorable person who saved his life. He penned into history a line that denigrates the legacy of the very man who saved his life. It is an insult to his memory and the selfless act of heroism he displayed. I cannot for the life of me pretend to accept that anyone would do such a thing. He could have saved his friend’s legacy and shown honor to him by saying black robes are that way, since it is they who tried to kill him, but no….
So that is why magic users are shunned by the Knight of Solamnia. It’s a piss pore reason but it is the reason. Well, to make the situation even more convoluted, Emil Ayreshire, his descendant wanted his son Jasper to be a knight, but his son had a mind for business instead and became a wealthy merchant.Jasper tried to ingratiate himself with the Knights of Solamnia, trying to marry into a family, but his personality and behavior was terrible. He was a shyster who ran his business poorly and treated others the same. So the Knights’ families shunned him. This made Jasper want it more, and simultaneously resent them. He was certain that his son would be a knight and be his meal ticket into the knights circle.
Jasper ended up marrying a younger beautiful worker from his mill, who only married him for his money, and got her pregnant. This is where we meet Richard and Louise Feigaard. They are neighbors and also pregnant. When the Ayrshire child is born, the mother runs off with a soldier and the father abandons the son to a wet nurse. This makes Louise feel bad for the baby Devon, and so she brings her baby Huma, named after a renowned Solamnic Knight, around. The two grow up together training and it is instantly clear that Devon is more of a thinker while Huma is more of a doer. Mental vs physical. They are the best of friends and Devon discovers that he has the talent of using wild magic.
We should discuss this for a moment because the way magic is presented is very much like the force. Wild Magic speaks to Devon, literally, encouraging him to take the fast path to power like the dark side of the force. While traditional magic controlled by the gods is more structured and takes longer and more discipline to learn like the light side of the force. Magius struggles between the two constantly. He learns that his ancestor Adrian wasn’t a knight like his father told him, but a mage and he found his spellbook. He tried to use it but couldn’t. He ended up going to the river and calling out to the gods for aid, and Lunitari replied. Yea, the god. She tells him that he needs to stop using wild magic because it’s dangerous and to wait until he is ready and she will instruct him. He is frustrated by this and pretty much ignores it.
His father is verbally and physically abusive to him and finds out he is practicing magic and beats him within an inch of his life. This doesn’t even dissuade him, he just tried to keep it secret. He ends up trying to show Huma and his younger sister Greta who have all been training together and are best friends for years, and his father finds him using magic. He moves to literally kill the boy, and Devon uses wild magic to bring the ceiling down and kill his father accidentally. There is an inquest held by the coroner and the jury found the death to be an accident. The Feigaards take in Devon and he is visited by Lunatari again who starts training him in magic. He then adopts the name Magius like his forefather had.
Book two is about uncovering a greater threat and three distinct character points. First, Huma faces off in a tournament against a bully of a squire, Vantus Gorgoth. He ends up kicking him in the bullocks and beating him. This frames a rivalry that will bear fruit in book three. Second is Greta who secretly pulls a Brave, the disney film, maneuver and dresses up like a boy and enters an archery contest to prove women should be entered into the knighthood too. She wins spectacularly, but is rushed off the field and protected by Magius’ magic. It is also important to note Greta and Magius’ relationship. They are strongly brother and sister, especially from Magius’ mind. Greta asks for a kiss once but other than that one suggestion of a desire to be something else, there are no romantic feelings shared.
Finally, Magius is tested in his knowledge. It is revealed that Lunitari forsake him as a student to force him to learn respect and want. He was simply too great of a mage for his age and she wasn’t sure what to do with him, so she abandoned him. This is an odd move for a teacher, especially a god, but okay. He studies on his own, advancing beyond his years. Then finally the assassination attempt occurs. The Speaker of the Sun sent his nephew, Lord Tharren, a friend of the Feigaard’s, to the High Clerists Tower to share a rumor that the new emperor of Ergoty, Laekar, is aligning with forces of evil, including a black dragon, and plans to retake Solamnia. Most of the knighthood scoffs at the notion, but Richard Feigaard asks to patrol the border lands to make sure there is no threat. They adjourned the meeting with no confirmed plan of action. That night a doppleganger tries to poison Richard looking like Huma. After an investigation, Magius discovers its nature and He and Huma fight it. Richard eventually kills him. It is revealed that the emperor of Ergoth ordered his ambassador to hire the assassin and kill Richard for discovering their plans.
This leads the Order to allow Richard to search the border towns, and he takes Huma with him. Greta, Magius, and Louise all go to Palanthas where Magius studies more, insisting on never being ignorant to his enemies again. He meets a wizard of high sorcery who guides him to a mage shop and he buys a book and components. They return home and when Huma arrives they learn he has been invited to become a knight a year early! Huma is afraid of being a coward for never having been tested in battle and Magius helps him through the fear. The next gathering, Greta signs up for the archery contest as herself and wins afghan, Huma has a great ceremony and becomes a knight, but still needs to take his vigil, and Magius receives his invitation to take the Test of High sorcery.
I think I need to talk about his family, the Feigaards at this point. I do not recognise this family type, and it utterly depresses me. It is what I have tried desperately to create for my children with my wife, supportive, loving, and kind family. But it is nothing like I grew up with, so it feels especially fake. The mother and father are so attentive and supportive, self actualized with perspective that it’s too good of a life to be raised in. And look, I am only speaking of my experience. My parents actively fought me psychologically and physically in some cases. I ran away from home, was put in a hospital against my will, and my brother and sisters were more like inmates from an overly religious warden, than supportive brothers and sisters. It wasn’t till I was out of high school that relationships began to heal, but even then, it has been on and off for the past 30 years. All of this is to say, I want this family to be representative of reality desperately, but for heroes in a fantasy novel, it feels really out of place to me.
This final act is where we get the growing love and romance between Greta and Magius, and I have to say, I buy into it. A lot of it has to do with mutual respect, as any good relationship is born from, but what that means is that you must be willing to let them follow their passions, even if it is dangerous and you may lose them. Anyone who has experienced love will tell you how much that hurts, and how important it truly is. Magius goes to take his Test and Greta has to stand back and accept that this is his destiny. Hoping with all of her heart he returns. And this is one of my big complaints. Every mage who wants to learn more powerful magic must take the Test of High Sorcery. They all know failure means death. They either live and never know powerful magic, or take the test and risk dying. They all choose to risk death, and then either succeed or fail. This is everyone’s understanding of the test.
So when I say Magius never took the test, I mean, he never took the test. The Master of the Tower said he was the most powerful wizard and they couldn’t test him, and this was parrotted by Lunitari. So instead they gave him a choice. Live with no magic, or die for the magic. Not only is this a nonsensical request, it’s what every wizard does! They all risk death, only Magius’ is guaranteed. So knowing he can never forsake the magic, he accepts death. And of course, his gift for making the sacrifice is life. So he took no test. He simply made the same choice every mage makes and is saved for it while others are not. I get he is destined for greatness but this feels like a cop out by the authors. It feels like they didn’t want to devise a complex test or spend the page count for it. You could absolutely challenge him. Every make has to use all their spells in a test, what is tested is their ingenuity and problem solving. That is separate from the magic.
Anyway, he is brought back by the god Lunitari to the family who don’t even react to the fact that a GOD is giving them their son, explaining that he lives and will be fine. Greta just says something like, Did that just happen? Here is another issue I have. We see Paladine and Lunitari and they take direct involvement in the characters, admitting who they are. They say they don’t interfere with mortals’ free will, yet Lunitari actually taught Magius magic. At least Paladine just sat in a church. Anyway, when Magius wakes, Huma goes to do his final act in becoming a knight, his fast and meditation in a chapel of Paladine. There he is met by a silver haired elf who tells him that the gods believe in him and that he should believe in himself as he has a destiny that will live in history. He instantly falls in love with this elf, and we all know it is Heart, and this is their first meeting.This is what I mean when I say you could move from this to the Legend of Huma. For while some situations and names are different, the story beats could still fit in. Now, I don’t think they will fit after the second book, but for now, they technically could. We even see a massive minotaur with an axe on his back who comes literally out of nowhere to pray over Greta’s corpse worshipping Kiri-Jolith. Kaz anyone? And there’s even a mention early on about an uncle that ran off who acted against the knights. I am a bit hazy on this reference, but it could all be variations on themes seen in Knaak’s novel.
Next, they receive a message from Lord Tharren that his spy saw Emperor Laekar travel to a temple of Takhisis and speak with a black dragon named Corro. He is to begin his attack on Solamnia immediately. They take the message to the knights who dismiss it, but send scouting parties to Dargaard and the mountains. Sir Richard takes Huma, Greta and Magius with other knights to the mountains and Magius is using his magic to spy for the enemy. Then Vantus Gorgoth rides up. He was supposed to be headed to Dargaard, but lies saying his father never told him. He wields an ogre dagger which is magical, though he claims ignorance. He is clearly here to either win favor from the Feigaards or valor in battle. Neither came to pass. When they learn that the enemy plans to ambush them, Vantus tries to blackmail the Feigaards and it is thrown in his face. He is set to leave when they are attacked and in the chaos of battle, tries to kill Huma. Greta steps in to stop him and Vantus kills her with the dagger. I found this an incredibly touching moment. First Magius has to compartmentalize his pain, as they were to be wed, they were actually engaged, but there is still a battle to be fought. Huma learns of his sister’s death and sacrifice and is beside himself, but accepts that she is with the gods now. Their father cradles her like a child and I lose my shit.
I have lost a few friends and my father. I know the pain of death. It comes back whenever I read about it or see it onscreen. My empathy and overly emotional self was just hammered by her death. Which is why what comes from it is so frustrating for me. But we will get to that in a minute. Huma believes he kills Vantus by hitting him with an arrow in the back when he flees, but no body is ever discovered. This is a clear signal that he will be part of the Emperor’s army in future novels. They bring Greta’s body home after the skirmish, knowing the main force of the Emperor’s army is headed to Dargaard. When they get back they learn that Dargaard has fallen and there was the black dragon Corro present, just like at their battle. For some reason the Knights council believes a random character about the dragon but not Sir Richard. They agree to let Magius be a War Wizard and fight with the Solamnic Knights.
Now we get to the part that drives me insane. Magius decides to try to use the Device of Time Journeying to bring Greta back. He teleports into the Tower of High Sorcery, steals the artifact and teleports out before the Master of the Tower who is presented as an incompetent bumbling fool can discover or stop him, and the wraith that is supposed to guard over the artifacts barely appears before Magius leaves. How is this possible? Why wouldn’t every wizard that is a renegade or evil plunder the tower on a regular basis if you can do it so quickly? Then Magius visits Greta’s tomb and has a vision of her in heaven, and decides not to use it. Lunitari appears and takes the artifact to put it back. The chapter ends saying he loved her enough to let her go. But he had already done that earlier when they argued over this very thing. Greta wanted to be a knight and go into battle. Magius showed reservation, she threw the engagement ring at him, and he apologised, seeing the error of his ways. This lesson was already learned. Why present it again? This is why I think it was a greater story beat that was rewritten, making me wonder why it was included at all. It could absolutely be removed and actually make Magius a stronger character, preserve the integrity of the Tower of High Sorcery, and the repeated involvement of Lunitari.
We close with a heavy dose of nostalgia bait with the manufacture of the Staff of Magius and the instance on paying homage to D&D 5.5e where artificers are a class insisting that wizards cannot make magical items. This is so dumb. In AD&D wizards could make magic items. In fact, in every edition of the game they could. Why bring artificers into a book that is not supposed to be connected to a game? Then they close with Magius actually doing it with the spell light. So why include all that nonsense in the first place? He had wild magic all along which is what they explain the artificer uses. And now that he uses it, why doesn’t he get in trouble, since it was such a huge point of contention early in the novel?
Look, I really enjoyed this novel. I know I have complaints, but the good outweighs the bad in my opinion and I found myself emotionally involved in a lot of parts, and really enjoying the story. While it certainly isn’t an earth shattering novel on its own, if there are novels that follow it, which there supposedly will be, I am interested in seeing how the story continues. And look, any new Dragonlance novel is good in my opinion. So if you want a massive Krynn shattering novel, this isn’t it and you can skip it. But if you enjoy Knights of Solamnia, the third dragon war, Huma or Magius, I would recommend you reading this novel. There is a lot to like about it.
Outro
And that’s it for my review of War Wizard by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. What do you think of Magius taking Magius’ name? Do you think there were too many nods to Knaak’s version of the novel? And finally, do you think there will be heavy retcons in the next book? Feel free to email me at info@dlsaga.com or leave a comment below.
Thank you Creator Patrons Aaron Hardy & D. Robert Handy, 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).
