Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman is the second story in the Dragonlance Chronicles. It continues the adventures of the group of friends who are trying to find some way to battle the dragons that have come back and are terrorizing their world. Getting caught up in the politics of the various regions and races fighting against the dragons the group ends up splitting forces as they each work to find different potential sources for the fabled dragon orbs or dragonlances while trying carefully convince the various regions and races that they should be working together instead of blaming each other. In doing so, many of the adventurers end up realizing what it is that actually matters in the end, something that is different for each of them.
Much like with the first book the story is predominantly told by Tanis and Tasslehoff. Tanis is slowly coming to terms with his mixed racial background and what that might mean for himself and for how he relates to those around him. As part of this Tanis has to face and come to terms with his potential romantic interest in Kitiara, the human warrior, and Laurana, the elven princess from his childhood. Tasslehoff must deal with his growing recognition that he sometimes has to do what feels right even if it may not seem right to everyone else. He faces the fact that sometimes he has to be the one to step forward and do something despite not being the leader that Tanis is. What was interesting in this story is that it also introduces Laurana as a narrator so in various sections we get her viewpoint as a counterpoint to Tanis and Tasslehoff. Laurana, much like Tanis, has to deal with her affection for Tanis but also her growing worry about her having lost his affection due to her previous actions. Tied into this Laurana has to deal with her responsibilities and role as leader when she is unintentionally thrust into that position after the party ends up getting split up. As such Laurana is constantly facing indecision about what to do and doubt about her ability to lead. She also has to come to terms with her emotions possibly influencing her decision and her need to recognize when that may be the case. As you can imagine I was greatly fascinated by the character development and growth that was exhibited by these characters over the course of the story. By showing how these characters feel in regards to their role in the conflict and the decisions each one has to face it really highlights how fleshed out the characters are. Knowing these characters, these heroes, still feel doubt and are tormented by their own indecision allows the readers, like me, a chance to really feel connected with them. It feels like they are just as human, so to speak, as any of us are. Characters with emotional depth to them are one of my favorite elements in literature and that is something this series seems to have in spades. I give this book four out of five stars.
As you can probably gather from what I have already covered, I would recommend this series and this work to other readers. You need to keep in mind that this work is obviously fantasy and probably falls into the sword and sorcery category but if you happen to be a fan than I genuinely think you would probably like this story. If you happen to be a fan of stories with great character development then I would also recommend reading this story as you may enjoy it. As you have probably gathered this story does contain a bit of violence due to the fighting scenes but it is relatively toned down so I don’t think it would be enough to deter people from reading it. The one thing I think might make people reluctant to read this story is the time jump between the first book and this one. I was a little confused at the beginning of the book because of this but the time jump was only a few months and they mostly explained later what happened during that time. If you can move past that it really is a great book and one that I really think fantasy fans would enjoy. For those of you have read it or are familiar with it or the Dragonlance world in general feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. I look forward to hearing what you think.