Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes

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US mass market.

DragonLance Tales, Volume 2: Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes is the second book in the DragonLance Tales sub-series where each book is a collection of several short stories, each by a different author, set in the DragonLance universe. The book was published in August, 1987. The cover art was painted by Larry Elmore, the interior ink drawings were drawn by Steve Fabian.

This was the first Tales book I read, and, in fact, the very first DragonLance book I ever picked up. I picked this book as the subject of a book report because I knew a lot of my friends enjoyed the series. However, because I didn't know where the series began, I just picked this book at random from my high school library, not even knowing it was an anthology of short stories. When I got to the end of the first story I realized that I didn't pick a full novel at all. Rather than plow through the entire book, I stretched my book report out so it only covered the first short story. However, I held onto the book, and began reading the other stories over time.

Stories

Title Authors Format Description
"Snowsong" Nancy Varian Berberick Short Story The party is caught in a blizzard without firewood.
"The Wizard's Spectacles" Morris Simon Short Story A dwarf is inadvertently given possession of powerful magical artifacts.
"The Storyteller" Barbara Siegel, Scott Siegel Short Story A storyteller tries to unite various races to rise against the Dragonarmy.
"A Shaggy Dog's Tail" Danny Peary Short Story Tasselhoff tells a story about revenge.
"Lord Toede's Disastrous Hunt" Harold Bakst Short Story Two kender are hunted by a Dragon Highlord and hilarity ensues.
"Definitions of Honor" Richard A. Knaak Short Story A Knight of Solamnia is sent to kill a minotaur, but ends up befriending him.
"Hearth Cat and Winter Wren" Nancy Varian Berberick Short Story The party is turned into animals befitting their personalities.
"Wanna Bet?" Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman Novella Caramon's three sons are caught up in an adventure to recover the Graygem of Gargath after losing a bet to a strange dwarf.
"Into the Heart of the Story" Michael Williams Short Story A foot-note happy gnome write about the origin of the songs of the War of the Lance.
"Dagger-Flight" Nick O'Donohoe Short Story A story told from the perspective of a sentient dagger.

Status

I own this book and have read it.

Review

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

  • The book is fairly enjoyable with a lot of different perspectives and voices in the DragonLance world.
  • "Lord Toede's Disastrous Hunt" is especially hilarious. I love the two kender chatting between each other while imminent doom approaches.
  • "Definitions of Honor" was a lot of fun to read. It reminds me of Star Trek: The Next Generation when the Federation and Klingons speak of honor.

Bad

  • A couple of the stories were a bit too juvenile for me, including "The Storyteller," "A Shaggy Dog's Tail," and "Wanna Bet?"
  • I've tried several times, unsuccessfully, to read "Into the Heart of the Story," but find it to be too aggressively complex to enjoy. Although, I appreciate the attempt at writing from a gnome's perspective.

Ugly

  • Nothing.

Media

Links

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