Amber and Ashes is the first Dragonlance book I have read so far. The story follows Mina, whom I think is a bit of an idiot because of her unwavering faith to Chemosh, the Dragonlance setting's god of death. While the book kind of advertises itself to be about Mina and Mina only, Amber and Ashes is also largely about Rhys, a monk of Majere. The story is good, though the "Vampiric Cult" is not really all that vampirish, yes they are undead, but that does not make them vampires. They are more like good looking zombies who can think. Margaret Weiss did a good job of making the book understandable for those who have not read any Dragonlance before or had not read them in a long time. As I said above, the story was enjoyable, perfect for reading on vacation (or when breaking from choreographing a musical as I did), but the writing was average. Also some of the characters seemed a little two-dimensional. I will probably go to the library to grab the sequel, as the ending was a bit of a cliffhanger (don't skip the epilogue). I would reccomend this to fantasy fans who don't mind reading books that have a good story but average writing.

I liked fantasy when I was younger and especially D&D-oriented books. I disliked this book. It felt so cheesy and just churned out, it didn't capture any of the classic adventuring I liked and instead had a cast of rather unlikeable characters without a lot of satisfying plot points. I get why people would like it, it's just not for me.

It has been some time since I last visited the world of Dragonlance. So, it was nice to return to the world of Krynn. Since it has been so long, I do not recall a lot of details from the series (yes, I've read all the pertinent novels leading to this series). Ms. Weis does a decent job of 'reminding' the reader of key details from the past novels. This story is a bit different in that the main character does not have a large part in the first book. It is almost as if Mina begins the story but is not the main focus. One of the things I really like about this story-line is that Ms. Weis focuses on the gods. Rarely do we as readers ever get to find out what those omnipotent beings are thinking. And, oddly enough, these omnipotent beings are not quite so omnipotent. The series explores the interrelationship between mortal and god and why one needs the other more. I will say that Wizards of the Coast (formerly TSR) have some of the worst editors on the planet, apparently. That was truly annoying. But, I was willing to overlook it as it was a Dragonlance tale written written by one of the true authors of the Dragonlance universe.

There were some really great bits in this book, one of them being the awesome two main heroes. Rhys, who is an ex-monk, and Nightshade, a kender who likes to think he can talk to the dead. These two characters were written so great and all their emotions, feelings, and thoughts were shown extraordinarily well! So yeah, overall, not an amazing book at all, and definitely my least favourite Dragonlance book I have read. That being said however, I'm halfway through the second book in the trilogy and that one is pretty amazing so far, and already so much better than this one. I still have faith in you Margaret!

This series is great. It is the only one I was able to read outside of the main Dragonlance series and enjoy.

Took me a bit to get into this book, but now I am enjoying the series quite a bit. On to book two.

ok ok.. its a dragonlance book, I thought I had gotten done secretly reading these after the age of thirteen. My roomie had this book and I ran out of things to read and darned if I didnt get hooked! I had to read the whole series. Guess I just outed my closet dorkdom.lol
But its a good adventure fantasy read.

Dragonlance: the Dark Disciple #1

Good book, nothing that will blow you away, but if you enjoy the style of books Wiess offers, then you'll enjoy this...and I do....'nuff said.

I'm not really one for fantasy series, but this one caught my eye. I really liked the world and the idea of the old gods returning. The narrative is separated into different pov's and that gave the story the variety it needed. I do have to warn readers that, if you haven't read anything in this universe, it can be confusing at the beginning. You're given a little backstory during the book, but you never know all of what really happened before this story begins.

Love stories of fights between the immortal gods and their hand in the lives of the mortals. This story's main character is Mina, from the War of Souls books in the Dragonlance series, and is surprisingly a great read. I couldn't put it down once I started.

very good book in the dragonlance series! i already liked mina as a character and here she again shines throughout the book. she is a kind of an anti-hero, but so admirable, you simply cannot hate her. there are just a few key figures in the story, but they are very nicely portrayed. i of course loved the kender, haha. this surely is a good start to a gripping story and it's sad that i don't have the following volumes. still i enjoyed this book quite a lot. the only annoying thing is the obvious cliffhangers here, haha!