DRAGONS of SPRING DAWNING (Dragonlance Chronicles, Book 3) (audiobook) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Originally published in 1985.

Audiobook published in 2012 by Audible Studios.

Duration: 16 hours, 26 minutes.

Read by Paul Boehmer'

Unabridged.

I distinctly remember loving this series 40 years ago and excitedly visiting my local bookstore to pick up a new one when they were published. I was an avid player of Dungeons and Dragons and a book series released by the publishers of Dungeons and Dragons was a guaranteed win. As the series continued to print new books, I kept on buying them. I probably owned dozen or so of them.

Somewhere along the way I sold off my Dragonlance collection. I worked part time at a used bookstore at one point and they probably ended up there.

When I found the books in audiobook format, I decided that it was time to revisit these books and see if they held up to my memories of uncritical acclaim.

Synopsis:

In The Dragons of Spring Dawning, the forces of the Dragon Queen are rolling up victory after victory. But, rather than confidently rolling up the scattered forces arrayed against them, they are pausing to search for a man knows as "The Green Gemstone Man."

The companions are still split up. Tanis flees the bedroom (and self-imposed prison) of the self-absorbed Kitiara. He and his friends had previously bought passage on a smuggler ship and Tanis had noted that the pilot was The Green Gemstone Man, unaware at the time that he was the subject of a manhunt.

Tanis and his companions convince the captain to leave port, even though a massive winter storm is expected. Dragons pursue, the storm rages and they steer into a whirlpool.

And that's when things start to get thorny...

My Review:

Was the series as good as I remember? 

No. It's good, but not amazing, especially this last volume. When the stakes were smaller in the first book, the book was better. Don't get me wrong, the situation in the first book was serious, but not as serious as saving the entire world and I think the ending was a bit forced. 

*********Spoilers**********

The idea that the Dragon Queen would stop offensive actions and bring all of her generals and their armies together in one location to impress them with her arrival from the spirit realm is more than a bit ridiculous. I understand that it feeds into the idea that evil is more than a bit self-absorbed so the Dragon Queen wants the admiration and awe of her more than anything else, but...C'mon! She's a narcissistic evil being, not an idiot! Having all of your forces in one place is bound to be trouble.

Also, I have never seen a character more charmed by a good time in bed than Tanis. His adoration of Kitiara after she has demonstrated her true ways goes against everything we've learned about him from the first pages of the first book. The moment when he finds his senses is supposed to be epic - I just wondered why it was even a struggle.

*********End spoilers*********

To be fair, this book has great scenes. The loss of certain characters is touching and well done, The chase scene through the mountains is riveting. In a lot of ways, this trilogy is the story of the growth of Tasslehoff Burrfoot. He grows up in ways that his people rarely do. 

The reading by Paul Boehmer was once again good, but not great. 

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Dragons of Spring Dawning (Dragonlance Chronicles, Book 3) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

I rate the series 4 stars out of 5. There are two more books that were added on to the original trilogy, but I am going to stop right here.