Wizard Books

I was a huge fan of the original Dragonlance Trilogy and the Twins Trilogy. Both of those were great!

However, this book is incredibly slow and NONE of the characters are interesting. They aren't heroic, villainous, funny, inspiring, or charismatic.

For hundreds of pages, they tell you that something is going to happen and they keep telling you that something is going to happen. I'd rather read about something happening. Preferably something exciting.

Where is the chemistry bewteen characters?
Where are the epic battles?
Where are the breath-taking landscapes?
Where is the action?

Oh, yeah... in the first 6 books, but not in this one.

Unless you are a serious die hard fan of Dragonlance, avoid this book.

It helps if you have read the Time of the Twins series, but not necessary, I hadn't but i could still follow the story very well. Fast read as it is very intriuging and entertaining.

THis is a great book, but Krynn in this book reminds me of a house you have moved out of. All the walls, doors, and windows are still there, but the furniture is moved around, and different people live in it. Krynn has the same geography as it did in the chronicles pretty much, but without the gods to influence things and most of the characters we know gone, its like I said, the moved out of house. The part that especially saddened me was the Tower of HIgh Sorcery formerly of Palanthas. It was surrounded by the shoikan grove, housing the most powerful wizard who ever lived. Full of Potential. but now, all the artifacts inside the Tower drained of magic, the shoikan grove gone, and the tower in disrepair, it is just saddedening. ALmost nothing can happen from there. But I have read lster in the trilogy and it gets way better. My advice, tough it out, and get to the good later books.

Weis and Hickman again refresh the Dragonlance world. There seems to be a darker tone to this novel, and much more depth than I have read from them in the past. While I don't think that anything can compete with the Chronicles and Legends, this is about as close as you can get. Many of the old familiar characters are back, but it is the new and lesser known ones that get most of the spotlight. You don't get any better when Weis and Hickman are working together on Dragonlance.

I'm going to echo what I've read other people write about the series: the quality of the writing really went downhill since the last time I read a book by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. It reminded me of the difference between the beginning of the Death's Gate Cycle and the end, when they seemed to be rushing through details to finish. I don't know if they needed to be edited a bit more or if they just focused too much on trying to move forward the overly-complicated plot and not enough on the actual writing. The second novel of this trilogy, "Dragons of a Lost Star," is by far the best: unfortunately, you have to get through the 600+ of "Dragons of a Fallen Sun" to get there. The characters are largely uninteresting and unlikeable. In fact, the only reason I liked "Lost Star" as much as I did is that Laurana play such a prominent role; but, I'm invested in Lauarana only from her role in the other DL books not from anything the authors have done here. The final book, "Dragons of a Vanished Moon," had a meandering plot and an ending that seemed completely contrived and overly simplistic. All in all, I should've just stopped with "Dragons of Summer Flame" and called my time on Krynn done.

I grew up having only read J.R.R. Tolken. These books are great! I never picked up another fanasy book thinking how could any another be as good.
It wasn't till last year a friend gave me Homeland. That's were it all started for me. I just started The Legacy. I cannot put these books down. So far I have been immersed in this awesome world R.A. Salvatore has created. Some freinds of mine say they are envious that I am enjoying these books for the first time. I am glad I have many more to go.
I highly suggest Starting right with The Dark Elf Trilogy, Icewind Dale Trilogy, Legacy Of The Drow Collectors Edition, Paths of Darkness, then on to Cleric Quintet. Your in for some great reading!

Overall I enjoyed this series, the first I've read from Salvatore. The characters are interesting and most of it was developed pretty well. My major beef is that the combat lost all interest to me early on - and there's a lot of it throughout the series. The problem is that the odds are always overwhelming and the heroes generally come out of it with a few scratches. Every new battle seemed like it was 5 or 10 to 1. Why not 100 to 1 then? After I realized that the heroes were always going to come out fine, it was just a matter of seeing how it played out, which was sometimes interesting, but mostly just unrealistic due to the odds. [Spoiler] I kept hoping that Salvatore would have the guts to kill off a major character, but even when it seemed like he did, that character comes back. The hordes of enemies can't seem to touch our heroes and they're apparently all imbeciles for not resorting to ranged weapons / more advanced tactics once in a while. You might argue that this is keeping with the spirit of D&D-based games, but I don't think so. You survive in the games by having a well balanced party and ways to get healed.

I have been a fan of this Genre for a long time now. I have been looking for a good storyline that would keep me interested for some time (longer than just one book). This is a great set of stories. The characters are pretty well fleshed out and the action is frequent and descriptive. As other reviewers have stated, the typos and grammatical errors are quite numerous, but they're easy to overlook if you're not too anal about them. I blew through this book rather quickly because it was hard to put down. I highly recommend it.

I received the books earlier than expected and they were in great condition, just as stated.

It arrived in good shape and in a reasonable amount of time. It replaced my copy which had been lost. I am happy with the purchase.

Salvatore brings us once more into the world of Drizzt Do'Urden, one of the heroes of the Icewind Dale trilogy. This final installment brings us, more or less, to where the Icewind Dale trilogy picks up, and helps us to more clearly understand the trials that Drizzt has gone through, which have helped shape his character.

Drizzt has emerged from the Underdark, at last free from the evil machinations of his mother, Matron Malice, the dark elven society and their twisted deity Lloth. He is, but for Guenhwyvar (a magical cat), alone. However, lonliness drives him to seek contact, yet being unfamiliar with surface races, is unsure as to who is good, and who is evil.

He defeats some gnolls who are intent on attacking a small farm, yet this attracts the attention of their leader, a barghest whelp (a magical creature from another plane of existence). While Drizzt is not around, the barghest whelp murders the inhabitants of the farm, leaving behind clues pointing to Drizzt, framing him for their murders. Even though he kills the monsters responsible in revenge for the family's death, Drizzt is unjustly chased. While most of the trackers stop, concluding that Drizzt is innocent, a mean bounty hunter continues on, seeking vengeance on Drizzt for the death of one of his dogs, and the scars he sustained in a fight with Drizzt (even though the bounty hunter was responsible for it himself).

After surviving his first winter, Drizzt is befriended by a ranger, who teaches Drizzt the ways of animals, introduces him to Mielikki (the deity of rangers) and teaches him skills to actually live, rather than just survive. The bounty hunter has not given up, though, and convinces a local orc king to attack Drizzt and his ranger friend. Unsurprised, the two friends, with the aid of Guenhwyvar and the ranger's woodland friends, repel the attack.

After the ranger passes, Drizzt sets out once more, yet this time with hope in his heart that he may truly find a home...yet the bounty hunter is not so easily deterred, and the heritage of his dark elven race proves a difficult barrier to overcome when confronted by fear, prejudice and loathing.

Salvatore does well in helping us understand the psyche of Drizzt, a character beloved by many fans, the battle he must face against prejudice, and the motivation for clinging so tightly to his ideals and beliefs in spite of it all.

My only criticism is that he spends time training Drizzt in the woodland arts and empathizing with creatures, yet Drizzt never really uses those skills thereafter.

Still, it's a difficult book to put down, and a worthy conclusion to the trilogy.

I highly recommend this book (although I would recommend reading "Homeland" and "Exile", the first two books in the trilogy, beforehand).

This book is part of the Legend of Drizzt series, a great series. This is a story of a drow elf, underworld elf, that comes to the surface. However he faces an enemy at every corner because of the reputation of the black skinned elves. But he doesnt find enemies every where, he makes a few friends and this is their story and adventure.

I would say that this is the worst installment in Salvatore's series so far. Why?

The style is too choppy. Scenes that would deserve much more attention - the impact of Kellindil's death, the death of Tephanis - are glossed over and very rushed while other scenes, like the completely nonsensical adventure in the dragon's lair, drag on and on and on.

My second complain would be that the book is too preachy. It tries to tell the reader what's right and what's wrong but it's too heavy-handed and definitely not subtle.

And the way Bruenor met Drizzt? Well, lets just say that if I read this book before the 2nd trilogy, I wouldn't like the dwarf much.

Once again RAS does it agin with another solid Drizzt story. It was not as good as the the first two in this set , but I still enjoyed it very much. I liked the book soo much I went out and bought the next 7 books RAS published on the Dark Elf. This book is not a waste of your time or money, but you need to read the first two of this set to really get a feel of what Drizzt is all about. Although theres not as much darkand evil magic in this one compared to the first two it is still full of adventure

PROS:
Solid plot
Good fight scences with a lot of action
Well fleshed out characters
Good ending
Well paced

CONS;
a few typos ( not a big issue)

an excellent book, all that I was hoping for in a great conclusion, and yet an amazing lead into the crystal shard book.
we have asked and Salvatore has given, a great book for one who loves fine characters, great plots, and above all, a good story.

Im reluctant to call such a genius writers work unamazing,
but this was afterall, his first novel. It reads a little slow compared to most of his other work but its still fairly interesting.
I guess the problem is I really cant feel any danger for the main characters. itsa bit to casual.

The copy I have is a first edition paperback, printed in 1988, but as far as I know, little has changed. I am, sadly, stunned by the poor reviews given this book as part of the "Spotlight Reviews".

Salvatore burst onto the fantasy scene with this book that brings four unlikely heroes together (I'd say five, but Cattie-brie takes a backseat role in this book) - a dwarven king, a human barbarian, a halfling thief and a dark elven ranger. The first three are unsurprising, but a drow ranger? Drizzt, the drow, is truly an unusual character, and the subsequent books (although some are really prequels, outlining his life growing up in the Underdark) highlight this, along with his popularity amongst readers. Salvatore uses Drizzt as a medium to challenge the reader's notions of acceptance, ignorance and racism.

The novel starts out with an attack by the barbarians of the frozen northern tundra against the inhabitants of Ten Towns. Armed with with advance warning by Drizzt, Regis (the halfling) uses a magical gem to persuade the people of the towns to band together in a unified defense against the horde. With cunning and bravery, the humans (with the aid of the dwarves) repel the barbarians. A standard bearer of the barbarians, Wulfgar who is barely 13, survives, and is taken into indentured service by Bruenor, the dwarven king, for a period of 5 years. While this may sound like slavery, Bruenor raises Wulfgar more as a son, teaching him foreign values, humanizing the boy's former enemies which makes Wulfgar question his narrow-minded upbringing, and spares Wulfgar from scratching out a pitiful existence among the decimated barbarians. The time spent at the forge in the dwarven mines also develops the youth to incredible strength.

We then fast-forward five years, and as Drizzt hones Wulfgar's fighting skills, they discover the lead divisions of a horde of monsters (orcs, goblins, trolls, ogres and giants) intent on invading Ten Towns. While usually the monsters would not band together, they are held under the sway of Akar Kessel. Akar is a pitiful human mage, who was too incompetant to even be called an apprentice. However, by chance, he stumbled across Crenshinibon (the crystal shard, to which the title of the novel refers) - an artifact of awesome and terrifying power.

So the four friends - Drizzt, Wulfgar, Bruenor and Regis - must try to somehow unify the people of Ten Towns past their petty, divisive rivalries, and somehow stop Akar and his army of monsters.

I first read this book as I was first being introduced to the game of Dungeons and Dragons, and the setup of characters intrigued me. Salvatore's strengths lie in poking at the human foibles of prejudice, and his one-on-one combat (especially where Drizzt Do'Urden is concerned) are second to none. Granted, he may not rival the likes of Raymond E Feist or Janny Wurts when it comes to large battles, convoluted plots and in-depth discussions on the nature of deities and the workings of magic. However, Salvatore engages the reader right from the get-go with intriguing characters and fast-paced narrative, which makes the book extremely difficult to put down.

I highly recommend this book, especially to fans of D&D.

The Crystal Shard is a fantastic book, especially for those new to the fantasy genre. R.A. Salvatore is at his finest when introduces the world to not only Drizzt but Wulfgar, Bruenor, Cattie-Brie and others. Even though this is not the first book chronlogically in the Drizzt series this is probably the first one you should read. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

At first this story seemed to imaginative but later on after everythings been introduced the story realy begins. I would recomend this for the heavy science fiction fantasy reader.

Series review: The Icewind Dale Trilogy

Yet another excellent series by R. A. Salvatore, set in the Forgotten Realms genre. Some have criticized it for being rather derivative (i.e., Wulfgar the Barbarian = Fritz Leiber's Fafhred, Bruenor the Dwarf = JRRT's Gimli, Regis the Halfling = JRRT's Merry Brandybuck, etc.), but I was able to enjoy the series despite those parallels.

It's not Lord of the Rings, but it's still enjoyable none the less ... and it ranks high among the growing plethora of novels set in the Forgotten Realms sub-genre. Fans of the D20/AD&D (Advanced Dungeons and Dragons) gaming system (by Wizards of the Coast) who like simple, straight-forward fantasy action, with plenty of familiar spells, familiar monsters, and familiar magic items, will enjoy this series.

Salvatore's popular character, Drizzt, makes his first appearance in this series.

This is the last in a wonderful trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. I purchased it to listen to with my 9 year old son during long car trips. I have enjoyed it as much or more than he has! Get the other two books first as they build on one another.

After the 2nd book, I went straight into the 3rd but my hopes weren't high. The 2nd book was really good, but I didn't think it would be topped. However, the 3rd book truly is the best in the series. By the end of book 2, I had the strong impression that the 3 main characters lives would converge and they would end up working together. This happens and in a way I wouldn't have expected.

To sum up the finer points of the book, Kitty is alive and acting as an assistant to an old magician. Here, she learns the fundamentals of summoning, and a brief history of bartimeaus. It's obvious where this is going.

Nathaniel is still power-hungry but there is an internal battle of morality ensuing. He begins to see the flaws of the government he has admired so greatly, and to a much larger degree, the flaws within himself. He discovers Kitty is alive and that Bartimeaus knew of this. With this, their paths converge. It should be noted that in the previous 2 books, I hated Nathaniel...and for good reason. This book changes my entire opinion of him, as I think it will most everyone else who dislikes his character.

It isn't called 'Ptolemy's Gate' for no good reason. We learn in depth why Bartimeaus takes the appearance of the egyptian boy, which is quite an interesting story. We learn about the Other Place, even though the idea is very difficult to wrap your mind around.

There have been plenty of reviews describing the plot. I would rather not give away too much. The experience of reading the book without knowing what will happen is much better than getting the details. It's a great book with a solid ending. I, as well as many others, was a HUGE fan of the Harry Potter series. I was however, less than thrilled, at the 7th book. In my opinion, it killed the story. The ending to this series was quite the opposite. It lives up to it's expectations. It was a refreshing story all around. I've never read anything quite like it. I recommend this story to everyone...especially those suffering "potter withdraws"...but keep in mind, it's nothing like the potter story.

Best of the series. The storyline was great, and I enjoy the partnership/friendship between wizard and djinn. The ending was kind of sad but somewhat appropriate. I highly recommend this book although you may have to persevere the second book (book one wasn't too bad.)

By the time I got this book I thought that I knew the characters well enough to predict the ending (how wrong I was). I read book two and book three after finishing Harry Potter 7, and thought that this series would be very similar. The characters evolve throughout the series and by the end you are surprised in many ways.
This book builds on the other two and makes it even more clear that class privilage is wrong. I missed this message in the first book, but saw some of it in the second, the third book it slaps you in the face. By the end of this book I was surprised where the evolution of the three main characters had taken them, but was pleased. The death at the end, one of of the three, surprised me; not because someone dies, but who dies and why. I was also surprised by the reaction of one of the characters to this death.
I recommend this series to someone who is willing to shake the cobwebs loose from the run-of-the-mill fantasy formula and go in a new direction, I promise you that you won't be disappointed

Book 1: Boy magician goes into training. Britain is ruled by an elite of wealth-&-power obssessed repugnant toads.

Book 2: Boy magician joins the ruling elite, turning into a wealth-&-power obssessed repugnant toad.

Book 3: Boy magician tries to recapture his humanity; kills off many chief repugnant toads. The junior toads step into their shoes, allowing some commoner input.

Yawn.

And: The jinni Bartimaeus is spunky and funny and has some cool stuff to say about the hidden underbelly of history.

As a single book, this is my favorite of the Dragonlance books. The legend of Huma really is a legend. If you like Gerald uth Mundar from the War of the Souls trilogy, you will love Huma, they are basically the same character.

I'm not a huge sci-fi fan but I've read a few sci-fi books over the years. I hadn't read any sci-fi for about 15 years but picked this one up and thoroughly was captivated by the characters, their world, and the storytelling. Huma is absolutely a great story which then prompted me to read his follow up, Kaz the Minotaur, which was another great story!!! Huma and Kaz are two intriguing 'characters' that you get to know through Knaak's detail. Definitely read Huma and then read Kaz!

This is the first of the Dragonlance novels that I have read. I must say that I am rather impressed with this one. The world of Krynn is an amazing world with cool dragons and other awesome creatures. I think Richard Knaak did a very good job of telling the story through the characters, not just about them. Overall I gave it a rating of 4 stars simply because some of the twists, that were a main part of the story were a little to easy to figure out before being revealed through the course of the story. But still a very good story overall.

The Dragonlance Chronicles were so popular that they spawned dozens of prequels, sequels, and "histories" set in the world of Krynn. Unfortunately, most of those not written by Weis and Hickman were mediocre at best. This was one of the rare exceptions - almost as compelling as the original trilogy. Knaak has written other Dragonlance books, and I actually enjoyed them all, but this is his best. Mostly due to the rich subject. Huma was mentioned in the Chronicles as being the hero of Sturm. A legendary Knight of Solamnia, Huma sacrificed himself, and his beloved (a silver dragon) to save Krynn. Knaak gives us the legend, but also the man.

Huma was a flawed human being who rose to great heights on courage and honor. He is a three-dimensional character who is engaging, annoying and riteous at times, and a worthy hero to the story. But, I have to admit, my favorite character here is Magius. Magius may be more well-known simply because Raistlin (my favorite of the original companions) carried "The Staff of Magius" throughout the Chronicles and Legends before it was inherited by Palin. In some ways Magius, as characterized by Knaak, is a rip-off of Raistlin. He's sly, self-centered, incredibly gifted but with a heart buried somewhere beneath the lies. Sound familiar? Yet, he works well for many of the same reasons Raistlin did. Every heroic crusade needs a cynic! His relationship with Huma, while bearing some superficial resemblance to Raistlin and Sturm, is far deeper. Magius truly is Huma's friend, and though he considers Huma a fool most of the time, he stands by Huma's side when it matters most. Magius is the perfect foil for Huma's blinding heroism. He reminds readers that courage and honor come with a high price that most ordinary people are unwilling or unable to pay. Their dialog and interaction provide great humor, as well as making the story flow. It also made the ending bittersweet as well as a bit surprising (despite knowing Huma would die). Another bonus of this novel is that more of the evolution of magic, in terms of the towers, heirarchy, etc, are explored.

Overall, this was an exceptional entry to the Dragonlance Saga. Well worth reading!

One of my favorite books. Even if you are someone who only reads the Weis/Hickman Dragonlance novels, this is the perfect prequel to the Chronicles. Huma and his exploits are mentioned several times, and this tale is a great backstory to explain the battle between good and evil dragons. A great read!

I really liked this book. I'm looking forward to the next one.

Kindle version.

I loved this! The content was amazing, the idea of it was... Incredible! I really, really liked this book! I liked how the author spelt alot of the words diffrently than usaul. One of the most Magykal books I have ever read. Don't think it will be even CLOSE to Harry Potter! It is so far off! Good book! I enjoyed it very much!

I actually ended up enjoying this book quite a lot!
It took me a few more chapters than I would have liked to "get into" the story and the characters, but after a while I found that I did feel invested. I liked the distinct personalities of the characters, and how consistent they seemed to be.
It also took a while to understand the magical world. Two parts to this: one, being the good vs. evil statuses and people, how things came about, and what it all meant. I still feel ther...more I actually ended up enjoying this book quite a lot!
It took me a few more chapters than I would have liked to "get into" the story and the characters, but after a while I found that I did feel invested. I liked the distinct personalities of the characters, and how consistent they seemed to be.
It also took a while to understand the magical world. Two parts to this: one, being the good vs. evil statuses and people, how things came about, and what it all meant. I still feel there is more to it all though, and perhaps these areas will be explored in the later books. Enough came across, however, for the story to unfold as it should have. The second part is how magic works in Septimus Heap's world. I think I got a pretty good understanding by the middle of the book though, so again, it didn't bother me too much. (I still can't decide if the bolding of every magical word was cool or annoying).
All in all I thought the book was written pretty well, and the plot flow was good. It's told from multiple perspectives, which makes for a bit jumpy read sometimes, but pretty much the transitions are smooth. The ending was satisfying, and good. Though a few things were left unresolved, I'm assuming it's for the following books. Hopefully.
There were some things that very young children, or very sensitive children, might be upset about (mainly relating to cute woodland creatures who... we're not entirely sure what their fates end up being). But overall it's a very "G" read (or maybe PG). There is one part at the end that's pretty unsettling, but the fact it's rectified makes it less so.
A few character traits were somewhat irksome, but again, I'm hoping that the author delves into these in the next books (this book did a good job, so I'm trusting that the author will continue in a similar fashion).
Some things were predictable, but others surprising. And at the end of the book is an interesting collection of "whatever happened to" certain characters, "instructions" for various charms, etc.
I'd recommend this book to fans of other "young adult" fantasy, and while I'm not as in love with the book as certain others in this genre, I did find it a very fun read!

My son Ben (7 years old - about to be 8) is voraciously consuming all the kid mystery and fantasy books around. Potter was a huge hit (but we will not let him get beyond 3 until he's a bit older). We were looking for something that had mystery and suspense and magic but wasn't too scary or too heavy. Septimus Heap delivers in a huge way - and the whole family has now blown through Magyk and is well on through the series. My only disappointment is that my son consumed Magyk in less than two days and I was hoping for a week at least. It's a major page turner and manages the trick of having danger and suspense without inducing anxiety or nightmares.

Magyk - the first book in the growing series of Septimus Heap novels is situated in a Tolkien-style magical world of medieval technology humans and a vivid pantheon of light and dark magical creatures (witches, brownies, boggarts, wraiths, talking rats, dragons, enchanted insects, etc...) The society is dominated by a sort of bicameral government of wizards with magical power and a political power dimension of a queen/princess (although it's held by a corrupt tyranny through most of Magyk). I'm not going to give any spoilers but I will say that the protagonists are children (age 10) and various pre and barely adolescent siblings who are smarter than the parental figures who are supportive and avuncular without having enough initiative or insight to spare the kids the lions share of the action. The struggle is the ageless one between good and evil and those elemental forces are echoed in the magyk and the nature of landscapes flora and fauna. The story telling is brisk with great (relentless) pacing. Angie Sage has a great cinematic sense of action and a good ear for dialog. It's a real page turner well pitched for middle school grades. As an adult reading it I found it a tad tame, but basically couldn't put it down until its conclusion. Highly recommended for the right kids (you know who they are) - and well recommended for parents to read it too. Tons of fun.

Magyk is an amazing book that every fantasy lover should love! It's a good book that my whole family has enjoyed. The first book out of the Septimus Heap series is one of the best... Funny, exciting, and adventerous, this book is captivating and magykal!

...HE will return..., May 10, 2001
OH MY RAISTLIN!!!... I mean, OH MY GOD!!! (...sorry, I get those two confused sometimes...) I just came back from Borders and I am in shock! Why Laurana? Why have practically all of the original companions had to meet such tragic demises? Oh, and I don't want to get off on a rant here but now that "The One God" has been revealed, Raistlin will HAVE to come back and destroy this pathetic immortal; and NOT to "save the world" (I say that dripping with sarcasm) but to show that HE should be the one to rule Krynn. Keep those pompous dragons in line and show Mr. Dark Elf (Dalamar)how to REALLY bring magic back to Krynn. Well, I'm done ranting; I guess that I now have to wait A WHOLE YEAR to find out when the best character in all of Dragonlance's history will return in all his glory!!!... thank you.

Dragons of a Lost Star was, as the title says, better than Harry Potter. It's many twists and turns make you instantly want to read more.

I was a big fan of the "One God" and Mina during the beginning but the twist makes you want to scream at the book.

Gerard and Tas are both a little different. Tas was put in the story to make it funny but I didn't like him at all, he was so stupid in his decisions. Gerard was Gerard. Nothing much more I can say, he was a Knight for both sides.

The ending is so sudden it's hard to cope...

Let me preface this by saying that I am a Dragonlance fanatic that owns every book. This trilogy has brought back the return of the gods of Krynn, which is a terrific decision by Weis and Hickman, and one that was somewhat overdue.
It is also, in my opinion, the best set of books since the Raistlin chronicles. Every book built towards the ending superbly, and I would recomend this trilogy as one of the best in the series.
The storyline gained momentum throughout and seldom had lulls of needless filler. It is also good to see the exchange from the heroes of the lance to the next characters that come to the forefront in the war of souls.I love the lance heroes but think that every avenue had been explored to further thier story, but that being said I would never wish that they be written out of future novels.
I became engrossed in the story and finished this book very quickly. I cannot wait to read the third book to see how the story plays out.

It is a good rounded book that "tries" to keep you guessing. Most people said they couldnt figure who "The One God" is but it tells you at the end, i figured out way before then, but i guess that i picked up on all the signs. Its a good sequal to the one before this because it carries on where the first one left off (Dragons of the fallen sun I beleive it was called).

To the One God, its in you we thank for giving us Margaret and Tracy or should we look for another?
Once again we explore another fine addition to the Dragonlance volumes. The War of Souls is a fascinating ride to the return of the old world.
You will be thrilled to know that there is enough Tas in book 2 to keep you laughing and as always making sure nothing of your own has gone missing =)
Mina has returned and is proclaming and conquering in the name of the One God. Who is this one God whom grants powers beyond imgaination. Who is the God that causes men to fear and follow this Mina? The One God is none other than...ah read em!

Good book, similiar to the first one, just some changes. Not a too bad.

I played more than 10 years according to this book.
The ideas and content are good, but the structure is horrible. All those years i had to flip pages, use the index, ask my fellow players to get all the infos in CONTEXT. The book is NOT task oriented and therefore i find it unorganized.
I hope the WotC took council from a Documentation Pro for the new editions ;-)
Still all the info you need is there (somewhere) and AD&D remains my preferred RPG.

The Player's Handbook is the second edition of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons version. It is pretty good, even if I think I still preferred the old one. This is definitely a more polished and streamlined product, and a little bit more haphazard, even if maybe not quite as much fun. Still, it did good things for the product.

Of all the players handbooks that have been produced for the Dungeons & Dragons game, this one is probably my favorite.

The combat system is a streamlined version of the 1st Edition AD&D system. Initiative and surprise are explained well and have the added benefit of being easy to learn an implement. Several spell descriptions from 1st Edition were slightly reworded so that there is now less ambiguity when it comes to what certain spells can and can't do.

One of the best things about the rules in this book is their optional nature. For example, combat can be boiled down to just the basics or you can add a set of optional modifiers to make it more detailed and complex. Either way, the game runs fine.

Non-weapon proficiencies (another optional rule addition) allow the players to customize their characters and quantify specifically what a PC knows or does not know. Secondary skills from 1E are there too in case the DM wants to use them in his or her game.

Many important rules that were left out of the core 1st Edition AD&D books were added in here -- there are now rules for jumping, holding your breath, swimming, etc...

The interior artwork is based on traditional fantasy and is very good for the most part. The blue ink used in some of the art takes a little getting used to... I would have preferred black and white throughout the entire book but that's a minor complaint.

To sum up, the rules in this book are clearly written and easy to learn. There's as much or as little complexity as you want... options allow the DM to customize the game in many ways while still adhering to a set of standard core rules. I give it my highest recommendation.

I bought the third Ed and wished I could have used the pages to wipe my backside.

Second Edition is classic, the best and the final edition of true AD&D playing. Save your 3rd ed money and buy a good used copy of second Ed and keep them sparkling new.

The end of a true Era in imaginative gaming.

I generally only read textbooks about trading. Statistics, technical analysis, calculus etc. However, this very entertaining collection of interviews may be my favorite and most informative read. The stories give re-assurance that an individual can succeed through their own studies, analysis and effort. If you read carefully between the lines, you can figure out how the best in the business are operating and how they are formulating their strategies.

Nutshell review - an entertaining book with lots of insights and ideas from some of the most sucessful market traders. Worth reading.

I am kind of critical to these books. Probably half of the interviews are worthwhile to read. Some trading styles are enlightening. Last chapter is full of BS though. All in all, a good read!

Interviews with some of the world's top traders. A very enjoyable read. It's like talking to the best traders in the world right in your own living room.

David Colletti
Founder
StockTradersHQ.com

I have traded off and on over the years from futures contracts, options on stocks and futures, and stocks. I have used technical analysis, fundamental, and both. I have been in and out of the market because of losses, gains, losses, and said chuck it, I will buy ETFs and Mutual Funds. But I always come back to the market and tech analysis again.

If you have found that you have a real interest in trading/investing and want to make it a career, not just because of the money potential, but because you like the hunt, analysis, and challenge, get this book.

You will read real life stories of people that lost in the start, or lost it all, and then finally figured out the game (that fits their own style) and made millions. There are many PROs in the book that dish out some very insightful information. I can say it sure is encouraging to hear that these folks at times had a rough start but never gave up. Even if you do not want to buy stocks directly and just want to invest in the mutual funds, this book is really a fascinating look at the pros in this business. These folks in this book are the real pros and not just some analyst writing a recommendation to make a days wage.