Alliances

While I haven't read the entire book, yet, (I really like to savor nice books). I have yet to miss a word. Great use of previously developed characters, integrity with facts, with action and interest on every page. With DragonLance books you never know what your going to get, but Thompson and Cook are awesome. I hope they read this, as I want to thank them! Keep it up!!

Alliances is the second book in the Elven Exiles series by Paul B. Thompson and Tonya C. Cook. I must admit going into this series I was very excited to read about elves again. Having read their two books from the Elven Nations Trilogy, I knew they knew what they were going to be doing when it comes to elves. The majority of the book follows two main groups of elves: Kerian's elves in Qualinesti and Gilthas' elves in Khur. I found to enjoy following the elves in Qualinesti more than those in Khur, simply because the destruction to Qualinesti by humans and the Lake of Death was very interesting to read about. Even though they were also fighting a running battle in Qualinesti, they were at least doing some bit of good to Samuval's forces. Also, it was good to see Porthios back in the Dragonlance novels. He has become very cold elf now, very much like most elves ever written about. The second group of elves in Khur are running for Inath-Wakenti as fast as they can, while being pursued by Khurish nomads. More and more elves continue to be slaughtered along the way, a few hundred here, a few hundred there, you begin to wonder if anyone is going to make it to this fabled place. Eventually though, Kerian comes to the rescue for her husband again, and the elves make it to the valley. One thing I really liked with this whole great march is the strength of character that Gilthas has. It really represents his mother and father greatly. Overall, I rate this book a four out of five. This means that any Dragonlance fan should pick this book up, but needs to read Sanctuary prior to reading this book. Some great books to read prior to this series include Elven Nations Trilogy, Barbarians Trilogy, and War of Souls Trilogy, but this isn't a must.

Thompson and Cook work wonders with all the twists and turns involved with the plot in this spectacular story. The unexpected arrival of an anonymous key character is a fantastical twist in the entire plot. This is a must-read book, indeed.

In have read this book in less then 5 hours. That is not a complimant to me but to the authors who wrote such a good book. *(*SPOILERS AHEAD*)* It was nice seeing Porthios and Alhana again, though what is going on between them is beyond my understanding. I liked the fact that a god shows his face in the book, but who the hell is this god?! I would wager either Habbakuk, god of animals (And sea), or Branchala (or Astarin or Astra among the elves), who in the Elven Nations Trilogy was acounted as their primary god. I didn't like, howerver, what appears to have happened to Planchet. Wapah joining the elves was great. I didn't understand what he, a man of logic, was doing with a religious fanatic like Adala. The Oracle Of The Tree was a nice touch, because that was what made Wapah finnaly leave Adala. It was diconcerting hoever, to read the battles. While I can see how the nomads gathered 30,000 warriors,I don't understand how they got that many horses, and I don't understand how all the Elven cavlary (30,000) disappeared. Th scenes in Qualinesti were great, all of them. this book was a great one, kept me yearning to reach the next page, and I can't wait 'till the next book comes out.

Alliances by Paul Thompson and Tonya Cook is the second book in the Elven Exiles trilogy. The first book is Sanctuary, the third will be released in June of 2007 and has yet to be named. This trilogy is set in the Dragonlance world, and for fans of Dragonlance, this book fits perfectly into the world and continues to flesh out already established characters. I will give the same disclaimer that I had for the first book in this trilogy: If you are considering reading this book there are two books that I think you need to read before you read this one. The first is The Puppet King by Doug Niles and the second is The Lioness by Nancy Berberick. These two books set the stage for this new trilogy. The plot of this book follows closely with that of the first book, but broadens the scope of the story more to encompass more characters and a larger, deeper, plot. There was a tremendous amount of set up in the first book, so that being done, the authors were allowed to spend more time really delving into the situation that the elves are facing and how they can get out of it. As with most middle books in a trilogy, this one answers some questions raised in the first book, but raises many more questions and leaves the reader yearning for the next installment. This plot is well laid out, it's concise with not a lot of fluff and gets to the point quickly without slowing the book down. The pace is very good and allows the reader to become quickly enticed and wanting to read more. The characters are well written and hold true to their original versions and also add more depth to the characters. The authors begin to further develop the multi-layered characters and how those characters influence the story. Some authors have a plot that decides where/what the characters do. Other have characters that decide what the plot will be. This book finds a nice balance between being character driven and plot driven at the same time. This adds depth to the story and allows the reader to feel more apart of the story. This is another good edition to the realm of Dragonlance from Thompson and Cook and I have no doubt that the third installment will be equally as good. After numerous Dragonlance books that fell short of expectations recently, it is nice to see, what I consider, quality novels coming out that further the Dragonlance world. If you are a fan of Dragonlance have no fear jumping into this book (provided you read the two novels I mentioned above). If you are new to the Dragonlance world, there are some books I would recommend starting with, but this is certainly a trilogy I would recommend down the road. I didn't like this book as much as the Ergoth Trilogy, but I loved the Ergoth trilogy so that is a high level to live up to. Never-the-less, I say read this book if you are a fan of the Dragonlance world. You won't be disappointed.