The Annotated Legends

Following up on the previous trilogy we now get to explore a character the reader is most interested in, Raistlin. I think by the end of this second trilogy you really come to love or hate this mage. He is a very complicated individual sweating evil darkness with a scent of goodness. Well if you enjoy dark wizardy and wizard battles this is one for you, though you should read the first trilogy, of course. Once again, in this particular edition of The Legends, we get to have the authors riding along with us giving us droplets of backstory and history behind the stories, much like a commentary on a DVD movie. Excellent! I purchased this after already having bought the paperbacks a number of years prior. Well worth the money. A hardback of this edition is also available as the paperbacks don't hold up that well being so large. *This review is being brought over from an old account.

I have read hundreds and hundreds of books in my time, but the Legends Trilogy continues to be the most moving, well-written trilogy of them all. Put shortly, the characters are developed to perfection. In no other books have I recieved the feeling so strongly that the characters I was reading about were absolutely real. If you've read Dragonlance and not read this, you're missing out. I've not read the Annotations, but the story itself is beyond compare. You will not regret the purchase, you can be certain.

I clearly remember reading the Dragonlance Chronicles and wishing for more. Then, along came the Legends trilogy which simply blew me away. The Chronicles paled in comparison to this series, which serves as both prelude and sequel to the chronicles. This treatment of the Legends books is wonderful and is a great excuse (not that one is needed) to revisit this time-travelling adventure involving Caramon, Tas and Raistlin (the most compelling wizard since ol' Gandalf the Grey), along with wonderous new characters such as Dalamar and Crysania, amongst others. This book garners my highest recommendation.

I have to admit I only purchased this because I had missplaced the original books in my home. I was astounded by the notes and additions made by the authors. From time to time, I have heard negative comments about the novels written by the two authors, low level of reading, too high fantasy, etc... I have always followed their writing with pleasure and I have to admit now that I understand some of the background around the stories I have an incredible amount of respect for the writers. If you haven't read the original Legends Trilogy, DO NOT BUY THIS. You will be tempted to read the notes and they are not time sensitive and can ruin some of the fun. On the other hand if you have, they offer a wealth of knowledge about the creation of our favorite characters and how they came about. Excellent read.