Dragonlance Reader's Companion: The Odyssey of Gilthanas

Being a fan of Gilthanas (As is everyone who purchase this book is I presume.) This was a heart wrenching book to read. The story takes occurs after the events which took place in the Dragons of Summer Flame and spans over a 15 year period. We find that Gilthanas during the period of the War of the Lance, was the beloved governor of Kalaman, where he flourished as a great leader. By his side was the silver dragon and one of the most sacrificial characters in all of Dragon Lanre lore, Silvara. We find out that during this time, Gilthanas rejected Silvara because she had lied to him about being a dragon. In fear of having his heart broken further, he ignores and mistreats the silver dragon whom eventually leaves his company in attempts to find her own happiness. The odyssey begins in Silvanesti, where he is the prize prisoner of a Silvanesti lord. During this time, Gilthanas has time to reflect and think about his grievous error of mistreating Silvara. A common theme in this book is fate, and as fate would have it, Gilthanas eventually escapes from the Silvanesti prison and embarks on a journey to find him and to live life. Originally, he plans to journey to his homeland and assist his brother in recapturing the ancient elven forest from the hands of the Dark Knights. But he comes across a crossroad and eventually figures that there is only one person...one thing which could give his life true meaning..one pursuit which would lead to happiness...and that was finding his love, Silvara. So our hero embarks on a 12 year journey around the world of Ansolan in search of the silver dragon that he hurt long ago. What unfolds is a tragic, yet gripping story full of lies, deceit, heroism, chivalry, humility, assassins, friendship, romance, destiny, and of love. As you can tell from the negative reviews, Gilthanas never does find Silvara. And as a fan of the romance between the two estranged lovers, it will piss you off to no end. The ending of this book may not be great, but the characterization of Gilthanas as a hero is wonderfully portrayed. In this book, Gilthanas is portrayed in a light that I have to say is the best depiction of a heroic elven male protagonist that I have ever read in a science/fantasy fiction book. He is heroic, humble, chivalrous, charismatic, charming, strong, intelligent, and honorable. This novel shows the product of the his growth as a living being after rejecting Silvara and dealing with the emotional and physical pain and guilt that decision resulted in. Many of the reviewers dislike this book because the ending. Indeed the fact that Gilthanas and Silvara never do find each other is painful. After all of the hardships that Gilthanas endures in this novel, he comes soooo close to finding Silvara, but destiny once again intervenes and prevents that from happening...perhaps because Gilthanas has one more lesson to learn before he is rewarded with eternal love. The book jumps from first person narrative

Reading previous reviews, I have to wonder what sort of Dragonlance fans wrote them. The book itself starts out telling you that Gilthanas and Silvara don't get together, and Weis and Hickman swore to us a long while back we'd not find that bit out anyhow. Granted, the type setter was asleep when they printed this book, and the cover art is the worst I have ever seen on a Dragonlance book. They should have had Larry Elmore, the true artist when it comes to Gilthanas, do the cover, but perhaps it didn't hit the deadline so they had a sixth grader do it for them. And this time Gil's eyes aren't brown (The Chronicles), green (Kindred Spirits), or even hazel (Tales of the Lance), but have become for some unknown reason blue. I have not yet read Dragons of a New Age but look forward to finding out his eyes are gray or violet by then. Still, they start it off as any Gilthanas tale should be started, with a head injury. Our impulsive and impatient elf hero manages to get in his requisite concussions with great style this time. With Gil and his search for his love as a thread, we are then taken through a series of adventures and characters, some new and some familiar, with a mix of emotion and style worthy of our three authors. Gilthanas' complex personality is given more light, and for once, a bit more of an even treatment, than in previous stories where he was only there to move the stories along with tantrums and wounds. As a Gilthanas fan, I was fully satisfied. As for the writing, there are few books, even Dragonlance, which I can't put down. I stayed glued from the opening paragraph until I'd finished it the first night I got it. Then the next morning I picked it up and read it all over again. Of Elves and Adventures is one of the funniest stories I've ever read. As a roleplayer, the Appendix information on places that previously have been only mentions and not places to adventure was both entertaining and informative. I like the new format, and Niles, Miller, and Stan! have delivered on their promise of a great project on my favorite Dragonlance hero. Great work guys.

This book was meant more to fill in parts of Gilthanas' life than to provide an interesting story. It really gave you a lot of information on the life of Gilthanas, which is what it was MEANT TO DO. I believe that Doug Niles did a great job on this source book for the Dragonlance SAGA and ADND campaigns.

I really enjoyed this book a lot, but I just wish that the ending would have better. You really get wrapped up in the story-line and as you are nearing the end of the book you find yourself truly hoping that Gilthanas finds Silvara. But once you reach the last page you realize that the story ends right where it began. On the upside though, the plot is excellent and the appendix of this book proves valuabe to anyone who is role-playing using the Fifth Age Rules. Overall, a great book, I can hardly wait for the continuation!

I've been looking forward to reading about these characters for years! Douglas Niles, Steve Miller, and Stan! have delivered in spades, even if I wish there had been more of Silvara. (The one story withher that was included was excellent, however, and made her appearance in "The Day of the Tempest" make a lot more sense.) Other stories I liked were the one in Kalaman, the one with Linsha Majere (I've been wanting to know more about her ever since I read "Citadel of Light"), and the one set in Missing City. The main character of that one was delightfully creepy. The source sections about the locations Gilthanas visited during his search for Silvara are also excellent and I think they should be interesting whether one plays roleplaying games or not. I think both gamers and readers will like this book equally well. (Oh, and the card game included in the back is a lot of fun.)