#the soulforge

[invictagloriana]

Wholesome young Raistlin, sunkissed, lost in thought.

[meldelen]

The Raistlin Chronicles - A (kinda) brief review

"El joven mago hizo su ronda, administrando jarabe de adormideras a aquellos que tenían dolores, humedeciendo las frentes de los que tenían fiebre, poniendo más mantas a los que tiritaban. Su tacto era delicado y su voz tenía un timbre compasivo que llegaba a los enfermos, que les resultaba creíble. No como la voz de las personas sanas, las robustas, por muy buena intención que tuviesen. "Sé lo que es sufrir - parecía decir Raistlin -. Sé lo que es sentir dolor."

Hard to believe this character will become a heartless arcane monster willing to crush everything and everyone to become a god, but that’s how it went.

After finishing The Raistlin Chronicles, a full volume which actually includes two books (The Soulforge and Brothers In Arms), I would read, without exaggeration, two, three, ten, twenty more volumes about the Majere brothers, and when I’d be finished I’d get down on my knees and say thank you (and then ask for more). I had hardly any memories of this story and I enjoyed it like it was the first time.

The Raistlin Chronicles is the prequel that Margaret Weis - with the collaboration of her husband, Don Perrin - has dedicated to who is her best character in the Dragonlance universe, the mage Raistlin Majere, going back to the origins of his life and the main events of his childhood and youth, which until now had been merely hinted in both the Chronicles and the Legends. Although, as I said, it is a prequel and could be read as a standalone book, it really works best if you have read the end - or near end - of the character’s arc first, i.e. the Chronicles and Legends, at least (and yes I'm talking about six books). It’s much more enjoyable once you know what the character will become, going back to the origins of evil, to invite you to reflect on how someone with so many gifts could be lost in such a way, and what caused it.

You might also think that if you don't like Raistlin - clearly I don't include myself there - then this book is of no interest to you. But the wonderful thing is that even so we are facing a fascinating, moving and engaging story despite everything. There comes a time, sooner or later, when you forget that you are in a world like Dungeons & Dragons reconstructing the story of a mage and his warrior brother and it could really be the story of any orphan, rejected by society, who among poverty and loneliness tries to make his way to survive. Very daily topics are treated with the utmost love and respect, where the quality of the author is seen. Poverty, loneliness, disease, love, jealousy, hate, are elaborated in a way that would serve us for any other scenario in real life.

The Soulforge - cover art by Larry Elmore.

The first part (The Soulforge) tells us about Raistlin's life from the age of six until the moment he passed the Test of the mages in the Tower of Wayreth, when he was practically left ill and disabled for life. The author is careful to remind us that the main character has been tormented - and will always be tormented - by three inner demons: pride, jealousy, ambition; each one worse than the previous and that will be the key to his personal ruin. Therefore, far from justifying him and revealing that darkness and evil were unleashed when he nearly lost his life in the Test, Weis reminds us that the darkness was always there, and that it was fueled by a series of personal misfortunes - Test included - of which many can be blamed, but also himself. And so where darkness is there’s also light: we are reminded that he also has inner virtues; intelligence, courage, perseverance, compassion. Little lights that will play a relevant role in his final redemption.

The second part (Brothers In Arms) that she wrote together with Don Perrin is focused on the first moments of the Majere twins as mercenaries; Raistlin as a battle mage and Caramon as a soldier; after the fateful Test which was an inflection in the history of the two brothers. I have heard many readers complain: this second part is boring, why is there so much military tactics, why are they now also telling us about Kitiara and her personal military career; and finally, why so many secondary characters not fully developed. Well, because it is necessary to give consistency to the story!

Raistlin and magic, cover art by Larry Elmore

It is appreciated that as we watch the brothers enlist as mercenaries in Baron Ivor’s army, we also follow their stepsister, Kitiara, on her ascent to dragon highlord. The second part is not boring for a moment and gives us interesting perspectives on military life and war that, again, would be worth for any other story, real or imagined. Although clearly inferior compared with the first part, this second I also enjoyed.

Flaws? Well, like everything good, it ends - and a little prematurely, since I’d have liked to continue to the starting point of the Chronicles, which would follow it chronologically. Second, that being a prequel, the author cannot escape the temptation to anticipate traits or leave hints of what will end up happening to her character, following her mantra of "the darkness was always there", only, in reality, it wasn't that much. Third, there’s also the temptation to make each event have a transcendental relevance in what will happen next, something that really rarely happens in a credible story. And fourth, there are recurring cliches, such as the need to create a character that works as a substitute for Tasslehoff (the half-kender Scrounger) in the second part, because such a character seems desperately needed to contrast with the bitter mage and his witless brother. Not that it bothers me. I've learned to appreciate this kind of characters, when I hated them before. Perhaps because I’ve not been able to write them well, even if I tried.

Brothers In Arms - cover art by Daniel R. Horne

Anyway, a wonderful, rich, moving book, much better written than - surprise! - the Chronicles and sometimes the Legends, Weis's personal touch is noticeable here, more powerful than when she writes together with Hickman. After all, Raistlin has always been her creature. No one knows him like her.

Highly recommended for Dragonlance fans and especially for Raistlin fans; but also for all those who can identify with the socially marginalized, abandoned of the world, who fought to make their way and, in the fight, progressively lost their humanity.

[tediousreviews]

The Soulforge

Subtitles for this book could include: "The Origins of an Archmage" or "A Series of Terrible Decisions Survived Only by Chance and Divine Intervention" or, for a section in the middle, "The Incel Diaries"

Anyway, the first and most important question about this book is: “Why did the illustrator decide to make Raistlin so beefy?”

The Soulforge is the nth to the nth retelling of Raistlin's early years and his Test to become a mage. And this time it's told solely by Margaret Weis with all of her traditional skill at crafting a story. It's only a shame that the story feels like it's been gone over so many times that it may as well have been not just carved in stone but outright fossilized.

Look, Raistlin's a great character. And a big part of the reason he's a great character is that he's a truly horrible person. He's a seething mass of resentment and ambition and bitter unfocused hatred, who nevertheless remains loyal in his own way to his ideals and the people he feels indebted to. And although it takes him a very long and eventful lifetime and a bit of an afterlife as well to eventually work his way around to becoming an almost decent approximation of a person he does actually make the journey.

But as much as I did enjoy reading this novel, I don't think it helped much for Margaret Weis to spend 400 pages slowly grinding it into our faces that the bitterness and resentment Raistlin struggled with his whole life was entirely his own fault.

His lack of friends? Due mostly to deliberately being an asshole who refused to let anyone be his friend. His youthful failures at romance? Nonexistent, considering he never tried despite being told repeatedly that the many if not most of the girls in his age group were attracted to him.

No, apparently Raistlin was a brilliant and strikingly handsome young man with several powerful connections whose community recognized and valued him greatly and came together to help him in what should have been his greatest time of need. And he never forgave them for it...

Also, this book really rubs in how much of an asshole Par-Salian was.

[noiralei]

Par-Salian: I formed an illusion to show Raistlin the depths of his own hatred and arrogance and I gave him the eyes of the sorceress Raelana.

me: you fucked up a perfectly good mage is what you did. Look at him, he’s got anxiety.

[sooromis]

Young Raistlin. I imagine, that his white robe was more elegance, because it was gift from Antimodes, who has great taste in clothes.

[sequinroberaist]

Par Salian after the test: Don't worry about me tormenting Raistlin, I gave him a magical artifact so everything is okay and it entirely makes up for condemning him to a life of suffering.

[bratqueensikeen]

[nekithamajere]

So, I finally found a copy of this book after over a year of not being able to find it. I started reading shortly after 7pm. It is now 1:40AM, and beyond a couple of pee breaks, I have reread the book from cover to cover. I might do a more in depth analysis later, but I wanted to raise a few points now. -the simple, constant foreshadowing that occured. It hinted at lots of stuff, from all of the Chronicles and Legends, and was excellently done. -Can I just express my love for Lemuel for a minute? I wish we got more than the brief mentions of him in the Raistlin Chronicles. (Ive read at least 16 of these novels, and I havent read anything else about him. Someone correct me if I'm wrong) -Same with 'Weird' Meggin. I think she is an excellent character with a lot of potential. -I also really enjoy the fact that Margaret Weis showed us how Raistlin thinks, how he feels. -I also like that a fanfic writer like me could try to flesh out the time skips. I like that the swathes of time that she sort of just glazes over can be (and has been), fleshed out. -I really enjoyed Kitiara in this. This novel shows a lot of how she thinks and perceives the world, and also shows how viewpoints basically differ from everyone else.