Dragonlance
The Dragonlance Saga was the first joint effort of Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman — and remains our most popular work to date.
FAQ:
Where did it all start?
That is a long story …
The first thing to recognize is that history, even when written contemporaniously, is a dubious thing. People have different perspectives and their own memories play tricks with them. There have been a number of published histories about how Dragonlance came to be. Those histories were written from the perspective of their authors, and each of those have their own slant. I can’t say that my perspective is any better than anyone elses (although Dragonlance started with me and I was there for all of it), and I, too, probably have my own slant that comes into my view as well. All I can do is add my perspective and hope that the truth lies somewhere between all the different views.
I first conceived Dragonlance in 1979. I was working as a movie theater manager in Logan, Utah and pretty much starving to death with my pregnant wife and first child. There, to comfort myself and my wife, I created a world where men rode dragons into a tremendous war. It wasn’t much more than a concept then.
My job vanished and there was no prospect of local work. In an effort — literally — to buy shoes for my children, I sent two game modules my wife and I had designed to TSR , Inc. in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I had heard that they might pay as much as $500 for such things.
They offered me a job instead.
While driving my family across the country to Wisconsin — somewhere in Iowa, I believe — I began rehearsing to Laura what I might create for this company that had thrown us a life preserver in the midst of our despair. It was then that the world which would one day become Dragonlance started to take form. What I envisioned that day would certainly change considerably over the years, due to the contributions and creativity of a great many people — but that is where it all began.
Who is your favorite character?
As Margaret says, that’s like asking which of your children is your favorite: they all are loved. Still, each holds its own place in my heart — and I’ll admit to some bias.
I have often said that Sturm is who I want to be; that Tanis is more like me; and that I come across more like Fizban the Fabulous. I also must admit to something of a Kender spirit in me as well.
As to Raistlin — he’s all Margaret’s and don’t let anyone else tell you differently.
What is the philosophy behind Dragonlance?
Dragonlance was originally envisioned with a very specific philosophy which became a standard against which all character actions and plot structures — both in the novels and the games — were to follow. This philosophy is best pictured as a triangle of three points equidistant from each other witha fourth point suspended in the middle of the other three.
While the outter points are seen as somewhat immutable and stationary, the center point constantly swings between the other three.
It is the motion of point D between points A, B, and C that gives motion and life to the structure.
This basic structure, then, is found at a variety of levels throughout the story. At it’s grandest scale, the points on the illustration represent the following elements: (A) Good; (B) Evil, (C) Chaos, and (D) the will of humanity to choose for themselves. Man’s agency of choice is then seen as the motion which drives the universe of Krynn.
At the next level of scale, this structure represents the following elements: (A) The Solamnic Knights and their forces; (B) the Dragonarmies of Takhisis and her Highlords; (C) the world of Krynn in general and it’s population and (D) the heros of the tale whose choices can swing the balance between these points.
At the most intimate level, the points represent the following: (A) Laurana; (B) Kitiara, (C) the other characters and the demands of the world, and (D) Tanis whose choice between those three points determines his fate and the fate of the world in general.
I believe that it was this foundational structure which made much of our Dragonlance works so successful and well received early on. While Margaret and I still envision the world in these terms, we cannot answer for others who have written about the world of Krynn.
How much control do you have over the world?
None. Zip. Zilch. Dragonlance(r) is a trademark of TSR, Inc. (Now Wizards of the Coast, a division of Hasbro, Inc.) and is used here without their permission. They own it. We don’t. It was part of the bargain we agreed to when we signed on for this journey — it was part of the dues we had to pay along the way.
At best, we exert influence over the world, but certainly not control. Recently, however, events have allowed us to have a much more extensive influence that before. With the new Dragonlance novel coming out early in the year 2000, and with our consulting arrangement with TSR now in place, we have the opportunity to influence the world as never before. This is, we gratefully acknowledge, due to the new TSR and their recognition of our past contributions to the world of Krynn.
We are now a peripheral part of the Dragonlance Team at TSR, with whom we consult regularly and work in partnership to create a better Krynn.
Do you make a living off of all this Dragonlance stuff?
Wizards of the Coast, as above, owns all the rights. We make no money off the modules or products which do not directly bare our name. We do get royalties from our books — again, that was all part of the dues we paid when we signed on for this.
Who came up with the Kender?
Kender are a joint creation to a certain extent. Harold Johnson initially thought of them as Hobbits with shoes. I added their ‘borrowing’ lust as a way around the moral dilema of thieves in my games. However, the fullest measure of credit must belong to Roger Moore who did more to define the Kender by far than anyone else. It’s mostly his fault. Find him and have him explain it.
Who came up with Raistlin?
Raistlin simply appeared during an early playtest session of the first Dragonlance module at my apartment in Lake Geneva. Terry Phillips, a good friend of mine, was playing Raist that night in the game and pulled out all the stops, creating the character fully realized before us. To this day, Margaret remembers Terry as wearing black robes that night — which, I know for a fact, he was not.
After that — well, Raistlin belongs to Margaret. I wouldn’t dare presume upon that and you would be well advised not to do so as well!
Are you going to write any more Dragonlance?
Only time, I believe, will tell whether there will be any further Dragonlance books by Weis and Hickman or not. There currently are no plans for such a thing.
Will there be any more Weis/Hickman Dragonlance Novels?
At the present time, Margaret and I are pursuing different projects. As with the above answer, only time will tell when we will be working together again. We remain good friends and still enjoy working with each other. It is just a matter of the right story for us to tell.
Themocracy
I was wondering, do you guys ever plan to maybe work on a world of your own? Maybe not a game in itself aka AD&D but maybe start writing on a brand new world with an all new cast of heros?
Absolutely! I’m working in a new world with Margaret right now in our Dragonships series. I’m also working in a new world with Laura in our upcoming ‘Drakis’ series … which I think you’re really going to like!
Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your Dragonlance novels. I was in high school at the time and instantly fell in love with the world of Krynn. Thanks to you and Margaret Weis for bringing to life such a wonderful series. I’m really looking forward to your newest projects!
Thank you, Al, for your kind words … and for being with us on this incredible journey down through the years.
I’m really looking forward to reading more of your work. Margaret Weis and yourself created such a fantastic world. I have been reading Dragonlance since i was 13 now being 20. You influenced me to write. Thank you
First off Raistlin changed my life. I’m sure you hear it all the time but I was a Flint fan until his demise. From that point on I connected with the small sly acts/remarks of Raist. I finished Hourglass immediately upon recieving it. Just curious your name is on it but a fellow Lance fan says you had no part in it. After arguing that the writing fits he swears you posted on here you did not write it? Could you elaborate for me.
And just off the top of my head I have been reading The Enduring Flame Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory and it is amazing curious who your favorite author would be.
This confusion may stem from the fact that at one time Wizards of the Coast actually canceled “Dragons of an Hourglass Mage” precipitating something of a skirmish online between myself and the publisher. After all the dust settled, however, it worked out well and the book was finally produced … and, yes, I did, indeed, take part in it. As with all Weis and Hickman Dragonlance books to date, Margaret did the actual writing of the text — but this is in large part for consistency of the very ‘voice’ of the writing that you are referring to in your post.
That’s a tougher question! I read a great many different authors but I still have to say my favorite is a Canadian Author from the turn of the LAST century … Stephen Leacock. I find his writing inspiring.
I know you get this quite often..as the above suggests..but thank you simply for not being afraid to throw your vision out there in what has become DragonLance. I can directly relate my picking up the first novel to my being here at Duke University as a first generation college student 7 years later. I am now currently *attempting* to discover why it is there is a lack of scholarly discussion concerning DragonLance by usage of rhetorical analysis. I was wondering, as my research continues, if when y’all wrote the books there was a certain motivation/message that the two of you were working with.
Of course, if you’d like to remain ambiguous [I know I certainly wouldn't want people picking apart my novels] I completely understand.
Good luck with you current projects!
The Dragonlance books are the main reason I want to be a fantasy writer today. Thank you for turning me into a huge fantasy geek. I had to read the end of Spring Dawning about three times before I could believe Fizban was a god and then a felt like an idiot for not guessing it sooner. Anyway I was wondering how do you come up with the names for your characters? Is there a reason why Laurana is called Laurana and Raistlin called Raislin? Also were any scenes in the series difficult to write (Like characters deaths)?
I’m up to date on all of the Dragonlance books. Do you know of any others comming out? I went to wizards web site and I havent seen any Dragonlance books for the rest of the year, kind of getting itchy feet here, surely there must be something out there at least in 2010.
I do not know of any coming out at this time … but will be happy to inform you as soon as I do!
To answer Jamie’s question, it appears that WotC has no plans to do anything new with Dragonlance in the near future. They are republishing several series in Omnibus editions, however–Chronicles will be out this June, The War of Souls in November, and Jean Rabe’s Stonetellers Trilogy next January.
(And Tracy, thanks again for the opportunity to contribute to the DoaVM Appendix.)
Correction: Chronicles is set for July.
First of all, I just want to say that I am a longtime citizen of Krynn, over a decade. I started(oddly enough) with “Dragons of Spring Dawning” and then started from the beginning. I stumbled onto Ansalon by accident,and what a happy accident it was! To “meet” people like Tanis, Sturm, the Majere twins, Laurana, Flint, and Tas was an honor.
I felt that I related more to Tanis. He was more, for lack of a better term, human than the rest. He had flaws, comparable flaws. I loved Tanis. He was my favorite character until “War of Souls” came out, and now Gerard Uth Mondar is my favorite.
As I read the Chronicles Trilogy more and more(at least once a year since 1998), the more I realize they are arguably some of the best books ever written. There’s always something, even to this day, that I miss. It’s like finding a steel piece while looking for Fizban’s hat!
Reading the Chronicles, Legends, and many of the following trilogies and works helped me through many tough personal times, and I can’t thank you, and Margaret, enough.
Thank you for all your hard work, Tracy.
Lifelong citizen of Krynn,
Marty
My sister introduced me to the Dragonlance series almost 10 years ago, and I’m still a huge fan. I was recently drawn back to Krynn when I bought Dragons of Dwarven Depths. I bought the other two books in the series shortly after.
My sister and I actually make time in our schedules to read chapters out loud (I read faster so it’s all done by me now to be able to see what happens next quicker) and we are really enjoying reuniting with all the companions. Thank you and Ms. Weis for the wonderful stories you’ve created.
Dear Tracy,
First of all, I must say apologize for my English, because I am from Czech Republic. But I hope that you will understand what I mean.
I am a very big fan of DragonLance. For the first time I read DragonLance in 2001 when I was 17. Dragons of Winter Night is the most favourite book in the world for me. I laid in hospital and I was waiting for the operation. All days in hospital I just read Dragons of Winter Night and I “fell in love” with DragonLance.
From this time I read DragonLance repeatedly. And when I am sad, I begin to read about Sturm, Tanis, Tass, Flint and the others and it helps me. They are like my family to me.
What does DragonLance mean for me? DragonLance changed my life.DragonLance showed me how to be better person and I try to be better person every day. And I am very proud that I can discover the magic of Krynn.
I want to thank you and Margaret and I will look forward to other new tales from DragonLance:-) !!
I think a lot of books from this series may be a great series. Many fans are also thought to be no chance of failure of this construction. Please evaluate this possibility, and you would like to review this project from you.
A final note: We will continue to take an e-mail on this topic.
Dear Mr. Hickman.
. Love the Dragonlance-univers, the characters…oh, man!
I’ve only read about 120 pages of Dragons of Autumn Twilight, but all ready a big fan
I only (so far) got three books (Dragonlance Chronicles Trilogy Gift Set). When I have read these three books, what would you recommend me to read next?
Looking forward to spend a lot of hours in this great Drangonlance-world.
Alle the best to you and your family.
Best regards
Mikkel Rasmussen, Denmark
PS:
You got’ta love Flint:
“Flint sat back down on the stone and began to carve once more. He scowled up at Tanis. ‘Why the beard? You were ugly enough.”
Love the humor
I am most pleased to hear that _Dragons_of_the_Hourglass_Mage_, which is currently available, is indeed your work. I was concerned with the issues surrounding its delay.
History: I was introduced to Krynn before the first trilogy was published. I read short stories in “Dragon” magazine regarding the main characters Tasslehoff and the Majere brothers (late 1980s?). I excitedly awaited the Chronicles.
One of my favourite features is the Dungeons & Dragons connection. Having played D&D in the 70s & 80s, I recognized so many details, especially the roles of Tiamat and Bahamut.
Thank you for decades of entertainment.
Keith
I have purchased and read the third book of the Lost Chronicles because I thought that it was indeed the work of Weis and Hickman.
I am disappointed. Something was wrong. Raistlin and Kitiara are incredibly simplified in this book. Their individual strengths and personalities were different in this book than in all of the other Dragonlance novels.
Also there were many details changed in this book. According to the original Chronicles, Tanis had NOT shaved his beard and he did NOT receive his sword from Alhana. The sword which was caleld Wyrmslayer, NOT Wyrmsbane, which was left in the chest at the foot of the bed of the Speaker of the Sun in the exile location of the Qualinesti Elves.
I have enjoyed the Dragonlance stories for so many years. This will probably be the only book that I will not reread or recommend.
First off, LOVE the original characters and series. My best friend got me started on them in high school and have always had a place in my heart for them. I know it’s almost sacrilege to say, but I enjoyed them more than Tolken’s Hobbit/Rings… that’s about as high of praise as I can give. I’ve given them as gifts to my nieces and nephews and I know they enjoyed them as much as I did.
So, here are the questions… 1) Any plans for getting them out with a good narrator in audio-book format? 2) As successful as a lot of fantasy stories have become, when can we expect to see our favorite characters on the big screen? (Yes, I’m serious… it would be a GREAT project after Jackson releases The Hobbit movies.)
I’ll tell you right now i love all the books but the mage has got my favirite character vote forsure, ruthless to a fault but with a soft spot you guys did a great job with him as well as all the characters… i can tell you love them all as much as I do thanks 4 keeping the story alive…