The Dragons (Dragonlance: Lost Histories, #6) by Douglas Niles

The Dragons (Dragonlance: Lost Histories, #6) Reviews

• 
  Jim C

  This novel takes place in the realm of Dragonlance. It is a telling of the history of dragons from their origin on Krynn to the War of the Lance. It details chromatic dragons and the metal dragons and how these two sides were at constant war.
  
  This was an excellent book as the author does a terrific job with portraying the majestic aspect of the dragons. Even though this book's timeline is many, many years and he goes through several generations of dragons it never read like a history book but more of an epic storyline. The detail he gives to different dragons and their characteristics was a nice touch and a reader can develop a favorite. The feud between the two sides played out throughout the story and I liked how the author described the air battles and the back and forth of one side gaining the advantage.
  
  This book probably received a higher rating from me because it did give me a nostalgic feel and readers who have read the original trilogy will understand why. That being said it is not necessary to read the original trilogy and people who like dragons where they are the main characters will enjoy this novel.
• 
  Ryan

  So it's been over 20 years since I last read a Dragonlance novel. Well, that's not entirely true, but it's close. I'd read the "Holy Six," Chronicles and Legends. I didn't just enjoy those novels, they somewhat shaped my youth along with all 13 of the (original) Dark Sun novels. I'm not sure why I never ventured into the scores of other Dragonlance novels. Nor am I sure why I never even attempted any of the popular (and more mainstream?) Forgotten Realms series. Maybe, in my mind, I couldn't imagine them being as good and didn't want to feel disappointed. To prove this point, I picked up Dragons of Summer Flame a while back and WAS disappointed. It felt like a rehash to me, an excuse to parade out some of the old favorite characters and sell some books. Don't insult my intelligence. Just give me a decent story.
  
  The Dragons is a decent story. Where Summer Flame hits you over the head with old characters saying, "Hear they are! Isn't this great? Your favorite character is back! And if he isn't your favorite... you'll see yours soon enough because the whole gang's here!" Dragons touches on them lightly, occasionally not even naming them, almost like Easter Eggs. They become small, almost insignificant parts of a much greater history, that of the dragons. Which makes sense due to the enormous life-span of these great beings.
  
  I really enjoyed the novel and look forward to examining some of the other histories of Dragonlance I haven't experienced yet.
  
  First Sentence: Crematia awakened to yearning, am awareness of a deep and fundamental need.
• 
  Coti

  Fue un regalo de un amigo, es su libro favorito.
  
  Es un libro que abarca varias generaciones de dragones, a lo largo de miles de años. La historia empieza con el nacimiento de la primera generación de dragones metálicos de Paladine, y de sus enemigos naturales, los dragones cromáticos de la Reina Oscura.
  
  A lo largo de la novela, acompañamos a los dragones de la primera generación en su descubrimiento del mundo exterior y el vuelo, de las otras especies que habitan en su mundo (grifos, elfos, enanos, orcos…), de sus enemigos, la magia… Después, los primeros dragones perecen dejando lugar a las siguientes generaciones, cuyas historias también van a tener su desarrollo e importancia en el mundo de Dragonlance.
  
  Lo cierto es que es el primer y único libro de esta colección que leo. Creo que es un libro que hubiera disfrutado mucho en mi adolescencia, pero no tanto ahora.
  
  Aun así, tiene algo que lo hace agradable de leer, no sé si es que los protagonistas sean dragones, los paisajes descritos, o qué, pero ha sido un buen viaje a pesar de todo.
  
  
• 
  Todd R

  This is part of my reading of the Dragonlance saga in chronological order, and as part of my re-orientation to the world after creating a Tarot deck around the mythic cycle. I've read 75% of Dragonlance at one point or another, but this is one I missed.
  I like Douglas Niles, he does a good job of writing the facts and doesn't treat this kind of fiction as anything but what it is. He's written several other books in the Dragonlance series that I also enjoyed.
  "The Dragons" gives a good foundation to the world of Krynn. This answers questions about the Dragons, the metallic and the chromatic, where they came from, their beginnings, and how through the millenia they changed and existed alongside the other beings of Krynn.
  It was good (relatively speaking of course) and answered a few questions I had always harbored about the world.
• 
  Lady Kitten

  Douglas Niles as usual does not fail to impress. This story of Dragonlance The Lost Histories: Volume 6 tells how both the Metallic and Chromatic dragons came to the world of Krynn and their struggles to master the world they were given to by the gods. Niles knows how to set up the massive fighting between the dragons and the time frames that have passed since dragons live thousands of years. Open this book to find out the fate of Krynn it will not disappoint.
• 
  Andrew

  The middle of the book is pretty good. The beginning is strange and doesn't quite fit in well with the canon of the DragonLance world. It seems weird to me that dragons of different metals would be raised in the same nest... But it was a fun candy book
• 
  Joel Norden

  Another great book by Douglas Niles! I recommend for anyone who enjoys Dragonlance and it's dragons!
  
  Spoilers!!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Gilthanas and Silvara showing up near the end off this book within the Dragon isles made my day! I was so happy. lol
• 
  Philana Walker

  One word... Dragons!
• 
  Jamie

  This was the book that probably really began my obsession for dragons. It is a must read for any dragon fans out there.
• 
  Bradley

  Great story but the book is falling apart. =( I need to find another copy.
• 
  Fco. Salvador

  No digo que no haya historias pequeñas en Krynn, pero mi impresión es que en Dragonlance todo parece supeditado a la narración central ("Crónicas", "Leyendas", etc), o al menos a un conflicto principal.
  
  Y nunca fue tan cierto como en "Los dragones", poco más de trescientas páginas surgidas de la mano del tío Niles. La novela narra una gran parte de la historia del mundo de Krynn, desde el nacimiento de las primeras camadas de dragones tras la expulsión de Takhisis al abismo (en torno al 850 AC {Antes del Cataclismo}), y hasta el fin de la Guerra de la Lanza (en el 352 DC). Pero lo hace precisamente desde el punto de vista de diversos dragones, principalmente el dorado Auracan, el plateado Darlantan, algunos de sus descendientes, y en menor medida dos rojos, Crematia y su hijo Fuego Mortal. {Por cierto, ignoro cómo pudo procrear Crematia, si había devorado en el nido a todos los otros dragones rojos}.
  
  Que los protagonistas sean dragones es bueno y malo al mismo tiempo. ¡Son dragones! Vuelan, tienen armas de aliento, pelean con uñas y dientes (literalmente), e incluso hacen magia {aunque me resulta un poco raro que sean unos sortilegios tan... humanos}. Eso mola. Sin embargo, lo difícil puede ser que el lector llegue a sentir empatía hacia unos seres que dormitan durante años, no sienten excesiva atracción hacia los otros, y además están completamente definidos por su color (es decir, todos los dorados sienten aprecio por el conocimiento y la magia, todos los plateados sienten la necesidad de volar y explorar, etc). Por si fuera poco, su única motivación procede de la Reina Oscura: los dragones cromáticos, malvados, luchan por el control de Krynn, porque Takhisis los ha creado así o se lo ha ordenado; los dragones metálicos, bondadosos, se enfrentan a ellos. No parecen individuos, sino meros peones.
  
  Por otro lado, el hecho de que nos cuenten toda la historia de Krynn tampoco es gran cosa. Los personajes están apartados del resto de razas, y únicamente participan de los hechos del mundo en contadas ocasiones. Pero claro, justo esos puntos son los que pueden conocerse leyendo otras novelas, y aunque es interesante ver las apariciones estelares de Huma y algunos de los Compañeros de la Lanza, ni siquiera llegan a hablar; sólo aparecen en escena. Además, no se nos cuentan los hechos que aparecen en otras obras, sino que obtenemos nuevos puntos de vista, marginales, de las mismas circunstancias. Pero de esa manera la novela queda un poco coja; inexplicada si puede decirse así. Saltando de escena de interés a escena de interés, pero luego sin llegar a ver lo verdaderamente importante.
  
  Por lo que respecta a su escritura, el trabajo de Niles es muy bueno. Las descripciones de los combates son vívidas (aunque hacia el final resultan algo repetitivas) y la prosa logra resultar evocadora. Tal vez le falten algunos recursos en la descripción de espacios: los dragones sobrevuelan copas de árboles o se posan en riscos, pero en general conocemos poco de Krynn por esta novela. El mejor elogio que puede hacérsele es que las palabras vuelan ante nuestros ojos, y que en ningún momento resulta pesado o denso. El trabajo de traducción (por parte de Diana Falcón) es impecable.
  
  En resumidas cuentas, una novela interesante y que se lee en un suspiro, pero que merece la pena únicamente si ya se conoce bastante de Krynn por otras obras. Amplía la ambientación al albergar la visión particular de los dragones, pero puede pasarse sin su lectura.
• 
  Sethelarian

  I've decided to go back and start from the beginning, seeing that this was the first novel I had picked out for myself, it was a fitting beginning. Ironic that it was pretty much the beginning of the Era of the world of Krynn as well.
  
  Imho the book was pretty bland, the story was told in the first 75 pages or so and repeated three more times to a point where you knew where the author was going before reading the pages.
  
  Like old cartoon and movies from your childhood, I remembered this as being one of the best books I had ever read. :(
  
  I Look forward to reading some other titles by Douglas Miles to see if this is a trend or a fluke.
  
  Book followed the theme, Good Dragons grow up, Evil Dragons appear, battle a huge battle for two pages, Evil Dragons are banished, then repeat. No real depth to any of these events.
• 
  Kuma Almasy

  Una de las muchas novelas que conforman el universo de la Dragon Lance. He de decir que cogí esté libro con muchas ganas, pero por desgracia me encontré, sin aviso previo, con una especie de recopilación de historias, con los dragones como protagonistas. Aunque algunos de sus textos son interesantes, si es cierto que sino conoces el trasfondo de las historias, acaban dándote un poco igual y se hacen aburridas. Si conoces más o menos el mundo de la dragón lance, ya comienzas a relacionar conceptos, personajes e historias, lo cual le hace ganar mucho más peso a las tramas contadas.
• 
  Jose Mezquita

  En esta novela nos situamos unos 8500 años antes del Cataclismo (AC), para asistir al nacimiento de los primeros dragones.
  
  La historia nos narrará los acontecimientos de esos primeros días y los distintos sucesos vividos por estos enormes seres hasta la finalización de La Guerra de la Lanza.
  
  Una novela que va de menos a más en todos los aspectos, desde lo interesante de la atrapa, al ritmo, incluso al cariño que puedes llegar a sentir por los personajes.
• 
  Jessica

  Purple prose left and right, and none of the characters really lingered long enough for me to feel anything about them. It might be because I'm reading the series in chronological order rather than publication order, but even so. And I can't say I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books by this author, if this is his style.
• 
  Mikaël Goyette

  The multi-generational story was great and looking like it was leading up to the Cataclysm, but then instead came a completely unnecessary time-skip full of absolute nonsense and borderline fanfiction.. what even happened there?
• 
  Carol & Russell

  It was hard to put down.
• 
  Tom Green

  A look into all three dragon wars and even the war of the lance. From the dragons point of view.
• 
  Katie

  I have officially read every one of Douglas Niles’ DL novels now that I finished The Dragons! The moment is a little bittersweet as I have deeply enjoyed each of his stories. This one was not my favorite, although that is due to my personal preferences towards stories with knights and elves as the main characters. The Dragons follows both good and evil dragons through a vast swath of time—from their births through the various Dragon Wars and all the way to the War of the Lance. Some well-known characters show up, which was very cool to see. All the while we see these events from the eyes of the dragons themselves. I had a great time reading this one; it fleshed out historical events hinted at in other books as well as deepened the lives and motivations of the good dragons. On a side-note, which I hope isn’t too controversial, the early years of Krynn and the conquering of lands by chromatic dragons reminded me of my earlier readings of the Fifth Age books and the coming of Malystryx and the dragon overlords. Anyway, I really enjoyed reading this one.
  
• 
  Lawrence

  Dragonlance dragons are more than just large scary beast who breath fire. They are divided into good dragons the color of metals (gold, silver, cooper, bronze) and evil dragons of primary colors (red, blue, green, black, white). The can breath fire and ice, acid and lightning. I would tell you more but you would not need to read the book. Find out all the interesting secrets of what makes a dragon belong to the world of Dragonlance.
• 
  Kyle K

  From the first metallic dragons raised in the Grotto and the battle with the Red Dragon Crematia to the War of the Lance 9000 years later, the stories chronicle a few of Krynn's most important events from the dragons side of the affair.
• 
  Sarah Hallgren

  I remember learning to draw dragons by looking at this cover...