A review by tiamatq
Chosen of the Gods by Chris Pierson
4.0
After reading the rest of the series, my opinion of this book has gone up quite a bit. It really sets the stage for the story of Cathan and Beldyn. If you've ever read any of the Dragonlance series, you've most likely heard about the Kingpriest and the fiery mountain that was dropped onto Istar as punishment for his demands upon the gods. Well, this is the series that fleshes that out and its probably one of the best crafted of the Dragonlance series.
Chris Pierson incorporates elements of gaming into his stories while also reconciling those elements with the DL folklore (which sometimes varies a great deal from traditional D&D). He also breathes life into characters that have become almost goofy caricatures... Fistandantilus and Beldinas, the Kingpriest. Here we see why Beldinas was so awe-inspiring - and you wonder how it all goes so wrong. We also see that Fistandantilus was cruel, powerful, and calculating wizard... Pierson doesn't shy away from gore that you normally don't find in DL books. But the best character, by far, is Cathan, a young man who throws away his faith when his family is almost completely wiped out by disease and he must resort to life as a bandit. Cathan's role in the story of Istar is much larger than you would ever suspect.
I really enjoyed this series and was actually a little surprised at it. The opening is definitely dry... maybe a little too much description of the opulence of Istar and the fabulous feasts for me. But as things get moving and we see how Beldyn came into power, the story will start to grab you. This was, for me, the weakest of the trilogy, but it was still a good book.
Chris Pierson incorporates elements of gaming into his stories while also reconciling those elements with the DL folklore (which sometimes varies a great deal from traditional D&D). He also breathes life into characters that have become almost goofy caricatures... Fistandantilus and Beldinas, the Kingpriest. Here we see why Beldinas was so awe-inspiring - and you wonder how it all goes so wrong. We also see that Fistandantilus was cruel, powerful, and calculating wizard... Pierson doesn't shy away from gore that you normally don't find in DL books. But the best character, by far, is Cathan, a young man who throws away his faith when his family is almost completely wiped out by disease and he must resort to life as a bandit. Cathan's role in the story of Istar is much larger than you would ever suspect.
I really enjoyed this series and was actually a little surprised at it. The opening is definitely dry... maybe a little too much description of the opulence of Istar and the fabulous feasts for me. But as things get moving and we see how Beldyn came into power, the story will start to grab you. This was, for me, the weakest of the trilogy, but it was still a good book.