Dragons in the Archives: The Best of Weis and Hickman Anthology

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Dragons in the Archives: The Best of Weis and Hickman Anthology
Dragons in the Archives (Dragonlance book).jpg
Cover of the first edition
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Fantasy novel
Media typePrint (Paperback)
ISBN 978-0-7869-3669-4

Dragons in the Archives: The Best of Weis and Hickman Anthology is a fantasy anthology published in November 2004, set in the world of Dragonlance, and based on the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game.

Contents

Contents

Aside from the short stories by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman taken mostly from different Tales and Dragons Anthologies and Dragon magazine itself, [1] the book also features short flashbacks by Jeff Grubb, Douglas Niles, Michael Williams, Jean Blashfield Black, and Jamie Chambers, mostly on how Dragonlance originally came to be. The anthology ends with an interview with Weis and Hickman about the history and future of the fictional world. [1]

Among the stories included in the anthology are "The Silken Threads", "True Knight", "The Traveling Players of Gilean", "Honor and Guile", and "The Story That Tasslehoff Promised He Would Never, Ever Tell". [1]

Reception

Ginger Armstrong of Kliatt magazine gave the anthology a positive review, saying that the stories were "fast-paced [and] addictive". [1] She felt the book would be enjoyable for both old fans and people new to the fictional world of Dragonlance, noting that the essays and interviews provided interesting background information. [1]

Related Research Articles

Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job interview. Tracy Hickman met his future writing partner Margaret Weis at TSR, and they gathered a group of associates to play the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The adventures during that game inspired a series of gaming modules, a series of novels, licensed products such as board games, and lead miniature figures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tracy Hickman</span> American writer

Tracy Raye Hickman is an American fantasy author. He wrote the Dragonlance novels with Margaret Weis. He also wrote role playing game material while working for TSR and has cowritten novels with his wife, Laura Hickman. He is the author or co-author of over 60 books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Weis</span> American fantasy novelist

Margaret Edith Weis is an American fantasy and science fiction author of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the Dragonlance role-playing game (RPG) world. She is founding CEO and owner of Sovereign Press, Inc and Margaret Weis Productions, licensing several popular television and movie franchises to make RPG series in addition to their own.

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Kender are a type of fantasy race first developed for the Dragonlance campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role playing game published by TSR, Inc. in 1984. The first kender character was created by Harold Johnson as a player character in a series of role-playing adventures co-authored by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance shared world novels introduced the kender to readers and players alike, largely through the character Tasslehoff Burrfoot, who became one of the main protagonists in the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sturm Brightblade</span> Fictional character

Sturm Brightblade is a fictional character from the Dragonlance series of role playing games and novels, based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons franchise. The character was created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman and is published by Wizards of the Coast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goldmoon</span> Fictional character

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The War of Souls is a trilogy of New York Times best selling novels published between 2000 and 2002. The trilogy focuses on the titular fictional war set in the popular Dragonlance fictional universe. Like many Dragonlance novels, the War of Souls trilogy can be read as stand alone novels or in series order. The three books in the series are Dragons of a Fallen Sun, Dragons of a Lost Star, and Dragons of a Vanished Moon, all of which were co-authored by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Dragons of Fallen Sun debuted on the New York Times best seller list at 14, Dragons of Lost Star at 12, and Dragons of Vanished Moon at 10.

<i>Dragons of Autumn Twilight</i> 1984 novel by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Dragons of Autumn Twilight is a 1984 fantasy novel by American writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, based on a series of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game modules. It was the first Dragonlance novel, and first in the Chronicles trilogy, which, along with the Dragonlance Legends trilogy, are generally regarded as the core novels of the Dragonlance world. Dragons of Autumn Twilight details the meeting of the Companions and the early days of The War of the Lance. The novel corresponds with the first two Dragonlance game modules, Dragons of Despair and Dragons of Flame, but with a different ending. It introduces many of the characters that are the subject of later novels and short stories.

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The DL series is a series of adventures and some supplementary material for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. These modules along with the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy of novels, which follow one possible adventure series through the modules, were the first published items that established the Dragonlance fictional universe. The original DL series was released from 1984 to 1986, with the final two modules added to it in 1988. In the 1990s these roleplaying adventures from the original series were collected and revised for 2nd Edition AD&D as the three DLC Dragonlance Classics modules. There were also versions of the module series released in 1999, 2000 and 2006.

<i>Dragons of Despair</i> 1984 book by Tracy Hickman

Dragons of Despair is the first in a series of 16 Dragonlance adventures published by TSR, Inc. (TSR) between 1984 and 1988. It is the start of the first major story arc in the Dragonlance series of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) role-playing game modules, a series of ready-to-play adventures for use by Dungeon Masters in the game. This series provides a game version of the original Dragonlance storyline later told in the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy of novels. This module corresponds to the events told in the first half of the novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Its module code is DL1, which is used to designate it as the first part of the Dragonlance adventure series.

<i>Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes</i>

Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes is an anthology of fantasy stories published by TSR, Inc. in 1987. It was published under the Dragonlance brand name and is set in that brand's fictional world of Krynn. It is the eighth Dragonlance novel to be published, and the second book in the "Dragonlance Tales" series, all three books of which are anthologies of stories set in the Dragonlance milieu. The other two books in this series are The Magic of Krynn and Love and War. Unlike the Dragonlance novels published up until that point, the Tales books do not exclusively follow one group of characters, but instead range across the entire scope of the setting.

<i>Love and War</i> (Dragonlance)

Love and War is an anthology of fantasy stories published by TSR, Inc. in 1987. It was published under the Dragonlance brand name and is set in that brand's fictional world of Krynn. It is the ninth Dragonlance novel to be published, and the third book in the "Dragonlance Tales" series, all three books of which are anthologies of stories set in the Dragonlance milieu. The other two books in this series are The Magic of Krynn and Kender, Gully Dwarves, and Gnomes. Unlike the Dragonlance novels published up until that point, the Tales books do not exclusively follow one group of characters, but instead range across the entire scope of the setting.

<i>Dragons of Summer Flame</i> Book by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

Dragons of Summer Flame is a 1995 fantasy novel by American writers Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. The events of the novel follow the fictional Chaos War in the Dragonlance world.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Chambers</span> American game designer

Jamie Chambers is an American game designer who works primarily on role-playing games, contributing in a variety of genres. He served as Vice President of the non-profit Game Manufacturers Association, a trade association for the hobby games industry, from 2007 until 2016, when he chose not to seek re-election. He succeeded Marcus King for the post. Chambers worked with Margaret Weis at Sovereign Press in 1988, then transitioned with her to Margaret Weis Productions (MWP) where he served as Vice President and Lead Designer. While there, he created the Cortex System, a role-playing game ruleset that has been used by MWP since that time.

This is complete list of works by American science fiction and fantasy novelist Tracy Hickman.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Armstrong, Ginger (March 1, 2005). "Dragons in the archives; the best of Weis & Hickman anthology". Kliatt. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved June 2, 2013.