Amber and Blood: The Dark Disciple, Volume Three

I read this book the first time and did so quickly. I was eager for my "Dragonlance" fix. It was a mistake. This was a book that has a very ethical lesson for evolution and to help us all at forks in the roads. It is not a book about nicey nicey and even "The Balance" Dragonlance's big moral schtick at first glance will seem forced. But there are many folks and even gods in myth that are equal parts of light or dark.For those of us accustomed to linear time, this book is a bit off. But we need to again look at this book with the lens toward other sources. To gods, all time was time and mythic time could mean a god could have multiple aspects. For example, we have myths of Hermes stealing cattle from Apollon as a kid then claiming he was "just a kid".Mina's quest once she ahs now been revealed in her divinity poses even an ethical dilemma for her. For she was found in an Age of Mortals and genuinely thought and bled like a mortal. Her heroic acts are countless. This was a lady who when she thought she was a mortal took down Malystryx and even the Great Blue Dragon, Khellendros. If we equate her acts to the acts of other mortals in Dragonlance, some will balk. Huma, the series' martyr figure was a divinely blessed Saint of sorts who paid for his sacrifices with death.Mina even in previous showings never quite died. So, there were hints of her divinity even back then.But she was tortured, mentally and spiritually by a Goddess of Evil. This doesn't make her dark or evil and yet even when she traverses the world, she is smart enough and wise enough to know that if her mother ever knew the things she did, she might not love her the same way.Imagine if after doing great things with evil capacities you did have to look your mother in the eye? Or in this case, your father? Imagine also that just like in real life we bond to our parents. Children who are abused will at times idealize their abusers and emulate their behavior. We saw this with Mina and Takhisis. But Mina's journey is about slowly discovering her inner truths. We all do this. And it can be subtle or we can sit behind a veil.Where this ongoing inner alchemy takes Mina has been written.Similar to Persephone abbucted by Hades, though she loves the Underworld, she comes up to the world and brings light and hope. She enjoys the power of life and death. And so in many ways this can be seen as a retelling of a pivotal Persephone manifestation. But at the end this isn't about Greece or Rome, it is about another Myth and that is Mina's.The characters along the way also learn things too. Rhys in particular began this series wounded and angry and this changes. He learns again the value of life and the need to participate within the world. I won't spoil any more but gosh even that dog Atta, is a cool character too.Don't go to quick with this one and naysayers, take off the fanboy lens. Just like how Dragonlance has been around 20 years it is with the hope that its readers have evolved to appreciate a more sophisticated form of story and conclusion.

I can't quite decide how I feel about this last novel, and maybe that speaks volumes in itself. I kept picking it up, reading it, and putting it down to read something else. It felt as if Weis wanted to wrap up events and storylines on a short deadline, and because of this she took out everything that would have built up the climax of events surrounding Mina journey. In the end it felt anticlimactic, and though I'd attached myself to the characters of this book, it was primarily due to the first two books. I loved when Mina stripped Krell of his Death Knight powers in Book Two, very melodramatic. His subsequent transformation to a Bone Acolyte and what followed...not so much...I'm on the fence about this one...overall, would I recommend the The Dark Disciple Trilogy? Only to the hardcore Dragonlance fan or role-playing campaigner. While I initially found the storyline captivating, it failed to maintain the potency of its characters and events. Whereas I've now read the `War of the Souls' trilogy twice now, you won't find me picking up this series for a re-read. It simply lacks the literary credence to find a permanent place on my shelves...

Margaret Weis has accomplished the impossible in this outing; she has created a boring, uninteresting and not particularly likable Kender! What true Kender devotee could ever possibly want to read of a Kender who can pick neither locks nor pockets and who never once in all three volumes shouts out a single even slightly disparaging insult to anyone!It now seems obvious that all these years that I have been devouring the Weiss/Hickman Dragonlance novels; the interesting and fascinatingly enjoyable parts must have all been penned by Tracy Hickman ... whereas the morosely slow, boring and tedious passages must have all emanated......This series very nearly descends into the realm of 'Chick-Lit' with its never-ending passages of weeping, self-doubt and recriminations!

Spine shows signs of having been bent back many times by the previous owner(s). To say that the book was advertised as 'Used - Very Good' is a massive overstatement. Added to this, the type size is so small that I would experience difficulty reading it.

my ideal sci fi fantasy...it kept me enthralled from start to finish

The rate that I am reading these books is stunning. I just can't get enough of them. Well done keep up the very good work.

if you like dragonlance this trilogy is rather good

A great ending to a fantastic series and the final Weis and Hickman trilogy. Weis & Hickman team in the dragonlance universe is a MUST read for all fantasy fans