Dragons of Deceit (Dragonlance Destinies: Volume 1)

Dragons of Deceit (Dragonlance Destinies: Volume 1)
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, 2022

Premise: YEAH BABY, LET'S RELIVE THE '90S!

Sooooo, of course I read this. (This is me, after all.) And it's bad. It's kind of a bad book. That I found terribly amusing.

I'll gleefully admit to skimming through much of the first half. Destina (really, that's her name) is a dumb character and I hate her entire deal. I thought about quitting the book entirely, but once I realized what the plot was probably going to involve, I had to keep going. 

Because this might (this is book 1 of a new series, so it ends on a cliffhanger) end up as a rare SECOND in-universe reboot/retcon. Which undoes the need for the first. And that's hilarious.

You see, back in the day there was Dragonlance and for 10 years lots of books were set in the world written by lots of different people. And then MW/TH broke it. Changed the world to be entirely different/darker/dumber. Sure, whatever, you wrote the first books, you can make it so other people can't play with your toys, or maybe it had to match some change in D&D? I don't remember. And other people wrote books in the new version of the world for a bit, and then 5 years later MW/TH came back and changed everything back, in world. (This is the first in-world retcon.)

Later still they came back to write some truly terrible books set in the era that the first books were set in. And yes, I've read all of these books. I think. Some I can't remember for sure.

Anyway, fast forward to 2022 and we have this book. Which includes time travel. And dead characters conveniently not being dead. And breaking all it's own rules. And the implication that they might even UNDO the thing they did that ORIGINALLY broke the setting in 1995. Which.. really? I'm just laughing again thinking about the audacity and ridiculousness of this thing. 

I freaking love Dragonlance, man. This is starting to rival comics for sheer ridonculous twistiness.

Okay, back to THIS book. The main character is dumb, yes, but it's clear that her whole deal is going to be learning to be less dumb. Also, she's kind of a playful take on what if a stereotypical Mary Sue were dropped into a world that doesn't play by her rules. She's strangely beautiful, she's good at many things, she's determined and goodhearted, and really, really obnoxious about all of those things because she's Solamnic (Dragonlance has a nation of paladins and they're insufferable). 

But her self-imposed quest is selfish and idiotic, and all the other characters recognize that. They call her on her bullshit, point out when she's being an idiot, ignore her stupid ideas, and easily resist her feminine wiles. It's pretty funny.

Once older characters start showing up, the book is at least enjoyable. It's still like a weird fanfic or a fever dream, and the way logic was bent and reinvented to put all the characters where the authors want them to be had me rolling my eyes constantly.

But you know what, it's better than I expected. I'll read the next one. 

?? Stars - A Ridiculous Book