Book Review

Dragonlance Legends: Time of the Twins

Just finished Time of the Twins, Dragonlance Legends. Are these books getting shorter?
I don't know about this set so far. I'm not like most girls... I don't like romance novels and I was getting a big romance novel vibe off this first book. I sincerely can't relate to the attractions portrayed therein. I understand the device of a good woman attracted to a bad man, but they did such a poor job of making Raistlin truly evil that it doesn't work too well. Selfish and ambitious; chaotic neutral; but not really evil. In the first trilogy and then spilling over into this one we have to assume he's evil just because everyone assures us that he is. But he doesn't do anything too destructive until towards the end.
Moreover, the story itself seems secondary and rushed in order to focus on Crysania's feelings. It even rushes through the erosion of her convictions... she was so quickly and easily committed to Raistlin even though she's supposed to be strong... I think. The time Raistlin spent deceiving Fistandantilus? Skip it for the slender hands. Why was it okay for Fistandantilius to be there anyway during the time when magic users are shunned? Cuz of the vagaries of corruption; just skip it... more touches on the shoulder, please. The events leading to the Cataclysm? Meh... a dozen or so... who cares? - more boo-hoo over Raist's childhood sob stories. (That's an attraction I've never, ever understood.) Shouldn't the battle between Raislting and Fistandantilus have been more epic and detailed? Too hard.. too much thinks... get back to more feels now. And what did Raistlin tell Caramon's Arena friends to poison them against him? A paltry detail to some, but it's little things like this that add character. It seems like they passed up a lot of opportunities for some cool world building (since the world was different before the Cataclysm) in favor of all the raging romantic feelings.
Strike two on leading characters. Crysania isn't much better than Tanis, although I should be grateful that I was spared the details of Porthios becoming his brother-in-law... lol! But there's not as many other characters to fall back on in this book as there was in the original trilogy. Caramon and Tas have to carry the burden for logic as well as comedy and it's a bit of a stretch in some instances.
But I did like Caramon's time at the Arena. And Tas is wonderful as always. It seems a little underhanded using his predicament at the end to hook people (or maybe just me) into finding out what happens next, but I'll go ahead and fall for it and continue with the next two books. The storytelling is still very gripping and I'm enjoying the universe in general. This series could likely get better since the authors make full use of a three book arc to get everything in. We'll see.