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The Soulforge: The Raistlin Chronicles Kindle Edition

by Margaret Weis (Author), Tracy Hickman (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition

4.7 964 ratings

Book 1 of 2: The Raistlin Chronicles

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Discover the early history of Raistlin Majere—one of Dragonlance’s most complicated yet beloved characters—in this prequel to the wildly popular Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends series.

A mage’s soul is forged in the crucible of magic.

Raistlin Majere is six years old when he meets an archmage who enrolls him in a school for the study of magic. Weak and frail, and tormented by jealousy and inadequacy compared to his twin brother Caramon, the gifted boy begins to forge his wizarding skills. But shadows are darkening over Raistlin even as the same shadows lengthen over all of Ansalon.

As Raistlin’s wizarding apprenticeship draws nearer to the end, he must first take the Dread Test in the Tower of High Sorcery. It will change his life forever.

The Soulforge is the first of two novels in The Raistlin Chronicles series, followed by Brothers in Arms.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004J4WNLW
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Wizards of the Coast; 1st edition (October 11, 2011)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 11, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2903 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 418 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #222,868 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,229 in Dragons & Mythical Creatures Fantasy (Kindle Store)
- #1,897 in Dragons & Mythical Creatures Fantasy (Books)
- #4,099 in Sword & Sorcery Fantasy eBooks

Customer Reviews:
4.7 964 ratings

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Margaret Weis
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Margaret Weis graduated from the University of Missouri in 1970 with a BA in Creative Writing and Literature. Following a career in publishing, she became an editor with TSR in 1983. Her hobby is flyball racing. She is captain of the Barkbarians Flyball team and lives with her flyball racing dogs in Wisconsin.
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Tracy Hickman
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`Dragonlance' originators Tracy and Laura Hickman have been publishing game designs and stories together since 1978 - nearly as long as their marriage - and thus started them both on a life of adventure and imagination.
Tracy is a NYT Best-Selling co-author (with Margaret Weis) of many Dragonlance novels including the original `Dragonlance Chronicles', `Dragonlance Legends', `Rose of the Prophet" and "Darksword" trilogies as well as the seven-book "Deathgate Cycle".
Tracy and Laura are remembered together for their role-playing game designs in `Dragonlance' and the `Oasis of the White Palm' series but are perhaps best known for their classic adventure, the original `Ravenloft.' More recently, Tracy has been designing and scripting location-based virtual reality experiences for The VOID, LLC (2015-2022).
Life now has provided them the opportunity to fulfill a dream: to write novels together. Tracy and Laura work from adjoining offices in their home and answer questions on their work through their facebook page.
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4.7 out of 5

964 global ratings

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Dr. Lisa Howard

Another great novel from one of the authors who brought us the world of 🐉 DragonLance 🐉 books

Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2022

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This wonderful book, grammatical errors and all, is a great book of Raistlin Majere's early years before the War of the Lance.
I would encourage readers to first read the Chronicles and Legends books first. For they truly lay the groundwork that this book is based upon, instead of the other way around. It gives an excellent understanding of why Raistlin is the way he is, and why he was the way that he was.
I’m always looking forward to finding more books based in the world of DragonLance books. I have read this book more times than I can count. As with all of the books in the DragonLance series.
When I read these books, it causes me to reminisce about playing AD&D marathon weekends with my friends. Which of course included watching Ren and Stimpy and Southpark cartoons on Saturday mornings and eating my best friends Mother’s baked ziti.
I’m eagerly looking forward to my new next adventure into the DragonLance realm, for it can’t come soon enough…..!

6 people found this helpful

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LoJay22

DragonLance Novel

Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2024

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Came in better shape than I could of hoped for. Cover and Spine in great shape . Thank you very much

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Kevin M. Derby

Fun Return to the Early Days of the Dragonlance Saga

Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2012

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With the Dragonlance novels continuing to be put in omnibus collections and in Kindle form, the books seem to be garnering new life."The Soulforge" by Margaret Weis is one of the better books written after the first two series of books were published. The works cover the youth of Raistlin Majere, the antihero at the heart of the Dragonlance Chronicles and Legends collections. Fans of these books will have nothing to worry about-Weis does little to damage the stories and characters that she and Tracy Hickman fleshed out in those works. This prequel fleshes out some of the backstory of Raistlin, his family and his companions and offers depth and perspective to the original books and the world of Krynn.

Weis is excellent with nurturing characters--especially Raistlin--but she is not as strong when it comes to crafting a plot and there are parts of the book that do little to advance the plot. Raistlin is the main character with his twin brother Caramon (who really could have been better development here) and sister Kitiara (who is fleshed out quite well) in supporting roles. Other "heroes of the lance" appear in "The Soulforge" to a lesser extent but the only one of them who really emerges well is Flint Fireforge.

Despite these flaws, this is a fun return to Raistlin and the world of Krynn. I would not recommend this work to readers unfamiliar with the Dragonlance books-it really serves better as a coda after Chronicles and Legends than as an introduction to them. One other sour note. This book has been out for more than a decade. Somehow in that time, not all typos were caught. It's annoying to say the least.

20 people found this helpful

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Jules Sunseeker

One of my favorite books of all times.

Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2024

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I have this book on kindle but I also had to order the paperback edition because there is still something special about holding a book in your hands and feeling the pages. It has been AGES since I ordered this (2018) in paperback and it was very hard to come by so I am glad to see that it is much more accessible again.

There are some editing errors and what not but it is still a very enjoyable story especially if you love dragonlance. Highly recommend.

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Ms Payne

Just another great Dragonlance book!

Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2023

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I may be biased because I collect DragonLance books, but they are all great. These authors are legendary and I can't wait to read the Destinies series that just came out.

2 people found this helpful

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Princess L. Rowe

Captivating and immersive

Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2023

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Though there are errors in the editing, the story is captivating and immersive. Everyone's favorite Dragonlance character is shown in a different light, though still one some hate to love.

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Austin

Why put a sticker on the spine?

Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2021

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Would have been 5 stars but there was a sticker from the store on the spine that when removed damaged the spine of the book slightly, other than that book is in good condition and came fast. A better spot for the sticker if it is a must would be over the other bar code on the back of the book.

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clint

Here is where to start

Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2023

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This is the book to start with if you want to get into Dragonlance.
Raistlin and Caramon really are the main show of DL. This is how you get started.
Next best beginning is Legend of Huma.

One person found this helpful

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Mr. S. D. F. Motuel

The Soulforge: The Raistlin Chronicles, Volume One (English Edition)

Reviewed in Germany on February 19, 2019

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After reading the Twins and Dragons of series I was amazed to find this series about the beginnings from the Twins! absolutely a great read,

カーズ

レイストリン戦記

Reviewed in Japan on February 13, 2019

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日本語訳版が中々手に入らない為、つい買ってしまいました。レイストリンの幼年期からの苦悩、キャラモンへの嫉妬が生んだ大審問の苦悩は一読の価値ありです。

2 people found this helpful

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Matthew McKeever

Fabulous

Reviewed in Canada on May 31, 2015

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The Soul Forge is a stand alone account of one of the greatest mages ever to walk Krynn. Eliciting a range of emotions, this book, is paramount should you be considering a jaunt through this wide a beautiful world. So get yourself a mug of tarbean tea (or whatever be your poison of choice) and prepare to read this tome cover to cover.

Antonella

Lo cercavo da anni

Reviewed in Italy on May 20, 2015

Verified Purchase

L'ho comprato usato. La consegna ci ha messo un po', come preventivato, ma l'attesa è stata ripagata. Libro come nuovo, pagine leggermente ingiallite e tante tante emozioni!

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Halo572

A strange mix, but overall well worth reading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2012

Verified Purchase

being as, eventually, it does add so much to the existing books.

And the soulforge of the title isn't an artefact or magic item as I thought before reading, it is an analogy of the shaping and hardening of Raistlin's character through his life experiences.

The strange that I refer to is that the book is actually split into 5 separate shorter 'books', covering differing periods of Raistlin's life from the age of six.

Books 1-3, being the first 150 pages of the book, cover his childhood, being discovered by a travelling mage, his tutorage in magic, the fate of his parents and meeting the other characters of the Chronicles.

It jumps quite large time periods and for me was rather domestic and pedestrian, although of interest to put into place the events that are referred to in passing in the other titles.

Book 4 is a very long one at around 160 pages and relates to Raistlin and the companions exposing a fake cult. I thought it was overly long, but it does set the scene for Book 5.

By this point I would have given the book 3-4 stars, but it picks up at the end as the companions meet for the last time and the scene is set for the Autumn Twilight as they all decide which ways they are going to go, to meet 5 years later.

This bit alone ties it into the series perfectly, with Flint sitting on the rock being in my mind whilst reading it. It would be possible to read Autumn Twilight straight afterwards and see it dovetail.

There are also ongoing references to the gathering troubles of the Chronicles which adds nicely to the atmosphere and also weaves it in to make it all relevant.

Book 5 is likely the whole reason most people will have bought the book, yet is only 86 pages long, half of Book 4.

But it does not disappoint and rounds the title off nicely to take it up to 5 stars and for an original reader fills in the gap of the Test that I first read the only sketchy details of 25 years ago.

It ends with 3 pages concerning Astinus and where it fits in in the overall series context. From what I have read of other people, they have missed that this is the official story of Raistlin's life, displacing anything previously written.

It uses the get out that anything else is misreported, misinterpreted or deliberately wrong. Therefore this IS Dragonlance history, despite whatever else has ever been written.

With Books 1-3 so-so, Book 4 strangely overlong for its significance and a short but vital Book 5 to end, this is not just more franchise fodder to be avoided it is vital for any Dragonlance fan and adds detail that will make Chronicles and Legends make more sense.

The last 100 pages is really the only 5 star part of the 408 for me, but overall it makes the rest more than worth getting through.

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The Soulforge: The Raistlin Chronicles Kindle Edition

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Margaret Weis

Tracy Hickman

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