Not quite LOTR

 More years ago that I feel like counting, a friend of mine convinced me to read Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis's Dungeons & Dragons tie in series. Mind you, being a geek for a very long time, I was aware of them, but I never got around to reading them. (Frankly, in High School I was much more into Ravenloft than some of the other Fantasy worlds. Although I did enjoy Dark Sun.)

Anyway, I fell in love a decade or so after they were released. 

Then, back in 2004, I happened to meet Ms. Weis at Origins here in Columbus, and she signed a copy of The Annotated Chronicles for me. 

For those not versed in such geek esoterica, DragonLance is/was a D&D setting on the world of Krynn. Basic high fantasy, but unlike other worlds, Dragons played a much bigger role in the world. They also made changes to playable races, such as turning Halflings into Kender, Gnomes into engineers, and of course, Draconians, horribly transformed baby metallic dragons shaped into humanoid forms. 

In the annotations, the original authors and a few developers chime in with the world building they did prior too the novels and the modules that came out of the story. Indeed, they mention a seminar on Tolkien and Campbell as inspirations for the general flow of the novels. 

As this is an omnibus with annotations, let's start with book 1, Dragons of the Autumn Twilight. This gives us some standard D&D tropes, such as all the major characters meeting in an inn. (Minus Kitiara, whom we meet late in book 2. Her shadow is long, however, as she is both Tanis Half Elven's former lover and half sister to Caramon and Raistlin.) In Krynn, the Gods have been gone since the Cataclysm. Into the bar, and a reunion of the characters walk two barbarians with proof of the Gods' return. Adventure ensues.

In book 2, Dragons of the Winter Night, more adventure ensues, as the party splits in twain after the Evil Dragons attack the city of Tarsis. 

In Book 3, Dragons of the Spring Dawning, adventure ensues as the Good dragons return and the party mostly gets back together. 

(This is the short version. The plot is a bit involved to accurately summarize in the space I have.)

Specific plot points still hit all the right notes, as two deaths occur that, while foreshadowed, still are hard to get through, particularly the paladin, who starts off as an unlikable character but becomes a much more engaging character the longer it goes on. The gnomes, with their catapults and nets in place of stairs or elevators remain a fun part. (Indeed, one of the excerpts in the annotations mentions the Gnomes trying to light the entrance to their volcanic home, first by dropping steel into the magma, pouring water from the glacial lake to cool down the hall, then building a big fan to try to clear the steam.) Fizban, the crazed magician, Lord Soth, the scene stealing Death Knight...

The annotations also talk about when the novels catch up with the game materials and contain a few author confessions where they discuss how they would have written a few scenes differently. There's also a revelation about how much of the set up of the return of the Gods was based on the foundations of the Mormon church.

So, on the off chance you like fantasy and D&D and haven't read these, start with the originals, then read the annotated version, since there be spoilers in the side texts.