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Est Sularis Oth Mithas

Author: Richard A. Knaak

Long before the Companion’s cozy reunion goes awry in Otik’s tavern, before The War of the Lance, before the Cataclysm, there was a hero who created the first dragonlance. Throughout the Companion’s adventures and fight with the Dark Queen, we heard segments about this ancient, unparalleled knight who rode dragons into battle and who defeated the Dark Queen. For the first time, in The Legend of Huma, we hear the real, unvarnished story about his unlikely rise.

Huma is a Knight of the Crown. He is not particularly advanced nor well liked, but he is loyal, open to learning, and he believes in the Rule and the Measure. He is brave, but untried, and his own self-doubts and questions haunt him. He is also the friend of a distrusted and tarnished mage, the deceptive Magius. Huma is not hero material, much less the man of legends. Yet, he has been chosen, and as the Knights of Solamnia are steadily routed by Takhisis’ rising armies, the world of Krynn is in desperate need of a hero – a man who will accept death defying challenges and maintain his belief and righteousness, a man who will see beyond deception, beyond status, and fight the dark goddess’ entry into this world.

Honestly, I didn’t expect much from The Legend of Huma. His was never my favorite side-story in the Chronicles series. He sounded like an even more flat and unyielding version of Strum. But I needed my dragonlance fix and have already read the “main” books – The Chronicles and The Twins series and even all the Preludes (which are distinctly hit-and-miss). I had to let go of Raistlin and Caramon, the dubious Tanis, the brave Laurana, and move on to new characters, and my hand landed on this book first, so I dove in.

What I got was an unexpected treasure. Huma is actually a well-drawn character, more complicated and yielding than Sturm. He shows human weakness along his journey. He gets hurt. He is afraid. He is unsure. This makes his rise to fame more well-earned, more convincing and epic and dynamic. He is a hero that resonates. We like Huma. We’re attached. So, when the adventures start and the dark forces start challenging him, we’re down for the drama.

Kaz, his unlikely minotaur companion, also adds another excellent element. Minotaurs are part of a hated and violent race; they are normally minions of Takhisis. But through an unlikely rescue, Huma and Kaz bond, and Huma moves beyond the prejudices of his people and starts to open their eyes to a more complex world. Cheesy – yeah, I know it sounds that way. But it’s quite moving, and it works.

And, of course, we get a beautiful fantasy woman who likes Huma (you knew that was coming) and a cool talking dragon. These are a little more staid characters, but it still works. We’re already in love with the story, the setting, the fluidity of the tale, that we’re ready to give our hearts even to the less well drawn, static figures.

The adventures themselves are more episodic, but eventually they all fit together. There is an exceptionally cool moment where Huma faces off against an ancient, underground Wyrm. Plus, we have undead dread wolves and a violent minotaur who is loyal but would love to kill.

Magius is a more disappointing character. He’s just sort of there, with very little back story. Towards the end, his involvement and shift of loyalty make little sense, but it’s the catalyst for a rapidly approaching conclusion. This is where the story gets a bit sloppy and goes from earning our love to some serious “deus ex machina.” But . . . we already knew that this little-heard-of-series was in no way going to match The Chronicles, so it wasn’t a super big deal.

And, of course, what really worked was the telling. This is our beloved world again, with its beautiful cadence, with its bardic stories and elegant lines. We see the world of Krynn and are elated to be back in it, even though 200 years before the Cataclysm feels suspiciously like the exact same world we saw in the World of the Lance. So, Krynn and its culture and people don’t change much (ahem, at all). Maybe we don’t want them too. Maybe we just wanted a feel-good story in a setting that we love. And there, Legend of Huma more than delivers. Onto the next in the series! I am back in my happy place, in my beloved fantasy world. Bring me dragons, minotaurs, and Otik’s spicy potatoes!

– Frances Carden

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Frances Carden
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