Mistakes
Even coveted authors mess up…
I must add a pre-introduction as a note. Re-reading Chronicles, though I caught more mistakes, I was astounded by the mistakes I didn’t catch. So many character histories plotted, the whole of Krynn in three books, every place, race, and history given some sort of review. Not only that, there was a tremendous amount of foreshadowing. There were mistakes (there were even one or two spelling errors, but I didn’t write most of those down, because I’m certainly guilty of the same), but when describing an entire world that is inevitable. Still, I can not help but note them…
Well, much as I worship Dragonlance I can’t help wonder sometimes, “Am I the only one reading this that realizes it’s the exact opposite of what they said in a different book?” So rather than freak out silently to myself about this phenomenon, I have decided to tell the world! So here are the things that change from book to book Perhaps this’ll get Dragonlance authors to check themselves a little better…
PS: I get lots of e-mails regarding this section of my page with “explanations” of why these things aren’t really mistakes, etc. I really don’t care. If you e-mail me with a long-winded explanation, I probably will unintentionally never ever respond, as seems to happen. These are quotes of things that don’t match up, in my point of view, because, after all, this is my web page. I love e-mails about my site, but please don’t e-mail me about this section of the page, because, honestly, with everything going on in my life, there aren’t enough hours in my day to care about this. I had fun finding quotes for this (what a decade ago?), but I’ve moved on- have fun with this, but please don’t go crazy.
Check out an article sent to me about the spin off books, that gives an explanation for these inconsistencies.
1. Can the Dargonesti morph in fresh water?
YES according to Mary Kirchoff and Steve Winter’s Wanderlust.
“And it was freshwater, not saltwater, but she could survive a long time…” (236) Selena then goes on to turn into a dolphin in the river.
NO according to Paul B. Thompson and Tonya Cook’s The Dargonesti.
Vixa fails her morph into dolphin form. “‘Naxos said I have to be in the sea!'” (197)
2. Did dwarves enter the Qualinesti kingdom after the Cataclysm and before chronicles?
NO says Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s Dragons of the Autumn Twilight.
YES says Mark Anthony and Ellen Porath’s Kindred Spirits, a book about how Flint met Tanis living with the elves.
Kevin N. pointed out to me that “Dwarves” didn’t enter Qualinesti, a dwarf did. :}
3. Was Darkenwood a popular route?
“NO, NO, NO!!!” says Dragons of the Autumn Twilight
The Companions were the first to go through-
“‘I bet we’re the first living beings to set eyes on this valley.’
‘First living beings,’ Raistlin breathed. ‘You are right there my brother, for you look on Darken Wood.'” (103)
“‘The spectral minions… have allowed no human or elf or kender to enter Darken Wood since the Cataclysm.'” (127) ((the Forestmaster to the Companions))
YES says Mary Kirchoff and Douglas Niles’s Flint the King
Flint travels through the wood after the Cataclysm and before the War of the Lance. “Flint realized that if he did not hurry now, the sun would set before he came to the edge of Darken Wood…” (19)
4. So, Kitiara and Sturm had sex?
Nope. It’s not in the account of the time they spent together before the War of the Lance, as it is supposed to be. Paul B. Thompson and Tonya R. Carter’s Darkness and Light details the whole time they spent together. I read the whole thing wondering when they’d do it and was disappointed to see they didn’t.
Yup, in a number of books we here about the son that night produced, Steel Brightblade, the full story of where he came from is written up in The Second Generation
5. So how old do elves get?
Ok, this gets me really annoyed, they’re supposed to live six hundred years according to some sources, and three hundred according to others. Then there’s Tanis, he should live half as long as an elf, plus half as long as a human, and he seems to live this long until he marries Laurana, when he ages tremendously in about twenty years, before dying in the forth Chronicle. Worse is his son, who is only one quarter human. Elves reach adulthood at eighty, he should reach it at sixty or sixty-five, but in The Second Generation he compares himself to Caramon’s sons who are slightly older than his not yet twenty years. He is virtually a child, and throughout the story they make it seem as though he is older, ending with his being put on the throne at the end.
6. How’d Raistlin end up all golden?
This one’s I think the result of poor planning.
In Margeret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Raistlin tells us, “‘When I awoke,’ the mage said, ‘my skin had turned this color- a mark of my suffering.'” (27)
In The Soulforge by Margaret Weis Raistlin gets it during the Test, not as a “mark of suffering”, but as armor, “the realization came to him that the golden patina had protected him from the fireball.” (332) He notices the armor during the Test, early on, “He noticed, as he moved his hand, that his skin had a golden cast to it, but he did not allow himself do more than remark upon this as a curiosity.” (331-332) He did not simply awaken and find himself mysteriously gold, he became that way during the Test. It is understandable, however, that this one was overlooked, because he did not develop the connection to Fistandantilus until Legends.
7. So the Blue Crystal Staff cures everyone, right?
Sure. Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Weis and Hickman) talks about the evil Hederick the seeker being healed.
“The flames had died instantly. The man’s robes were whole, undamaged. His skin was pink and healthy. He sat up, a look of fear and awe on his face. He stared down at his hands and his robes. There was not a mark on his skin. There was not the smallest cinder smoking on his robes.
‘It healed him!’ the old man proclaimed loudly. ‘The staff! Look at the staff!'” (40)
Nope, a few pages later Raistlin tries to touch the staff and…
“As Raistlin touched the staff, however, there was a bright flash of light and a crackling sound. The mage jerked his hand back, crying out in pain and shock.
… ‘See there.’ Raistlin gestured like an illusionist showing off a trick to the crowd. ‘Only those of simple goodness, pure in heart’ -his sarcasm was biting- ‘may touch the staff.'” (46)
8. What’s that word Raistlin uses to put the light out on the Staff of Magius?
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s Dragons of Autumn Twilight first tells us it is “Dumak” (48), then later says “Dulak” (168), which is used throughout the rest of the series. I prefer the latter, and I think “Dumak” was an editorial oversight.
9. What kind of shadow do dragons cast when in the form of humans?
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s Dragons of Winter Night tells us they cast a dragon shadow.
“The shadow Silvara cast upon the wall was not the shadow of a young elfmaid.
It was the shadow of a dragon.” (246)
This poses many practical problems, since nobody seems to realize that dragons in human or elf form are dragons based on the shadows they cast normally, and indeed, they are not mentioned casting dragon shadows in other books. In fact in The Dragons, by Douglas Niles, a dragon, Darlantan, is mentioned casting a human shadow when disguised as a human.
“For some time, Darlantan amused himself by watching his own human-shaped shadow cavort and gesture on the smooth stone of the cave wall.” (106)
This clash was given to me by my sweet little pal, Mes.
10. This is a mistake, although, it’s not a clash, still, I thought I’d add it, just to give the authors no peace, as I have no peace, constantly having to read the ever increasing number of books (I’m kidding, if any authors actually read this than ignore me and keep writing). On page 10 of Dragons of a Fallen Sun by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, the Song of Death is described as having rocks similar to “black quartz crystals”. Quartz crystals do not come in black, the closest is smoky quartz, which has some black in it, but is not solid black. Quartz crystals are translucent, not “glossy black”. The crystalline black rock from the temple is probably better described as obsidian.
11. This also isn’t a clash, but I had to put it on here anyway. On page 146 of Time of the Twins, Legends Volume I, by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, Crysania’s name is spelled Cyrsania at one point (that’s why you’ve got to put the names in your spell checker). It’s nit-picky, but then, when I misspell a name on my page everyone complains.
12. Here’s more of me being picky, not a clash, but a mistake. On page 164 of The Dragons by Douglas Niles, the gold dragon Aurican thinks about his nestlings. He thinks, “Though, in fact, these youngsters gave him many things to worry about. Callak and Aurican, of course, were strong and proud, and would someday be worthy airs to the silver and gold clans.” Aurican is talking about his heir, Auricus, not himself, and so it should say Auricus, not Aurican.
