Join me as I review Dalamar the Dark by Nancy Varian Berberick live! Share your thoughts on this first novel in the Dragonlance Classics series, released by Wizards of the Coast on January 1, 2000. You can buy a copy here: https://amzn.to/4pVk32n
A talent for magic runs like fire through the blood of Dalamar Argent. Yet he is only a servant in the house of an elvish lord, not worthy of the High Art of Sorcery and denied all but the most grudging teaching.
As war simmers on the borders of Silvanesti, Dalamar will find a way to learn his art. His quest will take him along dark paths toward an awesome destiny.
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga review episode. It is Kirinor, Frostkolt the 24th. My name is Adam and today I am going to give you my review of Dalamar the Dark by Nancy Varian Berberick. I would like to take a moment and thank the DLSaga members and Patreon patrons, and invite you to consider becoming a member or patron. You can even pick up Dragonlance media using my affiliate links. This is my perspective only, and if you have any thoughts or disagree with mine, I invite you to share them in YouTube chat.
What a wonderful novel thus far. I wasn’t sure how much of the world would be involved in Dalamar’s tale, but it is thus far inextricably linked to the fall of Silvanesti. We start with Dalamar as the servant, as is normal in Silvanesti culture, to another servant, though he claims to be lord Eflid. He is upset with Dalamar, as Dalamar refuses to degrade himself to those whom he knows are not his betters, and Eflid is nothing close to equal. Finally having had enough, Eflid tells his Lord Ralan that he no longer wishes to maintain the young elf in his employ. Coincidentally enough a cleric of Eli named Lord Tellin has arrived to speak with lord Ralan. He is in love with Lady Lynntha, but he cannot propose as his house is lower than Lord Ralans, and the Woodshapers never marry out of their class.
Lord Tellin gives a scroll of a song that Lady Lynntha enjoys singing to Lord Ralan to pass along, and he asks a favor of Tellin in return. To take on Dalamar as a servant. This strikes Telin as off, but he agrees. He immediately sends Dalamar to learn more magic, as he wants him to be as useful as possible. Silvanesti can only learn the White magic of Solinari, Red and Black are considered Blasphemous. Even though Dalamad secretly has volumes of black magic tomes secreted away that he studies as possible.
Dalamar approached Lord Tellin about the state of the war in Silvanesti, suggesting he has a plan that may be more effective than what Lord Garan of House Protector is employing. This is shocking and a concern far beyond the scope of a meager servant like Dalamar, but the proposal is so brash that it just might work, and Lord Tellin agrees to present it to th eSpeaker. This is where we get a lot of background on Lorac Caladon and his daily life with Alhana Starbreeze, his daughter. She is clearly a devoted and loving daughter, and Lorac a troubled and tormented king. He wakes from a nightmare about the Dragon Orb, and tells Alhana how he rescued it from Istar when he took his Test of High Sorcery.
Alhana even woke to see him streaming as if in a dream, clutching the Dragon orb, which called out to her as well. She ignored it and made sure her father was put to bed and resting. Lord Tellin and Dalamar arrive and are greeted by the Speaker of the Stars Lorak, Lady Ylle of house Mystic, and Lord Garan of House Protector. They all scoff at the notion that Lord Tellin has anything to offer and are taken aback in shock as Dalamar speaks to the Speaker himself and offers his plan. To Lorac’s credit, he was willing to hear the plan of using illusions to make the Dragon Army believe it is being flanked, then having the actual army flank it for real. This is again, near blasphemous, but the king wants to try it as their current tactics are failing.
We get to know a lot about the Red Dragonarmy, led by Dragon Highlord Phair Caron at this time. She is a devoted highlord to Takhisis and hates elves for having had poor experiences with them as a whore in her youth. She is loved and respected by her troops as much as they fear her. She reminds me of Kitiara a great deal. She is supported by a mysterious mage Tramd o’ the Dark, who uses the dead to project himself into battle, not allowing anyone to see his true form. He discovers Dalamar’s spellbooks that he was hiding. The battle goes off as expected, but the Dragon Army soon discovers it’s all an illusion and their armies are killing each other.
They locate the wizards projecting the spells and take them out, Dalamar is among them, but he is also among the survivors. Tellin is healing as he can, but fears the battle has turned and they must retreat. His continued attempt to bring Lynntha with him proved to be useless, the Dragonarmy routed the forces of Silvanesti, and Tellin fell back as far as the mages area, nearly the only one alive. He saw Dalamar face off against a dragon and its rider. Dalamar cast light, temporarily blinding the beast and rider, and himself. As the rider grabbed Dalamar, Tellin intercepted and killed him, while being killed in the process. Wildrunners found Dalamar and brought him back to Silvanost.
Lorac demanded to know if they could stand against these forces and his commander could not convince him that they could. He sent them off to Southern Ergoth with all the refugees, and stayed there alone to deal with the threat using th eDragon Orb. Alhana left the migration seeking assistance from port cities, and the elves remained in Silvamori in Southern Ergoth for the duration of the war. It was there that Dalamar heard about his homeland being a nightmare, and also freed by a human mage named Raistlin Majere. This stuck in Dalamar’s mind, as he continued to study magic, wondering if he would ever get to take the Test.
THey eventually returned with Porthios to Silvanesti, and it was truly a wreck as rumored. Dalamar went to see if his books were safe, and everything was gone or rotting. He declared himself the student of Nuitari and wildrunners captured him after overhearing it. THey brought him to the capital where he was forced to take the Ceremony of Darkness. This would declare him a Dark Elf, and dead to all Silvanesti. He saw his future in short clipped visions out of context, it was interesting to read but wholly inconsistent with the river of time, as it can change as it flows.
As he was cast out, he wandered the land learning what he could, searching for magic, and ending in Tarsis. He continued to study in the library there, then went looking for the Forest of Wayreth. It eventually found him through a mage named Regene of Schallsea who brought him into the tower and had him wait patiently for someone to notice him. He was delivered to his test which focused on his devolution to magic over his homeland or power. He was transported to Istar, to the Tower of High Sorcery and allowed Lorac Caladon to take the Dragon Orb from it before Istar’s destruction.
When he completed his test he was approached by Ladonna and given the second half of his test, to seek out and destroy Tramd o’ the Dark. He was assisting Kitiara Uth Matar, the Blue Dragon Highlord as she built up her armies. Her victory would end the balance that the Orders of High Sorcery need, and thus Dalamar must side with the balance, and destroy him. He left Wayreth to Tarsis and was followed by Regene. She made a case for her joining him, and he accepted. They ended up having sex and enjoying their time together.
They traveled to the dark citadel where Tramd dwelt and faced off against Blade, a blue dragon. It wounded Regene, but they defeated it, going further into the citadel, until trapped by Tramd. Regene was behind a magical barrier as Tramd gave Dalamar an offer, join them and be a Dragon highlord over any nation he chose. Dalamar refused, and Tramd sent a beast after Regene, who narrowly defeated it. Dalamar faced off against Tramd’s avatar and narrowly defeated it, then met the true Tramd in his chambers. He beheaded the mage, and carried Regene back to the Tower of High Sorcery.
We then pick up where the prelude left off in the epilogue. Dalamar enters the Tower of High Sorcery in Palanthas as the apprentice to Raistlin Majere. A young man feared by all in the Orders of High Sorcery. You truly feel the weight of Raistlin through the other characters’ eyes, and it’s great. He is as bad ass you you ever wanted him to be in this time, and it is so great seeing him through Dalamar’s eyes. The fear, the respect, the desire to learn even as he is betraying him for the balance of magic and the Orders of High Sorcery.
This is a fantastic novel that you have to read if you are a Dragonlance fan. You learn so much about this fantastic mage and the nation of Silvanesti, and even the Orders of High Sorcery. It is well worth your time and the author continues to be a shining example of quality in the Dragonlance Saga.
And that’s it for my review of Dalamar the Dark by Nancy Varian Berberick. What did you think of Dalamar’s journey? Do you think he earned the trust of the Orders of High Sorcery? And finally, do you enjoy how authors depict magic differently from the game Dungeons and Dragons? Feel free to email me at info@dlsaga.com or leave a comment below.
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This channel is all about celebrating the wonderful world of the Dragonlance Saga, and I hope you will join me in the celebration. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time Slàinte mhath (slan-ge-var).
