Dragonlance

Publication history

Tracy Hickman developed his world-building technique by writing and self-publishing the modules Rahasia (1979) and Pharaoh (1980), and by writing TSR's Ravenloft module (1983). In 1982, while driving from Utah to Wisconsin to start a job at TSR, Hickman and his wife Laura conceived the Dragonlance universe, combining two long-held ideas: a world built to support a storyline and a world dominated by dragons. TSR's marketing department felt they had enough dungeons but not enough dragons, so Hickman proposed a series of twelve modules each featuring a different dragon. With support from TSR staff including Harold Johnson, Jeff Grubb, Larry Elmore, and others, the project—codenamed Project Overlord—took shape. Margaret Weis, then editing Endless Quest books, joined the group, which decided novels should accompany the game modules.

Media

TSR created Dragonlance as a campaign setting for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in 1982, publishing the first module, Dragons of Despair, in March 1984. The first world sourcebook, Dragonlance Adventures, appeared in 1987. The setting was updated for AD&D 2nd edition in 1989, then converted to the SAGA System in 1996 with Dragonlance: Fifth Age. After the 3rd edition of Dungeons & Dragons launched in 2000, Margaret Weis's company Sovereign Press acquired the license to publish 3rd Edition material in 2002, releasing the Dragonlance Campaign Setting in 2003 for 3.5 Edition.

Wizards of the Coast turned over all responsibility for the setting to Sovereign Press until 2007. No support was provided during the 4th Edition era (2008-2013). In March 2022, Wizards released the PDF Heroes of Krynn as part of the Unearthed Arcana playtest series for 5th Edition, and in December 2022 published the adventure book Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen. The main storyline was predominantly written by Weis and Hickman, including the Chronicles trilogy, the Lost Chronicles trilogy, the Legends trilogy, and the Raistlin Chronicles.

World

Dragonlance is set on the world of Krynn, with most novels taking place on the continent of Ansalon and some on Taladas. The major gods include the High God and his children: good Paladine, neutral Gilean, and evil Takhisis, opposed by Chaos. Evil chromatic and good metallic dragons vary in rarity. Humans are the most common race, alongside elves, dwarves, kender, gnomes, and minotaurs.

Clerics draw power from gods, while wizards derive power from the three moon gods: good Solinari, neutral Lunitari, and evil Nuitari. Hickman used Indonesian in Dragonlance spells. Draconians, reptilian humanoids created by corrupting dragon eggs, serve as troops in wars. Other gods include Branchala, Habbakuk, Kiri-Jolith, Majere, and Mishakal (good); Chislev, Reorx, Shinare, Sirrion, and Zivilyn (neutral); and Chemosh, Hiddukel, Morgion, Sargonnas, and Zeboim (evil).

Krynn's history is divided into five ages: the time of creation, the Age of Dreams, the Age of Might (marked by the Cataclysm), the Age of Despair (including the War of the Lance), and the Fifth Age (the Age of Mortals).

Reception

Dragonlance is one of the most popular shared worlds, with the Chronicles trilogy launching the Dungeons & Dragons line of novels. Along with Forgotten Realms, it is TSR's most popular novel series. According to Marc Oxoby's The 1990s, the series found unprecedented popularity in that decade, with all novels remaining in print and turning Weis and Hickman into literary stars. The hardcover version of Dragons of Summer Flame had a first printing of 200,000 copies.

By 2008, over 190 novels existed in the franchise, with sales exceeding 22 million and appearances on over twenty bestseller lists. Novels have been translated into German, Japanese, Danish, and other languages. Some critics, such as Wendy Bradley of Interzone, have not praised the work. Stephen Hunt noted that the authors receive loathing among fantasy's literary mafia.

Visions of Wonder, edited by David G. Hartwell and Milton T. Wolf, argued that Dragonlance is published under the omnivore theory, where a teenage readership replaces itself every three to five years, allowing subpar novels to reach a profitable audience.