Character Stats

When I found out we had to write about an author’s style of writing it didn’t take me long to decide on who I would write about.  I decided it would be best to just write about the author I was the most familiar with and after looking at my book collection I was very obvious.  The names that came up the most were Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Lucky for me I don’t have to pick between the two because they usually write in collaboration with each other and after having read more than 30 of their books (not counting the ones they wrote separately) it would probably be wrong if I didn’t.

Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman are most well known for creating the Dragonlance series which may be one of the longest running (and possibly nerdiest) fantasy series ever written. When I go into a used bookstore I like to play a game and see if I can find a Dragonlance novel in less than ten minutes. I’ve never lost. That may be because there are more Dragonlance novels than I can count although to be fair many are not written by the two authors themselves.

The Dragonlance novels have somehow managed to stand out, not by being unique or ground breaking, but by being the most generic and stereotypical medieval fantasy books ever written.  Some might think this is a bad thing yet there is something special about the tone of the Dragonlance novels that make them the most fun books I have every read. The real question is “what makes them so fun?”

It’s probably because the entire series is based on a Dungeons and Dragons game. The two writers where originally hired to write a D&D module, with the books being only an afterthought.  Again it sounds like a bad thing but it’s not. It’s hard to explain the appeal behind this to someone who doesn’t have an interest in playing D&D yet I remember being in 6^th grade, wanting to try D&D really badly but having no one to play with (because why would an “all grown up” 6^th grader want to play imaginary games...). Finding the Dragonlance books was the closest id get to satisfying that need.

I think that basing the story of a fantasy game did wonders for the story, most of all the characters, some of which may rank among my favorite characters in fiction. Just as any Dungeons and Dragons player becomes deeply attached to their own characters the reader becomes attached to the ones in the book.  I tend to think of any character I write as if they were a character on an RPG character sheet because truth be told, those games have developed some of the best generative processes ever and the attributes of character building transcend just fantasy settings. Thinking of characters in that way is,  in my opinion, one of the most useful creative tools I can think off because it gives you such a strong idea of what your characters capabilities and demeanors are. As an added note, just playing any table top role playing game will in my opinion make you a much better story teller because you become acclimated to telling a story whilst making most of it up on the spot.

Dragonlance may not be the most innovative or literary thing on the planet but it still manages to tell an epic story with unforgettable characters without ever disappointing your expectations. It may just be some stupid fantasy series but it never needed to be more. It doesn’t just adhere to the stereotypes, it defines.

--Kevin Coughlin