Raistlin challenges the Queen, while Caramon and Tasslehoff are flung into the future, where they discover that Raistlin has succeeded, and destroyed the world.

Much slower than the previous two books, the content, which focused on Kitiria and Tanis, was much less interesting. The best parts were Raistlin’s struggle to gain godhood, and his brother’s determination after seeing the cost. Tasslehoff was necessarily muted during the first half of the book, but came back to his jovial self later on.

I have two memories of this book burned into my mind, and both were incorrectly recalled. The first was Astinus turned to a pillar of stone writing his last book. The god of neutrality was actually left alive and untouched by Raistlin, while Par Salian was turned to stone. The second is Kitiria leading the flying citadel and ground troops against the Knights of Solamnia as Caramon and Tas pop back into our time, when in fact she flew over them comfortable in the citadel itself.

The dead world that Caramon and Tasslehoff come back to is depressing, of course. It turns out that Raistlin destroyed everything in his war against the gods, though he hadn’t really tackled the Big Three directly. Still, they make their way to the Tower of Wayreth, where they find Raistlin tormenting Par Salian and engaging in his last battle with Paladine and the Queen of Darkness. They steal the book of history and travel back in time again -because they have a kender, they hope to change what’s happened.

Raistlin, meanwhile, has been traveling the Abyss. I guess it’s writer’s cheat to have them battling for hundreds of years, so that he can come out in modern times, instead of any other time. The scenes that Raistlin encounters are interesting, as they represent moments from his past where he was hurt emotionally. But in the Abyss, that turns physical, and only Crysania can help him, taking the brunt of the hurt to keep him safe. But it takes Raistlin a while to realize what Tasslehoff told him -he can go anywhere here, not needing to travel at all. Still, that’s only a delaying tactic, so the two plotlines can converge.

Tanis, who has never been my favorite character, features heavily in the buildup to the final conflict. He and Dalamar, the dark elf, become close as they watch Elistan die. The church is in a state of upheaval, almost returning to the state where it was at the time of the Kingpriest. Elistan knows this, and is trying to head it off, which is why he sent Crysania to learn her lesson about humility. Lord Soth is an integral part of the plot, playing Dalamar’s fears against Kitiria’s, telling both that the other is planning to help Raistlin emerge from the Portal victorious. This is because he wants Kitiria to die and join him in forever not-life. When Kitiria makes her way into the Tower, she mortally wounds Dalamar but gets killed by the spirits there, so he gets his wish.

Meanwhile, Kitiria’s forces have attacked Palanthas to distract them from her attack on the Tower, with her flying citadels and draconians. The city ends up lying in ruins because of it, though eventually, when Soth and his minions have Kitiria, they leave, and the tide turns in favor of the Knights of Solamnia. I’ve never been in favor of curses like this, as the eternally living person always ends up angry and taking it out on the rest of the world. Worse, though, why isn’t everybody in the world cursed, as they must have angered somebody, and with all the feuds in this world, there should be nobody left. What determines if a curse will take effect?

The funniest part of the book is Tasslehoff flying the flying citadel. It was hilarious, and I had to read it a couple of times to enjoy it and see if it was really so funny -it was It begs the question that if Caramon and Tanis can get into the Tower using the flying fortress, why didn’t Kitiria try to get there on her dragon? Also, Caramon was given a charm to get through the Shoikan Grove in the last book, just like Kitiria, so why couldn’t he get through this time?

Raistlin’s compassion, which was evident in the last book, disappears completely here until the end, after Caramon enters the portal and finds Crysania, barely alive. Caramon shows him the book, explains how he destroyed the world and even himself in his attempt to gain respect. Raistlin comes to his senses after confronting Caramon, where his twin doesn’t back down, at least for the moment, and confronts the Dark Queen, distracting her so that Caramon can take Crysania back into the real world, after which Caramon seals the portal with the Staff of Magius. Raistlin will now spend an eternity, or at least until Dragons of Summer Flame, being tormented in the Abyss.

The senseless attack on Palanthas, the dull post-apocalyptic world, and the cursed dead elven army make this story more difficult to read than the others in this series. But Raistlin’s vulnerability and Tasslehoff’s eventual return to the story make up for it somewhat. Still a good conclusion, though I think it could have been better.

Though I still have a couple of concerns, my question about the portal was answered (it is self-preserving), and the book was quite a lot of fun.  I would definitely read this trilogy again.  It provided more closure for the characters than the first trilogy did.  Lots of fun, and the emotional crunch that I was waiting for still hit me!

No review available.