**As per all of my reviews, I like to preface by saying that I listened to this book in audiobook format. This does indeed slightly skew my rating. I have found that audiobooks, give me a better "relationship" with the characters if done well, but also kills the book for me if narrated poorly. Also due to the nature of listening to the text, names and places may be spelled incorrectly here as I often do not have the physical volume in front of me.

Also, I have written this review in a "rolling updates" style. In that I basically chronicle my reading as I progress. This may make for a jarring and spoilery review so be warned.**

So honestly, most of last book just seemed like filler...the actual story is minimal there. So we leap another 100 year post Cataclysm but still in the past of from the Chronicles timeline. Raistlin, Crysana, and Caramon are dumped into Raistlin’s ‘home’. That is the dark, cursed tower of Istar. It’s in a time that’s still under the deathly curse of the wizard who flung himself from the window.

We catch up with Tas who was left behind when Raistlin, Caramon and Crysana all went 100 years into the future by Raistlin’s doing. Tas left for dead during the event of the cataclysm, wakes up and finds himself in a dark place...Now we know he’s not dead...but he does on for pages thinking he is, for comedy...it’s funny but it gets old because we know what’s coming. “you’re not dead Tas.” Well...sort of. He’s greeted eventually by who we only assume is the Queen of Darkness who Raistlin is looking to kill. She tells Tas that he’s done her a great favor...nothing really makes sense...

He’s told that he’s in the Abyss whatever that means...and even more curious, he meets a Gnome in the place where he’s being kept. The Gnome gets to work trying to fix the time travel device that broke in the last book.

Raist, Caramon and Crysana are holed up in the tower but venture out after Raistlin see’s that the portal to the Queen is no longer there... they leave the tower and stop by an inn. They’re beset by a group of thugs led by a half ogre,half man. The group takes Caramon on , and it turns into a one on one duel between he and the half ogre. Caramon proves the better in a long brutal match. They notice that some of group are disbanded and scattered knights of Solomnia. This may have been post cataclysm in that the country was really hit hard causing the knightly orders to disband. Many take up arms with Raistlin and Caramon. The two bros said they were headed south to conquer lands...This seems to give them some unifying brotherhood.

Meanwhile we get one hell of a backstory of the Mountain Dwarves and Hill Dwarf relations. King Duncan of the mountain dwarves is hosting a meeting with the Hill Dwarves who want to share their lands and food and protection. Basically the Hill Dwarves are allied with the humans and want to bring everyone together. King Duncan who is seen as very reclusive sends them away in a stubborn display of inhospitality... the character and world building is great as we see a ‘classic’ Dwarf stand off where both leaders stare each other down unmoving...too prideful to be the first to glance away. It’s only at the knowing intervention of one of the other clans to step in, allowing them both to stand down... Even the Gully Dwarves are present, though laughably shunned to the corner... (is it bad that I love how disrespected they are?!)

The Hill Dwarves are sent away... but it’s only later shown that it’s King Duncan that was the one who was hurting...His kingdom is secretly empty in money and resources...instead of spreading that to all and having the entire race doomed, he sends the Hill Dwarves out in a mock display of venom...to help them survive...Quite an emotional, if not totally Dwarven act of caring.

Raistlin, Caramon and Crysana in some weird D&D side quest get wrapped up in a village of recently dead. Only one man remains,.. Crysana ran away to this place and it’s such a ham fisted way to capture that D&D feel of some a side quest it’s a bit annoying. It serves little purpose...maybe just to further Crysana’s commitment to Paladine as she ushers the long man off to the other world to join his village. Soon enough they just return to their army camp as if that waste of time didn’t happen... The only good outcome of it all was some really nice bonding time and almost a return to the old relationship that Raist and Caramon had. Raistlin laughs and shares in some memories with is bro. When they come back to camp, Raistlin commits himself to have complete privacy in his tent. He’s about to cast a spell, that if disturbed could kill him and who ever enters the tent....This reminds me precisely of the Game of Thrones moment with the old woman in book one or two...

I’m really hooked here. Raistlin it turns out is communing with Dalamar the dark elf was calls him Shalafi... Raistlin, in the past is channeling himself into the future to get information from him about the Dwarf-gate wars. This character fascinated me from the start...and he wanders into the great library.. and poor Bertrum, who I feel always gets caught up in the most odd ball situations when the guy JUST wants to read, study and organize the stacks...can a librarian catch a break?? Anyway We get a lot of description about how alone and quiet the library is and Bertrum is enjoying the solitude, so of course it has to be interrupted. Dalamar appears and we see that he’s under orders of Raistlin who contacted him from the past. The coolest character, Astinus appears and helps Dalamar, explaining to him that he, the great recorder of events has event of the Dwarf-gate war chronicled personally. He also gives use the baffling and loopy explanation of events... Fistandantalus carries on this dwarf war with Pax Tharkus eventually did fall and King Duncan (who was still alive then) retreated to the mountain hold of Thorbardin. Fistandantilus didn’t care about the war at all and was just after a portal under the mountain fortress. He abandoned the war front and his army soon faltered and crumbled. Very close to entering the portal and challenging the Queen Witch (why on earth is everyone after this bitch??) A gnome that was presently held prisoner in THorbardin, activated a time travel device to escape his imprisonment. The device interacted with the magic of Fistandantilus’ spell. A blast that felled both armies and killed Denubis, Fist’s right hand man. And after this... the mage was only able to cling to life in spirit..and eventually found a new body, in Raistlin...when he made the sacrifice during his trials..hundreds of years later...

What a story... so.. it’s obvious that the gnome is Tas... and this makes the entire story such a loop of events I must give credit where it’s due... Even has weird and hard as it is to follow the motivations it’s damn interesting... Seeing Raistlin act out and ‘become’ Fistandantilus in almost a self fulfilling prophecy is so philosophically interesting. Raistlin assumes this identity of Fistandantilus, so it begs the question did Fistandantilus ever exist?

Caramon returns to camp, as the entire army (I love how loyal and a bunch of try hards, his new army is...) They’ve created a barrier around the tent where Raistlin is communing with future Dalamar.

Raistlin gets information from him, about the fate of what happened to Fistandantilus...and...it plays out almost exactly how it did for Fistandantilus. This entire story is really tickling my time travel loop enjoyment... The mountain dwarves spring an attack on the depleted camp ambushing Raistlin... Just like with Fistandantilus of old, he pushed his men too far and left behind the supply wagons so he could greedily get to the tower... he has this moment of such arrogance that he just “knows” that he can’t be killed because of the saftey of time....so he begins a defense spell..and then it happens. Tas pops into existence... just like with FIstandantilus, he interfered with Raistlin’s spell, interrupting the mage, enough to be stabbed by a Dwarf. It’s...really well written, and I love how this is playing out. The fact that Raistlin is following the same exact story beats that we just heard about is really neat. Seeing Raistlin at his most arrogant and then finally taken down and laid lo and finally at his brother’s mercy as he lay dying is such a tragic and mythic story point. I actually feel like the book should end here...seriously. We’ve watched Raistlin get more and more enraptured with this quest to get to the tower and find the portal to challenge Tarkasis and become a god....and in a moment of Icarus like story telling he’s stopped and humbled by the intervention of a Kender and he fulfills the exact story and historical beats needed....

So the armies of the Dwarves, clash, the Plainsmen, and the others abandon the field... Raistlin abandon’s the army in favor of seeking the portal to the Queen of Darkness... All plays out exactly how the history told us it would.

I would love to say the story ends here. I’m fearing what comes next because I feel that this is such a perfect opportunity to show an complete ending. He flew too high, got too ahead of himself and fell because of it... We don’t need to redeem him or make him a protagonist again... I know what’s coming and that’s what’s going to happen sadly, but it’s a shame, I feel this was a perfect end... Anyway onto the next!