Oath
of Inaccuracies and their Measure
The Oath
and the Measure, by Michael Williams, is fan fiction at its
worst. The book attempts to tell the story of Sturm Brightblade before he
encounters the group and events made famous in Dragons of Autumn Twilight. While
Williams had been affiliated with the Dragonlance series before writing this
novel, he demonstrates a weak knowledge about characters, settings, and basic
Dragonlance lore, and this is apparent throughout the novel. Character inconsistencies abound, dialects
emerge from nowhere, and anachronistic events pop up throughout. Character favourites such as Raistlin,
Caramon, and Sturm appear in stark contrast to the original creations by
Hickman and Weis.
First of all, I'll get straight to the
Raistlin/Caramon portion.
They're sitting at the Inn Of The Last
Home, and Raistlin and Sturm are actually FRIENDLY towards each other. On top
of that, Raistlin actually calls Sturm "lad". Utterly mortifying
considering their well-known and well-established dislike for each other in
previous, ground-setting books as Dragons
Of Autumn Twilight, and Dragons Of Winter Night that were
written before The Oath And The Measure.
Again, as I've written in previous reviews,
authors really don't appear to take the time to research characters at all.
Williams’s ignorance of the Dragonlance
settings emerges when he writes about how experienced knights can tell signs of
"quagmire of snares and pits and crudely designed traps. Experienced
knights had no trouble recognizing the signs - thickness of fallen vallenwood
leaves over a well-traveled path. . . ." They are in Solamnia at this time. Vallenwood trees, as we know from Dragons of Autumn Twilight, grow only
around Solace. They repeat that information in the Legends trilogy when Caramon
and Tas are flung into the future and are trying to figure out where they are. Caramon
asks Tas "do you know of any other places where vallenwood trees
grow?” They recognize their location
because of the vallenwood trees.
Another gross flaw in the story is that
Sturm sets out on his adventure to meet and fight against the Green Man WEARING
his father's armour! What in the hell possessed the author to include that? It's repeated in the initial trilogies that
Sturm LIED about being a knight by wearing his father's armour, marking him as
a knight without having passed his trials.
Sturm also told Tanis and the group in the Inn of the Last Home, when
they reunite after five years, that all he found was his inheritance (armour and
sword) and a narrow escape. He should
not be wearing his father’s armour in this book because, simply, he is not a
knight yet.
On another note of annoyance about the book
- they all seem to speak with a dwarven/Scottish accent. The story abounds with 'tis, 'twas, and lad here
and there and everywhere. There is even 'twixt to denote "between",
somehow. Where did the author dredge up this dialect for all the characters?
To continue outlining the annoyances in the
book regarding differences in well-known characters, this following example
tears Sturm's character a new one: Derek
and his bully friends are singing the Huma funeral song as Sturm is leaving on
his quest to find The Green Man (another atrocity in this book). Sturm decides to counter the insulting joke
by singing the rest of the song "wildly," waking everyone up and
eventually, in Derek's "retreat," have Derek trip over a wheelbarrow
and fall in it. That hardly seems like something Sturm Brightblade, a true
disciplined knight, young or old, would even dream of. He especially would not do it at the High
Clerist's Tower. To further diminish
the respect normally accorded to Sturm, who is known to be grim, stern,
serious, melancholy, he too is presented with that aforementioned silly accent,
trapped in a false character who has to call people “lad” repeatedly.
Further along the book, we continue to see
a Sturm we hardly know in terms of behaviours. In Dragons of Winter Night, while in the Red Dragon Inn before they
were attacked, Laurana asked Raistlin what he saw when looking far away, and the
mage replied that Laurana had to listen to her feelings: "Don't hide them,
as the plainsman does, or suppress them as the knight does." However, in The Oath And The Measure, we see Sturm displaying
various raw emotions. One instance in particular is when he's trapped in Castle
di Caela and rages on as such:
“’If
I ever find Lord Wilderness, or whoever locked me in this place,' he swore,
beating his fists against the hard-packed earth of the cellar floor, 'I shall
make him pay dearly! I shall... I shall... well, I shall do something, and it
will be terrible!' He closed his eyes and seethed.”
Only once in Dragons of Autumn Twilight did we see Sturm lose it, and that was
when Riverwind insisted he share watch with Sturm, because the plainsman didn't
trust any of them. Therefore we see how childish Sturm's character is as written
by Michael Williams, especially in comparison to the characters originally
established by Hickman and Weis.
Another atrocity in the book is how the
characters are constantly referring to, and swearing by, the gods, especially
Paladine. From the start of Dragons Of
Autumn Twilight, we come to know that the people of Ansalon sure as hell
don't swear by the gods, except the dwarves' occasional swear to Reorx and his
beard. Furthermore, in Dragons of Winter Night, after the
rediscovery of the gods, Derek Crownguard mocks Sturm for praying to
"false gods" as he put it. Not at any time before the rediscovery of
the old gods, and in subsequent books within the series when the population has
NOT (re)learned of them, do we hear any mention of the gods - much less from
the people of Solamnia.
At any rate, Sturm's incessant swearing by
Paladine is clearly out of character. But another point that contrasts the
Sturm we know with the Sturm in The Oath and
the Measure is his ability to fall asleep wherever, whenever. For example, on
page 136 - "The evening was quiet, an enormous relief to Mara, but
especially to Sturm. For the first night in almost a week, the lad slept the
healthy sleep of a young man, secure in the knowledge that Jack Derry watched
over the encampment." This is in stark contrast to the Sturm we know from
earlier books. Sturm aspired to be a
knight from his birth, and then some. One other thing Raistlin said about Sturm
that was completely accurate is that
". . . in his heart Sturm was a
knight. He had better claim to that false title than many who held it for
truth. Sturm Brightblade obeyed laws that no one enforced. He lived by a noble
code in which no one else believed. He swore an oath that no one heard. Only
himself... and his god. No one would have held him to that oath, to the
measure. He did that himself. He knew himself."
Knights of Solamnia would rather die than
fail in their watch; they would rather die than mouth a word of complaint, as
we had seen of Sturm in Dragons Of Autumn
Twilight when they were following the White Stag; they would never sleep an
entire night without having their share of the watch, especially as it would
have an impact on that knight's honour. For example, in the Legends Trilogy, in
Time Of The Twins, Michael (another
true knight) was guarding Raistlin's tent after the archmage had used the
dragon orb to call forward in time. Caramon returned to camp, and Crysania
urges him to come to Raistlin's tent, where he finds Michael about to keel over
due to exhaustion. The pride of duty comes before sleep.
In The
Oath and the Measure, however, we repeatedly read about Sturm snoozing here
and there, quite comfortably, too. Hardly the rigid, rule-abiding character
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman had defined in the core trilogy.
We also see how Sturm's father is portrayed
as a borderline jokester. The way the author describes the fight between
Boniface Crownguard and Angriff Brightblade is ridiculous. Angriff is so
easy-going, with barely any manners according to Knights Of Solamnia standards,
and can apparently somersault over other people. He also laughs and grins when he defeats
opponents.
Williams also, unfortunately, presents the
knights, Boniface in particular, in this book as wanting to kill Angriff
Brightblade for being easy-going and, according to Boniface's character,
everything that is against the Knights' Code and the Measure. This depiction is way out of line. In the
core trilogies, we see the knights as, at the worst, politically embroiled, but
nowhere NEAR assassins! And to assassinate other knights? WTF! However, in The Oath and the Measure, Boniface
Crownguard attempts to assassinate Angriff and Sturm Brightblade repeatedly.
Next in line is the inclusion of elves and
how it's done. Mara is a Kagonesti elf. WTF is she doing in Solamnia? More so,
why would she have any ties to Silvanesti, as the author has included in the
storyline.
And the addition of songs that act as magic
(albeit defined differently by the author) and how Sturm happily goes along
with it is another mark that betrays the knight's true character. Sturm, like
all Solamnic Knights, is completely and utterly distrustful of anything
"magical". That would surely include songs that can make the clouds
disperse and people fall asleep.
On to page 185, to further demonstrate how
contributing authors are most often inept at writing Dragonlance novels - we
read about a band of knights about to charge forth against goblins in Throt. In
unison, they cry out "Est Mithas oth Sularis". What in the hell is
THAT? The real "My Honour Is My Life" as written soooooooo many
times, and created by Tracy Hickman, is "Est Sularus Oth Mithas". How
is it so hard to research core essentials such as these? When the author has no
clue about something so fundamental to the definition of Knights of Solamnia, it
leads one to wonder why their books were even approved to be published.
Page 187 informs us that the sword that Wayland
(the smith in the village of Lemish, where Sturm is imprisoned) has reforged is
ready for a hundred battles. This information is followed by "And yet from
this time forth, it would be two swords: the heirloom of fifty generations of
Brightblades, its lineage stretching back to Bedal Brightblade in the shadowy
Age of Might; and a new sword, one to which no lineage mattered, born anew and
fresh." This is another HUGE
discrepancy - Sturm's sword is defined in core trilogies as Berthel
Brightblade's sword (and it would break only if its owner broke). But in this
book, we find Boniface has given Sturm his father's sword, and it has been
tampered to break quickly and easily - hence the visit to the smith to reforge
it, and thence the smith's ridiculous paragraph of it being two swords anew.
The
problematic treatment of knights continues when Sturm is in Darkwoods, while
Lord Wilderness and Jack Derry are "tending" to him, or something, and
he dreams. And in this dream, he's in a forest. The following occurs:
"He stood at the edge of a clearing
dominated by a pair of tall hewn rock towers. The walls around the daunting
black stone structures formed an equilateral triangle, at each corner of which
a small tower sprouted like a menacing black hive.
“'Wayreth', Sturm whispered hoarsely. 'The
Towers of High Sorcery!' To which, it was written, one could come only if
invited."
He suddenly recognizes The Tower of High
Sorcery in Wayreth. How can that be? More so, how would any information about
only being invited be included in a book about Knights and knightly
environments?
Again, Sturm (and ALL knights, aspiring or
full-fledged) distrust magic! ANY kind of magic! This is, repeatedly, a
fundamental characteristic of Knights grounded at the base of the Dragonlance
setting.
Alongside Michael Williams's confusing and
useless writing style (see aforementioned EXTENSIVE usage of lad, 'twas,
'twixt, etc.), subsequent confusions are rendered onto the reader. For
instance, while Sturm is dreaming, as described in the above paragraph of this
review, he has a vision of Raistlin and Caramon entering the Tower at Wayreth.
Raistlin goes in, Caramon is unmoving still at the entrance, Raistlin comes out
and just simply raises his hands and shoots flames at Caramon. Simple as that.
Sturm is shocked. Then the Lord Wilderness says "Now do you
understand?" to Sturm, and Sturm floats away, on to the next dream. WTF is
that? Seriously.
Another problem emerges when Sturm
encounters a draconian in The Oath and
the Measure. Because Sturm and the Companions
encounter draconians in Dragons of Autumn Twilight for the first time, the encounter in Williams book is an
anachronistic. The Oath and the Measure happens earlier than Dragons of Autumn Twilight yet in the latter we have no mention of an
earlier encounter when the Companions meet their first draconian. In Dragons
of Autumn Twilight, Sturm can't figure out for the life of him why his
sword is stuck, encased in rock after he killed one, nor does he have a clue to
simply wait until it disintegrates to dust. This does not match behaviour of a
knight who encountered a draconian before.
Another wonderful piece of research by the author for this marvellous
discrepancy.
But, more than that, apparently there are
FEMALE draconians, which are not mentioned anywhere else in the series.
This brings us to Sturm and a repeat
performance of Dragons of Winter Night.
Again, Sturm is not yet of the Order, but he stands trial before the three
highest knights, one of them being Boniface Crownguard. Again, we read about
Sturm accusing a Crownguard. Again, we see the outburst FROM a Crownguard.
Again, we read about how Sturm can be lying about his story and how it requires
truth. Again, we read that ONLY THEN does Sturm let go of his inner rules about
"I am honourable, what I say is the truth always" because he's
shocked at the outburst and relates more of his story in order to be believed.
And at the end of it all, what do we read
about? Derek Crownguard spying through a keyhole, of all things.
After all that, we see Sturm back in
Solace, finding Raistlin and Caramon. Just when I thought I was nearing the end
of all atrocities and discrepancies in the Dragonlance world, we find Raistlin
in red robes and Caramon mouthing the words "... that's just it, Sturm.
Raistlin has been invited, he has been tested early and long, and they have
found him worthy!" while Raistlin is practicing sleight of hand, not
magic, getting ready to put on a show.
We also see Raistlin eating "greedily,
feverishly", while being so friendly and polite with Sturm, and for which
Sturm frowning at his "friend's incessant hunger".
When have we EVER read about Sturm and
Raistlin being friendly to each other, or by all accounts, Raistlin eating,
much less greedily and feverishly and incessantly?!
As for a story about Sturm leaving Solace
to attend a knightly ritual that occurs every year without being of the Order,
and being called "Master Sturm" by others, as well as being granted
audiences with the highest of the knights as if he has been among them all his
life, is really out of place. More so out of place is the sub-plot of a senior
knight, a well-renowned knight, as he his referred to, defined and written as
an assassin and a betrayer. The betrayal part is fine, but HOW he betrays the
Order is far-fetched, in my opinion. A knight that deals directly with
draconians and goblins to assassinate other knights (Agion Pathwarden, Angriff
Brightblade, and would-be knights, in the case of Sturm) is really reaching
outside the scope of the basic definition of Knights of Solamnia as Hickman and
Weis have written in the previous trilogies.
And so, in summation, we deal with a book
that contains the writing style of a poet, but the inconsistencies of an
amateur. I don’t begrudge the poetic
style; Williams, after all began with writing poetry and short stories for the
Dragonlance series. I really, REALLY
enjoy Michael Williams's poetry, but personally, I find it shouldn't be applied
in a book-long story. Plus, as I’ve said before, the ridiculous attribution of
Scottish/Irish dialect onto Knights and all characters is utterly annoying and
not fitting in the slightest. Most importantly, the problematic portrayal of
prominent Dragonlance characters and lore is impossible to ignore for true
Dragonlance followers.
