When I was a teenager, I liked the Dragonlance books by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. Recently I noticed that Weis and Hickman are still writing books together. Because it’s been a while since I read one of their books, I decided to re-read their Darksword Trilogy. I read the trilogy when it came out, but I couldn’t remember if I like it or not.

I give the first book a B+. I thought it was pretty fun, but the series went downhill from there. I give the second book a B and the third book a C. I disliked the ending of the series for two reasons. First, I disliked the choices the authors made in concluding the series. Their conclusion just wasn’t satisfying. But I admit that reasonable people can disagree about those choices. Second, the the hero’s motivations weren’t clear and the decisions he made at that book’s climax seemed like a whim. The series builds to the climax in the third book and the hero makes a decision on a whim? Did he understand what his actions would cause?  Why did he do what he did?

Because I didn’t like the third book much, I can’t recommend the series. The first book was fun, but in the end I was let down.