Kender fans, rejoice! If you just can’t get enough of the world’s most annoying halfling, and you’ve got the cash, you can now treat yourself to a leather-bound, gilt-edged compilation of the Dragonlance trilogy.

OK, I’m smirking at it. But hey, if Dragonlance floats your boat, go for it–I’ve certainly spent more money on less significant cultural artifacts. But personally, I’m not sure if it really feels right to move the Dragonlance novels out of the comfortably cheap, read-’em-in-an-afternoon Elmore-illustrated paperback format into this sort of artificial sophistication.

If I sound like a literary snob, I really don’t mean to. I mean, I wanted to be Raistlin the Brooding Angst-Ridden Archmage With Godlike Powers just as much as any other teenage male, and those Dragonlance novels are right here on the bookshelf next to me. But this reminds me of the day a few years ago I stumbled across The Annotated Dragonlance Chronicles at the bookstore. Annotated? The Dragonlance trilogy? Annotated editions are for, like, James Joyce and the Bible and stuff. What exactly are they… annotating?

So then: up for a little literary challenge today? I dare you to provide a scholarly annotation for the following excerpt from Dragons of Autumn Twilight:

The slug, sensing success, slithered forward, dragging its pulsating gray body through the door. Goldmoon cast a fearful glance at the huge monster, then ran to Tanis. Riverwind stood over them, protectively.

“Get away!” Tanis said through clenched teeth.

Goldmoon grasped his injured hand in her own, praying to the goddess. Riverwind fit an arrow to his bow and shot at the slug. The arrow struck the creature in the neck, doing little damage, but distracting its attention from Tanis […]

Raistlin ran to Fizban’s side. “Now is the time for the casting of the fireball, Old One,” he panted.

Have at it!

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