Draconian Measures Vol. 2 : Kang's Regiment Book

Although I am clearly in a minority of folks steeped in Dungeons & Dragons lore, I never really cared for the Dragonlance setting and especially the original novels by Weis & Hickman. But, the “Kang’s Regiment” novels seem to rise above the foundational books for the universe. Outside of the strangely sickly Raistlin, the wizard of the original series, many of the original “Heroes of the Lance” seemed silly and trivial. The difference, at least for me, is that “Kang’s Regiment” is about the serious struggle for survival and full of powerful, epic warriors but full of situations and misunderstandings, as well as parodies of abuse of power and the silliness of bureaucracy, to lighten the tension.

One of the tremendous misunderstandings in Draconian Measures is a well-meaning paternalism. Of course, that may sound like an oxymoron in our world, but one must understand that Kang’s group had extremely limited experience with the female gender prior to this story and that their over-protectiveness was a consequence of their inexperience. Fortunately, this allows for some very funny and appropriate comedic circumstances, as well as allowing for an important female participation in the resolution of the problems.

Another source of interest to me was the parody of military bureaucracy and reputation. As one knows from any military fiction (even if one hasn’t had the actual experience), it isn’t always what one thinks it is. A revered general proves to be a pivotal point in this story. There is a fascinating mystery and an intriguing background story to this general. At first, the story seemed very predictable with no surprise whatsoever at the “reveal.” Then, one begins to notice a certain reservation and understatement to the general’s speech. There is that tendency to parse statements far too carefully for one to be acting in an ingenuous manner. Suddenly, one feels that the story is much richer than it originally appeared.

In spite of the humor and parody in the “Kang’s Regiment” series, there is another aspect that I truly enjoy. Unlike George R. R. Martin’s cavalier execution of characters that one cares about, Weiss and Perrin provide meaningful, plausible, and often heroic deaths for the characters readers are likely to care about. One almost wouldn’t expect this in a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting where resurrections and revivals (bringing a character back to life with the possibility of them being in a different life-form) are entirely possible.

I realize that I am in the minority, but I consider the “Kang’s Regiment” series and, particularly, Draconian Measures to be the high point of the Dragonlance novels.