by various parties to seize control of the gateways
among the realities in their efforts to rule them all.
Next came another trilogy, Dragons of Summer
Flame(1995), Dragons of a Fallen Sun(2000), and
Dragons of a Vanished Moon(2002), yet another epic
struggle between good and evil, the latter in this
case consisting of an army of invaders. Although de-
liberately imitative of Tolkien’s work, as were most
of the other Dragonlance tie-in novels, Weis and
Hickman are markedly superior in concept and exe-
cution to most of the other writers working in this
particular milieu.
After 1995 their collaborations were sporadic.
Weis and later Hickman began to write novels on
their own and for other publishers. Some of Weis’s
novels were science fiction rather than fantasy, and
she also occasionally collaborated with her hus-
band, Don Perrin, and others. With Hickman she
wrote several more collaborations at longer inter-
vals, one of which added a belated adventure to the
Darksword series, Legacy of the Darksword(1997),
which pits a hero with a magic sword against alien
invaders. They mixed magic and superscience for
The Mantle of Kendis-Dai(1997, also published as
Starshield Sentinels) and its sequel, Nightsword
(1998), but the blend does not work well. Their
most recent collaborative work is another trilogy
based on another role-playing game, consisting of
Well of Darkness (2000), Guardians of the Lost
(2001), and Journey into the Void(2003). The open-
ing volume does a very good job of developing the
relationship between a spoiled prince and his whip-
ping boy, but the story soon evolves into another
quest to defeat an inimical magical force.
Weis has written three Dragonlance novels
with Don Perrin. The Doom Brigade(1996) is quite
good and follows the adventures of a band of re-
tired soldiers who hear rumors of a treasure and
decide to get rich. Brothers in Arms(1999) is a di-
rect sequel to The Soulforge(1998), the earlier ad-
ventures of the apprenticed wizard who now gets
caught in the middle of a war. Their third and best
collaboration is the humorous Draconian Measures
(2000), a sequel to The Doom Brigade,with the
heroes still trying to settle down and carve out a
new life. Dark Heart(1998), written with David
Baldwin, is very atypical of her work, a blend of
magic and police procedural. It was announced as
the first volume in a series, but no subsequent ti-
tles have yet appeared. Mistress of Dragons(2003)
and its sequel, The Dragon’s Son(2004), are set in
another fantasy world and involve the efforts of
the children of humans and dragons to prevent an-
other devastating war.
Although Weis is certainly the most successful
of the Dragonlance authors, her work in main-
stream fantasy has been less well received, possibly
because most of it so closely resembles her tie-in
work. She clearly has the potential to produce
more interesting fiction, and there have been signs
in recent years that she is trying to expand her
range. Her short stories have also been restricted
almost entirely to game-related scenarios, but
“The Legend of Jesse James” (1999) suggests she
might be able to do better in that format as well.Wellman, Manly Wade(1903–1986)
Manly Wade Wellman began writing for Weird
Talesand other pulp magazines during the 1920s,
although during the late 1930s and throughout the
1940s the bulk of his fantastic work was in science
fiction and most of his novels were mysteries or
westerns. The most interesting of his early stories
are the adventures of John Thunstone, a kind of
psychic detective who drew upon a deep knowl-
edge of American folklore, and isolated tales such
as “The Devil Is Not Mocked” (1943), in which a
unit of German soldiers unwisely occupies Drac-
ula’s castle, and “THE VALLEY WAS STILL” (1939,
also published as “Still Valley”), reminiscent of the
work of Ambrose BIERCE. “For Fear of Little Men”
(1939) draws upon Native American legends, as
does “The Hairy Thunderer” (1960). Most of the
better stories from this period were collected as
Worse Things Waiting(1973).
Wellman’s most important work is his sequence
about John the Wanderer, or Silver John, a folk
singer who wanders the hills of rural North Car-
olina defeating a variety of supernatural menaces,
which often draws upon authentic folk ballads for
inspiration. Wellman started this series with “O
Ugly Bird” (1951) and followed-up with several ex-
cellent short stories, including “The Desrick on
Yando” (1952), “Vandy Vandy” (1953), “Old De-
vlins Was A-Waiting” (1957), and “Wonder As IWellman, Manly Wade 373