Brothers Majere is a fantasy novel by Kevin Stein which is set in the world of the Dragonlance campaign setting and is the third volume in the Preludes series.

Synopsis

Brothers Majere is a novel which explores the relationship between the brothers Caramon and Raistlin, with Raistlin unable to forgive Caramon for allowing their mother to die of illness, or to forgive himself for being unable to use his magic to save her.^[1]

Plot summary

Brothers Majere takes place shortly before the War of the Lance^[when?] when the companions leave their village of Solace to pursue rumors of war and embark on their own personal quests for five years. Caramon Majere and Raistlin Majere have recently returned from the Tower of High Sorcery at Wayreth and find themselves to be near penniless. By luck or by design, the twins find a posted announcement in which the city of Mereklar (just northeast of Qualinesti) is looking for trained and experienced people to help with an investigation in the town. The twins, with their kender companion Earwig Lockpicker (Tasslehoff Burrfoot's cousin), decide to visit Mereklar, as according to the post, the fee was negotiatble.

Upon arrival to Mereklar, the twins learn that the city's cats have been disappearing at an alarming rate. Legend had it that powerful wizards had built the city of Mereklar shortly after the Cataclysm and so long as the cats were there to protect the city, evil could not harm its citizens. Ten noble families govern Mereklar, and they begin to die one by one under mysterious (and grisly) circumstances. One of the nobles, Shavas, explains the legend to the twins, who are both captivated by her beauty.

During their stay in the city, the twins are almost constantly followed by a black cat, which is strange because according to the townspeople, no black cats were ever seen in Mereklar. The twins eventually learn that this black cat is the demi-god, Lord of Cats who also appears to them later as a tall, powerful, dark skinned man of considerable intelligence and strength named Bast. With the Cat Lord's help, the twins discover that the town nobles were actually murdered a long time ago, and that the nobles' bodies are now possessed by demons from the Abyss. Raistlin discovers Shavas is actually a lich- an undead evil wizard taking the form of a beautiful woman. They learn that the demons are murdering the cats in order to open a portal for the Queen of Darkness. While Caramon and Earwig do what they can to keep the portal closed, the Lord of Cats continues his battle against the demons, and Raistlin battles Shavas and eventually defeats her, refusing to give into her temptations.

Interesting/Funny foreshadowing in the book

• While in the library of Shavas's home, Caramon sees a book entitled "Lord Soth". Caramon thinks to himself "Lord Soth. Dumb name."

• While in Shavas' library, Raistlin finds a book entitled, "Tanis Half-Elven" Raistlin pauses briefly, saying, "Fascinating, but, unfortunately, unimportant."

• Shavas seems to have a tome referencing many (if not all) of the major characters in the DragonLance universe. She reads from a book entitled Brothers Majere that outlines the twins' life up to that point in time. This book also makes reference to works entitled, Tanis Half Elven, "Flint Fireforge", "Sturm Brightblade", "Kitiara uth Matar", "Tasslehoff Burrfoot".

• The city walls of Mereklar have been carved with events from the history of Krynn. One of these carvings, Earwig sees, is the battle of Raistlin and Fistandantilus. Though it won't happen for another six years, it technically already did happen 300 years before when Raistlin goes back in time.

• While walking through the street with shops, they pass a bookstore with the name Oxford, there they see a huge dictionary displayed. This could be a reference to the Oxford English Dictionary books.

Characters in "Brothers Majere"

• Caramon Majere - A young warrior who fights alongside his twin brother.
• Raistlin Majere - A young red robed mage, and also Caramon's sickly twin brother.
• Earwig Lockpicker - Their kender companion.

Reception

John C. Bunnell reviewed Brothers Majere for Dragon magazine, calling it "narrowly the best of the Dragonlance Preludes", and noted that part of the success of the Dragonlance line "has been a product of its carefully stylized atmosphere; Stein captures the mood more accurately than have some recent writers."^[2]

References