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''Dragonlance'' is one of the most popular [[Shared universe|shared worlds]], worlds in which writers other than those that created them place adventures.<ref>{{cite book|last=Saricks|first=Joyce G. |title=The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction|publisher=ALA Editions|year=2001|pages=49|isbn=978-0-8389-0803-7|url=http://books.google.com/?id=wwbkWkWNiPcC&pg=PA49&dq=dragonlance}}</ref> The first ''Dragonlance'' trilogy, ''Chronicles'', launched the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' line of novels, with many of its characters spun off into other novels.<ref name="Dummies">{{cite book|last=Slavicsek|first=Bill|coauthors=Rich Baker, Jeff Grubb|title=Dungeons & Dragons For Dummies|publisher=Wiley Publishing|year=2006|pages=373|url=http://books.google.com/?id=xNU7E01MCEgC&pg=PA373&dq=dragonlance|accessdate=2009-02-12|isbn=978-0-7645-8459-6}}</ref> Along with ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'', ''Dragonlance'' is TSR's most popular series of novels. According to ''The 1990s'' by Marc Oxoby, what is most notable about the series is that "what may at one time been considered disposable, escapist literature" found "unprecedented popularity" in the 1990s.<ref name="Oxoby"/> All of the ''Dragonlance'' novels remained in print during the decade, turning Weis and Hickman into literary stars and boosting sales of their non-''Dragonlance'' novels. Although the series was initially published in paperback, its success led to hardcover printings. The hardcover version of ''Dragons of Summer Flame'' had an "impressive" first printing of 200,000 books.<ref name="Oxoby">{{cite book|last=Oxoby|first=Marc|title=The 1990s|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2003|pages=148|isbn=978-0-313-31615-9|url=http://books.google.com/?id=vCgM4VYsph8C&pg=PA148&dq=dragonlance}}</ref> Every ''Dragonlance'' novel by Weis and Hickman since 1995 has been released in hardcover, and some previous novels have been re-released in hardcover collector's editions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20040419/17825-rival-fantasy-publishers-rally-around-star-author-.html|title=Rival Fantasy Publishers Rally Around Star Author|last=Maas|first=John-Michael|date=April 19, 2004|work=Publishers Weekly|accessdate=2009-02-19}}</ref> ''Dragonlance'' made TSR one of the most successful publishers of science fiction and fantasy in the 1990s.<ref name="Dragon Lady">{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/print/20040607/21914-dragon-lady-keeps-flying-.html|title=Dragon Lady Keeps Flying|last=Hall|first=Melissa Mia|date=June 7, 2004|work=[[Publishers Weekly]]|accessdate=2009-02-19}}</ref>
By 2008, there were more than 190 novels in the ''Dragonlance'' franchise.<ref name="courier">{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23913678-5004582,00.html|title=Hickmans write fantasy on a wing and a prayer|last=Nahrung|first=Jason|date=June 27, 2008 |work=[[The Courier-Mail]]|accessdate=2009-02-19}} {{dead link| date=June 2010 | bot=DASHBot}}</ref> Weis and Hickman's ''Dragonlance'' novels have made over twenty bestseller lists, with sales in excess of 22 million.<ref name="Dragon Lady"/> The pair's novels have been translated into German, Japanese, Danish, Finnish, Spanish, French, Italian, Hebrew, and Portuguese, and have sold well in the United States, Britain, and Australia.<ref name="Hunt"/>
Not all critics have praised ''Dragonlance'' and its creators. According to author [[Stephen Hunt]], Wendy Bradley of ''[[Wikipedia:Interzone (magazine)|Interzone]]'' magazine does not think highly of their work. Hunt feels that it is unusual for authors to receive such loathing among "fantasy's literary mafia", saying, "Behind every critic's scorn laden insult, there lays that unsaid thought at the end: 'But I could have written that!'"<ref name="Hunt">{{cite web|url=http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/sfnews/newsd0102.htm|title=Dragon' On|lastauthor=Stephen Hunt|first=Stephen|date=January 2002|publisher=SFCrowsnest.com|accessdate=2009-02-20|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20080211083438/http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/sfnews/newsd0102.htm |archivedate = February 11, 2008|deadurl=yes}}</ref> ''Visions of Wonder'', edited by [[Wikipedia:David G. Hartwell|David G. Hartwell]] and Milton T. Wolf, and published by the [[Wikipedia:Science Fiction Research Association|Science Fiction Research Association]], argues that ''Dragonlance'' is published under the "omnivore theory" of publishing. In this theory, the readership is made up of teenagers, and completely replaces itself every three to five years. This allows publishers to release subpar novels and still reach a small yet profitable audience.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hartwell|first=David G.|coauthors=Milton T. Wolf|publisher=MacMillan|year=1996|isbn=978-0-312-85287-0|url=http://books.google.com/?id=uYs2NbD-d4oC&pg=PA88&dq=dragonlance|title=Visions of Wonder}}</ref>
== Novels ==
