Dragonlance: Dwarven Nations #1: The Covenant of the Forge by Dan Parkinson

My name is Cale Greeneye, and my dreams of seeing far-off lands is coming true. Unfortunately, it's taken war against the humans to realize my ambitions. We were content living inside the mountain, and we looked forward to trading with our neighbors during the annual Balladine celebration. However, my father, Colin Stonetooth, became uneasy as chieftain of Thorin. Our most dependable patrol failed to return from a mission, and thousands of armed humans amassed outside our walls among the regular guests. Our fears turned to violence when the strangers breached our defenses. Now, I am leading thousands of survivors, as we search for Kal-Thax. An old dwarf spoke of this mythical land, and we hope to find our dwarven relatives for sanctuary. My longing to scout the world has come at a costly price. 

I always enjoy the characters in books, but this book made that difficult. I tried to make connections to the characters, but many of the dwarves died shortly after their introduction and there wasn't a clear main character. For those reasons, I didn't know how to write the summary above until I discovered who could actually tell it. Cale Greeneye seemed to be the best choice. War was the main problem right away with jealousy and envy fueling the dispute. Many humans viewed the dwarves as wealthy and privileged, and an evil leader took advantage of that sentiment. A different antagonist created unrest in the second half of the book, but his motivations were very similar. The second half of the book was more cohesive, as it focused on the area around Kal-Thax. The different dwarven factions around the mountain distrusted each other, and their alliance was in peril. The Thorin refugees added to the strain, but they also presented solutions. If you don't like conflict, fighting, and discontent then you shouldn't read this book. Overall, I liked the book and problems but wanted a main character or two to follow along the way. I get the sense my wish may come true in the sequel. There wasn't as much unrest at the end (there are still foreseeable issues remaining), so I plan on giving Hammer and Axe a shot.