Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd
Hardcover | Kindle Edition | Audiobook
By Delilah S. Dawson
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Release Date: May 13, 2025

All things come full circle. This was a saying when I was younger and I can attest that it holds true even to this day. I was ever a fan of the Dungeons & Dragons Ravenloft setting, loving that it was able to bridge worlds thanks to the ever-changing Mists. The original source material for the Ravenloft campaign was one that I consumed again and again, as well as the novels that followed. That said, I was happy to see a 5e release for the game that I have always loved. I was not prepared for a follow-up book that whisked me back to Barovia and Castle Ravenloft, but Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd did just that. Here are my thoughts on the book itself, keeping in mind I am a diehard fan of the setting, and this is just my take on the book release itself.

Dragonlance Chronicles
Books 1-3: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning
Hardcover
By Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman
Foreword by Joe Manganiello
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Release Date: February 4, 2025

Who would have thought 40 years ago that I would be reviewing a book with which 14-year-old me was so enamored? Getting the chance to finally own the Dragonlance Chronicles in a single hardback is a dream come true. Truth be told, I still have my original mass market paperback releases from 1984. I even bought the Annotated Chronicles way back in the day just for more backstory. This is the core of all those old TSR books that really flooded the market in the 1980s and 1990s (and many more years after that). Or, as my kids say, the late 20th century. But, for those who missed those days due to being born too late, here is the chance to grab an amazing trilogy in a single edition!

Batman: Resurrection
Hardcover | Kindle Edition | Audiobook
By John Jackson Miller
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Release Date: October 15, 2024

In Batman: Resurrection, author John Jackson Miller returns us to the universe of director Tim Burton’s 1989 cinematic favorite Batman, with the Caped Crusader dealing with the fallout of The Joker’s attack on Gotham City, as well as a new — or perhaps “resurrected” — threat.

Resurrection is a direct sequel to the original film and picks up months after Batman’s showdown with The Joker atop Gotham Cathedral, after the Clown Prince of Crime unleashed the Smylex poison upon the citizens of Gotham City. Though Batman had defeated his formidable foe, the effects of the chemical have left many victims with frozen smiles and deadly laughing spasms. Batman’s public identity, the billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne, is now funding the crowded Smylex ward at Gotham General Hospital as well as the research for the cure, spearheaded by eminent scientist Dr. Hugh Auslander.

Dragons of Fate
Dragonlance Destinies Volume 2
Hardcover | Kindle | Audiobook
By Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Release Date: August 1, 2023

It has been almost four decades since I was fourteen and I read the very first Dragonlance novel from bestselling authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman; don’t do the math as it stings a little to see that number has grown so large. But when I dove into Dragons of Fate, the second volume in the Dragonlance Destines series, it was like going home again. Please join me while I try not to spoil anything, but do my best to explain what you are missing out if you do not reading this novel.

Dragons of Deceit: Dragonlance Destinies: Volume 1
Dragonlance Destinies
Hardcover | Kindle | Audiobook
By Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Release Date: August 2, 2022

Nostalgia is a fickle thing. I have fond recollections of reading the Dragonlance series as they were released starting with the very first one in the mid-1980s. I consumed everything authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman released along with everyone else who wrote pretty much anything about Krynn. Therefore, it should surprise no one that I was excited to review their newest novel, Dragons of Deceit, set as you can guess in the world of Dragonlance. This was a roller coaster of emotions for me as I made my way through this first book in a new series from two of my favorite authors of all time, though I did not love Dragons Of Deceit in its entirety.