Dragonlance Dragons of Deceit: Check Out the Dragonlance Novel Cover

While we've known about the upcoming Dragonlance novel trilogy since October 2020, Margaret Weis has shared the wraparound cover of the first book in the new Dragonlance novel trilogy, Dragons of Deceit and confirmed the release date August 9th 2022.

As we've noted before, Weis & Hickman are using the brand "Classic Dragonlance" which features the older-style title banner.

Dragonlance - Here's That Official Dragonlance Novels Announcement, Featuring Classic Characters & An Old Logo!

We've known about it for a while due to lawsuits and product placeholder pages on Amazon, but Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman have just announced their new Dragonlance series of novels! It returns 'the most beloved characters from the original novels', as well as a 'new, strong protagonist'...

www.enworld.org

Previous information indicated that the second book in the trilogy would be called Dragons of Fate.

Tracy Hickman shared some more information, including the book description which was revealed back in November.

It’s official! Dragons of Deceit by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, published by Del Rey, will be released August 9, 2022. We’re returning to old friends while introducing a new heroine to the classic world of Dragonlance. Our gift to you this holiday season is to share a first look at the cover!

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman return to the unforgettable world of the New York Times bestselling Dragonlance series as a new heroine—desperate to restore her beloved father to life—sets off on a quest to change time.

Destina Rosethorn—as her name implies—believes herself to be a favored child of destiny. But when her father dies in the War of the Lance, she watches her carefully constructed world come crashing down. Not only does she lose her beloved father but the legacy he has left her: the family lands and castle. To save her father, she hatches a bold plan—to go back in time and prevent his death.

First, she has to secure the Device of Time Journeying, last known to be in the possession of the spirited kender Tasslehoff Burrfoot. But to change time, she needs another magical artifact—the most powerful and dangerous artifact ever created. Destina’s quest takes her from the dwarven kingdom of Thorbardin to the town of Solace and beyond, setting in motion a chain of disastrous events that threaten to divert the course of the River of Time, alter the past, and forever change the future.

Margaret Weis commented on the logo usage -- "We are so pleased that Wizards of the Coast permitted us to use the classic Dragonlance logo from 1984. The logo was designed by the TSR art director at the time, the late James Roslof, and was hand-painted by Larry Elmore."

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Wasn't MacGyver or McGruber a rogue who always failed the check to desactivate explosive traps?

* When will the other books be published? I guess we can a year for title, but in the internet forums fandom will be telling lots of theories about what will happen in the future.

 

[Selvarin]

If whatever they do gets rid of Dragons of Summer Flame, etc., cool. Essentially having all the powers-that-be (including Raistlin) walk into the sunset in order to satisfy the Chaos god or whatever...meh.

I understand Raistlin is dislikeable, in some ways I preferred not knowing the 'why' with regards to The Soulforge and other books. Or perhaps because I'm not used to seeing him with less sneering menace. Sure gave a good clue as to why Raistlin had a bone to pick with Par-Salian. FFS, being given hourglass eyes in order to...well won't go there.

Fact of the matter is that Krynn is a small pond with big fish and big stories. Take away the characters that made it memorable and it's less interesting, keep 'em in and it goes stale. No perfect fix, other than to iron out certain wrinkles and move forward. There's still some room to write and grow.

Just a thought. World of Greyhawk (as a setting) is kind of 'stuck' with essentially two time eras, Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms also has a few starting points, some worse than others. Wonder how War of the Lance would look under 5E? Raistlin still able to cast cantrips (as opposed to being completely drained, as per 1E/2E rules)? Ah, well.

As for game mechanics used to define characters in stat form. Maybe not as useful but fun mental exercise for those of us who can't/don't want to do algebra for kicks.

 

[Jaeger]

The synopsis looks no goofier than many other Dragonlance books. And it probably bodes well for new Dragonlance game material, too.

Dragonlance novels by Weis & Hickman have historically served as a way to introduce and legitimize DL products for new D&D editions, at least since the.mid 90s.

I don’t think the new novels have anything to do with what WOTC is planning.

All info about the new DL trilogy has come from Hickman and Weiss.

All of it.

WOTC has yet to acknowledge their existence in any way.

If WOTC do any new DL material it will have absolutely nothing to do with the books that Hickman and Weiss paid for the license to publish.

A thought that came to mind: Having the old logo and adding "Classic" to it makes me think that maybe we won't be seeing an official Dragonlance setting anytime soon.

I agree, WOTC have yet to even acknowledge the new trilogy’s existence - When they had Salvatore front and center on official WOTC social media when the new drizzt book was dropped...

 

[EthanSental]

Valid points Jaeger. Hopefully we’ll see something since the Drizzt novel also seemed to tie in with the video game that had the champions of the hall as the main heros. I would hope they do as the novels get closer to release that we see DL news if there is any, We know Joe M. is pulling for new DL stuff along with the die hard DL fans.

 

[bedir than]

I agree, WOTC have yet to even acknowledge the new trilogy’s existence - When they had Salvatore front and center on official WOTC social media when the new drizzt book was dropped...

The Salvatore stuff was the same month the book was available.
Not a year prior.

 

[Jaeger]

The Salvatore stuff was the same month the book was available.
Not a year prior.

True.

But the context here is a bit different. It’s not like the new DL novels haven’t been mentioned in gaming related news from time to time recently.

Yet the only acknowledged from WotC has been the sound of cricket’s chirping...

Even when members of the D&D dev team have offhandedly talked of dragonlance as a setting, no mention of the new books had even been hinted at.

Ever.

In my opinion- this lack of acknowledgment from WOTC is absolutely intentional.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I'll readily admit, my dislike of Raistlin has grown and grown over the years. When I was a kid, I thought it was great to see a fellow set of twins in a fantasy novel, but as I got older, Raistlin grated more and more, and even Caramon, my favorite as a kid, started to bother me, for how much nonsense he put up with from his brother.

I understand Raistlin is dislikeable, in some ways I preferred not knowing the 'why' with regards to The Soulforge and other books. Or perhaps because I'm not used to seeing him with less sneering menace. Sure gave a good clue as to why Raistlin had a bone to pick with Par-Salian. FFS, being given hourglass eyes in order to...well won't go there.

Dragonlance has always been at its best when it's been about personal interactions and drama highlighted against the backdrop of massive world-changing events. But with Summer Flame, I think things got too big, so that the backdrop drowned out the characters. It also didn't help that the new characters weren't as interesting as the original ones. Steel Brightblade, I think, had promise, but well, we know how that went...

Fact of the matter is that Krynn is a small pond with big fish and big stories. Take away the characters that made it memorable and it's less interesting, keep 'em in and it goes stale. No perfect fix, other than to iron out certain wrinkles and move forward. There's still some room to write and grow.

 

[toucanbuzz]

I lived and breathed Dragonlance for many years, owned every book (really good and the really bad) written during the TSR days. Spent a lot of money on crap I shouldn't have with loyalty to the name. I'm not optimistic.

Destina Rosethorn—as her name implies—believes herself to be a favored child of destiny.

Straight from a kid's book. On par with the werewolf Remus Lupin, the male elf Melf, or Rhage the bad-boy vampire stud. Sorry if your name is Roger. You're not getting a starring role in a fantasy book with a name like that. And with a name like Rosethorn three guesses which organization of Knights she'll be connected to...

To save her father, she hatches a bold plan—to go back in time and prevent his death.

A time travel plot... How original and totally bold for the setting. I mean no one has ever come up with this idea before. But, she's got the name thing, as implied, so it'll work. Feels like I'm getting a dose of Star Trek's mcguffin (we can create a new timeline of events and new stories with the old characters if we just use time travel) so they can tug on nostalgic strings. However, I was entertained quite a bit by the new Star Trek, so maybe it's not automatically all bad?

Tasslehoff Burrfoot....

Really isn't about whether you like or hate him or the idea of kender. I think it's more that Tas stories have been overdone to the extreme. Every shenanigan, time travel book, new generation of heroes, etc. gets a dose of Tas. There's a groan because it's clear no one is going to come up with something new and awesome. It's okay to do something new, it really is, but I understand nostalgia sells. I've been subjected to crappy repackaging of everything from the 80s: Ghostbusters, Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Adventures in Babysitting etc. etc.

 

[GreyLord]

Valid points Jaeger. Hopefully we’ll see something since the Drizzt novel also seemed to tie in with the video game that had the champions of the hall as the main heros. I would hope they do as the novels get closer to release that we see DL news if there is any, We know Joe M. is pulling for new DL stuff along with the die hard DL fans.

I did not enjoy that game.