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'. Previous information from the lawsuit about this series indicated that the first book was to be called Dragons of Deceit, and the second Dragons of Fate. The Amazon placeholder page says the release date is 29th July 2021. Of course, any of that information may have changed.

Original (classic) DL logo

Later (Fifth Age) DL logo​

The branding refers to "Classic Dragonlance" and uses the older, original (and my favourite) Dragonlance logo. Whether that in some way distinguishes it from any potential WotC Dragonlance materials remains to be seen. The logo changed in the 1990s, and continued to be used throughout the 3E era.

The news was shared on Twitter and on Tracy Hickman's website.

 PRESS RELEASE

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Wilmington, NC – January 25, 2021 – Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman are pleased to announce a multi-year licensing agreement with Wizards of the Coast to produce a new, three book series of Classic Dragonlance novels.

The new trilogy will return fans to the most beloved characters from the original novels along with introducing a new strong protagonist. The books will be published by Del Rey Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Although a publishing date has not yet been formally set, they anticipate announcing when the first book will be released later this year.

“We couldn’t be happier to be returning to the world we love,” says Margaret Weis. “Dragonlance is what brought Tracy and I together so many years ago. We’re thrilled to be able to do this for existing lovers of Krynn while bringing our beloved characters to a new generation of readers.”

The first Classic Dragonlance novel, Dragons of Autumn Twilight, was written by Weis and Hickman and published in 1984. Since that time, more than 190 novels have been published in the setting. Weis and Hickman have collaborated on numerous series over the last 30 years including projects set within the world of Classic Dragonlance and outside of it. Two notable series are The Death Gate Cycle and The Darksword Series, both published by Penguin Random House.

“We credit the fans of Dragonlance for making this journey possible,” says Tracy Hickman. “We wrote this series out of our thanks to them for this amazing life-long journey…and from our wish that they join us once more on the road to Solace.”

The license for the series was secured by Weis & Hickman in 2018. Their recent dispute with Wizards of the Coast was resolved at the end of 2020, with all parties pleased to have come to agreement on how best to move forward with the trilogy. All are focused on producing the best series possible and will not comment on the past dispute other than to say it has been resolved.

Watch for additional news from Weis and Hickman about Classic Dragonlance and other projects on the horizon in the coming months.

 

[Scribe]

This feels like code for something but I can't put my finger on it.

Considering the original already had a very diverse cast it hopefully is just saying 'the story will follow a new main character'.

 

[toucanbuzz]

Considering the original already had a very diverse cast it hopefully is just saying 'the story will follow a new main character'.

I knew it...Otik Sandath and his Spiced Fried Potatoes. The little known tale of the Innkeep and Cook who-would-be-hero flinging a batch of extra-spicy potatoes straight into the heart of darkness and giving it a little dose of indigestion, Solace-style. In the town where it all began with a frying pan, the tale of the man behind the Heroes of the Lance begins...

 

[Parmandur]

Yeah it says that in the lawsuit, but not the announcement, so that's kind of weird.

Also Dragon of Deceit is a module that came out in 1985 for Dragonlance, so kind of odd they're reusing it for a novel.

DL9 Dragons of Deceit (1e) - Wizards of the Coast | Dragonlance | AD&D 1st Ed. | Dragonlance | AD&D 1st Ed. | Dungeon Masters Guild

DL9 Dragons of Deceit (1e) - Beckoned by a mysterious visitor, the heroes embark on a mission into the very heart of the Dragon Highlords' realm. The

www.dmsguild.com

View attachment 131828

Beckoned by a mysterious visitor, the heroes embark on a mission into the very heart of the Dragon Highlords' realm. The ominous city of Sanction, crouched in a narrow valley between the mighty volcanoes known as the Lords of Doom, holds the secret of the good dragons' oath.

Unimaginable terrors await the party as they search the city, seeking a key to the fiery lair of the Dragon Highlord and his evil minions. Can the heroes solve the mystery of the dragons' oath? Will they penetrated the deception of the Dark Queen in time to bring salvation to Krynn? Or will their valiant efforts be in vain?

"Dragons of Deceit" is the astounding conclusion to the 2nd book of the epic Dragonlance saga, for use with the AD&D game. You can play this adventure by itself or as part of the grand quest that covers the entire Dragonlance story.

An adventure for characters level 8-10

My understanding is that module was one of the ones that was skipped over in the original novels.

 

[Demetrios1453]

Yeah it says that in the lawsuit, but not the announcement, so that's kind of weird.

Also Dragon of Deceit is a module that came out in 1985 for Dragonlance, so kind of odd they're reusing it for a novel.

DL9 Dragons of Deceit (1e) - Wizards of the Coast | Dragonlance | AD&D 1st Ed. | Dragonlance | AD&D 1st Ed. | Dungeon Masters Guild

DL9 Dragons of Deceit (1e) - Beckoned by a mysterious visitor, the heroes embark on a mission into the very heart of the Dragon Highlords' realm. The

www.dmsguild.com

View attachment 131828

Beckoned by a mysterious visitor, the heroes embark on a mission into the very heart of the Dragon Highlords' realm. The ominous city of Sanction, crouched in a narrow valley between the mighty volcanoes known as the Lords of Doom, holds the secret of the good dragons' oath.

Unimaginable terrors await the party as they search the city, seeking a key to the fiery lair of the Dragon Highlord and his evil minions. Can the heroes solve the mystery of the dragons' oath? Will they penetrated the deception of the Dark Queen in time to bring salvation to Krynn? Or will their valiant efforts be in vain?

"Dragons of Deceit" is the astounding conclusion to the 2nd book of the epic Dragonlance saga, for use with the AD&D game. You can play this adventure by itself or as part of the grand quest that covers the entire Dragonlance story.

An adventure for characters level 8-10

It wouldn't be odd to reuse it if they're re-telling the story of the module. Gilthanas' and Silvara's journey to Sanction was never covered in the original novels, and like the last trilogy Weis & Hickman did, they may very well be filling in the gaps.

 

[toucanbuzz]

It wouldn't be odd to reuse it if they're re-telling the story of the module. Gilthanas' and Silvara's journey to Sanction was never covered in the original novels, and like the last trilogy Weis & Hickman did, they may very well be filling in the gaps.

From the recap of the gaming product:

The Novel Connection. Novel authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman decided to tell the stories of the second and third books of Dragonlance in parallel, so the events of "Dragons of Deceit" don't appear until the third and final novel, Dragons of Spring Dawning (1985), where they occupy chapters 6-9 of book 1. Most of the words in the novel are spent on Palanthas and on the aerial battle at the end of the adventure — both elements that get just a few pages of attention in the module.

The core of the adventure, which is the infiltration of Sanction, is almost entirely glossed over in Dragons of Spring Dawning. The actions are handed off to Gilthanas and happen off-screen. Gilthanas retells the adventure in a mere 6 pages in chapter 8, saying "Someday I may report the dangers we faced, but I cannot now. … So I will make our tale short"

 

[Sunsword]

Since we have a couple of Dragon-themed subclasses in UA right now is it possible they could update this setting for 5E?

 

[Jiggawatts]

I never - and still don't - understood the 'gully dwarves are black people' complaint. So they're a race of dimwitted but loveable creatures. So what? People don't have problems with races of hypergeniuses, so why the reverse? ISTM it's just people wanting to take offence. Le sigh.

Actually, for the longest time I thought the Solamnics were primarily black.

Ergothians of the Empire of Ergoth, the most ancient and longest running human nation on Ansalon, are dark skinned.

My hope, if they pull any retcon shenanigans, is that they will nuke the Age of Mortals completely, basically writing a story that results in Takhisis not stealing the world at the end of the Chaos War in Dragons of Summer Flame. The Gods dont go missing a 2nd time and the iconic wizards and clerics dont lose their magic. The world goes on as it would have.

 

[Azzy]

can you even have a weak protagonist?

Shinji from Evangelion says hello.

 

[Azzy]

Totally curious how this plays out as the hint is we're getting the old crew back together (before anyone died?). They did a TON of prequel books with the original heroes, so it's hard to imagine what they could squeeze in-between. And, I wouldn't want a revisionist history (e.g. let's change what happens to Sturm) with some time travel angle. That's been overplayed.

It's possiblle that they may be intending to retcon everything after Chronicles (or even Legends). The Chaos War and 5th Age did rub some fans the wrong way.

 

[Don Durito]

"...and other projects on the horizon in the coming months." I'm guessing this is a reference to them doing 5e material as well. (Setting book? Adventures?) I think that was mentioned in the lawsuit.

Because they're on such good terms with WOTC right now?