Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s latest installment in the Dragonlance series is absolutely phenomenal. I happened upon and read the Dragonlance Chronicles books along with Soulforge about 13 years ago when I was just starting high school and absolutely loved them despite not yet being a big fan of reading in general. Weis and Hickman once again wrote an absolutely thrilling story here. I accidentally discovered the fact that they had an upcoming novel, Dragons of Fate (set to release August 1, 2023), and when seeing it was book 2 in a series instantly bought a copy of the first volume Dragons of Deceit. That was less than a week ago, and despite being rather busy I have personally found it difficult to put it down.

This novel takes place right around the end of Dragons of Winter Night, Focusing on a young lady Destina Rosethorn losing her father after he left their home to assist in the fight against the Dark Queen’s army’s siege against the High Clerist’s tower. Destina, having heard of a magical artifact called the Device of Time Journeying through a book of her fathers, sets out on a quest to try and find the artifact in hopes she can save her father so she is no longer alone in the world. Destina is informed she would also need an artifact called the Greygem of Gargath in order to successfully use the Device of Time Journeying. Along the way Destina feels forced to make choices shes not particularly proud of as well, lying and utilizing magic despite essentially being raised as a Solamnic knight (the only thing stopping her from actually being a knight is her being a woman).

Destina’s travels have her interacting with several of the key characters from the Dragonlance Chronicles books, which I’m sure absolutely contributes to my great reception of the book, giving me a sense of nostalgia while simultaneously exploring something new. If you asked me to predict what was going to happen at the conclusion of this story in preparation for Dragons of Fate, even moment’s before it happened I would’ve never guessed the actual outcome. There’s always something extremely gratifying from having one of those, “Holy shit I did NOT see that coming,” moments.

This novel deserves every bit of the ten stars I’m giving it. You better believe I’ll be reading Dragons of Fate the moment I get access.