Dealing with Dragons is a novel set to be released on July 29, 2025. I surprisingly received it in advanced and here is my ever-honest review. Much of this review will echo my thoughts on the first book: this book is part of a shift in Forgotten Realms fiction, one that feels more like game fiction rather than fantasy fiction that also happened to be for a game.
I posted the news of this novel back in January. In my review for book one I expressed hope for a sequel. That hope has become a reality. More accurately, I was hoping for a sequel as it meant the novels are viable and maybe we can get a return to the novels I know and love. Funnily, this novel feels very gamey, something the earliest game-to-book adaptations make the mistake of doing is taking blatant game aspects in the fiction. This often makes the fiction bland and stilted, and very boring. You want the world to feel similar, but not like a game. What is ironic is that this gamification is what WotC has aimed for with these novels (maybe the subgenre of books recently popular called progression fantasy is to blame. I'm not a fan). The only difference is this seems to be for a younger audience and it overall feels very modern: the characters are overpowered, overly emotional, and many are queer. The last is pretty normal in the Realms and good; and the first two will only bother certain people. I find, as a player, the newer iterations of D&D make the PCs too powerful. I also am not the target audience, I'm not a young adult reader. Back in previous decades, many gamers (be they tabletop or video) read books. This trend died, most gamers don't read anymore. Maybe that is why this reflects more popular fiction of today rather than the stuff of old.
Now onto the review:
The story opens in a dungeon, with Tess complaining about the monsters they’re fighting. Immediately we see the story is going to be in a mode like the previous book but unlike the books of old. Instead of feeling like an actual world, this feels like a caricature. This is a sad emasculation of the Forgotten Realms, but the only thing we get besides Drizzt (which doesn’t treat lore well either, wo to me!)
Cazrin, Baldric, Lark, Anson, and Tess are in the Sunless Citadel. A classic 3rd edition adventure that forced its way into the Forgotten Realms in Tales from the Yawning Portal, this really doesn’t feel at home. It is like starting with Mordenkainen; it’s not Forgotten Realms at all. What a bunch of lazy lore people WotC has become. It’s pathetic. Imagine wasting such an IP. (Please sell.)
I could spend the whole time complaining. I’ll try not to. Surely this isn’t Johnson’s fault. She actually writes well. Despite the juvenile aura and audience it seeks, the writing really keeps a good pace, and the start in the middle of things is superbly done. The action and dialog really blend expertly, as well.
And this insert Sunless Citadel is near Neverwinter, a favorite locale of mine (though they don't go, though Luskan does make an appearance later). The party also has their young oytugh, an aberration but a pet here, named Uggie. They are in search of a magic apple, but also of a missing tortle cleric of Mielikki and Harper agent named Keevi. Keevi, like Tess, was trained by the halfling Mel. Mel set them on the trail from their base in Baldur’s Gate.
Baldric still receives blessings from many deities, he also deals with a ticking clock as the mysterious entity looms over him and the potential forced control could close Baldric off from the gods.
Ashardalon is a greatwyrm (not a great wyrm, confusingly), a type of dragon that is close to godlike in power.
I appreciate that Johnson includes duskwood trees, something unique to the Realms and often excluded from FR novels.
There is any early scene between Uggie and Kulkek that some will probably find cute. It seemed out of place as really non-possible biologically and a bit silly as far as one either what an aberration would feel, but it’s already a pet, but then at that, not a very good or realistic one. Which is to say, I couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough for this scene. And does it add anything? No, doesn’t come up again.
Cazrin has the hots for an eladrin bard that has her hair shaved in the side of her head. I like romance in a book but I don’t really read books for the romance. Again, this feels like it’s written for young adults, it’s coy and awkward. While that’s cute and cringe (if you will), again just not what I normally expect from a Forgotten Realms or D&D novel. If it does show up, it’s not near the start, more so at the end when the battle is won or it’s all going to fail.
Lark gets turned on by a thief. Anson has sibling trouble with Valen who was up to some bad Zhentarim stuff in the first book. I do like that the Cult of the Dragon having a say in this one, a classic faction.
We do get some new things, while Baldur’s Gate is familiar, the Sunless Citadel feels off, it’s nice to see a new smaller settlement: Verin’s Crossing. We do see more but it’s all Sword Coast, sadly overdone the last ten years while the rest of the Realms have been forgotten. It of course follows the execrable idea of lore not mattering that D&D goes for these days. While that’s super lazy it does make this rather accessible, though I see little reason to start here as there is book one still, Bound For Ruin.
I took a couple weeks from reading this to relax and come back more open-minded. While this is not the Realms of old, nor like those books I love, it isn’t a bad book. Don’t expect anything amazing, it’s still a run-of-the-mill fantasy like most D&D fiction.
One thing this book does is it pulls back the focus from Tess and puts it on all the other party members.
Also, the title seems like it’s coming from a book by Patricia C. Wrede, though I have not read said book.
If you want a straightforward vanilla D&D story, than this is here for you. It works as an entry point but again this is book two. If you want a continuation of Realms novels of old this will probably disappoint, unless you’re easy to please which is good for you. I am very torn with this novel, just like its predecessor, and it makes it very difficult to rate. I'll say it's acceptable, and hopefully, I have expressed my thoughts well enough to help you, the reader.
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