Random House Publishing provided an early galley for review.

This novel is part of a new collection of fiction set in the worlds of Dungeons and Dragons. As a long-time player, I was very eager to dive into this one. It helps too that Dawson has a track record of working on novels for franchises like Star Wars and Minecraft.

This novel very obviously draws inspiration from classic modules like Ravenloft (2nd edition) and The Curse of Strahd (5th edition). The story, in fact, even opens up very much like the start of campaign with five strangers meeting in an unusual place and situation. It is a trope that works for this kind of material in that it forces introductions for each of the group and the reader too. The narrative point-of-view shifts with each chapter, giving us a look into the heads of our five party members; Dawson does a solid job giving each their own distinctive voices and mannerisms. I like that she shuffled around the races and classes for some interesting combinations.

The story moved at a good pace, and the narration allows for revealing details of the characters. At a few points, it does tend to be more tell than show, but that was usually when someone was sharing their backstory with others. Just like in a game, there are several side quests before spiraling back into the main plot in the end. I would have liked for the ending to have taken more space to breathe, but I appreciated where the reader is left with the cast. I would actually like to see more of this crew if the author was game for their return.

This was my first Dungeons and Dragons novel. While I like playing there was just something that was missing from this and I think it was the actual playing element.

I was drawn to the this title because Castle Ravenloft is my all-time favorite D&D module and because I enjoyed several of the original Ravenloft novels from the 90s. Heir of Strahd wasn't so much a continuation of the series as it was more fan fiction of Ravenloft. It played out more like the transcript of a group of strangers playing pre-gen characters in the Castle Ravenloft module in a tournament at a Con. It has all the elements of the original module as well as the first novel, plus characters and pieces from numerous other Ravenloft books and D&D supplements. Generally entertaining, I could have used less of the slapstick humor and about 30-50 fewer pages. 3.5 stars rounded up.

This was a really fun time! I enjoyed how the author was able to capture the spooky feel of Ravenloft. Strahd did feel a bit flat as a villain to me and some of the comedy felt a bit too “slapstick” at times given the setting and the stakes of the story, but I did appreciate how the author tried to capture the fun and silliness inherent in a campaign. A lot happened very quickly at the end, but I didn’t see that twist coming and it helped save the ending for me!

I like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this one.

I play D&D. The last big campaign I took place in was the Curse of Strahd campaign. While it has different paths / outcomes, the story remains the same: Strahd has set his eyes on someone from your company as the reincarnation of his love, Tatanya. He then is going to turn her into a vampire while you and your co fight to keep that person (or a person that is NPC) from becoming Tatayna 2.0.

SO, for newbies who have NO IDEA how or what Strahd is, eh, you will enjoy this. For people who do? You won't really gel with it.

The book has surface characters with no actual depth. They enter the book as one does when ending up in Ravenloft, through the mists. The mists and their unseen gods have a way of forcing things in a certain direction. While that is established at the beginning when we meet the characters, it's abandoned somewhat as the story progresses. I can't tell what age the audience is for this? Kids? Teens? I'm going to settle for teens. I wish this book was more adult, and it didn't adhere so strongly to a campaign step-by-step D&D MADLIBS. I've read Dragonlance and sadly, this book is not written like that. In that you can tell when an author is writing a story based on character, plot. Here, it's, 'wait, make sure every character can't do anything without a plausible fail or pass die roll'. Why would write a story like that?

Strahd himself is true to form, and perhaps the strongest and best thing about it. Again, since these are only surface level characters, he kind of walks all over them and his motivations seem a little ... confusing? The worst example is the human female who is the Tatayna 2.0. At one point, we leave her and she isn't in a wedding dress, near the chapel, or met with Von Richten (a Vampire Slayer akin to Van Helsing). When our characters find her later? She in is in the chapel, about to get strangled, Von Richten already threw a handful of stakes at Strahd, and she's in the wedding dress. I looked at the previous chapters to see if I missed anything - nope. It was like the author got tired and decided to do the ol' 'Bilbo hit his head on a rock' lead up to the boss battle. How lame. I don't even want to talk about how the female then goes completely out of character and how the book goes from the 93% point on.

I want to see more D&D books written, I truly do, and with Strahd I *really thought* this was going to be a banger given the author's previous genres. But I want to see a story written for story sake, not checking off some invisible D&D players attack / navigation checklist.