Dungeons & Dragons. L'onore dei ladri. Doric la druida

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

by E.K. Johnston, Alice Casarini (Translator), Francesca Pezzoli (Translator)

Doric si è sempre sentita sola. I suoi genitori umani l'hanno respinta, poi ha vagato per anni prima di essere accolta da una comunità di elfi nel Bosco di Neverwinter. Ma nemmeno loro riescono a ignorare le corna e la coda che marcano il retaggio tiefling della ragazza. Persino le sue acerbe abilità da druida la rendono "diversa"... e solo sviluppando quelle abilità Doric potrà aiutare la sua famiglia adottiva a contenere l'avanzata degli umani che minacciano la purezza della foresta. La druida dovrà cercare altrove la chiave per controllare i suoi poteri, tra i ranghi di un ordine di guerrieri nascosto nella Foresta di Ardeep: l'Enclave di Smeraldo, una fazione che combatte per mantenere l'equilibrio tra natura selvaggia e civiltà, preservando la sacralità di entrambe. Lì Doric inizia a scoprire la forza della propria diversità. Ma non tutti i nuovi compagni accolgono il cambiamento allo stesso modo, e l'addestramento della tiefling la obbligherà ad affrontare le convinzioni che l'hanno spinta a entrare nell'Enclave. Per proteggere la sua casa, dovrà fare i conti con i suoi poteri, con la sua gente... e con i muri che lei stessa ha costruito per proteggersi dal mondo.

Genres: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons, Young Adult, Fiction, Audiobook, Magic, Forgotten Realms

272 pages, Hardcover

First published February 7, 2023

About the author

E.K. Johnston had several jobs and one vocation before she became a published writer. If she’s learned anything, it’s that things turn out weird sometimes, and there’s not a lot you can do about it. Well, that and how to muscle through awkward fanfic because it’s about a pairing she likes.

You can follow Kate on Twitter (@ek_johnston) to learn more about Alderaanian political theory than you really need to know, or on Tumblr (ekjohnston) if you're just here for pretty pictures.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't expect this book to absolutely break my heart, but I shoulda known that Kate would pull no punches! The flashbacks about Doric's childhood almost brought me to tears, but don't worry: the whimsy and humor of the film is here, too! (Come to think of it, the film had some dark backstories as well . . .) But here we see how Doric (adorable, feisty Doric!) came to be a druid and living among the wood elves. There might be an appearance from another character, there's certainly a lot of owl bear. (YASSSS.) And other characters are mentioned. So if you, like me, thought the Honor Among Thieves movie was just a DAMN DELIGHT, you need this book! Cry a little, laugh a little, adventure a lot.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptic when I picked up this book. I wasn’t sure if I would like Doric, a tiefling druid, and her this book. Normally it can be hit or miss for me with YA books and also the fact that this is a tie-in novel for an upcoming movie. But as I read on, I absolutely fell in love with her character. Doric’s past resonated so much with me - she was abandoned by her parents, shunned by humans, and struggled to find her place in the world. I could really feel her insecurities and admire the way she grows in this book.

The book tackles some important and relevant topics such as the feeling of belonging, insecurity, racism and traumatic childhood experiences. Doric faces many challenges and prejudices because of her appearance and heritage, but she also finds love and friendship along the way. She learns to embrace her unique abilities and identity as a druid who can communicate with nature and wild shape into animals.

The book also very lightly incorporates the tie-in to the upcoming movie Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. It sets up Doric’s involvement in a quest with a sorcerer and two thieves that will take her to Neverwinter and beyond. It was exciting to see some hints of what’s to come in the movie.

I was happy after all this time to read a book in this shared world setting again. The author did a great job of bringing the Forgotten Realms to life with vivid descriptions and references. The book is full of magic, adventure, humor and heart. It is a wonderful prequel that makes me eager to watch the movie and follow Doric’s journey further.

[Lauren Stoolfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: The Druid's Call by E.K. Johnston was a cool and heartbreaking look into Doric's past. I really loved the movie and I've really lucked out with these prequel books because they've been pretty great so far. I hope we'll get to see more of them in the future because that would be delightful.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

dnf at 27%

From there, I switched to skimming (stopped around 35%) before deciding to checkout other people's reviews, to read their thoughts and opinions. In the end, as you can see, I refuse to waste any more time on this book.

A shame, really. It's a book about Doric, my favorite character from the movie, so I wanted to learn more about her!

I realize now, however, that I should not have let that sway my—belief? Common sense? Previous bad experiences with E.K. Johnston's works? Why, all of the above! (In fact, I think her writing has gotten so much worse since I dnf'd her last Star Wars book.) I should not have let my affection for Doric cloud my judgement.

Listen. I'm new to D&D. My main exposure has been through Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Baldur's Gate 3. When Johnston has a wood elf, named Liavaris, say to Doric, "I did sleep well, though, sweet girl," I brushed it off. I thought it was just a polite exchange, a way to help connect with Doric. But one of the reviewers I watched pointed out how in the D&D universe, elves don't sleep—they trance.

So, yeah. I'm sure if you are far more well-versed in this universe and its lore than I, you might find that (and possibly whatever else Johnston got wrong) to be quite annoying.

Anyway, personally, this is the fourth strikeout for Johnston. And I have half a mind to create a "blacklist" or "dni" shelf, so I can put her books there without worrying about it later down the line. So long as I pay better attention to the book's author, that is.

[Matti · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was pretty sweet and better than I expected from a movie tie-in novel. It's not anything special in my opinion but it's solid, the writing is good and I liked the characters a lot. 👍

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love D&D and EK Johnston, so it was a given I was going to pick this up. I didn't love the pacing (apparently that's becoming a Thing with me), and I don't think this is as polished as Johnston's other books. In particular, some of the dialogue felt clunky and I had to read some conversations twice to make sure I was getting what the characters were saying.

That said, I really did love Doric, and as a whole, this is a charming coming-of-age story about a girl who finds confidence and family. I love that sort of stuff in general, but against that backdrop of the world of Dungeons & Dragons, it's even better.

UPDATE: After watching the movie (which is so much fun), I now know the story in this pretty much leads into the movie. So, if you're looking for a wrapped-up plot, it doesn't really happen in the book. The wrapped-up part is Doric's character growth.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I recommend reading if you liked Doric in the movie and wanted to get more into her character!

[Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

TLDR: Amazing, absolutely worth the read.

When I bought this book, I was a bit doubtful since my experience with movie tie-in media has been lackluster at best. However, this book was a joy and a pleasure to read.

The story follows Doric, the druid soon to be seen in the upcoming D&D film played by Sophia Lillis. E.K. Johnston crafts a fantastic backstory, full of heartbreak, adversity, fantasy, adventure, and hope. I couldn't help but absolutely fall in love with the character of Doric. Watching her grow from a small child living in constant fear of rejection to a strong, confident druid was nothing short of a joy to read. Every story beat, tender moment, heartbreaking backstory, or intense battle just further endeared Doric to me.

My only real complaint is the ending, I feel it was a bit abrupt. However, I do think this was done intentionally to lead directly into the film, so it doesn't bother me very much. The final page of the book left a huge smile on my face, I sat there just wishing I had more pages to turn cause I was so heavily invested in Doric and her story.

If you're on the fence about giving this book a read, I heavily encourage it. Many people, myself included, have reservations about movie tie-in books or other media, but this book stands as a shining example that these tie-ins can not only be good, but downright amazing.

This book also had what I can only describe as a post credit scene. That was a fun little suprise to find.

[Lucille · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5
C’était une lecture vraiment sympathique, bon petit prequel sur Doric et sa formation de druide, son arrivée chez les elfes et sa découverte de ses pouvoirs ! Un bon petit roman fantasy qui passe parfois vite sur certains événements (j’aurais aimé que sa formation prenne plus de temps) mais c’est un aussi un roman très court et je n’aurais pas pris le temps de le lire s’il était plus long donc bon ! Si vous avez aimé le film D&D Honor among thieves cest un bon moyen de rester dans l’univers et en apprendre plus sur le meilleur perso 💚

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could have easily been the 1st of like a 12 book series. It was a bit odd reading DnD as a young adult fiction book instead of a fantasy but I think it may work for a broader scale of audience.

I am curious that the book states that there is not a large Tiefling presence in the area and I am wondering on the timeframe, because I guess I am thinking about the occupation of Neverwinter by a tiefling and the large Ashmadai population in the area.

I read this book first and have not read the Road to Neverwinter or watched the movie yet as I am waiting to read both beforehand, but it was a neat little druid story. I think the author had to be quick with her character growth trauma healing because this was a prequel to a movie and falls within the rules of DnD and they may not have had a lot of freedom besides story development. Simon was random so I am hoping he is more important in the story elsewhere as the secret letter in the back of the book states.

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not expect a Dungeons and Dragons book to get me back into a cozy fantasy mood. Especially since this isn't really cozy fantasy? I just choose to look at it that way. Having loved the movie, I'm not surrpised I loved this book. The ending was amazing. I wasn't sure where Johnston was going with the story, but that last sentence was perfect.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and surprisingly heartfelt prequel novel to the supremely entertaining film from 2023 (it made my annual Recommendations List!) that did a lot to help me warm to who was, for me, the least appealing of the Party.


You'd best believe there is Owlbear content.

[Mario · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another prequel for the movie "Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves", this novel, "The Druid's Call" by E.K. Johnston, follows the origin for Doric, the tiefling druid that becomes one of the main characters in the movie.

Adopted by the elves of Neverwinter Wood, Doric struggles to find his place in a community that has sheltered her, but who is still wary of her origins, since tieflings are a controversial race that descends from demons and fiends from other planes. Shielded by close friends, she discovers her powers during a reconnaissance mission on forest pillagers. When she tries to calm a bear, the elves notice that she would be a perfect match for druid training.

All while in flashbacks we learn of her heartbreaking story, she is sent to a Druid enclave for training. There she will make more friends and start to control her new powers. Unfortunately, the human log cutters are deforesting the elf home at a faster rate, and she is recalled for help.

Written in a fast and entertaining pace, this is a great novel. We also encounter, albeit briefly, another of the movie characters, but feels somehow shoehorned. I'm not sure if more of this will appear in the movie, but the conflict with the human despoilers is not resolved and the novel appears cut short.

It's a good prequel overall, especially if you're interested in the movie and you are not completely familiar with the D&D setting. Also, this is the first instance of a "post-credits scene" I've read in a book.

[Powolneczytanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 🌟Po opisie książki spodziewałam się czegoś innego, stąd lekki zawód. Akcji nie było dużo i wbrew zapewnieniom na okładce była to raczej walka z przeszłością i trudnymi wspomnieniami, niż starcie o zachowanie równowagi między naturą, a cywilizajcją. Pod wieloma względami była to książka poruszająca, a klimat DnD to coś co uwielbiam, więc nie mogę tak całkiem narzekać. Ale sięgnęłam po nią, bo myślałam że będzie podobna do Willi dziewczyny z lasu, a jednak nie wiem... Ten wątek natury był, ale jakby czegoś w nim zabrakło. I tyle. Szkoda bo liczyłam że to będzie piąteczka.

[Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a middle grade novel masquerading as a YA novel and while there's nothing wrong with middle grade novels, I ended up being very let down by the simplistic writing and underwhelming plot. Some moments definitely had a strong D&D vibe, but there weren't enough of them to carry this book.

[Tomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly enjoyable for a movie tie-in. It spare little time explaining things and assume everyone knows already how the world works and how things look and feel. And instead focus on building Doric into a interesting character. What raised the book to four from three to me is how I felt afterwards. It is a book that made me wanna watch the movie and play the game. Plus the inside of the book is pretty!

[Leila · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m amazed that there exists a book that has such a range of under-utilised, indistinguishable landscapes and characters. I mean, this is a Dungeons and Dragons novel! It should be epic! But instead I skimmed the entire story, waiting for a moment of clarity, or better yet, excitement. I could not even tell you the races of the characters as they are each introduced in a handful of sentences and then become pretty irrelevant. Aside from Doric, the other characters are basically indistinct from humans.

The pacing was so bad; it was impossible to tell how much time had passed. I somewhat enjoyed the flashbacks but they were few and far between. And I’m actually impressed at how boring the action scenes were - seriously, when you have magical battles you’d think it would be at least a little bit exciting by default!

I’ll admit that my mind wandered a lot, but it made no difference because most of the sentences served no purpose. This isn’t a case of “oh, this isn’t my kind of book, but someone else might like it”. No, this book is objectively lacking. Put it in the bin 🚮

[Anton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun but felt like a checklist of movie references at times. Doric (book) and Doric (movie) also didn't really feel like the same character sometimes, she was really missing that dry sarcasm that Sophia Lillis brought to the table

[Daniel Lavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot! It did a great job of being its own stand-alone story while also setting up events for the DnD movie. I love Doric, she's a precious bean.

[Trever · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the first prequel book, "Road to Neverwinter", back to back with this, so here's a sort of comparison review of both.

The first book, "Road to Neverwinter", is my favorite. It's classic D&D caper adventure all the way. You get to see Edgin meet Holga, how he gets back into adventuring, their family unit, plus first encounters with Forge and Simon. And the climactic burglary caper is a blast. It does a solid job of capturing the feel of the game, rather than just being a generic fantasy novel with familiar place names. Recommended.

The second book, "Druid's Call", is very different but also enjoyable. It is YA, however, and carries the YA baggage. It's all the story of the tiefling Doric and how she got abandoned by her parents and ended up becoming a druid and meeting Simon. I've never played a game with tieflings but my impression from this book is that they are tailor-made for the kids who are TOO special and TOO artsy and TOO magical for this cruel world, and NOBODY understand them and everyone torments them. They must be a popular race with high schoolers. That's the YA baggage I mentioned, that there's just a whole lot of how nobody understands Doric, oh the tragedy. But on the plus side, it's much more character focused than the other book, so you do learn a lot more about her specifically. It's an engaging book, just not fun like the other one is.

[Elyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usually, ties in are pretty weak, but this was a solid book. If you enjoyed the movie, I rec picking this up. It still bugs me that her skin isn't a random color though. But I'm so happy to learn about her past! It was well-told.

[Vlad G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tie-in novels can be tricky stories to write, but E.K. Johnston did a wonderful job putting together this introduction to Doric, the Emerald Enclave, and some of the regions surrounding Neverwinter. Through the use of a story-within-story to weave moments from Doric's past and present together, we get to understand her origins and the path that leads her to the events from Honor Among Thieves in a way that made me positively love and admire the Tiefling Druid. Rich in emotional moments and character growth, this story is well worth the read and will definitely have you cheering for Doric at every step of the way! Plus, it'll give you a better understanding of owlbears.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

to jest fantasy warte uwagi

[Rey Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

i put in one of my updates that at the beginning of this story, i was okay about doric. i wanted to read her story so i could go into honor among thieves with a better understanding of the world that it takes place in. but it only took a couple of chapters (and one backstory) to completely fall in love with doric. johnston did such a heartbreakingly good job of building doric throughout all stages of her life and carrying her personality throughout her changes. doric would make a choice even if it wasn't the right choice to make due to her personality, and that would give her a disadvantage. but she still made the choices! her character is incredibly strong and quite charismatic.

the hints to the greater world of honor among thieves (the other adventurers!) and the appearances of a certain character made me thrilled to continue with the story! i'm so excited to read the road to neverwinter and continue with this band of losers. but i love the power of this book that completely changed my view of doric. i hope the other prequel stories can do the same with the other characters.

[David Pascual · Rating 2 out of 5]

"¡Doric ha hablado con un oso!"

Este libro es una precuela a la película de Honor entre ladrones de dungeons & dragons. Se supone que debe revelar y explicar el trasfondo de los personajes (en este caso el de Doric, la druida) para ayudarte a entenderlo mejor. Y en eso que debía hacer, suspende estrepitosamente.

He ido a ver la película, y realmente, da igual si te lees este libro antes o después porque te aporta lo mismo: zero. Si te lo lees antes mejor, porque al menos aprendes algo antes, ya que en la película cuando nos presentan a Doric, ella resume su vida para que el espectador la conozca, y básicamente te resume el libro: "Hija de humanos que no me querían, me acogieron los elfos y me fui al Enclave Esmeralda a entrenar como druida". FIN.

No sigue siquiera la estructura de un libro ya que no posee un desenlace final. Es decir, la premisa por la que Doric se va a entrenar como druida nace a raíz de 1) ser útil a quienes la acogieron y 2) salvar el equilibrio del bosque porque los humanos se están pasando de la ralla. Lo que sucede en la historia es 1) es la jefaza de los druidas desde el minuto uno, ya que domina sin entrenamiento todos los poderes e incluso llega más allá que cualquiera de los maestros (Mary Sue total) y 2) vuelve para resolver lo de los humanos leñadores y solo la lía más y entonces decide irse sin asumir las consecuencias para volver y que todos la perdonen.

A parte de que mencionan a Simon de pasada solo para que haya alguna conexión con la película, porque los leñadores no influyen en nada.

En fin, el libro es ameno de leer y entretenido. Si no te irrita ver a un personaje que le sale TODO bien siempre y que es super crack, y una historia que no tienen desenlace ni final, pues podrías leerte este libro si te gusta el mundillo.

La reseña me ha quedado un poco agresiva, pero es que me gusta mucho más la Doric de la peli que la del libro. Creo que han perdido una gran oportunidad de darle más mundo y trasfondo a los personajes con estos libros, y que lo han enfocado a un sacacuartos de la película. Estoy un poco decepcionado.

[Rebecca Lindau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doric was one of my favorite characters in the dnd movie, but I felt like she was the one who got the least screen time and background so I was excited to read her book to learn more. I had low expectations going in and the book met those expectations. It did what it had to and it was fine. If you liked the movie give it a read, It’ll be a fun read, but don’t expect anything mind blowing

[Clayton Whitfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 stars; generally enjoyable and easy to read.
*No spoilers, les a-go:*

What an impulse buy. I saw this after also impulse-buying Road to Neverwinter, and decided I wanted to see if this affects how I feel about the movie (fully expecting the film producers could retcon any of these “prequel novels” in the future if they deem it necessary). This novel was so young adult, it was like reliving the imagination of my teenage self. It’s got teenage self-doubt, angst, friendship, and desire. But unlike my teenage self, it also has a hero (or, rather, heroine) who is so special compared to her peers, her skill surpasses that of even well-seasoned mentors.
Good thing those teenage years are behind me now.

What I loved is getting familiar with Neverwinter locations and groups. What was glaringly flat to me was that Doric gains one unique skill, and the story immediately shifts focus to EVERYTHING relating back to that skill. In other words, she’s supposed to be a great Druid, but she’s really just a one-trick pony.

The story compliments the Road to Neverwinter and gives the reader more background on Doric. It kind of reminds me of Twilight, Hunger Games, Divergent, and similar books if you removed the romance and excessive war and wrote it like a fantasy novel.

[Micah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really have any experience with YA novels. I read The Giver by Lois Lowry when I was maybe 19 or 20. That's been it since then, I'm 37 now. I'm not sure if there is a certain kind of formula that YA books should follow or what so maybe just take my review with a grain of salt.

However, I wanted to read all the prequel stuff for the D&D movie before it came out. I read the Road to Neverwinter and truly loved it. Up next was the Druid's Call. I've yet to read the prequel graphic novel.

The Druid's Call is the back story of the tiefling druid Doric. It's something of a trope now - an outcast child with a tragic childhood goes to a wizard school (in this case, a druid enclave). Not just the harry potter books have that basic premise. It's a trope I never really connected to and I'm still not there with this book. Perhaps the intended YA audience gets something out of it but not me.

Whereas The Road to Neverwinter felt like a well paced, cohesive D&D campaign (or chunk of a campaign), the adventure parts of Druid's Call feel like several single session one-shots done out of order. The non-adventure parts are melancholic, teen angsty, drama which seems fine for YA novel but it's not the fun, comedic romp I liked from The Road to Neverwinter. The Druid's Call is sadder and darker.

It is fine. There is a small connection to The Road to Neverwinter - which feels out of place, honestly - but it certainly does make me wonder what Doric's role in the main party/movie is going to be. A main focus in this book is something Doric can do that you can't do as per Dungeons & Dragons rules that will probably make booger-eating D&D fans mad and I am all for it. I don't know if I will ever revisit this, but I'm not mad I read this in preparation for the movie.

A small thing that gets an extra point for me - the production on this book is beautiful. The art on the dust jacket is wonderful, the hardcover is a pleasant green and white colorway with red foil print. Page texture is nice, the type face feels good to read, the whole package is just really well done and even though it sounds cheesy, this physically was a joy to read. I know this is minor stuff but I'm glad there has been care taken to produce a quality product.

[seastar · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Doric was absolutely my favourite character from the movie, so of course I was eager to get to know more about her story and who she was as a person.
The highlights of this book are character development and details on Doric's backstory. I loved to see how she became more open and accepting of herself and who she is. The flashbacks, tied in between the chapters, were also a great addition and helped to understand Doric's actions as the story was going. Following the good sides, E.K. Johnston's writing style, although really simple (I'll talk about it in a sec) made the book really easy to read through.
However, the writing style also felt like it was missing something; it didn't feel like a fantasy novel to me, there wasn't much fantasy vocabulary used and the there wasn't any monsters or magical things, except from the magic used by druids, of course. What also threw me off was how bland it was at times. I know it's supposed to be YA, but the simplicity of the story made itself seen when there wasn't any fights or flashbacks - there wasn't anything interesting happening if Doric couldn't make a show out of it. I thought she spent like a month or two at the enclave and it turned out to be a whole year! It didn't feel like that, though, because it was never mentioned how many weeks have passed (at least I didn't catch it).
This doesn't mean I didn't like the book - quite otherwise, I really enjoyed it. It was a ligh read, and some moments made me emotional. It isn't the best, but it's nice. I would recommend it if you enjoyed the movie or if you like YA genre.

[Shitholden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le pongo un 3.5, pero no voy a ser como mis profesores, y se lo redondeo a 4 estrellas.

Al igual que la película, me ha parecido ameno, agradable, y me ha ayudado a conocer un poco mejor el mundo de D&D. Ya estoy un poquito más cerca de atreverme a jugar (claramente siendo un Tiefling 😈).

Solo tengo una queja y es un poco spoiler...

------Mini spoiler ¿¿supongo??----

ME HA JODIDO MUCHO EL QUEERBAIT. Se notaba mucho que la relación de Doric y Torrieth era algo más, y cuando al final dice que se va a casar con el don nadie ese fue como pffff vale pues nada. Y todo para que en alguna peli futura tenga algo con Simon que sinceramente no pegan nada más allá que colegas, pero bueno.

--------------------------------------------------


Pues eso, que me ha ayudado a despejarme un poco después de unas lecturas más complejas, lo recomiendo si os gustó la película y queréis expandir un poco su universo, pensando si leer la otra precuela...