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Dungeons & Dragons Worlds & Realms: Adventures from Greyhawk to Faerûn and Beyond
An immersive exploration of fifty years of Dungeons & Dragons through the art and lore of the worlds, planes, and settings that have captivated players throughout D&D’s decades of adventures and campaign storytelling.Each chapter of this sumptuously illustrated guide focuses on an iconic world or setting in the D&D multiverse, narrated by legendary mage Mordenkainen and filled with official artwork curated from fifty years of source books and adventures.Mordenkainen muses on each location’s unique features, unmistakable characters, and magical mysteries based on his experiences traveling across the planes. Written by Adam Lee, worldbuilding expert and former D&D game designer, this lavish tome also features original cover and chapter opener illustrations. Daily life in each world is creatively explored through exclusive stories penned by Jasmine Bhullar, Geoffrey Golden, Jody Houser and Eric Campbell, and Jaleigh Johnson. From the more familiar worlds of the Material Plane to the strange and intriguing Parallel Planes, and the truly mind-bending worlds and planes beyond, both longstanding and recent D&D fans will gain new perspectives on the most beloved and memorable places in the game.
368 pages, Hardcover
Published October 29, 2024
126 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Adam Lee
57 books5 followersLibrarian Note: There are more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 21, 2025
beautiful art throughout and nice overview of the D&D worlds. Very recommended
October 31, 2024
Disappointing.
This book was supposedly written by the Wizard Mordenkainen, and the “authors” made him sound generic, repetitive, uninspiring, and completely soulless.
The details of the various places and settings were often inaccurate and lacked any of the atmosphere those places and settings originally inspired.
There were moments when reading where the narrative just didn’t make sense, almost as if the “authors” had just Googled the settings without actually playing in or even reading any of the fiction associated with the places or settings, so that they created a disconnect that made it difficult to understand why they had even bothered.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone as it wouldn’t help someone better understand any of the places mentioned when the source material of those places and the setting material is much better and still available to buy as PDF or POD.
This book was supposedly written by the Wizard Mordenkainen, and the “authors” made him sound generic, repetitive, uninspiring, and completely soulless.
The details of the various places and settings were often inaccurate and lacked any of the atmosphere those places and settings originally inspired.
There were moments when reading where the narrative just didn’t make sense, almost as if the “authors” had just Googled the settings without actually playing in or even reading any of the fiction associated with the places or settings, so that they created a disconnect that made it difficult to understand why they had even bothered.
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone as it wouldn’t help someone better understand any of the places mentioned when the source material of those places and the setting material is much better and still available to buy as PDF or POD.
December 8, 2025
This was a fun journey through many D&D worlds. The framing device of Mordenkainen as your guide is inspired, but the results and scope of the project didn’t do it for me. I don’t want the high level view, I want to live in each place. I want the AD&D Dragonlance Player’s Guide to Krynn, I want 3e’s Forgotten Realms books. I want a modern Volo’s Guide. This was not that. Good concept. Probably gold for many people. Not for me.
December 2, 2024
Pretty good all things considered.
July 13, 2025
A caveat first: I've not read much of the 5e (5.5e, 4e, 3e) books so have not kept up on the lore. I admit that 1e and 2e were my initial and long-term exposures to D&D.
This text offers an overview of the various Prime Material planes, Inner and Outer Planes, and whatnot. It includes artwork from all editions of D&D and information about assundry plannar entities. So, I read it with the original Manual of the Planes (Grub, 1987) firmly entrenched in my head. I had hoped to glean new ideas and interesting lore.
I am disappoint.
The text is presented via 1st person narration in the guise of Mordkainen...creator of various named spells and stalwart persona from all editions. Unfortunately, as written, old Mordy comes across as a reporter with limited space and a word count. The text is repetitive in both construction and message. Thematically, it comes across as a preachy treatise that is somewhat hypocritical when it points out the flaws of other beliefs and believers. And, the short "flavor" vignettes are, quite frankly, a waste of valuable space. They offer little to nothing that enhances the enjoyment or informational presentation of the text.
Then there is the art. Again, valuable space was given up for the artwork that could have expanded the text in many ways. The art itself is quite lovely, but not terribly evocative. In many cases it seemed that the art was included merely for the nostalgic aspect rather than enhancing the text itself. Or, WoC/Hasbro needed to recycle these works.
So, overall I felt buyer's remorse. I'll probably not pick up this book again. Save your pennies and pick up the Grubb book instead if you want a solid introduction to the planes.
This text offers an overview of the various Prime Material planes, Inner and Outer Planes, and whatnot. It includes artwork from all editions of D&D and information about assundry plannar entities. So, I read it with the original Manual of the Planes (Grub, 1987) firmly entrenched in my head. I had hoped to glean new ideas and interesting lore.
I am disappoint.
The text is presented via 1st person narration in the guise of Mordkainen...creator of various named spells and stalwart persona from all editions. Unfortunately, as written, old Mordy comes across as a reporter with limited space and a word count. The text is repetitive in both construction and message. Thematically, it comes across as a preachy treatise that is somewhat hypocritical when it points out the flaws of other beliefs and believers. And, the short "flavor" vignettes are, quite frankly, a waste of valuable space. They offer little to nothing that enhances the enjoyment or informational presentation of the text.
Then there is the art. Again, valuable space was given up for the artwork that could have expanded the text in many ways. The art itself is quite lovely, but not terribly evocative. In many cases it seemed that the art was included merely for the nostalgic aspect rather than enhancing the text itself. Or, WoC/Hasbro needed to recycle these works.
So, overall I felt buyer's remorse. I'll probably not pick up this book again. Save your pennies and pick up the Grubb book instead if you want a solid introduction to the planes.
December 24, 2024
This could have been so much more than it was. The information given about the various worlds is all 'in character' by Mordenkainen, but it's presented in the most surface level possible with as few details as can be given, little to no wit and no Mordenkainen flair.
Some things are mentioned that never get expanded upon, and which I only fully got because I already had knowledge about the particular world being written about. I also noticed some spelling, grammar and sentence structure mistakes that I would have expected an editor to have picked up on.
The art is all fairly nice, but it isn't credited until the end and can be difficult to connect to the different sections of the book unless you're willing to go look up the credit at the back and even then some of them come across as being fairly random or generic choices.
If this had been an in-depth exploration of the various worlds, that would have been more interesting to read. If it had been the game designers showing how the various worlds were created for the game, and then redesigned for various editions, that would have been interesting to read. If it had been an artbook dedicated to showing how the art of the different worlds has changed across editions, and influenced changes in the writing and development, that would have been interesting to read.
Unfortunately this didn't do any of that and barely scraped a 3/5 from me thanks to the art.
Some things are mentioned that never get expanded upon, and which I only fully got because I already had knowledge about the particular world being written about. I also noticed some spelling, grammar and sentence structure mistakes that I would have expected an editor to have picked up on.
The art is all fairly nice, but it isn't credited until the end and can be difficult to connect to the different sections of the book unless you're willing to go look up the credit at the back and even then some of them come across as being fairly random or generic choices.
If this had been an in-depth exploration of the various worlds, that would have been more interesting to read. If it had been the game designers showing how the various worlds were created for the game, and then redesigned for various editions, that would have been interesting to read. If it had been an artbook dedicated to showing how the art of the different worlds has changed across editions, and influenced changes in the writing and development, that would have been interesting to read.
Unfortunately this didn't do any of that and barely scraped a 3/5 from me thanks to the art.
January 5, 2025
A fun read for beginners to understand the world building involved with DnD. Loved the art from the original Monster Manual as it brought back lots of great memories. This won’t tell you how to play the game but it still delivers.
January 16, 2025
This was a great read, awesome introduction to various worlds and realms in the DnD universe, providing a fun fictional exploration of the settings history.
The artwork in this was absolutely a joy to experience.
The artwork in this was absolutely a joy to experience.
October 19, 2025
Lore & entertainment
Given from the perspective of the legendary Mordenkainen, this book provides a broad overview of the various "worlds" in the game of Dungeons & Dragons in the form of a guidebook littered with lore and explanations. Great for beginners & long-time fans.
Given from the perspective of the legendary Mordenkainen, this book provides a broad overview of the various "worlds" in the game of Dungeons & Dragons in the form of a guidebook littered with lore and explanations. Great for beginners & long-time fans.
December 24, 2024
Great introduction into the various worlds of the franchise that is Dungeons and Dragons! Thanks Mordenkainen!
March 4, 2025
A fantastic book; one of the best D&D fiction books (that is, not containing game rules, just fiction)O I've read. A great format, the large size makes both the text and images immersive.
July 22, 2025
A great walk through the settings in D&D. The art is always memorable and beautiful, scary and profound. So many ideas coming to bear fruit.
October 18, 2025
This book contains a lot of lore that I hadn't known before
February 6, 2026
a little light on the exposition but a nice enough primer to generate excitement. art and build quality fantastic
August 5, 2025
Simply a fun read.
Seeing the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons displayed this way allowed me to learn more about Greyhawk/Oerth and Mystara, Worlds I wasn’t very familiar with. Learning more about Dragonlance/Krynn. The only thing that was really noticeable as missing was the setting of Dark Sun. I don’t know what editorial choice was made to leave it out, but it was definitely noticeably missing.
The other solid plus of the book was the art. The number of stories told in pictures between 1977 and 2023.
I found the book to be inspirational as well. Reading a sentence here or a paragraph there ended up making more than a few pages in my ideas journal.
Seeing the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons displayed this way allowed me to learn more about Greyhawk/Oerth and Mystara, Worlds I wasn’t very familiar with. Learning more about Dragonlance/Krynn. The only thing that was really noticeable as missing was the setting of Dark Sun. I don’t know what editorial choice was made to leave it out, but it was definitely noticeably missing.
The other solid plus of the book was the art. The number of stories told in pictures between 1977 and 2023.
I found the book to be inspirational as well. Reading a sentence here or a paragraph there ended up making more than a few pages in my ideas journal.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews