Kara Dennison's Blog, page 13

COMING SOON: Forgotten Lives 3

 

When I was first asked to take part in Forgotten Lives, I was both surprised and flattered. When I was asked to come back for a second book, the same. Now we're closing in on the third and final volume for these "what if" Doctors, and I'm to the point of being proud, and I guess a bit sad.
In my head, the Hinchcliffe Doctor has an impossible untold number of adventures. Some I came up with in great detail; others are vague "wouldn't it be cool if" concepts. When Philip Purser-Hallard reached out to us about the third volume, there was no indication of it being the final installment. There was also no indication of there being further ones, of course. Each was its own self-contained thing, and each realization that there was another chance to tell these stories was a pleasant and exciting surprise.
That said, there was a concept. A really good one. The second book had initially had a concept: regeneration stories. This was walked back when the time came to get writing, though some writers chose to stick with those ideas. While I had a story mapped out, I didn't really want to write the regeneration. And since we didn't have to, I didn't. This time, though, the concept was something different. It's an appropriate one, and an interesting one. PPH had general ideas for the sorts of things each story could entail, given our Doctors' themes and placement along this imaginary prehistory. And it just so happened that the idea he had for my Doctor fit with an idea I'd had floating around for a bit.

The Swan and the Flame is not a regeneration story, because I still don't fancy writing that. I would call it more a season opener. In terms of modern Who, it's sort of the mid-era soft reset where the Doctor sticks around, but things have changed irrevocably in some way. A story arc has closed, an arc word has been explained, and a new challenge lies ahead.
My Doctor has changed a lot over time. In The Swan and the Flame, he's still the arrogant, irritated swashbuckler; but he's also seen some things and lost some things. He's in a pivotal moment in this life, where the fire of his rebellion could either flare up brighter or go out entirely. I love to imagine this Doctor as The Doctor's intrusive thoughts personified, and that's something I leaned into even more in this story. I think, if anything, the show he's putting on is becoming a lot more meaningful to him. Less a masquerade and more an aspiration.
In retrospect, I'm glad I didn't know this was the end of the project. It means I wrote with further adventures in mind; in fact, the closing pages introduce a new menace that I'd hoped other writers might have fun playing with. I know I'm not the only one who closed out that way, and that makes me happy. It feels like these Doctors have more life to them, even beyond us.
I can't say much more, because so much of this story is tied up in the overarching story the anthology tells. But I will leave you with three out-of-context lines:
‘We have searched up and down the timeline, throughout the history of this world and others. And there is no doubt in my mind: she is the one we are looking for.’
*
‘The stars, Mademoiselle.’ He raised a hand, indicating the unseen sky. ‘That is where we’re going, you and I. To the farthest reaches of your imagination and beyond. Unless, of course, your imagination is as exceptional as mine.’
*
‘Come, now, it’s no secret what you think of your keepers. How keen you are to slip the leash.’
I will also leave you with three keywords, in the tradition of BBC teasers: Revolution, Citizen, Exedra.
The rest will have to wait 'til the book is in your hands. But I do hope you'll enjoy it.
Forgotten Lives 3 is now available for pre-order —and only for pre-order—with all proceeds going to Alzheimer's charities. It would mean a lot to me if you supported this book and all the wonderful people who have worked on it.
And if you're a fan of my Forgotten Lives stories, please consider picking up my Black Archive installment on Heaven Sent. It includes an entire chapter devoted to analyzing the psychology of the Doctor, and the research I put into this book played a major role in creating "my" Doctor for these stories.

State of the Site: Winter and Beyond

 

Between having a nasty cold (and fortunately nothing worse), catching up to work, and other such things, I've been weighing how I'm going to be approaching blogging and social media going forward. I've been off the writing wagon for about two years for Various Reasons. The drought is about to shift (as in something is going to the printer shortly), and I have writing and editing work I'm getting back to as we speak.
That said, there are still things I want to do here on the blog. I want to update y'all on things I have coming out, because apparently there are people out there interested in reading what I write. I want to keep reviewing new books, because I miss getting to spread the word about books and authors like I used to when Sci-Fi Magazine was still a thing. At the same time, I want to make sure this blog is pulling its weight as a way to connect with people and get the word out about things, and not becoming simply a time sink.
So going forward, here are my plans:

Blog Posts Will Be Once a Week
With occasional surprise updates when something like an extremely limited book pre-order goes live, or if I'm signed up for a book tour on a day other than Wednesday. Going forward, the plan is to have a post every Wednesday covering something a little more concrete, rather than posts 3-ish times a week covering one thing.
This also gives me time to get back to other things I'm working on: revving Altrix Books back up, working on writing projects behind the scenes, and also a secret third thing.
Book Reviews Will Be Once a Month
And ideally it will be the first Wednesday of the month. I'm going to be adopting a format closer to what I did with Sci-Fi, covering and rating several books at one go rather than spreading them out as I read them. Ideally I'll be doing five per month — or at least leaving room for five per month. This month will be a bit different since we're into it; I'll be putting my review out once I've got all five reviews ready.
I have lots of great resources for ARCs, but I'm always happy to have more sent to me! If you've got a copy of something coming out that you'd like for me to review, hit me up on your social media app of choice. I'm all over the place.

I'd Like to Share Some Original Fiction
Once I'm caught up to everything, anyway.
I have a lot of very specific things I owe people. But once those things are done, I want to start submitting to anthologies, getting some story ideas out of my head and onto the page, and maybe just dicking around with turning some tabletop campaigns into a readable format for others. I don't know, I just wanna mess around some once I'm up to speed.
Whether I'll offer that on here, or as something on SubStack, I haven't decided yet. Once my feet are a bit more under me, I'll figure it out. But given the nature of writer life and the fact that I intend to start hammering submissions to anthologies again, I'm sure I'll find myself with a few stories in need of readers.

Fewer Sponsored/Merch Posts
As much as I appreciate people wanting to work with me and send me samples, I want to start narrowing that way down. There are two or three groups max I want to work with regularly because I actually do use their products as part of my day-to-day... and because they appeal directly to my book nerd vibe. This will also help me and the blog stay more focused.
I still love anime stuff, and I'll still cover manga and my journalism on here when it's relevant. But I don't really wanna be an influencer, and my work keeps me comfortable enough that I don't actually need to hustle on Instagram to pay the mortgage. There was a time when it was looking that way, but I'm doing pretty all right.

Thanks as always for hanging in there with me over time. I'm looking forward to having some very cool news for you about several things soon.

BOOK REVIEW: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

 

Before we begin, let me be up front: this book is a difficult read. And to author Andrew Joseph White's credit, he gives more than ample warning about this. I'm aware that there's no way to account for every single potential difficult reading situation, because trauma doesn't follow a standardized script and pull from a lean list of logical triggers. However, the things The Spirit Bares Its Teeth  confronts—not just confronts, but digs into over and over and over—are things much more couched in broader human and historical unpleasantness.
I will not be going into detail on these things in my review, because I would like you to be able to assess the story and see if what it offers is enough for you to brave these things. However, the prime thing I will offer a warning for is intricate surgical gore: detailed, constant, and vivid. If that's an unconditional deal-breaker, this isn't the book for you. Because Silas's journey is couched in both real and metaphorical surgical precision: from impromptu procedures to imagined hysterectomies, from the consistency of eyeballs to the brutality of vivisection. I nearly tapped out, which is probably a testament to White's vivid imagery.
With that aside: the story. Set in an alternate Victorian London, the world has seen the appearance of people with violet eyes. Alongside this event came the thinning of the Veil between the worlds of the living and the dead. Violet-eyed people can see through and manipulate this Veil; however, England has set it in stone that only men can become Speakers. Violet-eyed women may not tamper with the veil. They may, however, be married off in paranormal business dealings, hopefully to bear violet-eyed sons. In fact, he's already promised to a young suitor of his own age, introduced as Edward.
To the world at large, Silas is a barely-functional, violet-eyed girl who is fortunately beautiful enough to marry off to a Speaker. Silas knows he is a boy, though he fluctuates between wanting that to be an accepted fact and choosing to toe the line of femininity for his own safety. He also has autism (not explicitly named, as autism was not understood and named until decades after this story takes place) and fights to simultaneously toe the line of social acceptability—wearing two masks at once at all times. Despite Silas's unique abilities, his interest is in the living body: he dreams of becoming a surgeon like his older brother George, and has practiced in secret under George's watchful eye.
After a bold attempt at sneaking into a ceremony to be recognized as a speaker, Silas is whisked away to—let's not mince words—an institution. Couched as a place where young ladies with "Veil sickness" may overcome their troublesome ways and become good Speaker wives, it's exactly the sort of place you think it is. It's also exactly the sort of place where Silas must go full silent running if he ever hopes to make it out in one piece.
However, there's more going on here. Girls who are especially troublesome disappear without a trace, and Silas's tampering with the Veil reveals where those girls may have gone. The ones who remain have their own troubles to deal with, existing in a tense found family where self-preservation gives way to mutual care when Headmaster subjects one of the girls to "special training."
To go into much more would be giving away some of the book's best discoveries. Suffice to say Silas finds an unexpectedly similar ally in his betrothed, and together they must dodge under the watchful eyes of the staff and Silas's fellow students/patients to unearth the institution's dark secrets.

If I could change one thing about The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, it would be the presence of Daphne—as in I'd have loved more. While it's understandable that she must be something of a distant presence, I would love to have had more time as a reader to get to know her. I say this with the awareness that that's probably part of the point of her being so (physically) distant throughout many of Silas's trials. But I also feel like there are unplumbed depths to her, and I closed the book wishing for more time with her.
As mentioned above, this book is extremely brutal, and probably not a comfy read for people who can't stand extended ruminations on incisions, stitches, vivisections, and the like. To give you a metric: I tend to be pretty okay with written descriptions, with actual visuals being where I have to step away. These descriptions were so vivid that it didn't take actual visuals to make my hands start trembling a bit. Props to White: making prose that gnarly in practice is an art. Just be warned. The depictions of the mistreatment of people in a psychiatric setting is also especially gruesome, and gets more so as the book goes on. Thematically and descriptively, it's a lot. But to tell its story, it also needs to be.
If you can stomach all of that, I recommend this book. Its worldbuilding is intriguing, and rests largely on humanity's interpretation of a single reality-altering event. Living with Silas as a first-person narrator is insightful, as we get to see every flicker of internal conflict and self-actualization play out. I also loved seeing time and consideration given to how the rest of the world was functioning under these new circumstances. It's a raw and difficult read, but a worthwhile one.
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is now available from Penguin Random House.

OUT NOW: Otaku USA's Fall 2023 Issue!

 

It's that time again! The Fall 2023 issue of Otaku USA Magazine is on newsstands. As ever, I'm super grateful to be a part of this publication. The fact that we have a regularly issued anime-centric magazine in the States is a big enough deal already; getting to share my thoughts on new (and classic) series is just a bonus.

This time around, I have a trio of features on this year's newest titles. There's also lots of coverage of older titles in this issue, too—including the original six-episode Gunbuster OVA, Aim for the Ace!, and our cover girl Kiki!

In the review section, I share my thoughts on Yuri Is My Job! This seemingly one-trick title actually has a lot of intriguing plot threads and emotional stakes. Much like Ouran High School Host Club, it's largely sold on its opening gag, but has lots of hidden depth. Don't get me wrong, it's also still really funny.

On to features... I'm back in the isekai mines for a piece on The Aristocrat's Otherworldly Adventure. It's a surprisingly charming and genre-savvy series. So if you're trying to steer clear of edgy revenge isekai, this is a good place to start. I also completely forgot I referred to the protagonist as "the Bertie Wooster of anime" in this feature, but I'm not wrong.

Slightly grimmer—okay, a lot grimmer—is Hell's Paradise, the subject of my other feature for this issue. This exercise in opposites was a lot of fun to dig into and write about. If you're sensitive to gore and bizarre imagery, you might not feel comfy with this one. But if you're into, like, Devilman and Chainsaw Man, take my review to heart and watch this one.

I'm hard at work on another round of features for the next issue as we speak, so I'm looking forward to telling you all about that one when it drops! In the meantime, pick up the latest issue from the newsstand or grab it online. And if you want more of me talking about anime on a regular basis, check me out in the Crunchyroll Newsroom and the Otaku USA website!

BOOK REVIEW: The Inn at the Amethyst Lantern

 

Post-apocalyptic literature is, for easy-to-fathom reasons, becoming more and more popular. I'm personally not against it: it's a mainstay of fiction, and how we explore our mortality in the context of current events. However, the contemporary exploration of it tends to be of a certain type: dire, grim, and accusatory. It seems difficult for certain authors to remember that their readers are rarely the ones making the big frightening decisions. During and after lockdown, everyone's been writing their Zombie Book or Plague Book, and it's an unpleasant reminder of why mental health often went from a mutual struggle to PVP during that time.
So hearing that The Inn at the Amethyst Lantern was post-apocalyptic did worry me a bit. After a bumper crop of such books, I wasn't sure I was ready for one more. But in this book, J. Dianne Dotson presents things that are sorely lacking from modern sci-fi and fantasy: hope and beauty. Lots and lots of both.
The story takes place in a world that has adapted to living at night: technological advancement sans Internet, bioluminescent plants and animals, and a population so separated from what came before that a thriving culture has built up in this moonlit world. Life is not as we know it, and it may lack some things we currently love, but it is lovely in its own way. Teenagers who have reached the age of 15 attend a grand ball, for example... and it's one girl's desire to sneak in before she moves away that sets the whole story into motion.
That girl's cousin—our heroine, Gen Lightworth—finds herself called to the inn at the Amethyst Lantern to speak with a mysterious old family friend. The Amethyst Lantern is a lighthouse that has stood since time immemorial; the inn... no one's entirely sure. But as Gen and her young family and friends venture into it, meeting with the ancient Bendin to discuss his strange missives to them, they began to unearth a history even older than their own families. The world as they know it is in flux, and the things being set in motion date back to a time before the softly-lit life they love.
Magic, science, and mysticism are all in play as Gen becomes the reluctant leader of a group of young heroes. As they prepare to fight back a threat they don't yet understand, honing new powers of their own, they learn what the world was like before their time—and why.

Saying much more than this would give away far too much. The third act reveal sends this magical fable veering into realms of hard sci-fi, but the road to this twist is well-prepared. The young heroes of the book, numerous as they are, are all delightful. Gen in particular is a relatable heroine, terrified to take charge but more capable than she knows.
While the story is strong and the characters are intriguing (especially the elders who gift the kids with their knowledge and magic items), it's the setting that drew me in. I'm unfamiliar with "lunarpunk" as a concept, but if this is it, I kind of love it. A post-apocalyptic utopia, a world in which the goodness of humanity endures and builds a beautiful new life out of whatever they can, is a concept sorely missing from contemporary literature. It puts me in mind of the Monk and Robot books—choosing to believe that humanity's last gasp will always be hope. That our legacy is not who can be angriest loudest, but who can say something truer and more beautiful. And the final page of The Inn at the Amethyst Lantern brings with it an even bigger, brighter hope than anything else that's come before.
This is a beautiful, atmospheric, and inspiring read. In a sea of fear and anger, it's braver and more difficult to imagine goodness and beauty. We need more books like this, especially right now.
The Inn at the Amethyst Lantern is now available.

PRE-ORDER: Outside In Regenerates

 

The intent had simply been to alert everyone before disaster struck. The upshot… well, I suppose we’ve all learned something here today. But I could hardly have predicted how my passengers would behave under the circumstances. Even the one I ought to know better than anyone.

--

One of my favorite genres of anthology in recent years is the fan essay anthology. I've been in multiple You and Who anthologies, contributing perspectives on Doctor Who and other pieces of entertainment. Anthologies like these are fascinating fandom microcosms: rather than scholarly treatises (which have their place, and I've done those as well), they're personal reflections. Rather than discussing the critical merits and flaws of a piece, they place it in a larger tapestry of experiences. We learn about the thing being discussed, but also the people who engage with it.

The Outside In series is slightly different. Rather than memoirs or strict essays, these are a blend of review and creative writing. Outside In Regenerates features 163 authors, 163 Doctor Who stories, and (almost certainly) 163 ways to express oneself in text. It's a full refresh of the very first Outside In book, covering 160 Doctor Who stories for the 50th anniversary.

I'm among the 163, giving my review of The Edge of Destruction. This is one of my favorite early Who episodes, for all the character development it gives our very first Team TARDIS. Stacey Smith? gave me excellent guidance on how to really lean into the conceit I'd chosen to talk about this episode.

Outside In Regenerates is coming out just in time for the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, and it also happens to be a 10th anniversary celebration for Outside In. Pre-orders are open now, with the book dropping on November 23: the anniversary proper.

If this kind of book appeals to you, be sure to check out the ATB Publishing store for similar anthologies covering Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Twin Peaks, and more. There are also several stand-alone books, including the official biography of filmmaker Mick Garris.

And if you'd like to see more by me in this vein (although slightly less experimental), check out these anthologies:

* Army of Ghosts: Essays on Doctor Who's Sometimes Forgotten Stories
* Me and the Starman
* Shadow of the Gallifreyan
* You and Who: Contact Has Been Made

And if you really can't get enough of my thoughts on Who stuff, I've written an entire book about Heaven Sent.

Thanks as always for supporting my writing and the publishers I work with!

BOOK REVIEW: By Any Other Name

 

I think everyone is allowed one harmless conspiracy theory to obsess over. Mine is, and has been for decades, that only-technically-a-conspiracy-theory that playwright Christopher Marlowe, cut down in his prime, was actually a spy for Queen Elizabeth I. Apparently I'm not the only person still enamored of this idea—this is the backdrop for the high-stakes, high-drama By Any Other Name. While technically also a YA romance, the growing relationship between James Bloomsbury and Will Hughes quickly becomes a facet of the intrigue.

16-year-old Will Hughes (not his real name) is a young actor who specialized in playing women's roles onstage. That's "specialized," past tense, because puberty is catching up to him. That's bad news for him, as landing a man's role is much more difficult, and he's attempting to lie low and earn enough money to get back to his family. Fortunately, he's friends with Christopher Marlowe... though things go south quickly when he discovers his mentor murdered in the street.

The discoveries he makes lead him to accidentally save the life of Liz I herself—not someone he's overly enamored of, for reasons that become clear in the book. But his actions earn him a new position: spymaster to the Queen, alongside Lord James Bloomsbury. James is charming, handsome, and basically everything Will both desires and despises.

The bulk of the book is Elizabethan intrigue mixed with furtive romance. As Will and James grow closer, under the shadow of multiple arranged marriages, Marlowe's murder still looms large. Someone is trying to kill the queen. And while Will would happily see her killed, the combination of carrot and stick both promises a safe life for his family and threatens potential doom should he step out of line. But the deeper the two dig into the conspiracy at the heart of the Queen's progress and victory parties, the closer to home the danger appears to be.

By Any Other Name stood out to me immediately for its gentle-handed use of Shakespearean English in the first-person prose: enough that nothing seemed anachronistic, not so much that you need footnotes to process it. Each "act" of the book is fronted by a poem by a different notable figure of the time, showcasing the poetic talents of people beyond Shakespeare. (And yes, the Bard is a presence in the book, but not a hero-worshiped one... very much the opposite, in fact.)

From a purely historical standpoint, there are some decidedly modern moments—the merit of which depends on the reader's point of view. The take on same-sex relations leans a bit more into modernity than actual history. That said, this is written for a modern readership, with character that modern readers are meant to relate to. It's probably not the time to split hairs over what triggered the wrath of a Tudor monarch (partly because the answer is "lots of things"). There are people far more qualified to discuss this topic than I am, and I believe that this book could potentially be an excellent excuse to seek those people out and read their own research and reflections on Elizabethan society.

Overall, By Any Other Name mostly balances its historical setting with its modern lens, and the few times it doesn't are outweighed by the many times it does. The intrigue is intriguing (with proper stakes and a proper twist in the tale), the romance is just slow-burn enough to be enthralling without becoming strained, and the references are accessible without demanding a scholar-level knowledge of Elizabethan arts and culture. And, like the best plays of its period, it's never truly over when you think it is. There's always one more snag to handle, one more loose end to tie up, one more conspiracy to unravel.

.

BOOK REVIEW: Norse Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook

 

Whether you're a fan of Marvel movies and comics, the works of Tolkien, video games, or a certain Canadian historical drama, you will likely find yourself somewhat adjacent to Norse mythology. Even if none of these applies to you, you've probably had at least vague exposure to this canon. "Vague" as compared to Greek and Roman mythology, at least. While the fingerprints of Norse mythology are everywhere, from our entertainment to the days of the week, we tend to have gaps in our knowledge. (And many of those gaps end up filled by modern takes on the characters and scenarios.)

I've never fancied myself an expert on Norse mythology, so I was excited to dive into this one. Norse Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook is exactly what the title says: a Who's Who of major figures throughout this particular lineage of myths and legends.

Many books along these lines have to choose between being thorough and being accessible to the layperson; however, Dr. Kelsey A. Fuller-Shafer achieves both. This is an extremely approachable volume, written to entertain as much as to educate. Dr. Fuller-Shafer leads with context about the social structure and values of the people to whom these myths belong, along with a bit of mythbusting as regards our modern perception of Vikings.

From there, the book is divided up into sections on the Aesir and Vanir, Jotun and other villains, and human heroes. While this book can be either read through at one go or referenced using the index, there is benefit to reading the "Human Heroes" section in order as it tells its story chronologically. Both within the text proper and in endnotes, space is given to a run-down of cultural (pop and otherwise) references to these characters and their different versions.

Dr. Fuller-Shafer's easy and informative prose reads like a lecture from that one college professor whose class you never wanted to miss. And even though it can be referenced piecemeal, a narrative does emerge if you read it cover to cover. (For instance, Odin popping up with all the dread reliability of Michael Eisner in a Defunctland playlist.) With that said, this is not a one-and-done read, no matter how you approach it. This is something to be kept handy and referred to regularly.

Throughout the book are full-color illustrations by Sara Richard, depicting the human and superhuman heroes of these tales. These gorgeous otherworldly renderings bring to life the cast and events of the legends explored, lending a beautiful uncanniness to them. That said, my personal favorite image in the book is of its most human subject: Snorri, author of the Prose Edda, looking extremely contented as he enjoys a drink in his legendary hot tub.

Whether you're a fan of media inspired by Norse mythology or just crave knowledge, this handbook is a beautiful addition to your library.

Norse Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook is available now.

BOOK TOUR: By the Horn of the South - Sue Davies

 

Official Website | Buy from Amazon

Based on a true story, this historical adventure is set on a Greek merchant vessel, The Delphis, as it sails down the coast of West Africa in search of treasure.
It is about 500 BCE. There is a volatile mix of navigators, healers and soothsayers on board. The seas are huge and the hunt for gold, relentless. The skies are overcast and navigation by the night sky impossible. They get lost in lakes and lagoons, fall ill with mysterious fevers and some die. They ride out a tidal wave and hunt for gorillas.
When they return home they must answer for their actions to one of the most dangerous men of the known world. He hauls them up before an enquiry. Was any treasure found? Who was responsible for the failure of the voyage? Most importantly of all, why is their leader not amongst them? The man seems to have completely disappeared.
This multi-voiced, historical adventure is fast paced and gripping. It explores what was it like to travel the world when it was thought to end at the Straits of Gibraltar and Helios, the sun, disappeared sizzling into the sea each night only to rise, fresh faced again, every morning.
* * *
A unique and intriguing read, By the Horns of the South has a massive cast, each with their own goals and motivations at play. At the core of the group is a family of healers, bearing both the physical ills and the biases of their gathered party. Both during the voyage and after, everyone wants an explanation for the poor fortune of the journey—or, if necessary, a scapegoat.
Gravitating between a post-journey explanation and the cramped quarters of the voyage itself, the book seeks to plunge the reader into the midst of the experience. Between ill health, violent weather, and unkind crewmates, it's not a pleasant world. Even so, bonds are forged, and the crew's healer does her best to care for her crewmates despite their inclinations otherwise. While the ending isn't necessarily joyful, it is peaceful.
If you're interested in historically-inspired reads, this is a great one to pick up. A prequel, By the Pillars of Herakles, is apparently en route for publication in September 2024. Be sure to check out the author's website for more information!
This blog post is part of a book tour sponsored by The Book Network.

TTRPG REVIEW: The Düngeonmeister Goblin Quest Coloring Book

 

Jef Aldrich and Jon Taylor have contributed to more of my tabletop campaigns than I think either of them realizes. My monthly afternoon-spanning game in Richmond is now traditionally accompanied by a Düngeonmeister cocktail (last time was a Slippery Grippli), and The Ultimate RPG Tarot Deck  has stood in for both my Fey Wanderer's attempts at augury and a Blades in the Dark character's obsession with having his fortune told. There's a certain intersection of creativity and familiarity that turns out this variety of Swiss army gaming tools, and it's happened again.
The Düngeonmeister Goblin Quest Coloring Book is exactly what it says on the tin: a coloring book (with very nice art by Zachary Bacus). The book follows the story of a typical D&D-style campaign, starting from a group of adventurers thwarting a goblin raid and ending with a fight against a mighty dragon. But also, you'll be needing your dice.
There are two ways to play with this book alone, and both of them affect the story. The first is to color in whatever way sparks joy, then pop back to the tables in each section and see what you've inflicted on the heroes of the Greenscale Company. The other is to come in with your dice in hand (d10s and d12s are all you'll need) and see how your rolls affect the party (and your coloring choice).
The book also comes with maps large and small, which you can repurpose for your own games. Some of the tables included can also be repurposed for quick encounters, including a boss fight with several statted-out varieties of dragon. And—best of all in my book—there's a d100 table to quickly generate magic items that range from the silly to the profound. (Going to start petitioning my DM for The Discerning Lady's Spring-Loaded Dagger.)

If there's a youngster in your life interested in gaming but not quite ready to take up the dice, this would be a great introduction, too. The influence of dice rolls on the story and the way the pages are colored is a nice, low-stakes metaphor for the agency players have over their game. (And, of course, the joy and terror of dice rolls.) And even if you just want to enjoy the story and color at your leisure, it's fine for that. The interaction doesn't feel like an obligation so much as a bonus.
If you're already as familiar with the Düngeonmeister line as I am, you hardly need me to tell you this is worth your while. But if you are new to the works of Aldrich and Taylor, this should win you over quickly.
The Düngeonmeister Goblin Quest Coloring Book goes on sale October 17.