In 1986, I was an awkward, bespectacled eleven-year-old bookworm. Popularity was a mystical, faraway realm. Having been bullied from the very first day of fifth grade, my only solace (oh how prophetic a word!) was found in a few good friends and in the pages of books.

Up to that point in my young life, I had dabbled in the fantasy literature available to most kids at the time: the Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, and even the excellent Chronicles of Prydain. However, one fateful day in class, I found a new realm to explore.

During the reading period allowed by our teacher, my classmates and I were perusing her small, but well-stocked, bookshelf at the back of the classroom. I remember when my eyes came across the word “Dragonlance,” the black and red letters skewered by what indeed appeared to be a lance. The spine of the book also had the word “Stormblade.”

I reached out quickly and pulled the book from the shelf. On the cover, I had my first glimpse of Larry Elmore’s glorious artwork. Here was a robed figure riding a flying dragon, swooping down on some hapless people.

And what strange people they were: in the foreground was a man with thick black hair and beard, reminiscent of the dwarves I imagined in The Hobbit. There was a woman holding a sword, who seemed ready to toss the weapon to the dwarf. With them was a short, grey-haired fellow and a cloaked figure holding a bow and arrow.

Here was a desperate moment of danger and adventure frozen in time, and I needed to know more! I took the book home with me that night (with my teacher’s permission, of course), and so began my own decades-long journey across Krynn! I soon joined the Companions of the Lance in their struggle against the Dark Queen, followed Caramon, Raistlin, and Tas through time to witness the Cataclysm, and so much more!

In 1988, I finally began playing Dungeons & Dragons, the game that had given Dragonlance a place to grow and thrive in many imaginations, including my own. I had been previously denied access to the game because of a strict religious upbringing, but gratefully, I was able to break those chains and join the pastime that I still love today.

Now, nearly 40 years after that moment in fifth grade, I return to the pages of Dragonlance again. I find myself heading back to the village of Solace, toward the fabled Inn of the Last Home, where I’ll meet up with the Companions once more, as if a certain irrepressible kender has used a time-traveling device to bring me back to the start of the adventure.

I look forward to retracing my steps across the face of the world of Krynn, with companions old and new! I hope you’ll join me, and share your own Dragonlance story as well!