UK comic and genre specialist Forbidden Planet has opened pre-orders for an exclusive signed hardcover edition of The Dungeon Book: As Told by Cornelius the Skull, the upcoming standalone fantasy novel by veteran game designer and author Gareth Hanrahan.
Published by Orbit Books, the 400-page release is scheduled to hit shelves on 17 August 2026 at a discounted pre-order price of £19.00, down from its standard £22.00 retail price.
The plot subverts traditional dungeon-crawling fantasy and tabletop roleplaying games by framing the story entirely from the point of view of the dungeon’s resident monsters. The story centres on Bait, a human child snatched by a dragon and abandoned in the subterranean depths beneath a sorcerer’s tower. Spared by the local inhabitants, Bait grows up under the care of a goblin clan, guarded by a vengeful minotaur, tutored by a sentient skull, and sustained on corridor slime until invading adventurers arrive to plunder her home.
Gareth Hanrahan, who is based in Ireland, brings decades of tabletop roleplaying games design experience to the project. Known for major contributions to Pelgrane Press game lines as well as acclaimed fantasy series such as The Gutter Prayer and The Black Iron Legacy, Hanrahan applies classic megadungeon ecology and monster logic directly to a character-driven comic fantasy.
M. R. Carey, author of Once Was Willem, praised the novel in an advance review:
Full of wit and adventure, twists and turns, wonderful monsters and astonishing revelations. An absolute joy.”
The signed hardback edition is available to pre-order directly from Forbidden Planet.
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- Pre-order: Forbidden Planet.
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