[4] Jean Black, the managing editor of TSR's book department, assigned Hickman and Weis to write first the novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight and then continue with the rest of the Dragonlance Chronicles series.

Kitiara Uth Matar, the half sister of the twins Caramon and Raistlin, was supposed to be there as well, but only sent a mysterious note.

After a lengthy trip on the backs of pegasi and several encounters with the forces of darkness, the companions enter Xak Tsaroth and meet some gully dwarves, diminutive and socially awkward creatures.

One of the dwarves, Bupu, leads them to the dragon Khisanth, who is killed by the holy power of the Blue Crystal Staff.

However, they later find her resting at the foot of a statue of Mishakal (the Goddess of Healing), which now bears the Blue Crystal Staff, and Goldmoon is blessed with true clerical powers.

The Companions are captured by the Highlord armies and are chained in a slave caravan along with an elf named Gilthanas, the son of the leader of the elven nation of Qualinesti.

They flee to Qualinesti, where Tanis is reunited with his childhood sweetheart, the exceptionally beautiful elven princess, Laurana Kanan.

The Elven King Solostaran convinces the Companions to lead an attack on the slave-mine Pax Tharkas to free the slaves from the control of the local Dragon Highlord.

The Companions infiltrate Pax Tharkas and Goldmoon heals Elistan, a dying Seeker, and converts him to the faith of the true gods.

The screenplay adaptation was completed by George Strayton, with creative assistance by Weis and Hickman, and Will Meugniot directed.

Dave Langford reviewed Dragons of Autumn Twilight for White Dwarf #65, suggesting that it was "inspired by an AD&D campaign full of chunks ripped bleeding from Tolkien" and complained about the "deadly predictable questing, with stock D&D characters in familiar encounters" and ultimately reported that he "couldn't finish this one".

[14] Steve Hampshire reviewed Dragonlance Chronicles: Dragons of Autumn Twilight for Imagine magazine, and stated that "in conclusion, the book stands up well as AD&D supplementary material, but rather less well as a novel".

Club, wrote a positive review of Dragonlance Chronicles, remarking that Dragons of Autumn Twilight is still widely read, although he noted the clichés of the series: "In Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the adventurers meet up in a tavern—even if it is a tavern that’s nestled in the branches of a giant tree, something my 12-year-old self thought was super cool.

[16] Dragons of Autumn Twilight was #10 on CBR's 2020 "10 Of The Best DnD Stories To Start Off With" list — the article states that "the reason that any aspiring Dungeon master or player should read this novel, is that it provides some great ideas on how to make common tropes seen in D & D more interesting.