Dragons of Winter Night is a fantasy novel by Margaret Weis

Margaret Weis

Margaret Edith Weis is a fantasy novelist who, along with Tracy Hickman, is one of the original creators of the Dragonlance game world and has written numerous novels and short stories set in fantastic worlds.-Early life:Margaret Weis was born in 1948 in Independence, Missouri, and later attended...

 and Tracy Hickman

Tracy Hickman

Tracy Raye Hickman is a best-selling fantasy author, best known for his work on Dragonlance as a game designer and co-author with Margaret Weis, while he worked for TSR...

, based on the Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

 gaming modules. It is the second book in the Chronicles Trilogy, preceded by Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Dragons of Autumn Twilight is a fantasy novel by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, based on a series of Dungeons & Dragons game modules...

 and followed by Dragons of Spring Dawning

Dragons of Spring Dawning

Dragons of Spring Dawning is the third book in the Dragonlance Chronicles series, written by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. It continues events from Dragons of Winter Night and sets up the premise of the Dragonlance Legends trilogy, also written by Weis and Hickman-Publication history:Originally...

. It was the second Dragonlance

Dragonlance

Dragonlance is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of popular fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived Dragonlance while driving in their car on the way to TSR for a job application...

 novel, being released in 1985. It is the second novel in the Chronicles Trilogy, which along with the Legends Trilogy introduces the Dragonlance world. Specifically, it details the darker days of the War of the Lance

War of the Lance

The War of the Lance is a fictional war in the Dragonlance setting, created by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman.-Publication history:The War of the Lance is the prime conflict in the Dragonlance saga....

.

Dragons of Winter Night follows a pattern in its title with the other novels in its series, Dragons of Autumn Twilight and Dragons of Spring Dawning

Dragons of Spring Dawning

Dragons of Spring Dawning is the third book in the Dragonlance Chronicles series, written by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. It continues events from Dragons of Winter Night and sets up the premise of the Dragonlance Legends trilogy, also written by Weis and Hickman-Publication history:Originally...

, in that they all start with Dragons, followed by the series of Autumn, Winter, and Spring, as well as a passing of time series, Twilight, Night, and Dawning.
To describe the scene in which the city of Tarsis is destroyed by dragons

Dragon (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game , dragons are an iconic type of monstrous creature used as adversaries or, less commonly, allies of player characters...

, Margaret Weis studied World War II films of the bombing of London

The Blitz

The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...

.

During the scene in which most of the characters are killed in a dream, Margaret Weis references Othello

Othello

The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...

 by William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

, with Caramon speaking the phrase "No, you're wrong, Tanis.