The second of the two core player books for D&D Essentials, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms covers some less traditional, but still fairly significant, options for the game. The book appears to be designed to stand alone, so it duplicates a lot of the material from its sibling, Heroes of the Fallen Lands (which itself streamlined material from the Rules Compendium). I consider this a plus - however, this review will only focus on the new or different material.

Classes: Chapter 4 of HOTFK covers four classes in much the same way as Fallen Lands - advice on how to play and develop them over time, then benefits spread across three tiers (Heroic, Paragon, and Epic). Similar to Fallen Lands, all classes here choose one generic Epic Destiny - this time it is the "Destined Scion", a tiny bit more flavorful than the other book's "Indomitable Champion", but still honestly pretty bland.

Regarding each class:

• Druid: The default build is the "Sentinel", and you choose from one of two seasons, spring or summer, similar to the Cleric's domains. (It disappointed me that we didn't also get fall or winter.) The Paragon Path is the "Steadfast Sentinel". This particular class design felt strange to me, as it's much more martial than I expected of a druid - many powers even rely on weapon attacks. Instead of turning into an animal, as with 3E or 5E's druids, you get an animal companion. The companion is neat enough... but given the choice, I think turning into an animal is cooler. Overall, while the class is functional, it feels conceptually muddy - and probably the least interesting in the book.
• Paladin: The default build is the "Cavalier", who chooses from one of two heroic virtues to uphold, Sacrifice or Valor. The Paragon Path is the "Valiant Cavalier". Unlike some versions of the cavalier in other editions, the mounted combat elements are fairly limited. However, the overall design is solid, with an emphasis on smites and auras that feels very much like an ancestor of 5E's paladin. The Sacrifice virtue, which lets you burn up healing surges to help teammates, is more interesting than the more traditional Valor. Nothing really bad here overall.
• Ranger: There are two builds available, the "Hunter" (which emphasizes archery) and the "Scout" (which emphasizes two-weapon fighting). I definitely liked the "Hunter" (Paragon Path: "Peerless Hunter") better, with its wide array of cool archery tricks and powers - probably my favorite option in the book, in fact. (It also feels more appropriate as a "nature warrior" than the "Sentinel" druid.) The "Scout" (Paragon Path: "Intrepid Scout") is not as well-defined, perhaps a bit of a rogue/ranger - it seems meant for players who want to be Drizzt clones. (Though that's perfectly fine! Just a bit more limited.)
• Warlock: The build here is the "Hexblade", who chooses from one of two pacts (Fey or Infernal). The Paragon Path is the "Legendary Hexblade". The lore gets particularly interesting here - for example, the "Hexblade" is actually using loopholes to steal devils' power, rather than making a traditional deal. However, it's also muddled by the non-pact power options, which draw from multiple thematic sources (fey, fiend, and others). The "Hexblade" plays differently than I'd expect from a warlock, much more martial - more like a warlock-paladin of sorts. It actually looks more fun than 5E's Hexblade, in fact! However, I was disappointed that there wasn't a dedicated caster option to contrast with the "Hexblade". (In fact, every class in the book is a martial-magical mix.)

Races: Chapter 5 reprints the Human (from Fallen Lands), and also includes the Dragonborn, Drow (who seem to get a lot of attention in this book), Half-Elves, Half-Orcs, and Tieflings. The Dragonborn and Tieflings particularly shine here, as they also get to show off 4E's default setting. (The latter are pretty close to their 5E presentation, but the former have some key differences.)

The rest: Chapter 7's feats are largely repeats of those in Fallen Lands, though there are some categories of particular interest to druids, rangers, and drow. Likewise, Chapter 8's gear and magic items overlap with the other book's selection, though I think there were a few here not in there (and vice versa).

Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms is noticeably less iconic and necessary than Fallen Lands. Yet, the quality seems a bit more consistent here - there were more disappointments among the Fallen Lands class options (Cleric and Fighter) than in this book's options (only the Druid left me a bit cold). So they're about on par, in my view. If you can only pick one, of course, go with Fallen Lands. But if you want to see where D&D's lore stands apart from other fantasy worlds, be sure to get Forgotten Kingdoms as well. (Originally posted on Goodreads)