
Game Wizards
The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons
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Narrated by:
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Chris Andrew Ciulla
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By:
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Jon Peterson
About this listen
When Dungeons & Dragons was first released to a small hobby community, it hardly seemed destined for mainstream success—and yet this arcane tabletop role-playing game became an unlikely pop culture phenomenon. In Game Wizards, Jon Peterson chronicles the rise of Dungeons & Dragons from hobbyist pastime to mass market sensation, from the initial collaboration to the later feud of its creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. As the game's fiftieth anniversary approaches, Peterson—a noted authority on role-playing games—explains how D&D and its creators navigated their successes, setbacks, and controversies.
Peterson describes Gygax and Arneson's first meeting and their work toward the 1974 release of the game; the founding of TSR and its growth as a company; and Arneson's acrimonious departure and subsequent challenges to TSR. He recounts the "Satanic Panic" accusations that D&D was sacrilegious and dangerous, and how they made the game famous.
With Game Wizards, Peterson restores historical particulars long obscured by competing narratives spun by the one-time partners. That record amply demonstrates how the turbulent experience of creating something as momentous as Dungeons & Dragons can make people remember things a bit differently from the way they actually happened.
©2021 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (P)2022 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
Even if you’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons, you probably know someone who has: the game has had a profound influence on our culture, and 2014 marks the intriguing role-playing phenomenon’s 40th anniversary. Released decades before the Internet and social media, Dungeons & Dragons inspired one of the original nerd subcultures and is still revered by more than 30 million fans. Now, the authoritative history and magic of the game are revealed by an award-winning journalist and lifelong D&D player.
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the love of the game!
- By Amazon Customer on 05-12-25
By: David M. Ewalt
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Elric of Melniboné
- Volume 1: Elric of Melnibone, The Fortress of the Pearl, The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, and The Weird of the White Wolf
- By: Michael Moorcock, Neil Gaiman - Foreword
- Narrated by: Samuel Roukin
- Length: 24 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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It is one of the most well-known and well-loved fantasy epics of the twentieth century: the story of Elric, emperor of the dying kingdom of Melniboné. For a hundred centuries the Melnibonéans have ruled from the Dragon Isle of Imrryr. Now, after years of corruption and decadence, Elric’s amoral cousin Prince Yyrkoon, the brother of his beloved Cymoril, sets his eyes on the Ruby Throne. Elric must face his treacherous cousin not as a warrior but as a sorcerer king once again in league with the ancient gods of Melniboné, the Chaos Lords, and thus sealing his inexorable fate.
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Skip the first chapter, it's not Moorcock.
- By Ted C. on 02-17-22
By: Michael Moorcock, and others
Nerd cred boost
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Like many other stories of ventures taken up with goodwill and trust, TSR struggled to make the transition to a serious business. The story is a great insight into what American culture was like back then as well. Having lived through it myself, I sometimes forget how difficult times could be and what a 'wild west' the business culture was like. This book is a great window into a nascent subculture that would go on to be a dominant force in pop culture decades later.
more good stuff from Peterson
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I think this story is really important if nothing else but for the push back against Gygax’s prevailing narrative that he was ambushed and forced out by his enemies, when clearly if on the cusp of their incredible success they had sought out experienced executives to help steer the course, the history of TSR and D&D would have been very different. Or not, it doesn’t matter at this point.
This was a fascinating account of the history of the TSR and any fan of D&D interested in such history should immediately get this book and read it.
How mismanagement changes the game forever
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Nice and grounded
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The real inside scoop
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excellent in depth detailing of the history G&D
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A book well written
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A true history of TSR
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Very Repetitive
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Awesome Book Ruined By A Bizarrely Bad Narration
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