About book Of Dice And Men: The Story Of Dungeons & Dragons And The People Who Play It (2013)
I used to play a lot of Dungeons and Dragons (and still would, if I had the time!), so reading this was a no-brainer for me. Unfortunately, it disappointed. I did learn some things about the history of the game, which I think Ewalt does a fine job of reporting (although his decision to give us a deeper 'history of gaming' is a waste of a chapter). Unfortunately, the story of how Gary Gygax created D&D is pretty boring.The rest of this book is about Ewalt, and why he made the decision to start playing Dungeons & Dragons again as an adult. He's a gigantic, gigantic dork, so you basically have to be embarrassed on his behalf for most of this - he certainly perpetuates any stereotypes that non-players would have about the people who enjoy the game.He also sprinkles in periodic updates on the campaign he was playing at the time he wrote the book, and this at least should be enjoyable for current/former players. Unfortunately, his campaign sounds really lame, too - I was more annoyed at the way it was run than anything else.Fun idea for a book, but I can't recommend it. It's nice to read an account of a gamer who actually loves the hobby in question. I can't help but compare this to the smug self-satisfaction evident in Mark Barrowcliffe's "the ELfish Gene." While Barrowcliffe denigrates the hobby that he's "outgrown," Ewalt comes to the realization that he's still one of us and his description of the nigh-reverent experience of taking his first step as a DM is quite charming.There is a bit of a historical time skip: after the loving detail paid attention to D&D's early days, we leap right into the then-impending Fifth Edition. It would have been nice to spend some time reading about the history of Third and Fourth Edition.Regardless, the book is still wonderful and a perfect complement to someone who is hard at work at writing a new campaign of his own.
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Fascinating look at a game many of my contemporaries have played. I wish I had too!
—Charles
Social history of D&D in the specific and gamers in general. Super fun.
—arsema_fuzzy
Very good, interesting to see the history of games.
—Kamariee
