Of Dice and Men is a compelling novel chronicling the rise of Dungeons and Dragons. The essence of the book tells the tale of TSR who originally made the first rule book back in 1974 and later sold to Wizards of the Coast. Approximately 30 million people have played the game in its many iterations and has spawned many imitators.
I have always played Dungeons and Dragons during my formative teen years because the game allowed the Dungeon Master and Players to work together to craft unique stories and shared experiences. Humanity at its fundamental core is a story telling species and before books were written, cavemen told stories around the campfires. Dungeons and Dragons is a game about telling stories and envisioning in the minds eye the sights and sounds of battling Lolth the Spider Queen in the depths of the Underdark.
David Ewalt is the author of the book and played Dungeons and Dragons as a kid and then gave it up for a good 15 years while video games and life started to replace it. In writing the book he got back into playing the game with trepidation because he did not want it to dominate his life again. The book tells the tale of the original creators of the company, their trials and tribulations of a small startup to making millions of dollars a year. You find out the various legal battles, living beyond your means and the crash of role-playing games that had Wizards of the Coast purchase the company and all of their assets.
Of Dice and Men is a book that gives an accurate tale on the history of storytelling games and how Dungeons and Dragons captured the imagination of millions of people. It talks in-depth of the pitchforks coming out as the game went mainstream and the social stigmas. The Author executes the history of the game better than anyone and a book like this was long overdue.
Rating: 4/5
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.