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“This is a delightful book—more fun than being a Dungeon Master to a group ofhigh-level mages and thieves.”
—A. J. Jacobs,
New York Times
best-selling authorof
The Know-It-All
and
The Year of Living Biblically
“Witty, downright funny, poignant, honest and . . . well, wistful. Anyone who hasever embraced ‘escapism’ will understand, and those who haven’t taken thatleap of imagination will want to after reading
Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks
. …Reading Ethan Gilsdorf’s tale conjured my own Dungeons & Dragons and fantasyexperiences, vividly.”
—R.A. Salvatore,
New York Times
best-selling author of
The Dark Elf Trilogy
, and lead storyteller of 38 Studios game company“A fun, quirky, and fresh perspective for those wanting to know more about theamazing world of gaming.”
—David Brin,
winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and LocusAwards, and author of
The Postman
,
Kiln People
, and
The Transparent Society
“Ethan Gilsdorf’s quest for himself leads through the fantasy world of millionsof gamers in a breathless adventure/quest/memoir that is uniquely contemporary.This is at once a primer on the world of gaming, a self-help manual, and awistful meditation on the passing of real time in a (nearly) virtual world.”
—Andrei Codrescu,
NPR commentator and author of
The Posthuman Dada Guide
“An orcs-and-all journey through geekdom, told with affection for every elf, wizard, andDungeon Master it meets along the way.
Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks
is for any-one who’s ever been lured by the enchantment and secrets of faraway fantasy worlds;it gives a personal face to the cloak-swishing, wand-yielding, lightsaber-rattlinggamer in us all.”
—Melissa Anelli,
author of
Harry, A History: The True Story of a Boy Wizard, His Fans, and Life Inside the Harry Potter Phenomenon
An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players,Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms
US $24.95 / CAN $31.95
THELYONSPRESS
(continued rom ront fap)
Delving deeper and deeper into geekdom, ournoble hero plays WoW or weeks on end. He travels topilgrimage sites: Tolkien’s hometown, movie locations,castles, and archives. He hangs out with Harry Pottertribute bands. At a LARP, he dresses as a pacifst monkor a weekend. He goes to an conventions and gamingtournaments. He battles online goblins, trolls, and sor-cerers. He camps with medieval reenactors—12,000o them. He becomes Ethor, Ethorian, and Ethor-An3.He sews his own tunic. He even plays D&D. What hediscovers is unny, poignant, and enlightening.Ater playing Dungeons & Dragons religiously in the1970s and 1980s,
Ethan Gilsdorf
went on to becomea poet, teacher, and journalist. Based in Somerville,Massachusetts, he publishes travel, arts, and popculture stories regularly in the
New York Times
,
Bos- ton Globe
, and
Christian Science Monitor
, and hasbeen published in other magazines and newspapers,including
National Geographic Traveler
,
Psychology Today
, and the
Washington Post
. He has also been aguest on talk radio as a antasy and escapism expert.Follow Ethan’s adventures at www.ethangilsdor.com.
Cover design by Bret KerrPrinted in the United States o AmericaFront cover image courtesy o the author; axe, spine backgroundand parchment © Shutterstock; back cover: top let and right by author;bottom right top (Klingon Col Kasak zanti-Septaric) © Dave Nelson,bottom right © Saul Zaentz Co.; bottom let by the author; bottom lettop courtesy o Harry and the Potters; background map by the author
The Lyons PressGuilord, Connecticutwww.LyonsPress.comThe Lyons Press is an imprinto The Globe Pequot Press
Fantasy. Science fction. Role-playing games.
Tens o millions o people around the globe turn awayrom the “real” world to inhabit others. Movie an-reaks design costumes and collect
Lord o the Rings
action fgures. Some attend comic book conventionsand Renaissance airs, others play live-action role-playing games (LARPs). The online game World oWarcrat (WoW) has alone lured twelve million usersworldwide. Even old-school role-playing games suchas Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) are still wildly popular.Who are these gamers and antasy ans?What explains the irresistible appeal o such“escapist” adventures? And what could one manfnd i he embarked on a journey through antasyworld ater antasy world?In an enthralling blend o travelogue, popculture analysis, and memoir, orty-year-oldormer D&D addict Ethan Gilsdor criss-crosses America, the world, and otherworlds—rom Boston to Wisconsin,New Zealand to France, and PlanetEarth to the realm o Aggramar. Ona quest that begins in his own geekyteenage past and ends in our online gam-ing uture, he asks gaming and antasy geeks howthey balance their escapist urges with the kingdomo adulthood. He questions Tolkien scholars and me-dievalists. He speaks to grown men who build hob-bit holes and speak Elvish, and to grown women whoplay massively multiplayer online games. He seeksout those who dream o elves, long swords, and he-roic deeds, and mentally inhabit araway magicallands. Gilsdor records what lures them—old, young,male, emale, able-bodied, and disabled—into an-tasy worlds, and or what reasons, whether healthy,unhealthy, or in between.
(continued on back fap)
Forget Frodo—
Ethan Gilsdor guides readersthrough antasy lands ar more enchanting thananything you’ll fnd in Tolkien’s books.
—Pagan Kennedy,
New York Times
Notable author
b y W e n d y H a r r i n g t o n
ETHAN GILSDORF
n_h_i_.in 9 47
Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks
hardcover | 4c matte with spot gloss
Client:LyonsPressSoftwareused:InDesignCS3,PhotoshopCS3,IllustratorCS3Aftercarefulresearchintobookstylespopularwith theintendeddemographic,Ichoseapictureoftheauthorwhenhewas15andaboldtypetreatment thatevokesamazeofletters.PriortoreleasethebookcoverhasreceiveduniversalkudosonFacebookgroupsforthebookandwithintheindustry.Ialsocreatedananimatedbooktrailerbasedonthecover.Authorwebsitebanner BookTraileronYouTube(shortversion)
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