/  43
 
 
 
Books
3
Advertising
23
Marketing Collateral/Tradeshow
27
Web Design/Multi-Media
36
Illustrations/Photography 
37
Kudos
40
 
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 companyA 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 monkor 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.Ater 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 let and right by author;bottom right top (Klingon Col Kasak zanti-Septaric) © Dave Nelson,bottom right © Saul Zaentz Co.; bottom let by the author; bottom lettop courtesy o Harry and the Potters; background map by the author
The Lyons PressGuilord, 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 awayrom 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 oWarcrat (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 ater antasy world?In an enthralling blend o travelogue, popculture analysis, and memoir, orty-year-oldormer 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:LyonsPressSoftwareused:InDesignCS3,PhotoshopCS3,IllustratorCS3Aftercarefulresearchintobookstylespopularwith theintendeddemographic,Ichoseapictureoftheauthorwhenhewas15andaboldtypetreatment thatevokesamazeofletters.PriortoreleasethebookcoverhasreceiveduniversalkudosonFacebookgroupsforthebookandwithintheindustry.Ialsocreatedananimatedbooktrailerbasedonthecover.Authorwebsitebanner BookTraileronYouTube(shortversion)
 b       r      e      t       k        e     r     r     
portfolio | 
5

Share & Embed

More from this user

Commenting has been disabled.