I received an ARC from St. Martin's Press and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I'm familiar with some of Ben Riggs' work. I previously read his self-published book "Encounter Theory" where he outlines his theory on what makes a good RPG adventure. I think it's an excellent resource for those creating and running RPG adventures. I've also read a couple of his articles and had listened to his podcast in the past. Ben is a very good storyteller which is largely why the book works. I already some of the facts that Ben reveals in this book, but along with providing new insights, Ben is able to relay much of this information in a fun and entertaining read. But I do have some complaints. For some reason, Ben Riggs has decided to refer to Gary Gygax (one of the creators of D&D) as Saint Gary. In some cases, I wasn't quite sure if he was mocking or honoring Mr. Gygax. No matter, he does it so much, almost every time Gary's name is mentioned that it becomes tiresome. I really wish an editor had put an axe to that decision. The other problem I have is that the main point of this book, the thesis you might say, is to uncover why TSR (D&D's former parent company) failed. But the answer is not all the interesting. It really just boils down to poor management. Sure, Ben goes into some details about what those poor management decisions were, but unless you're a business major or entrepreneur yourself, most of it isn't that interesting. The human stories were much more interesting to read. Reading about one of TSR's dark days in the mid 90s when much of the staff were laid off was compelling and mirror some of my own experiences with mass layoffs from a company. I wish Ben had focused more on the people stories and less of the details of what TSR was doing, because that whole section (Part 3) was a bit of a slog to get through, save for the end where he does get more into the people and what happened to them. The one exception is the revelation he gives about how D&D wasn't profitable with a lot of its products and why. As a gamer, I did find that piece to be interesting.

For the most part though, TSR's demise can best be summed up the same was Lisa Stevens summed it up in his end of the book quote, "Don’t do stupid s#&!.”

This book is truly on of the best nonfiction books of 2022. Thank you to Net galley for the advanced copy in exchange for a review. The narrative that Riggs has woven through all the interviews he's done, it flows and keeps you hooked. This is only the second book I've read dealing with the subject of D&D's history, (the other being Of Dice and Men) but to me, this one feels to be the superior book. My true rating is 4.5 because it lacks the perspective of Lorraine Williams, but Riggs does a fairly decent job of acknowledging this lack as well as keeping the portrayal as neutral as possible. I will be recommending this book to others as I feel others who play D&D but might not now the history, would learn interesting things.

I was very intrigued when I saw this book appear on NetGalley because I started playing D&D after reading Of Dice and Men: Dungeons and Dragons and the People Who Play It by David M. Ewalt, when it came out back in 2013. I was curious to see if this book would cover the same ground in a different way.

This is a very different book from Of Dice and Men. Whereas that book is looking at D&D as a role playing game, this book was a history of TSR, the company that first released D&D, and that was a nuance that I had missed from the description. Despite it covering a different topic, I found that there was nothing in the first third of the book that I had not known before picking it up and I was a little disappointed. But then we started learning more about the actual business side of things for TSR, and there was some very good analysis of what lead to TSR being sold to Wizard’s of the Coast in the 90s.

If you are a die hard D&D fan who wants to know every detail of the history of the game then this book is definitely for you. Likewise if you are interested in learning what not to do with a business I would recommend this book. Unfortunately, the writing style left much to be desired, feeling at times like unedited notes. And though it seems the author interviewed numerous people I don’t think he used those interviews to his best advantage. The organization of the book thematically made it hard to follow what was said by who and when, and I think if I didn’t already have a good grasp on the chronology of events I would have gotten lost.

Overall I was satisfied with this book and it definitely has an audience out there as I mentioned above.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

D&D fans, if you love political intrigue and peering behind the curtain, this book is for you.

It's a compilation of facts and stories that tell the behind the scenes tale of the rise and fall of TSR, the company behind the popular Dungeons and Dragons franchise.

Expertly crafted and well-written, this book reads like its own campaign, complete with wizards and bards and rangers. (And the readers can decide for themselves who the BBEG is at the end.)

"Was there a smell in the air? A glow from beneath the wind-licked waves of Geneva Lake? Were there portents? Signs? Divine hints? ... The dawn of the medium of roleplaying had humble origins."

Ben Riggs has crafted a story worthy of being told by the world's best GMs. And he has done so by using the stories from the people who were there at the beginnings of the tale itself. Well done.

Slaying the Dragon is well-researched and very informative. Thankfully, it doesn’t sacrifice passion for knowledge. It’s clear that Riggs loves and respects the game, and it makes Laying the Dragon fun to read. However, some sections could be kind of hard to follow, and some of Riggs takes were somewhat off-putting.

It’s clear that this is written for lovers of the game. As someone who doesn’t know much about the game outside of general pop culture, I didn’t get a lot out of it personally. That’s not a complaint, mostly just a warning to other readers. Would definitely recommend this to people who play D&D!

4.5 stars rounded down.

Dungeons and Dragons was a very taboo subject in my household growing up. Living in an EXTREMELY religious house, one where even watching Pocahontas talk to Grandmother Willow was taken as letting demons in/false worship, it was never an option to be exposed in any capacity. Fast forward to now, where I have played many characters in many campaigns and love everything about D&D. I feel so lucky that I was able to learn more about the history of this amazing game and that we live in a world saturated with exquisite live-play podcasts such as Dungeons and Daddies and Critical Role.

Riggs does this story justice, laying out all the avenues(good and bad) taken by the founding company, TSR, throughout the early years of D&D. He gives a voice to not just Gygax but the artists, writers, and creative minds that kept the wheels of progress moving ever forward.

I can't honestly tell you that this Level 9 Monk/Barbarian Fawn player has loved every second of this novel and look forward to future installments of the ever evolving game of Dungeons and Dragons. 4.5 stars rounded down, and a massive recommendation for all those who love table top games; or even those looking to dip their toe in.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'd like to thank the publisher and Net Galley for allowing me read this book about the rise and fall of TSR.

If you would have met me almost 10 years ago I would have told you very little about what Dungeons and Dragons is. I would have said, it's a movie and a tv show, and it's roleplaying with dice. That's it. In 2014, I had witnessed a video of girls playing a game and thought, 'hm, looks fun, easy,.. I played video games and I have done roleplaying, So maybe I can do this too.' And now, I've played multiple campaigns through both vintage TSR, Wizards of the Coast, and also from current 3.5 and 5 E.

This book is well told, well researched and gives the truth and I think answers that some people seek or have always known (but now confirmed) regarding what on earth was going on in the company. From the birth of the game through Gary, to the take-over from the female who wished to pay more attention to Buck Rodgers, and the sacking of everyone and everything to keep afloat. It also goes over some random moments when they tried to make their way into other media like tv and CD roms.

I was thoroughly entertained and now I can tell my friends - I know things from this book! If I never played D&D I would have no interest in this book. If I played D&D for longer, I might know these stories but not the truth. So in short, I'd give this a shout-out and a need to purchase book for the person who loves D&D or is fascinated by the world.

I received an Uncorrected Digital Galley from the publisher <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/stmartinspress/">St. Martin's Press</a> through <a href="https://s2.netgalley.com/">NetGalley</a>. I'd requested it because I have a long fascination with TSR and D&D (and I read <i>Of Dice and Men</i> about nine years ago.) I was introduced to D&D back in the late 1970s, played a little, bought one of the supplements <I>Eldritch Wizardry</i>, had the original AD&D books, introduced my older two sons, and then my younger two, even stinting a couple of times as DM. Still, I've not been a big player. The younger two, both adult now, continue to play, and when the family can, all of the brothers plus two wives enjoy their sessions with my third son DMing. All that backstory informs why I requested the book. It's a sad story for the old fans. TSR did something nobody else did. And... they weren't that good at the business part of it. Riggs investigates and compiles a timeline that probably has a few new tidbits for the diehards. Rapid rise, long slow fall (with a crest or two) until Wizards finally bought them. Which worked out because the game is still going. I can't keep up with the latest round of rules - AD&D was as advanced as I ever wanted - but then I don't have to.

This is a good book for the fans, particularly those of us who experienced the earliest days.

Not a lot of notes on this, so here's one:

[on an early Gygax game] It was a set of medieval combat rules cowritten with Jeff Perren called <i>Chainmail</i>. <i>Chainmail</i> introduced a number of innovations to the game table. It provided rules for “man-to-man” combat (instead of combat with massed armies) and a fourteen-page supplement for fantasy that included rules for using elves, dwarves, trolls, and dragons at the table. The game sold well, but was not a hit.
<i>{It may not have been a hit, but I had a copy of the rules…}</i>

[for the publisher, a typo] Probably already caught in final editing, but in Chapter 11, the story about Steven Grant and writing some new Hardy Boys books, "A publisher decided to resurrect the twee teen sleuths..."
"twee"?

This book was fascinating, especially for a veteran role playing gamer like me. It's particularly interesting and relevant for folks with a background of gaming, but knowing the history (and all the twists and turns in the saga of TSR) is useful for everybody who enjoys gaming. It's written in a conversational style that makes it feel more like the author is sharing stories he dug up, and so is engrossing and easy and fun to read. I have friends already chomping at the bit to read it when it is released!

Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons &d Dragons is scheduled for release on July 19, 2022. The publisher St. Martin's Press provided me an early galley in exchange for an honest review.

Over the years, I have read a number of books about the creation of this popular tabletop roleplaying game and the company that first produced it. That includes Game Wizards by Jon Peterson and Of Dice and Men by David W. Ewalt (the latter of which was a reference for this one). I have been playing Dungeons & Dragons since 1982 (when it was known as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons) through today (the 5th Edition of the rules). Therefore, any books on the subject are a huge draw for me.

Riggs covers a good bit of, for me, familiar ground as he sets the stage and presents the history of the game's origins. He does so in a very friendly, accessible manner; he does not let dry facts and minutiae of details bog down his presentation of the entire history of the company. After just a quarter of the way in, he already has moved past the first iteration of TSR with the departure of Gary Gygax. I appreciated getting further into the company's and the game's story that quickly.

Another aspect that I enjoyed of this book was that it touched upon a number of the creative projects and endeavors from the company, outlining which ones were successes (moderately or otherwise) and which ones were failures. He talks about details of the projects, clearly coming from a fan viewpoint. But he also talks about the business decisions and feelings from the folks who were involved. From interviews, Riggs tries to get as many sides of the story as possible in hopes to paint the complete picture.

In the end, I found this a good discussion of the company who created one of the most enduring role-playing games so far.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the the publisher St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this history on role playing and the company that started it all.

As a young lad I was known to sling the dice in quite a few rec rooms, basements of churchs or libraries after school. Star Frontiers, Gamma World, Top Secret, Shadow Lands, Shadowrun, both Marvel and DC along with Champions, Federation and so many more. The one though that always took my cash, that made me look at books as collectible and useful as well as readable, and boy did I love to read those guides, even if I never got to use that information playing was always Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. I loved the format, the charts, the maps the art, the binding the paper, the smell, everything about them. Dragon Magazine was my Playboy and my Time Magazine for that matter, and when the fiction books started being released, oh I was in heaven, and much poorer. Even the Buck Rogers books which get a lot of grief I was into, the game I don't remember much. Ben Riggs in his book Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons tells the story of the role playing game and company, from its birth to its near death until others increased their percentage on their saving throw, in non gaming terms bought them out and kept them alive.

The book begins with the man who created the basic idea, who working from the work of others, designed the idea of Dungeons & Dragons Gary Gygax. Gygax wasn't good at much, but making games was his gift, plus luck persistence and really having nothing left to lose. Also claiming credit was another gift, which is covered in the book. The book follows the growth of the company that Gygax and two others created TSR, as it rose from a basement, to a dilapidated hotel, to a factory, with money, fame, and outcasts love to follow. Soon sales were in the millions but a corporate power play left Gygax out of power, sales were slumping and the happy days of making games wasn't so happy. Publishing fiction books helped the company when it needed it, but soon management problems, money and a changing marketplace added to the companies woes. Until a little Magic came their way, and soon things changed for the better.

The book if very fun and interesting with a mix of both gaming and business history that tells a very detailed story about TSR, the corporate environment, and more importantly the creative environment. The book is well sourced with tons of interviews, and Mr. Riggs is not afraid to tell a story from a few points of few in an effort to get to the truth. Interviews are hard, as time, age and emotions can have an effect on memory, but Mr Riggs does quite well in getting to the heart of the story. Some might seem gossipy, and in fact sometimes the writing is a little more blog posting or click bait writing, but that only happens a few times, and does not effect the book.

Definitely for fans of role playing. I had a lot of fun reading about the various worlds that I used to read about and play back in the day. Also this is a good book for people who feel creative. TSR sounded and still sounds like a magical place to have been. That an idea that a person had at lunch could be illustrated, mapped and made real is just a beautiful wondrous thing to imagine. If you have an idea, try as hard as you can to get it out there. Soon there might be books written about you.

An engaging look behind the scenes at the rise and fall of TSR and development (and legacy) of Dungeons & Dragons. I'd compare Slaying the Dragon to Jon Peterson's Game Wizards and The Elusive Shift or Shannon Appelcline's Designers & Dragons, but Riggs has a much looser, anecdotal writing style than Peterson's more academic tone. Occasionally, Slaying the Dragon feels like a tabloid reporting on the excesses and shortcomings of TSR management, wallowing in the sensationalism of bad business decisions. But then again, that's also a fair assessment of the personalities behind the company's ascension and demise. Though there are no clear villains here, only fallible humans. On the other hand, current IP owners Wizards of the Coast do come across as downright heroic, stepping in and saving Dungeons & Dragons as the book nears its close. Recommended for those who wish to understand what happened at TSR beyond the usual hagiography of Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax, and how a business can go so far off the rails while still producing memorable work.