304 pages
English language
Published Jan. 22, 2022 by St. Martin's Press.
Role-playing game historian Ben Riggs unveils the secret history of TSR— the company that unleashed imaginations with Dungeons & Dragons, was driven into ruin by disastrous management decisions, and then saved by their bitterest rival.
Co-created by wargame enthusiasts Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, the original Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game released by TSR (Tactical Studies Rules) in 1974 created a radical new medium: the role-playing game. For the next two decades, TSR rocketed to success, producing multiple editions of D&D, numerous settings for the game, magazines, video games, New York Times bestselling novels by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, and R. A. Salvatore, and even a TV show! But by 1997, a series of ruinous choices and failed projects brought TSR to the edge of doom—only to be saved by their fiercest competitor, Wizards of the Coast, the company behind the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering.
Unearthed from Ben …
Role-playing game historian Ben Riggs unveils the secret history of TSR— the company that unleashed imaginations with Dungeons & Dragons, was driven into ruin by disastrous management decisions, and then saved by their bitterest rival.
Co-created by wargame enthusiasts Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, the original Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game released by TSR (Tactical Studies Rules) in 1974 created a radical new medium: the role-playing game. For the next two decades, TSR rocketed to success, producing multiple editions of D&D, numerous settings for the game, magazines, video games, New York Times bestselling novels by Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, and R. A. Salvatore, and even a TV show! But by 1997, a series of ruinous choices and failed projects brought TSR to the edge of doom—only to be saved by their fiercest competitor, Wizards of the Coast, the company behind the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering.
Unearthed from Ben Riggs’s own adventurous campaign of in-depth research, interviews with major players, and acquisitions of secret documents, Slaying the Dragon reveals the true story of the rise and fall of TSR. Go behind the scenes of their Lake Geneva headquarters where innovative artists and writers redefined the sword and sorcery genre, managers and executives sabotaged their own success by alienating their top talent, ignoring their customer fanbase, accruing a mountain of debt, and agreeing to deals which, by the end, made them into a publishing company unable to publish so much as a postcard.
As epic and fantastic as the adventures TSR published, Slaying the Dragon is the legendary tale of the rise and fall of the company that created the role-playing game world.
Well written history of the time where TSR wasn't a little company anymore, but wish there had been a bit more detail about the scope of products that they tried to put out to go with the business narrative.
A pretty good history of TSR and their financial decline and purchase by Wizards of the Coast. The writing style isn't to my taste (it reads more like a series of blog articles than a book), but it covers the material well.
Great research, iffy writing
The author did a great job researching primary sources and is very explicit when discussing something that could not be verified. The material feels credible and honest.
Unfortunately, the writing isn’t good. It feels like written as a rushed article for a website. It is full of weird transitions and unnecessary parentheses. I wish they had a different editor to help with those.
Having already read multiple histories of TSR and Dungeons & Dragons, I wasn’t sure this book would really be worth reading, but it was!
The first couple of chapters weren’t anything new, but after that things got really interesting. The history of TSR West that made the “comic modules” that showed up briefly on bookstore shelves. The unearthing of the contract between TSR and Random House that helps illuminate what went wrong at TSR in the 90s. The driving away of creative talent. Details of the purchase of TSR by Wizard’s of the Coast. All of these topics had new details or anecdotes that I had not seen previously.
I particularly liked the author’s efforts to provide both sides of the story where things get contentious. Particularly when it came to stories involving Lorraine Williams, who would not grant an interview to the author; and Brian Thomsen, who is no …
Having already read multiple histories of TSR and Dungeons & Dragons, I wasn’t sure this book would really be worth reading, but it was!
The first couple of chapters weren’t anything new, but after that things got really interesting. The history of TSR West that made the “comic modules” that showed up briefly on bookstore shelves. The unearthing of the contract between TSR and Random House that helps illuminate what went wrong at TSR in the 90s. The driving away of creative talent. Details of the purchase of TSR by Wizard’s of the Coast. All of these topics had new details or anecdotes that I had not seen previously.
I particularly liked the author’s efforts to provide both sides of the story where things get contentious. Particularly when it came to stories involving Lorraine Williams, who would not grant an interview to the author; and Brian Thomsen, who is no longer alive to grant one. Both come under harsh criticism from others, and the author does a good job of trying to give them some defense while not taking sides.
He also gives multiple accounts of incidents where memories differ.
Overall, a well written history that was a joy to read, and a nice addition to my gaming history shelf.
