so you’d like to explore a dungeon?
No no, get your mind out of the gutter, I’m not talking about THAT sort of dungeon. I’m talking about that bastion of geekery, Dungeons and Dragons. Now, I don’t play myself, but many of those whom I have been privileged to call friend over the years have played, so I am somewhat versed in the culture that is the role-playing game. However, even if I was coming to it cold, unaware of any of the language or cultural touchpoints involved, I would still have enjoyed the book “Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress” by Shelly Mazzanoble.
This book follows the birth of a brand new gamer- a woman who works for Wizards of the Coast and yet has never rolled a 20-sided die before in her life. She takes you with her from her initial spark of interest (’hmm, maybe I should learn something about this thing we do here’) to her attempt to force her newfound passion upon her friends (ok, so homemade chocolate volcano cake is a pretty good bribe, I think.)
I really enjoyed this book, I have to say. I liked her sense of humor about the whole thing, and her attempts to dispel the myriad stereotypes that swirl around this game. My S.O. (who has played so far as to even DM games himself) even found it amusing to read through, so there seems to be something to satisfy even experienced players while being a pretty good read for those who perhaps have someone in their lives that they love, but don’t quite understand when they go on about loot drops and tanking. Hey, it might even spark enough interest to inspire conversation- I know I actually managed to deepen my understanding of the game, which has helped strengthen my knowlege base for my WoW playing.
So there you are, an actual book review. If we get really energetic over here at Chez Spwug, the next book review will be on the new 4th edition books…. Once I get my DM, I mean my sweetheart to explain them to me.
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