Introducing Fantasy Freaks & Gaming Geeks! with author Ethan Gilsdorf

Follow Ethan's adventures in his book Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks! http://www.fantasyfreaksbook.com/
Available in paperback, Sept 1, 2010!

Author Ethan Gilsdorf introduces his book "Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms," a narrative non-fiction book that's a humorous, lively, and provocative blend of travelogue, pop culture analysis, and memoir about fantasy subcultures. The book is coming out September 1 from Globe Pequot/The Lyons Press.

Synopsis:

Fantasy. Science fiction. Role-playing games.

Tens of millions of people around the globe turn away from the "real" world to inhabit others. Movie fan-freaks design costumes and collect Lord of the Rings action figures. Some attend comic book conventions and Renaissance fairs, others play live-action role-playing games (LARPs). The online game World of Warcraft (WoW) alone has lured twelve million users worldwide. Even old-school, "pencil-and-paper" role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) are still wildly popular.

Who are these gamers and fantasy fans? What explains the irresistible appeal of such "escapist" adventures? And what could one man find if he embarked on a journey through fantasy world after fantasy world?

In an enthralling blend of travelogue, pop culture analysis, and memoir, forty-year-old former D&D addict Ethan Gilsdorf crisscrosses America, the world, and other worlds—from Boston to Wisconsin, France to New Zealand, and Planet Earth to the realm of Aggramar. On a quest that begins in his own geeky teenage past and ends in our online gaming future, he asks gaming and fantasy geeks how they balance their escapist urges with the kingdom of adulthood. He questions Tolkien scholars and medievalists. He speaks to grown men who build hobbit holes and speak Elvish, and to grown women who play massively multiplayer online games late into the night. He seeks out those who dream of elves, long swords, and heroic deeds, and mentally inhabit far-away magical lands. Gilsdorf records what lures them—old, young, male, female, able-bodied and disabled—into fantasy worlds, and for what reasons, whether healthy, unhealthy, or in between.

Delving deeper and deeper into geekdom, our noble hero plays WoW for weeks on end. He travels to pilgrimage sites: Tolkiens hometown, movie locations, castles, and archives. He hangs out with Harry Potter tribute bands. At a LARP, he dresses as a pacifist monk for a weekend. He goes to fan conventions and gaming tournaments. He battles online goblins, trolls, and sorcerers. He camps with medieval reenactors—12,000 of them. He becomes Ethor, Ethorian, and Ethor-An3. He sews his own tunic. He even plays D&D. What he discovers is funny, poignant, and enlightening.

Category:

Entertainment

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[AidanHealey]

Just got this book for Christmas, and I'm at the Pennsic chapter. Loved the Book, and the Kaplan Online Seminar you did on it. Sat through it with my dad.

[egilsdorf]

@AidanHealey thanks for writing! glad you are enjoying the book. and sorry for the delay in getting back to you. all best! ethan

[deathbunny32]

Hey, you poorly photoshopped the axe from Viking spawn onto that guy's hand. Did you get Todd's permission to do that?

[egilsdorf]

@deathbunny32 uh .. who is Todd?

[Silkspine]

I'm glad I joined my local library and found this book - it's interesting to have a window on other geeks and how surprisingly diverse the spectrum can be. After 20 years of pc game addiction, I wonder if I'm always doomed to be (to quote another writer) "a recovering adolescent". Smile for mummy.

[egilsdorf]

@Silkspine so glad that you discovered my book ... thanks for commenting! - ethan

[Bungogin]

This book is the AWESOME.

[deathbunny32]

Todd McFarlane of McFarlane toys. He actually stopped making Spawn action figures and it's all Halo and Sports figures now.

[egilsdorf]

@fredweasleylives00 thanks for the kind comment. great to hear from you!

[fredweasleylives00]

I found this in my school library and read it twice. :D this book made me comfortable with who i am. geek forever :)