30 Years of Adventure: A Celebration of Dungeons & Dragons

A very nice read that covers the birth and evolution of D&D all the way through its acquistion by Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro. Although it's a celebration of D&D, it sometimes also read like a corporate history book. But stories about what happened behind the scenes were an interesting read. Interspersed throughout were short “cover letter” of sorts by industry notables and other celebrities on how D&D came into their lives and how their lives were influenced by them. I too had my own story about D&D, but I guess the book included a tad too many, because by the time I was halfway through, I mostly just skimmed the rest.

Since this book has included lots of great artwork both old and new (and some very nostalgic!), there must be some critique of its design. Whoever decided to “slant” the text at an angle, or to “interleave” two different narrations (in the latter parts), should hopefully have learned that it was a bad idea. They did not make for comfortable reading.

I don't play RPGs anymore (except CRPGs), but it's a nice bout of nostalgia to read through this.