Rolling out … September 2009.

Forget F
through fan
anything yo
—Pagan Ke

Fantasy. Sc
Tens of mil
from the “
freaks desi
action figu
and Rena
playing ga
Warcraft (
worldwide
as Dungeo
Who
What ex
“escapist
find if he
world aft
In an
culture a
former D
crosses
worlds—
New Zea
Earth to
a quest
teenage
ing futu
they ba
of adul
dievalis
bit hole
play m
out tho
roic d
lands.

fo r R ea li ty A m on g R ol e P la yers, male,
n HeEpic Quest
(continued from front flap)

Our noble hero plays WoW for weeks on A tasy w

end.
d O th er D w el le rs of Im ag in ary Realms
Gamers, an
inoute with
travels to pilgrimage sites: Tolkien’s hometown, movie
Onl unhea

I L S D O R F
locations, castles, and archives. He hangs

ETHA N G
Harry Potter tribute bands. At a LARP, he dresses as
a pacifist monk for a weekend. He goes to fan con-
ventions andTH gaming
E tournaments. He battles online
goblins, trolls,
LYO and
NS sorcerers. He camps with medi-
PR ES S
eval 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,

Author appearance:
and enlightening.
“This is a delightful book—more fun than being a Dungeon Master to a group of
high-level mages and thieves.”—A. J. Jacobs, New York Times best-selling author
of The Know-It-All and The Year of Living Biblically
“Witty, downright funny, poignant, honest and . . . well, wistful. Anyone who has
ever embraced ‘escapism’ will understand, and those who haven’t taken that
leap of imagination will want to after reading Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks. …
Reading Ethan Gilsdorf’s tale conjured my own Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy
by Wendy Harrington

experiences, vividly.” —R. A. Salvatore, best-selling author of The Dark Elf Trilogy and
The Cleric Quintet, and lead storyteller of 38 Studios game company
“A fun, quirky, and fresh perspective for those wanting to know more about the
amazing world of gaming.” —David Brin, winner of the Nebula, Hugo, and Locus