Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Dogs leveled up

DnDoggos: Get the Party Started by Scott Underhill

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Tonka, Pickles, Zoey, and Magnus are dogs, friends, and a D&D party. Magnus is the game master, Tonka is a goofy puppet-wielding bard, Pickles is an impatient fighter, and Zoey is the thoughtful cleric. Their quest? to track down the mayor’s son Squish, and figure out why all of the squeaky toys in the kingdom have gone missing. Their real-life quest? to eat as many snacks as possible. So, you know, your average D&D adventure. The narrative bounces back and forth between the imagined D&D […]

Do we count graphic novels? Eh, I’m counting it.

The Adventure Zone, Vol. 6: The Suffering Game by The McElroy Family

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The Adventure Zone was one of my favorite podcasts for quite some time. I was always tangentially interested in Dungeons & Dragons, though I never went further than making a character on a sheet. But after one night of playing board games with friends, one of them recommended I give The Adventure Zone a try. I was not familiar with the McElroys back then, and had only heard of their more popular podcast My Brother, My Brother, and Me. I did not expect listening to […]

A lot of close calls

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames

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Bingo 12: Dun Dun So a slightly comedic take on the high fantasy-D&D type adventure may not seem like it’s going to involve the ominous, but there are a couple of times that one could insert that into the mental soundtrack for Kings of the Wyld, including what I’m guessing is meant to be something that carries over to connect into the sequel. The whole idea of an aged post-glory days group of adventurers reuniting for one last quest, to save the daughter of one […]

“Monsters are easier to fight when you’ve got people on your side.”

Dungeons and Dragons: Dungeon Club: Roll Call by Molly Knox Ostertag and Xanthe Bouma

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I honestly don’t remember pre-ordering this, but I’m glad I did! The magic of a book showing up like a little unexpected gift in my mailbox never gets old. Dungeons and Dragons: Dungeon Club: Roll Call has an unwieldy title but is a sweet middle grade graphic novel about using D&D and the power of imagination to build friendships and overcome fears. Olivia and Jess are best friends who love playing D&D together, but when Olivia decides to start a D&D club at school and […]

The King of the Nerds Falls Flat

Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons and Dragons by Michael Witwer

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Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons and Dragons tries to be a history of gaming, both general and specific, a biography, and a business of pop culture (cons, trends, geekdoms, etc) review all at once; it does not succeed. On the biography side, the subject Gry Gygax is presented with little personality other than ‘tempermental’ and ‘creative genius’ and ‘somewhat difficult’. There’s also little narrative to build and follow, mostly scattered episodes. Part of the problem is that no one else […]

It’s the Podcast but in Color!

The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins by Clint McElroy, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Travis McElroy, Carey Pietsch

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Ah TAZ, I can’t believe it’s only been a bit over a year since I finished the first arc. For those unfamiliar, The Adventure Zone podcast or, TAZ as it’s known to its fans, is the McElroy Brothers, (Justin, Travis and Griffin) and their father (Clint) playing D&D. The story they create in the first installment of the series, Here There Be Gerblins, is yer basic go-there-get-the-thing quest. Standard D&D stuff. That is a woefully reductive description of a storytelling experience that was so magical that I wish I could erase it out […]



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