Blood Runs in the Family (Rich Burlew)

This fifth book in Burlew's series about the adventures of the Order of the Stick maintains and builds on the strong characters and stories he has managed to create out of a set of cartoon stick figures. Although the series began long ago as throw-away comics based on the rules and foibles of Dungeons and Dragons role-playing games, it has become so much more. There are several sets of contradictions here. First, the art seems simple but manages to convey depth and personality with skill. Second, the characters are simultaneously living authentic lives within the semi-medieval setting of a typical role-playing setting and also aware of the game itself. How Burlew pulls this off, I don't know, but he does. In this book, our heroes travel to the desert on the Western Continent, searching for the third of five mystical Gates after the first two were destroyed. This gate is hidden by the illusions of a master wizard, but they find something there that shatters one of the characters almost beyond redemption. Some plot lines in the long story arc come to an end, a few threads are tied off, and there's a sense of the story arc starting to narrow in toward the final confrontations, still off in the future. I wait impatiently for the next book!

You (Austin Grossman)

A team of eccentric young geniuses work for a small video game company, developing games based on the vision of the most eccentric, most brilliant of them all. Buried in the code, ported from system to system, is a bug that crops up occasionally and wreaks havoc before the game completely crashes. This is the story of where that bug came from and how it can be found and fixed. Even more, though, it is the story of what video games are and how they become so important. In each game there are characters and worlds to choose from, but at the core you are still you, and that core of you-ness can never got away. Do we want it to? What, after all, is the ultimate game? I liked this story, but didn't get as engaged in it as much as in Grossman's original novel (Soon I Will Be Invincible) which is much less realistic but somehow more real.

Of Dice and Men (David Ewalt)

The author is a journalist and also a dedicated gamer in the Dungeons & Dragons tradition (under his name it says, "Level 15 cleric"). He writes a history of the development of the pastime, from its roots in prehistoric games up through D&D Next (otherwise known as D&D 5). We get to learn of the collaboration between Gygax and Arneson and about its falling out, of the various companies that owned, developed, and sold various D&D games, and their successes and failures. He talks about the hysteria that equated the game with satanism and about its value for its players. Along with the history, though, Ewalt gives us an inside look at what the game is like to play and why it is so popular. As a player myself (D&D and some of its competitors, such as World of Darkness), I found his story appealing and accurate, and can recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about this game. No previous gaming knowledge or experience is needed.