Name: Jason Long's review of Slaying the Dragon by Ben Riggs
Item: Slaying the Dragon
Rating: 4
Author: Jason Long

Ben Riggs

Ben Riggs's Slaying the Dragon tells the secret and untold story of how TSR, the company that created Dungeons & Dragons, was driven into ruin by disastrous management decisions, then purchased and saved by their bitterest rival. For twenty years, a story has been told about the first company that made Dungeons & Dragons, TSR, and the story goes something like this: Dungeons & Dragons created the genre of role-playing games in 1974, and that made TSR successful. In the 1990's, Wizards of the Coast created a new kind of game, the collectible card game. People started playing Wizards’ flagship product, Magic: The Gathering, and that competition killed TSR. In a twist-worthy Greek tragedy, Wizards ended up buying TSR. It is a story of competition and creative destruction, as capitalism teaches us is right and good. That story is entirely wrong. Through hundreds of hours of interviews, endless research, and the help of anonymous sources providing secret documents, the true story of what happened to TSR and Dungeons & Dragons can finally be told. TSR did not so much die in capitalist combat as it bled to death of self-inflicted wounds. The true history is that of disastrous mistakes, and decisions founded on arrogance rather than good sense. Debts were racked up, geniuses driven from the company, and countless of thousands of products were shipped and sold at a loss, with no one noticing until after the fact. The story of TSR provides a negative blueprint, an example of what a company should not do in the geek business space. And it is a story entirely untold until now.

A Secret History of Dungeons and Dragons

Slaying the Dragon

Jason Long

More business focused than I expected, but very satisfying read!

Annabelle Gauthier

Usually books about beloved brands are inspirational and full of great ideas that led them to success. This was almost like reading the plot of Ted Lasso where the leadership tries to intentionally burn it to the ground.

I was always interested in D&D, but only played a couple of times. I had several of the rule books, collected some of the artwork, and absolutely loved the Dragonlance series. Learning about the creatives behind the scenes was interesting. And learning how not to run a business was equally entertaining.

Usually books about beloved brands are inspirational and full of great ideas that led them to success. This was almost like reading the plot of Ted Lasso where the leadership tries to intentionally burn it to the ground.

I was always interested in D&D, but only played a couple of times. I had several of the rule books, collected some of the artwork, and absolutely loved the Dragonlance series. Learning about the creatives behind the scenes was interesting. And learning how not to run a business was equally entertaining.

Jason Long &
Slaying the Dragon by Ben Riggs

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Jason Long &Slaying the Dragon by Ben Riggs

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Jason Long &
Slaying the Dragon by Ben Riggs