A review by dryhop
Death by Cliché by Bob Defendi
4.0
I did not know what to expect with this book. I bought it at Salt Lake City Comic Con because I had seen the author in a few panels and happened to wander by his booth out on the floor. He is a funny guy and was happy to answer questions about writing or whatever else you may want to talk about.
On to the book itself. The book is an indictment of ridiculous tabletop gaming shortcomings, mostly in being realistic. The main character is murdered and become a character in his own game that is being run by the man that just murdered him (this is only a spoiler if you don't read the back of the book). You are immediately assaulted with perfectly cuboidal rooms and flaming women's undergarments. It goes on from there, pointing out shortcoming after shortcoming in a world where the creator clearly didn't do their homework or take the time to give any non-player characters any in depth form of personality.
I found a great many moments of this book to be laugh out loud funny. It manages to run the same gags just long enough before switching to something new so it never gets stale. And the primary character, while only mildly competent in the real world, knows the rules of this one and uses that to his best advantage. It really was a fun book with a far more compelling protagonist than you would really expect from a book that started out just poking fun at table top gamers. I definitely recommend it.
On to the book itself. The book is an indictment of ridiculous tabletop gaming shortcomings, mostly in being realistic. The main character is murdered and become a character in his own game that is being run by the man that just murdered him (this is only a spoiler if you don't read the back of the book). You are immediately assaulted with perfectly cuboidal rooms and flaming women's undergarments. It goes on from there, pointing out shortcoming after shortcoming in a world where the creator clearly didn't do their homework or take the time to give any non-player characters any in depth form of personality.
I found a great many moments of this book to be laugh out loud funny. It manages to run the same gags just long enough before switching to something new so it never gets stale. And the primary character, while only mildly competent in the real world, knows the rules of this one and uses that to his best advantage. It really was a fun book with a far more compelling protagonist than you would really expect from a book that started out just poking fun at table top gamers. I definitely recommend it.