A review by myc_w
Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons by Michael Witwer

2.0

A completely fine book about Gygax, though there are some interesting choices made by Witwer. For instance, Empire of Imagination is not a biography, so much as a series of factionalized vignettes retold as if they were representing biographical stories. It’s more of an “inspired by” dramedy, one that would make for an interesting TV series with semibiographical characters, but doesn’t make for a great actual biography. There appear to be noticeable issues of bias throughout the book—this is clearly Gygax’s story, and so it takes his position. And while this lionizing of Gygax is well-written, it also often leaves out important facts, issues, and voices that would have more fully told the story of both Gygax and D&D. But that was not the story Witwer wanted to tell.
Overall, this is a light, easy to read story that gives some of the facts and creates a narrative to fill in the rest. It’s absolutely fine, but if you’re looking for a true biography of Gygax, I’d look somewhere else.