Customer Reviews

Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress: A Girl's Guide to the D&D Game (Dungeons & Dragons)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Are you a woman who's never played Dungeons & Dragons but has always been curious about it? Do you have a friend/husband/boyfriend who plays, and who has maybe invited you to play, but you were intimidated by the stereotypes about nerds and geeks, or thought it would to be too hard, or have too many rules, or take too much time? Well if so, Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress is the book for you.

Author Shelly Mazzanoble writes from the point of view of an extremely (even hyper-) girly young woman who loves to shop, watch soaps and get mani-pedis- and who also loves participating in the ongoing campaigns of Astrid the elf and her band of adventurers. She wants to convince women that D&D isn't all about smelly geeks in a basement casting arcane spells and speaking with cheesy British accents while dressed in chainmaille and Ren Faire outfits. Her thesis is that it's just about groups of friends coming together on a regular basis for a fun, wholesome activity that fires the imagination, fosters social skills and helps participants gain confidence.

Okay.

Let me just say up front that I am exactly the sort of person towards whom this book is aimed. My husband is an avid D&D player, as have been many of my male friends throughout my life. I always thought it was a boy thing- a little seedy, a little smelly, and just a little weird. I was in college before I knew any women who played, and they weren't, uhm, people I could relate to. So I just thought, this isn't for me, and put it aside. So when this book came along I thought, okay, let's see if this woman can sell me on D&D. Cause if she can sell me, she can sell anyone.

Most of the book consists of a girly primer on the basics of D&D. She writes about spells, points, character sheets and dice; she includes cute illustrations and quizzes, and even some recipes of suggested appetizers to serve at your own D&D party. The tone is light and breezy, and peppered with pop-culture and fashion references, and the dominant color is pink. It's cute. It's informative. I liked it when she talked about her own story of how she came to play and how she seems like someone I can relate to. Even though the stereotypes aren't the whole story, there is still a lot of truth to them and they do put people like me off the game. I mean, most of the reason I've rejected the idea of playing is that I think I just wouldn't fit in in most groups. But maybe I'm wrong.

As far as actual game-play, the rules and regs aren't as intimidating or as difficult as I thought. And I like the idea that it's not competitive. I like Mazzanoble's tone and style, and I think the information is presented in a way that's easy to understand. Her "I'm an outsider who became an insider" approach helps, too. And there's lots of humor and silliness, too. I love the little features like "Top Ten Spells Every Woman Should Know", quizzes, cute recipes and the appendix with a sample character sheet. All in all a fun little read. Did she sell me on playing D&D? Well, let's just say I'm not as hostile to the idea as I used to be. And every once in a while I catch myself checking out dice...

I felt the need to put up a defense for this book after reading the multiple 1 and 2 star reviews. Sure, it stereotypes a certain kind of shopaholic girly-girl that would watch E! television as though it was CNN. The pages do have massive amounts of pink ink. And yes, the author does espouse often that math is hard.

But that is all part of a carefully crafted strategy to create a mind-bend for all the women who believe in the "Gamers are all nerdy men who still live in their parents' basement and eat doritos for dinner" stereotype.

She NEVER says that all women are shallow and only think of shoes. She says that SHE is a shallow girly-girl who would rather pick out a handbag than do any math. She is describing entering the world of gaming from HER point of view. You may not be the same type of person the author is, but you do not have to take on the holier than thou feminist attitude that all depictions of girly-girl are creating a world of unempowered women. I will grant that if you do not find it humorous to read page after page of shopping and pop-culture analogies as they apply to D&D, this is not the book for you.

I thought this book did a good job at what it set out to do: break the stereotypes regarding gamers and gaming while providing a breezy and entertaining read. You do not receive any but the most basic of basics regarding the game of D&D, so do not read this book with learning the game as an expectation. But you do receive lots of information about the benefits of gaming as far as social interaction, confidence building, and creativity. And if that's not important to impart to those with a negative view of gaming, I'm not sure what is.

I might have considered giving this book 5 stars, but I couldn't believe the author, as a girly-girl, didn't place more emphasis on the dice! What gamer doesn't realize the importance of accessorizing with dice? Many years ago I purchased a set to wear in an amulet bag at my wedding.

And they were pink ;)

I suggested that my girlfriend check read this book after she went kinda cross-eyed when I was trying to explain D&D to her. She read through the whole thing and now has a much better understanding of the game, and that is the basic point - Guys, if you are having trouble explaining D&D to your wife/girlfriend etc. this is a really nice book to have them read. It might not get them to play, but at least they will better understand your hobby afterward.

The book is written in a light-hearted tone that really carries the reader along. There is a lot of humor and it is interesting to see a "girly-girl's" take on the game. There are plenty of stereotypes in the book that make it easy to draw analogies between a girl's world and D&D. And while most girls are not likely chic as this one is, most could likely understand the world that she is describing.

Also, this book is also for women who have never played the game before and really don't have much of a clue as to what it is about. If you already play the game, then this book is not going to be much more than a quick, fun, light-hearted read that doesn't take itself too seriously.

I was casually looking at the D&D shelf when this pink book stood out. I thought maybe it had been misshelved. When I saw the subtitle, I had to take a peek inside its pages.

As a guy who used to play D&D, this book made me laugh out loud within about one minute of reading. Not many books can do that for me these days. I got to see through the eyes of the girls I used to play D&D with and to laugh at things like the "myths" of roleplaying the author points out: many of which have a foothold in reality...like eating too many chips, playing in my parents' basement.

And she points out how roleplayers love to tell stories of their adventures and are all too happy to share their knowledge of the game with newbies.

I really don't know how many women are out there who are considering playing D&D that need to buy this book. But you know what? This book isn't just for women. There's plenty of fun stuff for us guys. I really enjoy her diary entries...which are really pieces of her gaming adventures. Massively entertaining.

This book reminded me how much I miss playing...how much fun it was to bond with friends in a way that other games and entertainment can never hope to match.

"Sorceress" reminded me in a very lighthearted way that D&D was one of those pivotal things from my youth that turned on my imagination and creativity...leading me to who I am today. Again, I don't know of too many books that have done that for me lately.

If you are a longtime gamer, I can't imagine you not liking this. If you're new to D&D, this is a great introduction to how to play it and WHY playing it is so worthwhile. Does it make you a geek? Maybe. But guess who ends up ruling the world? No, not your sports heroes. Geeks!

This book would make very fun summer reading, I would think.

This book is written for the non-gaming girlfriend. You know her. She rolls her eyes when you start your tale of grand adventure. She gazes longingly for the nearest exit as you excitedly (and somewhat loudly) enact that moment of derring-do. I know her. I know that Shelly has met her too. This is not the gamer girlfriend, the one who digs your dice and promises to watch your back. This is the one who wishes you'd shut up so you can go to the mall. And this book proves that even she can ultimately become a gamer too (with a little help).

This is exactly what makes this book such a joy to read. This is a book for HER. Yes, it has sidebars in bubblegum pink. It also takes that sneaky shopper gene that women have, particularly non-gaming women, and turns its sights from Prada to the Holy Grail. Sure, there are shopping comments scattered throughout the book. It's an analogy and one I found humorous and refreshing.

The estrogen level is sky-high and it probably offends a lot of gamer girls who have better things to do than search out the most fashionable handbag. Nevertheless, the author manages to use those tropes effectively and with humor. She is also very kind to those women who get their nails done and pick up after their kids and spouses. Why? Because secretly the author is one of THOSE women too. She gets it down to her painted toenails that gaming is not just a hobby but an investment. It's time consuming and addictive and not for the faint-hearted.

This book isn't really a handbook on how to play even though it ultimately walks through character generation. It is a book on how to get the non-gaming woman to play by appealing to her sensibilities. Its light-hearted approach to gaming may grate on the nerves of serious gamers but this book wasn't written for them. It's not a standard approach to gaming 101, but it is clever and witty.

Wow. I guess this book is perfect for anyone who wishes the Player's Handbook was more like US Weekly. Shelly Mazzanoble puts SO much effort into girling it up in this book that it frequently made me question whether she is actually a real life "she" at all, or a sloppily created Wizards of the Coast character. Or, caricature, rather, who can't get through a page without relating some aspect of the game to shoe shopping. There's nothing wrong with being girly, thinking about clothes, or buying shoes, but focusing on these as the ONLY way women could relate to and understand D&D is frankly insulting.
I guess what disappoints me is that on the surface this seemed like an effort by Wizards of the Coast to reach out to lady gamers and potential lady gamers, but the book attempts this by appealing to a superficial, insipid, apparel-oriented nature. Don't they know there's a vast pool of girl nerds in the world who would love to play D&D for the adventure, the camaraderie, and the chance to be creative and imaginative, rather than just as another excuse to think about shopping?

This book would help anyone to better explain the game, not only to women but to anyone interested in the game. I really enjoyed this book and have almost no complaints or ways to improve it! I bought the book for two reasons: I am a DM who loves to get people into my game and stay there; I wanted to see, as a male player, what aspects she could explain or show me to help me entice or instruct more women into my games.

My thoughts:
In all the gaming sessions I have ever played since I first started around twelve years of age, there have only been four girls who played in our games. Considering when we started playing, there is nothing surprising or odd about that statement, as ten to thirteen year old girls don't play dungeons and dragons at least not in 1986, still as unlikely in 1996 but more often in 2006. That being said, I believe that any activity is either fun for someone or not fun. Being for boys or girls to play is always debatable and this book falls into the category of FUN.

Review:
The book is taken from Shelly's point of view, yes, but her view is also that of someone who came into the game knowing very little and progresses in a fun, humorous narrative on her experiences learning to play Dungeons and Dragons, version 3.5, game itself. Why is it fun? Misunderstood? Confusing? Only for guys? Is it only for kids? She answers these questions all the while, taking us step-by-step from what D&D is and creating a character all the way to the game's mechanics, in game playing and death of a character or party. In between we are treated to simple tables explaining specific game mechanics or terms used in the game, sketches of her character and that of her companions. Sections also include small excerpts as if read from her diary, which help bring the game closer to the audience by talking about it candidly. Despite there being a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3.5 and 4th edition of the game the game goes over the 3.5 edition of the game as far as I can tell. Shelly's explanation of the world that gamers live in, allow a non player to understand the basics of the game and it's very simple mechanics while possibly becoming interested enough to give the game a try.

Summary:
There are many reasons to buy the book but here are a few that most of us need to hear and understand.
-If you are a woman interested in learning about the game.
-If you are new to Dungeons and Dragons and wanted to read about someone's experiences learning and playing the game.
-Wanted a different (not just a woman's) point of view.
-Were concerned or interested in why people come together and play such a stigmatized game.
-Were looking for some light reading and have been playing for years.

I bought this book for the fun of it, something to spend my Christmas Borders gift card on. I figured I'd read it for the novelty of it, loan it to my girlfriend who would ignore it, and it would end up packed in a box. I was totally. wrong.

I have always been greatly annoyed with guys who desperately try to turn their girlfriends into gamers. They drag them to gaming sessions with people she doesn't know where she spends the night asking "What do I do now?" and everyone including her has less fun that night. My motto has always been either accept the fact that your girl is not a gamer or find a gamer girl. Don't attempt to alchemize her into a gamer. I had resigned almost upon meeting my girlfriend that she was a case of the former, and that all the other things that make her awesome more than make up for her never knowing or caring what "+2 against constructs" means. To my utter shock, my girlfriend picked up this book and digested it in less than a week. Roleplaying suddenly became something far more digestible, and actually intriguing to her. "I thought it was just about a bunch of rules," she said. "But it's mostly about making stuff up." I was almost gleeful when she casually said at the movie theater "I think I'd want to play a gnome or a halfling because being smaller would let me get into small spaces. They can both still be fighters or rogues, right?" I almost cried. It's not that she wanted to game now; I still am happy for her to pick whatever hobbies she wants. It's that she was speaking my language. I no longer had to stop and define every other word I was using when talking about gaming.

This book is quick, fun, full of neat ideas, and completely unscientific. It's not to be taken as literal or at all taking itself seriously, but it WILL teach you as it goes.

This book falls short of five stars for only a couple of reasons. First, it is published by Wizards of the Coast and IS clearly designed to shill the game a bit. The very existence of other RPGs is never even mentioned, clearly because the publisher doesn't want the reader to know they're out there.

Second, the criticism against the excessive girly-girlness is SOMEWHAT fair. Even my girlfriend said "I'm not as girly as this author. It did get pretty obnoxious at times". That is both the strength and weakness of the flavor of the book. This book is NOT geared toward women who have already found some interest in the game. It is geared toward bringing in the last person who would ever even consider it: Mazzanoble herself. And that is chiefly why it is so persuasive. So it is really girly and geared toward the really girly. But insults against Mazzanoble and the book as "sexist" and "ignorant" are blatant overstatements. Mazzanoble is prissy and she wrote the book for people like her. It would be rather pointless to direct the book toward people who aren't like her and likely need far less persuasion to play D&D. That would be both unnecessary and far less fun.

My longtime boyfriend is an accomplished and unabashed gamer nerd, and I found it hard to relate to his love of D&D. Mazzanoble's funny and accessible prose made D&D feel interesting and accessible. While it did not quite make me want to play myself, I did gain an appreciation and an understanding of the appeal of the game. Beware, however, that since this book's publication, a new edition of D&D with major changes has come out. If you plan to read this as a guide to the game instead of to your gamer, be sure to check your player's handbook for new rules.

An excellent introduction to the game for anyone interested in starting up, male or female, and an excellent read for any gamer from casual to hardcore. If you like this, you'll love her column at [...] (Confessions of a Full-Time Wizard).