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Ken Williams

Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings: The rise and fall of Sierra On-Line Kindle Edition

by Ken Williams (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 590 ratings

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Sierra On-Line was one of the very first computer game companies and at one time dominated the industry. The author, Ken Williams, founded Sierra On-Line Sierra with his wife Roberta who went on to create many of the company's best selling games. Sierra grew from just Ken and Roberta to over one thousand employees and a fan base that still exists today, despite the fact that the company was torn apart by criminal activities, scandal and corruption that resulted in jail sentences and the collapse of Sierra. This is the behind-the-scenes story of the rise and fall, as it could only be told by the ultimate insider.

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563 pages
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English
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Publication date

September 28, 2020
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54937 KB
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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08KG2XLMR
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lulu (September 28, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 28, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 54937 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 563 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #273,436 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #35 in Computer Games Programming
- #51 in Computer & Technology Biographies
- #127 in Game Programming

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4.5 590 ratings

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Ken Williams

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Ken Williams is a USCG 100 Ton Master, as well as having a European Yachtmasters license.

He has crossed both the Atlantic and Pacific.

In his earlier days, Ken was best known as the founder and CEO of Sierra On-Line Inc, a leading publisher of computer games. Sierra published 100s of different games, including Leisure-Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, Kings Quest, Phantasmagoria and Half-Life.

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Lily pope

This was the Sierra Online Account all of us have been looking for!

Reviewed in the United States on October 17, 2020

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Some of you may know me as the guy working on the SpaceVenture game with Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy. aka Spacepope. This is the review I sent Ken, and I thought I'd share it on Amazon as well:

"I finished your book! [...] I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I can tell you that you gave me what I wanted, which was lots and lots of answers. I feel like I understand more about what made Sierra special as well. The company really did come off to me as Disney like. In fact, for years I have always told people that Sierra was the Disney of the gaming industry during it's golden years. [...] I really like the feel of the paper on the cover and am glad you didn't go with the traditional glossy feel that lots of authors go with. My only complaint is I would love it to be in hardback. [...] The pictures in the book were fantastic and I already told you I loved the interludes and am glad you didn't toss them at the end of the book. There was lots of wisdom to be gleaned from some of the sections there and other nuggets of history that you threw in that I had no idea about. From a fan perspective, one of the coolest parts of the book was getting to learn more about you and your thought processes as you navigated the software industry during it's growing times. Something that was very important to me was your self deprecating honesty. Fans reading your book I feel can empathize with some of the difficult situations you were in, even though probably none of us have run multi million dollar companies.

Another thing that I think hardcore Sierra fans will appreciate is your explanation on why you needed to leave Oakhurst in order to improve the company. A lot of fans out there believe that the downfall of Sierra began when that happened. Clearly that was the right move after reading what you wrote on the subject. I didn't realize how much growth Sierra experienced after the move but your book helps solidify how all that played out. I guess the only argument for that being the downfall was all the success that occurred which made the company look even better in the eyes of other public companies such as CUC. Something else I really enjoyed was learning more about Roberta. I always knew she had to be a strong woman in order to produce the magical worlds she created, but your book paints the picture of an even more incredible (not to mention feisty) woman than I imagined. If you can, please pass along a thank you from me. Amongst her other games, King Quest was such a HUGE part of growing up for me. Countless hours were spent playing her games and I enjoyed every single one of them. There will never be another game developer like Roberta Williams! So what did I not like about the book? That's a tough question. I guess I wish it were longer lol. But that is just my thirst for more knowledge about the past. The main thing for me though that I wanted out of your book was to understand the downfall and I got that. I don't believe anyone but you could give me the closure that I've wanted all these years. So again, thank you for that. I feel I won't be the only person that appreciates that I'll bet."

Thanks for reading this wall of text I wrote lol. I hope something from it was helpful in regards to seeing what a Sierra fan thought of your book.""

10 people found this helpful

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J. Delzer

From the words of Ken Williams himself, Sierra's rise and fall

Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2023

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It's fair to say that this novel might have benefitted from a writer's touch and a bit more editing, but I'm glad to have heard the history of what might be the most impressive lineup of software titles from the early days of electronic gaming and computer-based adventure games. The account of Sierra Online comes directly from Ken Williams and quotes from his best-selling game creator wife Roberta, makers of King's Quest and other industry-defining titles of the 1990s. It's a good read but I am curious why a literary publisher might not have asked the Williams's for their first hand account to give the story a proper release and polished finish.

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Steven

Sierra games were my childhood. This book made me cry.

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2021

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So Ken, how is that Fortran compiler coming along? :) The lack of any follow up on that is my only complaint (ha! ha!).

As soon as I this book arrived, I hid myself in room for a couple days, reading it cover-to-cover. Ken, thanks for including notes on why Roberta never talks about this. It's an interesting perspective, "why" indeed - nothing said can resurrect or repair what was done. That's true. But maybe consider this: books like this are historical documents. "we" are the last generation to know of a time before personal computers, and I think for the sake of future generations it is important to have eye-witness testimony of those humble beginnings. And on that, Ken does a good job of covering the major players involved in that epic time of about 1977-1988 (the "personal computer pioneers" as I call them, with two types of wagons: Apple or IBM "compatible").

I played Black Cauldron, and the various Quest games, all thru about 1988-1993. And I recall the Sierra magazine, I'd pass around to friends at school and we'd talk about the articles as lunch. And the Hint Books at Babbages! Good memories, but the book isn't so much about all that...

Ken's perspectives on his broader business vision are really insightful (re: the race to create "Amazon" before there was an Amazon), along with perspectives on how to empower talent within an organization, and comments on the importance of corporate branding (and the wholesomeness of just being honest with your business - which Sierra was, until that merger). It's chocked full of good leadership-quality reminders/morals.

Sierra was special, as in "Nintendo" quality special or "Disney" quality special. It should have become a multi-generation legacy. But at least now it will remain an Eternal Legend, perhaps like a Camelet of sorts (Roberta as Guenever works, Al can be Lancelot {nevermind about the Romantic connection!}, the sword perhaps being embodied by the SGI engine - for whoever wielded that sword, owned the company? that works...).

4 people found this helpful

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droopy

Essential for old fans, needs professional editing

Reviewed in Canada on April 2, 2023

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I grew up in the 80s and 90s playing most of the old Sierra point and click games, so reading this book was a trip through nostalgia, as well as giving me all kinds of insight into what was going on behind the scenes, of which I had no idea.
The history of Sierra from the man himself is endlessly fascinating for an old fan like me; this was a great read if you also played those titles.
The only thing is that this book is riddled with spelling mistakes, bad text formatting, inconsistent capitalization, and random punctuation. The irony is that, in the acknowledgements section, Ken thanks some colleagues of his for editing the book and correcting those very mistakes, but it seems like they missed a whole lot. And I find it strange that a self-described Triple-A personality like KW would allow this book to go out looking very self-published.
All the same, it’s a wonderful book for fans of that era, but if he got it professionally edited, I’d give it one more star.

One person found this helpful

Asterios Kechagias

Good read, not about computer games

Reviewed in Germany on November 12, 2020

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Anyone interested in purchasing this book, because they are interested in learning more about Sierra games and their history will be disappointed. Instead this is (it's actually in the title) a good history of the rise and fall of the company and also partly a biography of its founder Ken Williams.
It is an easy to read (if one can excuse the grammar in many places) and absorbing story, even though it feels like Williams is trying to excuse himself for most of his failings every chance he gets. However, it also shows how his own desire to make it big, his drive and hard work propelled Sierra into becoming the most successful computer games company in the world at one point. I was personally never a big fan of Sierra games (I also think Roberta Williams is wildly overrated), since, as Ken Williams himself admits, their games lacked the polish (e.g. oops, you did something we weren't expecting) that games from other companies had. But after reading this book, I can understand that it was above all their management and marketing practices that helped them succeed. Sierra as a publisher was indeed deservedly successful.
Ultimately, though, this is a typical story of American capitalism (yep, there's union busting in it as well), in that overly ambitious and money-hungry redneck amateurs managed to hustle their way into riches, only for the house of cards to come tumbling down, when the stakes got too high. Ken Williams can excuse himself all he wants, but he can sail around the world in his boat and enjoy the millions he made from Sierra. His former employees, who got screwed over by his greed, have probably not fared as well.

7 people found this helpful

Customer

Awesome book - Great story, and nobody could have told it better

Reviewed in Canada on December 14, 2020

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Ken Williams draws on his vast experiences from his life at the dawn of the personal computer to weave together a compelling, intricate retelling of the story of the company he and his wife Roberta founded and ran for many years.

The book is broken up into over three dozen chapters, but each is bite-sized and reads something like a short story in itself. I haven't got to the end yet, but it's been fun to read a couple chapters at a time and follow along.

Ever the salesman, Ken is really great at putting a spin only he could have on the whole thing - part autobiography, part historical record, part cautionary tale - and all recounted with an unexpected fervor and charm, from the point of view of a guy who was right there, in the best and worst of times in the computing revolution.

Further, and I didn't know this when I bought it, but the book also contains a bunch of great big full-colour illustrations and photos, so that's a neat touch. Overall, if you've ever played one of Sierra's many published titles, want a glimpse at the saga of a start-up with all the highs and lows that came along the way, are a sucker for "the good old days," or just want to read something interesting and heartfelt, I'd recommend picking it up. I for one jumped at the opportunity the second I saw this book was out, and I'm very glad I did.

One person found this helpful

J. Bond

Personal enough without feeling invasive, but detached enough to feel honest.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2021

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Absolutely enthralling read, have devoured it. I think the expert reviewers may have had a point telling Ken to put the interspersed off topic chapters elsewhere they break up the flow a little, and I find after the first two they get longer so rather than miss the timeline main thread I've set myself skipping them (but leaving a post-it on the page to go back).

Not about the games, so don't expect that, this is about the business, and very much about the feel of the company and how it was put together and ultimately undone.

It's just personal enough without feeling invasive, but detached enough to feel honest.

J. Sebastien Cote

very interesting insights on the beginnings of an industry

Reviewed in Canada on February 11, 2022

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I loved this book; its idiosyncrasies (the style, the "in-between" chapters, the personal tone) are making it very special.
It probably could have been edited a bit, but I think it would have lost its charm.

For any fan of Sierra's games, it's a must read; don't expect too much details about how Space Quest or Leisure Suit Larry were made, though. This is a book written from a founder/CEO point of view.

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