Masters of Doom

How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture

By: David Kushner

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

Length: 12 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and John Romero. Together, they ruled big business. They transformed popular culture. And they provoked a national controversy. More than anything, they lived a unique and rollicking American Dream, escaping the broken homes of their youth to produce the most notoriously successful game franchises in history - Doom and Quake - until the games they made tore them apart. This is a story of friendship and betrayal, commerce and artistry - a powerful and compassionate account of what it's like to be young, driven, and wildly creative.

©2003 David Kushner (P)2012 Audiobooks.com

Critic reviews

"Compelling . . . Masters of Doom succeeds on several levels. It's just great storytelling, with perfect pacing, drama and characterization. It's also an excellent business book, a cautionary tale with the kind of insider detail that other writers working in the genre should envy." ( Houston Chronicle)

“Kushner’s mesmerizing tale of the Two Johns moves at a rapid clip . . . describing the twists and turns of fate that led them to team up in creating the most powerful video games of their generation. . . . An exciting combination of biography and technology.” ( USA Today)

“Meticulously researched . . . as a ticktock of the creative process and as insight into a powerful medium too often dismissed as kids’ stuff, Masters of Doom blasts its way to a high score.” ( Entertainment Weekly)

Excellent listen !

Great book. Excellent performance. I highly recommend this book. Shows a side of the gamers and gamer passion that is rarely seen by the public.

The beginnings of a new era in video games

What made the experience of listening to Masters of Doom the most enjoyable?

I grew up playing the games of id Software and I have heard lots about John Carmack, so it was fascinating to hear how they meet, became a company, and made it big.

What did you like best about this story?

The author seems to be pretty real about the two John's, the good and the bad.

Passionate. Entertaining.

Really enjoyed hearing the story of how some of my favorite games growing up came to be.

Fun with a twist of mean!

I enjoyed the world that David Kushner painted and enjoyed even more the way Wil Wheaton brought it all to life (he is an extremely talented narrator and if you have not listened to anything else he has narrated, you are missing out in a big way). I spent many lonely and bug-eyed nights playing Doom and its many sequels. I admired the way I could actually download a game and play it for free. I loved killing the demons and then being so hooked that I had to buy the whole game. This is what I loved about the first portion of the book: hearing about others and their experiences with the game. Then we moved on into the in-fighting and the clashes of personality. I was okay with that too. But when they got to the point where they split off and were no longer able to work together (big shocker for such big personalities), I kinda lost interest. I finished it, but often found myself daydreaming instead of listening. But, I will put that squarely on my own shoulders. I found myself psychoanalyzing these guys and trying to put them back together the way they were when they first started. I rooted for the lone programmer whose brilliance behind the keyboard drove the success.

I liked this book. It was a fun primer for the uninitiated (like me) in the story behind the rise, descent, and ultimate destruction of id!

Interesting history; written by a "gamer" *sigh*

What made the experience of listening to Masters of Doom the most enjoyable?

The subject matter and the epilogue/addendum describing what they've been up too since the pair last made news. I had always found it strange that they did both Commander Keen and all their FPS stuff.

The details early on about the technical obstacles and the tricks used to get past them. How the sausage got made as it were. The organizational issues at the end were also interesting, where it came down to needing to force a game out of a bunch of mismatched pieces.

While I wasn't such a fan of the more personal or biographical aspects of the story, I think that some of the anecdotes were great, and the author clearly understood that some of them worked well with the larger story he was telling.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Wil Wheaton?

Unfortunately this is only my second non-fiction audiobook. The other being Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell.

Issues that can't be blamed at least in part on the text would be that I got the impression that he was editorializing with his voices and the way he laid on extra emphasis on the word "doom". In the first case I understand that he was aiming at least in some cases for impressions for the discussions of video game violence, but I also think he aimed for hysteria when it came to unknown voices on the anti side and reasonable for the who cares side. In the second case, I understand that it is the title of the game that made Id a household name (depending on your household) and it is what the book's title is referring to, but it is just a word and at most should be emphasized once (and even then it'd be cheesy).

This was actually the first time that I considered that I might not like Wheaton's work. When listening to something written by Earnest Cline I had always blamed my problems on the bad writing, but it's still happening here. Some of it is still probably the author's fault though.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, but I just don't have that kind of time in a day.

Any additional comments?

The book is a nice history, but it definitely feels like either an authorized biography or the author is trying to be nice to everyone involved. That said, it didn't go so easy on the two Johns that I didn't come away with the impression that these are terrible people that I'm happy not to know.

Frequently something is related as the best/most important/really awesome thing ever and I have to say it gets old. I don't know if this is how "gamers" write or if it is how Wil Wheaton reads, but this is getting old.

It was also written in 2004, a more naive time where people identifying themselves by their hobby wasn't some kind of danger signal. I didn't know this while listening to it, but it is pretty obvious in the end. Not knowing this, I'd get tense from time to time waiting for some nasty tribalist BS to appear. So video game fans should keep in mind that while this history foreshadows some of the problems that we see today, it was before those problems had become as realized as they are now.

A classic David Kushner

Would you be willing to try another book from David Kushner? Why or why not?

No.... not because it is bad. Kushner has a habit of writing with a sensationalist flare. I'm sure the facts are correct but he focuses on only the most dramatic parts of the story. It kinda makes everything feel like a soap opera. It can be exhausting if you have read his other works as well.

What about Wil Wheaton’s performance did you like?

Its Will Wheaton.

Any additional comments?

If you have enjoyed any of Kushners other books this is more of the same. If you have any fond memories of doom and you want to hear the story behind it this is the book for you.

Surprisingly engaging

I knew there'd be some good info in this book -- it's a topic I enjoy and I already knew a bit of interesting backstory. What I didn't know is that it would be so much of a page turner. I was absolutely hooked from beginning to end. It didn't feel nearly as long as it was, it seemed to fly by. Excellent writing. Also: Wil Wheaton was the perfect narrator choice.

Great book

I grabbed it cause doom is my all time favorite game. It was great learning about it and the creators. I highly recommend it.

So much better than I expected

Great story about a partnership of two very different people and how they came together to influence the entire game industry.
I had no idea about the extent that they and their friends shaped the gaming world.
.
I decided to listen to it despite being read by that super annoying kid from Star Trek.
I was very wrong about him, he is one of the best readers I have listened to.
Whatever they are paying him is not enough.

Loved this book

If you grew up in the 80's and knew about games like Doom, Duke-em-Nuke-em, or Quake - then you will absolutely love this book. The reader, Wil Wheaton, is by far one of my favorite readers.