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)

Fantastic Story, Highly Recommended

I purchased Masters of Doom immediately after finishing Ready Player One because I was really impressed with Wil Wheaton's RPO narration. Masters of Doom was excellent. David Kushner did a great job capturing the early days of first player shooter (FPS) game development. The story is well written and the character development very good.

The only problem with Masters of Doom, the audiobook, was Wil Wheaton's bias and mocking tone when he performed the voices of the various critics of violent games and others who were critical of gamers and game development along the way.

I think the performance would have been better if Wil Wheaton had not of resorted to mocking tones and condescending voices for antagonists in the story, so I gave 4 stars for performance instead of 5.

Having said that, Masters of Doom is excellent and Wil Wheaton is really good. Highly recommended!

Gamer history, a good combination

What did you love best about Masters of Doom?

The history and unique characters that made up Id Software. I always assumed it was a much bigger company than what it was. Getting to know the quirks of the key players in FPS history was really interesting.

What did you like best about this story?

Learning how eccentric the programmers at Id were. Quite interesting how only a few people so heavily impacted the genre.

Have you listened to any of Wil Wheaton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I've listened to a lot of Wil's work, he tends to read books that are of interest to me. His performance on Masters of Doom was quite good. I could really feel his excitement with what was written and his passion for gaming in general.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Moving? no, but Carmack's blunt force focus was amusing.

Any additional comments?

If you love playing video games, or once played a lot of video games, this is a book for you. If not, it probably won't make a lot of sense.

Fantastic book, fantastic narration

Where does Masters of Doom rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to. Wil Wheaton did a great job with the reading.

What did you like best about this story?

I grew up playing computer games like Commander Keen and Doom, but I never knew anything about the people who made them. This book tells the story of the guys responsible for so many of the games I loved as a kid.

Have you listened to any of Wil Wheaton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I'd never heard Wil Wheaton before (except on Star Trek), but he is one of the best narrators I've ever heard. Maybe the best I've heard so far.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book was hilarious. I laughed a ton and couldn't stop listening.

Any additional comments?

If you play any computer games (especially first person shooters), you need to listen to this book.

Exactly What I Had Hoped For!

Fantastic story that really brings to light the evolution of gaming culture. I really enjoyed listening to this book, and Will Wheaton made an excellent narrator (with a decent Jay Leno impression to boot). I highly recommend this to anyone interested in gaming or technology.

Best computer book I've read.

this book made me laugh, made me cry, made me excited, it was really an excellently written book and a very well read book, Will Wheaton is an awesome reader.

Awesome story about 2 legends told by Wesley Crusher

Though Masters of Doom is a very dated book, the final pages of the book talk about the pending release of Doom 3, it offers excellent insight into the early days at Id Software with legendary game designers John Carmack and John Romero. It also offers info on a lot of other industry stalwarts from the Id golden era like Tom Hall, Adrian Carmack (No relation), American McGee, Stevie Casey, etc.

David Kushner did a great job chronicling the story and offering their individual outlooks, which often did clash. But you can see that the major differences that eventually tore them apart were also the perfect recipe to make one of the greatest video games to ever be made or ever shall be made: Doom.

Wil Wheaton really knocks it out of the park with his narration. He is very performative but not to an overbearing degree. He does it just right to keep you engaged. Very well spoken.

So if you don’t mind the fact that this book is very outdated and doesn’t go into the respective careers and lives they lived after the early 2000s, and just want the nitty gritty on the gory glory days at Ideas from the Deep, I still highly recommend this book.

If you were ever a fan of Doom or Quake, get this

Masters of Doom was a treat to listen to, and finished it completely in a few short days (I went on extra walks as an excuse to listen to it).

Wil Wheaton nailed the narration and David Kushner really captured the time and the two starkly different personalities in Carmack and Romero.

Glad I took a chance on this. Well worth it!

A must listen to... If you are into the games

This was a great listen. Wil Wheaton was fantastic. I really enjoyed hearing what went into the creation of some of my favorite games.

Fantastic Audiobook

I grew up during the time of Doom and listening to the story behind the company and everything it took to make the game was fascinating. If you are interested in hearing how the sausage was made, I can't recommend this any higher. Also, Wil Wheaton is my favorite audible narrator, he does such an amazing job. I'd listen to him read ingredients on a package of Oreos.

Really good deep dive

This book was a great deep dive into the background surrounding some of the games that were a huge part of what grabbed and kept my interest in gaming. Having been born in the mid 80s, all of the iD games were being released as I was becoming old enough to have access to them, from Keen to Wolf3D to Doom and beyond. It was great to gain a background in the events and relationships that helped create an environment where this work was possible.