The Sleeping Dragon

Guardians of the Flame, Book 1

By: Joel Rosenberg

Narrated by: Keith Silverstein

Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Captives of Sorcery...

It began as just another evening of fantasy gaming with James, Karl, Andrea, and the rest ready to assume their various roles as wizard, cleric, warrior, or thief. But sorcerous gamemaster Professor Deighton had something else planned for this unsuspecting group of college students. And the "game" soon became a matter of life and death as the seven adventurers found themselves transported to an alternate world and into the bodies of the actual characters they had been pretending to be.

Cast into a land where magic worked all too well, dragons were a fire-breathing menace, and only those quick enough with a sword or their wits survived, the young gamers faced a terrible task. For the only way they would ever see Earth again was if they could find the legendary Gate Between Worlds - a place guarded by the most terrifying and deadly enemy of all....

©1983 Joel Rosenberg (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

A classic must read fantasy

An absolute must read! Treat yourself today!

Loved the book but hate having a world requirement for the review....

Great audio book!

Excellent narration of one of my favorite books!

Engaging and exciting without the normal boredom!

this is a fantastic book. little dated.

the text is a little clunky hearing read out loud. I read this when I was in 7rh grade and loved it, great to hear it again.

One of my favorite series.

I enjoy how Rosenberg celebrates and reinforces the values on which our country's been founded.

Ahh memories

This story always makes me feel content and brings memories of playing D&D as a teenager. The power of dreams…

Great Memories From My Teenage Years!

What did you love best about The Sleeping Dragon?

I first read this book as a kid and I loved the idea of it being based on kids playing a D&D like game and getting transported into it.

What other book might you compare The Sleeping Dragon to and why?

Dream Park by Larry Niven. It is another great example of people playing a role-playing game in real life.

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

No.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Fantasy Becomes Reality!

Any additional comments?

If you are a lover of dungeons and dragons or role-playing games you will enjoy this book. I hope the other books in this series will be available soon.

Sleepless

So I started this on a business trip, per the recommendation of a friend. I was only 2 hours in by the time I made it to my hotel. The remaining 8 hours I listened straight through, making for a sleepless night. Great audio read. Looking forward to procuring and consuming the remaining books in this series.

Brought back memories

This was my favorite book growing up. I read it numerous times. It doesn't hold up quite as well as i had hoped but still worthy of reading/listening to. Unfortunately I didn't love the narration. At times i couldn't tell who was supposed to be talking and that really took away from it. I still recommend checking it out.

The best classic RPG fantasy

This is a classic fantasy book about a group of teenagers who get sucked into their Dungeon Master's world. But don't let that fool you. This is R-rated action adventure. It's more on the level of Conan the Barbarian than any Saturday morning cartoon show. I found it psychologically deep, if in an early-eighties, After School Special kind of way, while at the same time it was a thrilling adventure. This is where I'm going for classic fantasy for a while (until I hear more of the series).

RPGGamelit before it existed

This book is so brilliant that it actually blazed a new genre that is really only taking a hold today. The book is about some college students who get together to do some role-playing with a professor once a week. On the night we join them the Proff. has a new setting, and they've added a new player. The only problem that they aren't playing a game, and the Proff. Isn't what he seems. They find themselves in the gameworld as their characters. They soon find out that they are playing for keeps with their lives, and need to find a way back home before they all end up dead.

This book really was ahead of its time. The writing is powerful, and the characters fully fleshed out. You empathize with them, and really feel like you know them. The plot the pacing, and the cast of characters feel organic. Not forced. Silverstein embodies the characters too. He drives home every blade swing, every burn, and every bite.

A fantastic first book to a brilliant series.