Masters of Doom

How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture

By: David Kushner

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

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)

Loved the games and loved the book

This was a surprisingly suspensful story, everybody who is familiar with Doom and Quake should be interested in the story behind the games. I was one of those who were waiting (and waiting and waiting) for John Romero's Daikatana and I finally gave up waiting, now I know what happened!!! The reader gives such a great performance that the book is elevated to a new level. I really liked this one.

Truly interesting stuff!

This book was exceptional. The story was unexpectedly compelling; it seamed to have just the right mix of technology and society. Narration was bang on!

The Doom

This is the story of a gaming landmark from the golden age of video games up to the current day. It is fascinating to see what goes into game design, and the tensions and ups and downs of game development, including that of having a do-no-wrong image in the industry.

Kushner and Wheaton are a good combo

This book kept me constantly involved. From the realities of these individual’s lives to the information about the birth of pc gaming. I played some of there games and taught myself to program around the same time. I felt the story and it was fascinating to see these guys play at being rock stars in the pc universe. Wheaton is a perfect choice for narration. His work is good, or very good, for fiction, but it is great for non fiction.

Loved it but the end was anti-climatic

Having spent many of my earlier years glued to the PC playing the games by the Johns (okay, I still do), I loved listening to the early days of both how they got started and the how the industry formed around them. I found myself more and more engaged in the story until maturity set in. Then the story more or less plodded along until it ended. Since that's probably how it was in real life, I didn't ding the overall or story ratings much. The first two-thirds were so fun and so nostalgic, it was still very much worth spending the credit. Wil Wheaton, by the way, is always the best narrator for these types of books (techno-geeky).

A great story well told

captures those heady early days of video games well, at the same time as telling a great yarn about two young visionaries struggling with well deserved, yet misplaced fame and fortune.

Interesting

While I have no definitive proof things would be different but being on the other side of the Eidos dollars at Looking Glass to hear more of the details that were rumors it is just infuriating the waste by Romero

Computer Game History told in an entertaining way

The narrator does an excellent job to bring to life the story of how interactive, 3D computer games were born. This could be taught in schools.

The birth of PC gaming.

When it says how two guys crated an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture its not giving them enough credit. This book will take you through how PC gaming was created, popularized and how it changed the world forever. The way the story is being told giving you great detail at every turn really puts you into story. This is by far one of the best books I've listen to in my entire life and I highly recommend it to anyone remotely interested into the subjects of PC gaming, gaming in general, pop culture, game development, and or the 90s.

DEGREELESSNESS MODE: ON

Captivating story starting off in the eighties and dwelling in the nineties where the height of this story really is. Interesting story about hard working people.