Not All Fairy Tales Have Happy Endings

The Rise and Fall of Sierra On-Line

By: Ken Williams

Narrated by: Josh Horowitz

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 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 1,000 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.

©2020 Ken Williams (P)2020 Ken Williams

No Bones About Bucks

Williams was clearly in it for the bucks, and really makes no bones about that, which I appreciate. He put making money first--which is understandable. So, in this book, he doesn't give as much attention to the creative side of things as I hoped for. Regardless, Chapter 13, about how to be a software engineer, is pure gold. There IS good stuff here but I think I'd like to hear more from Roberta.

Meh

I’m not a Sierra fan, but I enjoy reading about the history of technology and software so I picked this up. While some parts of the book are interesting, it’s just not very well written and lacks any sort detail. It’s meandering and the author brings the story to a complete halt with chapters unrelated to the story, that just feels like padding material.

It’s not a bad book to be sure - it’s just a poorly written one, and it could have been made dramatically better if Ken had worked with a real author who could have researched things and then told the story in a cohesive manner.

There is some entertainment to be found - but it could have been a dramatically better, which is a shame, since these stories are going to be more and more hard to document as we go forward in time.

A Good Trip Down Memory Lane

While it was nice to hear the history of the company that made so many of the games I loved as a child, I would’ve loved to have heard more about those games, and less about the business or conflicts in building the Sierra empire.

But, if you are into the business side of a gaming company, or want to hear thoughts from one of video games’ greatest founders, it’s a good book.

The narration, however, is that bland, uninspired style that we have come to expect in too many works of non-fiction. I know they all can’t be Wil Wheaton, but I am tired of the same old anemic sound.

Interesting anecdotes but overall uninspiring

I grew up with sierra’s games, not sure what I expected from this book other than to be reminded of the games for nostalgia and to learn of what happened to sierra. Unfortunately the book is way too long for what it is. Ken’s stories often sounded defensive and self praising, simple business lessons get too much airtime and seem overly explained. If you are not a business person you might find it interesting to hear of management stories and Wall Street transactions. If you have any management or entrepreneurial experience you might find the stories too basic and don’t drive to a deeper level.

Engaging inside story about Ken Williams' career

If you've ever wondered about the rise and fall off Sierra Online, this is an honest, non-nostalgic story about it from someone with first-hand experience. Very recommended.

Solid Chronicle of an Interesting Company

I’m one of those people who grew up obsessed with Sierra On-Line, and so of course I knew who Ken Williams was. I sent him and his wife Roberta a fan letter at one point. I loved their games, and I still treasure my memories of their classic titles.

So it was fun to hear Ken’s take, and learn all kinds of details of what happened. It was... eye-opening. I deeply appreciate that Ken was so honest, and at times self-effacing. It was also deeply sad, for many reasons.

But ultimately, if you have any interest in this topic, I think you’ll enjoy this book.

Sierra's rise and fall

First off, I want to call out the narration, its excellent throughout.

The book covers the early years of Ken and Roberta Williams (mostly Ken), and their journey through the dawn of video games, to being merged into a global conglomerate.

My childhood was filled with the early Sierra games on my IBM compatible computer in the early 80s. Its great to hear how that all came about, and what things had to be done to rise to be the stars that they were.

Criticism - The book has its faults though, the pacing is a little off, and the interludes are distracting. This is one part story of the rise and fall of Sierra, and one part Self Help book. The Self Help parts.. im not a big fan of. Ken has a lot of traits that worked for him, but i think a lot of it was being in the right place at the right time and taking some initiative. A lot of his management advice is actually.. pretty terrible. I'd never work for him.

Still overall, a great book that I would recommend to anyone who was playing Sierra games since the 80s.

Why good things will always change

I have been a Sierra fan the moment I had King's Quest take all my time away from doing homework. To be honest, if it were not for my obsession of what a game could be I would never ha e ended up in the career I am now.

But what really happened to that beloved game company that seemed to go from top to bottom so very quickly. Reading what happened through the words of Ken Williams himself shines a spotlight on all the good and the bad that happened. I am sad to hear how a company like that was treated. But in the end, I am still very happy for the amount of amazi g products they created.

This is a well written diary that would interest anyone who liked Sierra, or who is interested in the rise of the computer game industry. Highly recommended.

An unexpected jewel

I'm a developer working in the video game industry, and grew up playing Sierra games (along with many others). I bought this book, as I bought many other dealing with the life of influential people or companies of this industry, because I enjoy hearing the stories of my childhood heroes. Nonetheless, I was able to take a lot of great advice and some pretty important insights. I'd admit these might not be for you (not every game developer out there will resonate with Ken's words), but I'd also say no other book on the subject had this amount of interesting things to take away and apply in your career.
The narration is spot on. I enjoyed it as much as the story itself.

Very interesting, but disjointed

A great insight into the founding and growth of the legendary company along with the story of the corporate nightmare that led to its demise. Ken gives a unique look in to his company's history and challenges they had to make as pioneers in the games industry. Unfortunately it also comes in a very disjointed form, jumping wildly between times and stories and often quoting Wikipedia and or even himself. I think this is a great book for fans of Sierra or video game history, but I feel like some editing would have made it a must read.