The Gamesmaster

My Life in the '80s Geek Culture Trenches with G.I. Joe, Dungeons & Dragons, and the Transformers

By: Flint Dille

Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer

The Gamesmaster is a narrative memoir chronicling the life and career of Flint Dille. And while he isn't exactly a household name, you almost certainly know his work - which includes credits from some of the most important and successful entertainment franchises throughout the world across the cartoon, film, video game, and comic book industries and beyond.

Dille started his career writing and producing Saturday-morning television shows, including Transformers and G.I. Joe, while also writing interactive novels with Gary Gygax, the creator of Dungeons & Dragons. From there, he'd go on to work with the likes of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Frank Miller, Jack Kirby, and a raft of others as a writer, story editor, showrunner, and/or producer of iconic entertainment in almost every medium.

Dille's memoir is an entertaining blend of pop culture, social history, and reportage about the exciting, groundbreaking 1980s and the parts he and his colleagues, collaborators, employers, and friends played in making it a genuine Golden Age.

©2020 Flint Dille (P)2020 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

This was an incredible journey!

An outstanding performance, that takes you on a trip of nostalgia, writing in the industry, and about life in Hollywood. I highly recommend to anyone that is a dan of pop culture of the 1980s!

Stories & creative insights into '80s geekdom

I enjoyed every chapter of this book, which is no surprise given my fascination with the cartoons, comics, books and games that the author helped create during his early career. If you are looking for behind-the-scenes stories and always fun reminiscing about how some of the most iconic geek properties came to be, you will not be disappointed. The author's style is conversational and rich in detail, leaving the reader/listener feeling like they are in the audience for a panel at a fan convention, not reading some dry book. The narrative skips around a bit, assumes the reader has knowledge of properties without introducing them, and repeats itself at times. But this adds to the charm, as each retelling adds something new, and the associative presentation of information (vice a strict chronological retelling) helps the reader to understand the connections between the projects that the author worked on. The effect is more like being in a conversation than reading a book.

I was surprised at how many valuable creative insights there are, sprinkled throughout the narrative. Anyone looking to launch a career as a creative will find practical advice on everything from getting your first break to managing your career transitions and evolving with changes in the market. I also appreciated the author's honesty in sharing his challenges & setbacks, and the strategies he used to overcome them and go on to do something even more amazing. The end result is a book that you can reread again and again, enjoying the author's retelling of his early career hijinks and absorbing the lessons he learned along the way that helped launch a very interesting career.

The narration by Michael Summerer felt just right. He does a great job of capturing the conversational tone of the author's writing, and he effectively injects some emotion into his reading at appropriate points which adds to the impact of the words.

Great Lessons Learned

The book is so much more than just reminiscing about the 1980’s era games and cartoons. From each vignette Dille draws valuable lessons about creativity, working with/for media executives, collaborating with colleagues, understand audiences, and how to live life. It is very well-written and a fun listening adventure. Kudos to both the author and the narrator.

I learned so much about Flint

Flint has lead and continues to lead a wonderful career. I recent had a chance to meet him and wished I had known all these things before our running into eachother. Flint has had his hand in so many wonderful things in the 80s and 90s. well done and Thank you Flint.

Absolutely wonderful trip through the 80s

I will confess that I had never heard of Flint Dille, but I was struck by the blurb that said he wrote my childhood. Boy did he. This was a wonderful book, and the perfect August read. It took me entirely out of the crazy world of August 2020 and back to a simpler and more innocent time. The book is wonderful, smart, and self effacing, with a remarkable amount of good life advice he draws from his experiences. I was also struck by the almost total lack of profanity. I think there may be one bad word in there somewhere, but that’s it. He just seems like a genuinely good guy who’s not trying to show off by throwing around cursewords, which would’ve been so easy to do in a book like this. I am very grateful to him for taking the time to write this book and for making it such a delightful read.

Memoirs of a Writer

Thoroughly enjoyed getting the inside scoop on all of my favorite arcs that Flint Dille wrote throughout his amazing career. Would highly recommend.

80’s Power up!

How fun to relive the 80’s through Flint’s eyes! It the behind the scenes of movies and games and an insider look into the transformation of an industry. The writing is spectacular. So vivid and engaging. The narration has great pacing and tone which makes the story come to life. A must listen!!

Must-read for fans of '80s animation!

If you're a child of the '80s, a fan of shows like Transformers, G.I. Joe (or taking a deeper dive, of Inhumanoids or Visionaries), if you're interested in Gary Gygax and Dungeons & Dragons, or anything associated with pop/geek culture stuff from the era, you should absolutely check this out.

I just finished it, and I've enjoyed it as much as any book from the last several years. It's fun, all over the place (in a good way), and well-narrated. I'm embarrassed to say I never realized Flint (after whom my favorite Joe was named) was such a driving force behind some of my most-loved and fondly-remembered cartoons as a kiddo. It's also a really interesting peak into the behind-the-scenes of writing and production, if that's your jam. I loved reading about all of the characters Mr. Dille worked with, and found the descriptions of the shenanigans at TSR an interesting addition to the story I read in the "Empire of Imagination" book about Gygax.

Worth repeat listen

Fun and well told. Will listen again. Glad I grabbed this audiobook. If you like gaming, tv, or movies from the 80s I think you’ll enjoy listening to this book.

Great look at behind the scenes of 80s 90s cartoons, Dungeons and Dragons and life as a writer in Hollywood.

Big fan of Dungeons and Dragons and I grew up in the 80s. I loved to hear about what went on behind the scenes of some of my favorite cartoons, movies, toy properties and games. Author does a great job of sharing the details of their experience. I love all the little personal stories. When he gets hired and fired in back to back phone calls on his answering machine was classic. Cool book and free with audible premium.