Generation Decks is a comprehensive, mostly chronological history of the card game Magic. Interspersed with the game's history is some of the author's own, as he moves from country to country, dragging his love of the game with him. As someone who's dabbled in the game, I found it consistently interesting and heartfelt, although by the end I felt it started going over the same ground.

The narrative that keeps the pages turning is an old one - it's a story of unexpected success, as a group of nerds, geeks, mathematicians, web developers and artists produce a game at just the right time - that is, as the internet starts to stand up and walk. It's now worth millions, and played professionally. The cynic in me found the parts of the book that cover tournament play amusing - the language used is the same as you'd find in a book about, say, tennis, but instead of athletes who burn carbs and generally sweat it out, we're talking about caffeine-guzzling geeks who turn up to a table with suitcases full of cards.

I have a few criticisms. I'd have liked some card art throughout the book; after all, that's what probably got a lot of players interested in the first place. They could have been used as chapter breaks. Also, a play by play of famous showdowns would have been welcome. The author goes to the trouble to explain the game's basic rules but afterwards never really gives an example of how the synergy of a deck can produce a well contested game. I'd also have appreciated a little more discussion of the digital versions of Magic. One question I'd have asked reps from the game's honchos is why they release these versions with very little ability to construct your own deck.

One subject I'm glad was included was the role of women in the arena. It says something when the males who gather together to play a game like Magic were probably rejected by society, only to treat women with the same disrespect when they have their own little clique. It's a pointed observation.

Even if your interest in the game is only passing (and that's probably the best kind of interest in my opinion, unless you've got a lot of time and money up your sleeve), I recommend the book. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy.

Magic The Gathering is something that becomes much more interesting the more you look into it. Not just a game about duelling wizards throwing spells at each, Magic The Gathering is a commercial game with championships on par with the likes of Poker and E-sports. Richard Garfield’s simple to learn and impossible to master collectible card invented an entire new genre of gaming and created an industry. Titus Chalk’s latest book, Generation Decks, takes the reader into a world that most of us know nothing about. Magic is an incredibly geeky little game, but behind it is a rich history filled with hopes, dreams, betrayal, loss and discovery.

This is a compelling story that gets into the real nitty gritty of the history of the game. From its humble origins as a simple, off the cuff idea to a multi-million dollar, world spanning tournament game, it’s a compelling read. Titus Chalk relates the history of the 24-year-old game in a very personal way. Chalk not only tells the story of the game itself, but also his own personal relationship with the collectible cards. We learn that Chalk picked up the game as a teen, following a move to New Zealand, and how his growing fascination with the cards gave him the strength to make friends.

Chalk uses the back-drop of his own story to relate the history of MTG to the reader in a friendly, chatty and ultimately compelling style. Titus tells real tales in a highly compelling and entertaining way; you get the feeling that he could make any topic interesting.

However, the tale behind Magic really is a fascinating one. We learn that as the game grew, the creators and investors had to grow up quickly. Lurching from one near disaster to another, it was only the dedication of the creators and an awful lot of quick thinking that prevented this gaming mainstay from early disaster. We get a glimpse into the lives the game irrevocably altered, from the humble janitor who put her life savings into its early development to the game’s early tournament heroes who couldn’t quite cope with the fame and fell apart under the pressure.

At its heart, Generation Decks is the tale of a business start-up and the people who made it happen. However, given the unusual subject matter, those stories are little bit special. If you’ve ever wondered what the fuss was about (or even how Pokemon became a card game), then give this lovely little book a read.


GENERATION DECKS: THE UNOFFICIAL HISTORY OF GAMING PHENOMENON MAGIC THE GATHERING / AUTHOR: TITUS CHALK / PUBLISHER: SOLARIS / RELEASE DATE: 6TH APRIL

I remember discovering Magic the Gathering while I was in college. I am still tempted to purchase cards when I go to the comic book store every weekend. This book rekindled my love for the game. It claims it is a history but it is also part memoir and, ultimately, a love song to a game that took the world by storm.

Read it if you've played the game, are curious about the game, or enjoyed reading Of Dice and Men (the story of Dungeons and Dragons).

I've been playing MtG since it was released, and really enjoyed reading a completely different perspective of an introduction to a game that I love (and have spent far too much money on!), and the world that follows falling in love with, and playing the game.

Gamingis an extremely vast business,more hidden and huge than many people know- the posture of the writer of this speedy and entertaining volume is that he is addicted to game-playing and (a) he wants us to understand why and (b) he wants to justify it. Sometimes I began to feel that this was simply an extended promotional piece for the game 'Magic' which apparently shifted paradigms of gaming. If I am so told, I can only believe it. I do know that people can get completely wrapped up in playing games on a computer and that it alters their lives- isolating them etc. This game is a social experience- it wasgood fun to track how Garfield developped it - he is truly an individual He moves on at the end, pursuing mathematics in yet another series of ways. There will never be a new game such as this, Garfield says, or at least one I could do again.

GENERATION DECKS by Titus Chalk examines the phenomenon of Magic: The Gathering the game. Chalk cover the game from it's beginnings in the early 1990's through all of the ups and downs as an ever expanding commodity, to the present, where the game continues to thrive as an easy game to start playing, yet nearly impossible to fully master.
Chalk is a Magic player himself and looks introspectively throughout the book about how Magic:the Gathering has been a part of his life. Not only does Chalk give a detailed history of the game of Magic, but looks at so much more. Chalk looks at gaming business as a whole and how the creation of Magic ushered in a revolutionary change in the gaming world. Chalk looks at how Wizards of the Coast, the company that brought us Magic, grew out of a basement into giant company and all of the warts and hiccups that came along with that growth. Chalk spend a lot of time looking at the social aspects of the game; how Magic brought a socially adverse segment of the population together and made them better by having a group of people they can relate to. Chalk considers that as the internet was forming into what we know today, how the Magic community had a hand in the crafting and honing how we interact with the internet. He even looks at the female aspect, or lack thereof, in the Magic community. In the middle of the book ,Chalk gets a little heavy handed about gameplay and the "metagame", and think a reader unfamiliar with the game could get easily lost. Overall though, I think Chalk does a good job looking at so many aspects of Magic; how it's a unique game that has left a unique mark on the gaming world.
Any fan and/or player of Magic will enjoy GENERATION DECKS and its clear that Titus Chalk has a passion for the game and the people who play it, create it and enjoy it.

My first experience with Magic:The Gathering was back in 1995 in the band room over lunch with a bunch of kids huddled over two decks. I continued to play casually all through college and enjoy the game today.

This book was about the founding and how the game came to be what it is today and defined an entire genre of card games. The only thing that I didn't enjoy that much was the long chapters about the authors experience playing the game. Knowing how he got started is cool, but the parts dragged a little bit in the middle.

Recommend this to people who have an interest in the history of games, particularly CCG's and how they got started.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1937353333?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

I am a gamer. A social gamer, but one of those people. I have never played Magic, so this book sounded interesting. As someone who has never played, the vast array of people and the roles they played in the games development can get a bit confusing, but as someone with a love of board games who has ventured to games conventions, I understood the beauty and complexity of the game, and often recognised parts of my own life as a gamer.

The author's love for his subject clearly comes across on the page and the elements of his own exposure to Magic help to bring a lot of colour and human warmth to what could have been a very niche subject matter.

I enjoyed reading it, and have already been boring gaming friends with the importance of Magic and the role it played in the history of the games we play together now. I've already found a closet Magic playing friend who is encouraging me to become part of this vibrant community.