The inspiring memoir from legendary entrepreneur, gaming pioneer, and space adventurer Richard Garriott -- "game god" (PC Gamer) and inspiration for Ready Player One -- Explore/Create invites us on a grand adventure, introducing us to the wondrous and magical
Richard Garriott's story begins with an Apple II and a dream. At eighteen, he spent his entire life savings -- two hundred dollars -- to produce Akalabeth, his first video game. That covered the floppy discs and the Ziploc bags the game was sold in; his mother drew the cover art. The first week they sold maybe a dozen copies, but soon after, the California Pacific Computer Company came calling, asking to publish the game. These were the Wild West days of the game industry -- hard partying, outrageous personalities, and fledgling studios trying to make a quick buck.
Never could Richard have foreseen that this would become a multibillion-dollar industry with the top games eclipsing even Hollywood's highest grossing films. He would go on to launch Ultima, a seminal series of role-playing games. Ultima Online was the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), and one of Time's 100 greatest video games ever. Throughout, Richard has aspired to build the most lifelike gaming worlds possible, allowing players to interact with every object on the screen, experience consequences for moral transgressions, and fully personalize their gaming journey.
Away from the screen, Richard has also pushed the limits of human experience. A lifelong adventurer, he has plumbed the depths of the Atlantic Ocean to see the remains of the Titanic and hunted for meteorites in Antarctica, and in 2008 he became one of the first private citizens to travel into space. In 2014, Maxim named him one of the "Six Most Interesting Men You Can Actually Meet." Here, in his own words, is his extraordinary life story.
Filled with interactive tie-ins and challenges, Explore/Create is unlike any other memoir, an unforgettable ode to exploration and discovery that will spark the creative impulse in all of us.

Explore/Create: My Life in Pursuit of New Frontiers, Hidden Worlds, and the Creative Spark

Computers & Technology

Fisher, David

Garriott, Richard

Games & Strategy Guides

William Morrow

An inventor, adventurer, entrepreneur, collector, and entertainer, and son of legendary scientist-astronaut Owen Garriott, Richard Garriott de Cayeux has been behind some of the most exciting undertakings of our time. A legendary pioneer of the online gaming industry—and a member of every gaming Hall of Fame—Garriott invented the multi-player online game, and coined the term “Avatar” to describe an individual’s online character.
A lifelong adventurer and member of the Explorers Club, Garriott has used the fortune he amassed from the gaming business to embark on a number of thrilling expeditions. He has plumbed the depths of the Atlantic ocean to see the remains of the Titanic, hunted for meteorites in Antarctica, and in 2008 became one of the first private citizens to be launched into space. Richard has been one of the foremost pioneers of the private space industry, investing his time and energy into making space travel more accessible.
In this fascinating memoir, Garriott invites readers on the great adventure that is his life. Yet his is no ordinary autobiography; throughout, Garriott engages readers with interactive activities and challenges them with “secret codes” for his games. An audacious genius with an insatiable curiosity and an irrepressible playfulness, Garriott takes readers on an unforgettable intellectual experience that is enlightening, adventurous, and fun.

William Morrow Paperbacks

The thrilling prequel to Shroud of the Avatar from Portalarium!
The world died during the Fall. 
Abandoned by the mighty Avatars and their Virtues, the people who remained were left defenseless in an untamed land. That is, until the Obsidians came. Through dark sorcery and overwhelming force the Obsidian Empire brought order to chaos, no matter the cost.
Aren Bennis is a Captain in the Obsidian Army who has seen enough of what a world without Virtue looks like and is willing to do whatever it takes to establish a lasting peace. But after finding a magical sword that only he can wield, a sword his trusted scout, Syenna, claims is a blade once used by the legendary Avatars, Aren is thrown into a far more unfamiliar battle. One fought with whispered words and betrayal instead of swords and arrows. 
Running out of allies, Aren's only hope for survival is to discover the true nature of the ancient weapon he wears at his side. In order to do that, Aren will have to turn to the empire's enemies and, in doing so, he will discover what order at the hands of the Obsidians really means.

The Sword of Midras: A Shroud of the Avatar Novel (Blade of the Avatar)

Literature & Fiction

HICKMAN, TRACY

United States

Tor Books

The Sword of Midras: A Shroud of the Avatar Novel (Blade of the Avatar, 1)

About the Author\nTRACY HICKMAN has been publishing game designs, books, and stories for more than thirty-five years. In addition, he is a New York Times bestselling coauthor of many novels, including the original Dragonlance Chronicles. Hickman lives in Utah.\nRICHARD GARRIOTT is a video game designer, collector, and private astronaut. He began designing computer games while still in high school and turned his interest into a professional career that earned him legendary status in the video game industry. In 2006 Richard was awarded with two industry honors for his work in the games business: selection into The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame and the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards. He is the author of Explore/Create: My Life in Pursuit of New Frontiers, Hidden Worlds, and the Creative Spark.\nFantasy great Tracy Hickman teams up with the video game legend Richard Garriott in this epic novel The Eye of Scales, based on the award-winning game, Shroud of the Avatar.\nThe sword rules all.\nAren Bendis, former soldier in the Obsidian army, has managed to protect a rebel city from his former friends and now finds his fate bound to a weapon once wielded by the Avatars themselves. Now, he is being secreted away to the capital of the last alliance of free nations with the hopes that the Hero of Opalis will lead their army against his former masters.\nWhat Aren doesn't know is that his former friend Evard Dirae, a Craft Master of the Obsidian Order, is seeking Aren out. Worried that Aren is being manipulated against his will by the magic of the Avatars, Evard seeks to find the sword and break its hold over Aren once and for all.

The Eye of Scales: A Shroud of the Avatar Novel (Blade of the Avatar, 2)

Genre Fiction

TOR Fantasy

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