Solaris ventures into non-fiction with Titus Chalk’s Generation Decks
25th May 2016
Multi-million dollar industry; pop culture phenomenon; professional sport; Magic: The Gathering is much more than a game.
In Generation Decks: The Unofficial Story of Gaming Phenomenon Magic: The Gathering, Titus Chalk tells the true story of how a trading card game conquered the world.
Part geek history, part biography, Generation Decks charts the rise and rise of Magic: The Gathering, from the perspective of a player whose life was transformed by it.
Generation Decks is the first non-fiction title from award-winning science fiction and fantasy publisher Solaris.
Solaris Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Oliver commented on Generation Decks:
“Generation Decks is not only the story of one of the biggest revolutions in Geek Culture, it is also a love letter to gaming – to the friendships formed, the games won and lost, and the people who turned a relatively simple idea into a massive industry. Told with warmth and insight, this is a fascinating account of one of the world’s biggest games.”
Titus Chalk commented:
“The book was my attempt to legitimise Magic, to play a small part in making it something myself and other players could share with those who perhaps didn’t get gaming, or fantasy, or the obsession and excitement that comes with being deeply involved with a hobby you love.
I wanted to tell the story of Magic as it unfolded across the pop-cultural landscape, a story that spans the birth of the internet age in the 1990s to the hyper-connected word of today, where being a geek is cool. Magic had a role to play in that transformation and I wanted to share all the brilliance of the game, the business behind it and the community who play it with unsuspecting readers.
If anyone can get the story of Magic into the right hands, then it’s Solaris. Hopefully together we can get a few more people to tear open their first booster packs and get hooked on a game that has changed my life since I picked it up as a miserable, home sick teenager in rural New Zealand, over 20 years ago.”
Generation Decks: The Unofficial Story of Gaming Phenomenon Magic: The Gathering by Titus Chalk will be published by Solaris in April 2017.
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Generation Decks
The Unofficial Story of Gaming Phenomenon Magic: The Gathering
by Titus Chalk
For some, a game of cards is just a way to pass the time. But for an awkward generation on the cusp of the internet age, it became a way of life.
Generation Decks tells the story of the millions of fans worldwide who fell hopelessly in love with the mould-breaking fantasy card game, Magic: The Gathering. The brainchild of misfit maths genius Richard Garfield, Magic combined fiendishly complex game play with addictive collectability. When it came out in 1993, it transformed the lives of quiet braniacs who had longed for a way to connect and to compete. It made millionaires of its creators, who shook up corporate America. And it kick-started the era of professional gaming.
Author Titus Chalk tells the game’s complete story – from its humble origins in a Seattle basement to its continued success in today’s digital age. Prepare to meet Generation Decks, a community like no other, and to discover Magic: The Gathering, the phenomenon that made it OK to be a gamer…
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About the author
Titus Chalk is a freelance writer currently based in Berlin. He learned to play Magic: The Gathering in New Zealand in the early ‘90s, and has been lugging around a
cupboard full of cards with him ever since, with many of the rarest in his collection worth more than their weight in gold. He has contributed to magazines such as FourFourTwo, 11 Freunde and German broadsheer Tagesspiegel. He is currently sharpening his fiction skills, and his dream is to write a novel before he goes completely grey.