The Game Masters of Garden Place by Denis Markell (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- The Game Masters of Garden Place by Denis Markell
Library ed. ISBN 978-1-101-93193-6 $19.99
Trade ed. ISBN 978-1-101-93191-2 $16.99
E-book ed. ISBN 978-1-101-93192-9 $10.99
Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 5-7
Sixth-grader Ralph Peter Ginzburg (“RPG”) and his four closest friends have been meeting each weekend to assume identities from elves to barbarians to wizards to halflings as they play the role-playing game Reign of Dragons. Ralph is worried that the gang’s shifting priorities may lead them away from the game, however, so he decides to host an adventure to end all adventures, hoping that he may convince [End Page 478] his friends to stick with the game or at least can provide them a memorable finale. Markell’s knack for blending the gaming, real, and fantasy worlds shines when the group’s made-up characters magically manifest in their Brooklyn Heights neighborhood and the adventure takes on a surreal life of its own. A scene where a biracial friend of Ralph—half Afro-Caribbean and half white American—explains to a dumbfounded halfling—half human and half orc—the difficulties of being biracial in our world but still completely human is both funny and heartfelt. The relative ease the fantasy characters have assimilating to a newer, more eccentric Brooklyn is also a bright spot in this amusing adventure that culminates at the big Reign of Dragons convention. After a large battle that attendees write off as simply another flashy Con performance, the fantasy adventurers and their sixth-grade counterparts are all able to find some much deserved closure, satisfyingly concluding a story that has as much to offer diehard fans as it does newcomers to fantasy role-playing.
