Nerding Out With Matthew and Terry Brooks

~post by Matthew

Being the “computer guy” at BookPeople, it’s common knowledge around these parts that I’m a dork. I all too often walk out of my office wrapped in a seemingly endless supply of ethernet cable and if you’re ever at the friendly information desk when I’m trying to diagnose our AIX connection, you’re sure to hear about the merits of UNIX OSes. However, the people I grew up with in East Texas would be quick to label me a dork for different reasons; it’s time I shared myself with Austin because recently the dork side of my being has been resurrected.

Terry Brooks, creator of the Shannara series, is coming to BookPeople (August 28th, 7PM). That’s right, I’m a fantasy geek. Robyn, co-founder of our World of Dorkness book club (who meet Sept 8th to play the RPG Song of Ice and Fire based on The Game of Thrones world), came over the other night to get a feel for different fantasy games and as we looked through the hundreds of Magic: The Gathering cards I had meticulously organized by color, mana cost, and function, I realized that for as long as I could remember the world of dragons and magic has played a very important part in my life. I started with the now archaic Darklands game (anyone remember DOS?) but how could a video game ever be enough? My father sat down and patiently showed me how to play Magic: The Gathering and, although he beat me every time, we would sit together every day before dinner crossing the planes of existence in the Magic multiverse. As I got older, I needed more. I found others like me who were discontent with the limitations of our reality and so found an escape in our imaginations. My friends would come together and build weapons out of PVC, soft pipe liner, and duct tape, making up civilized rules of war as we conquered foreign worlds and defeated cruel tyrants. In high school I started volunteering for a local renaissance faire and realized that love for fantasy was more than some niche sub-culture, but something that the masses needed in order to stimulate the creative mind of every person. What started off as an awkward, introverted boy playing in a preprogrammed fiction became an interaction on a grand scale; a meeting of like-minded people at places such as the Texas Renaissance Festival that boasts 61,000 visitors a weekend. It became friendships founded on meetings in mystical worlds, but developed in school and the “real world.” And most importantly, it became a bonding experience with my Dad; I’ll always cherish the memories of us nerding out as we fought over zombies and elves.

Back to the point, Terry Brooks, creator of the Shannara series, is coming to BookPeople (August 28th, 7PM). I cannot tell the story of my dork-ittude without mentioning Terry Brooks because the transition from video games to the fantasy culture happened one day when my Father handed me his 1977 copy of The Sword of Shannara. A thick book for a kid my age to be sure, but I worked my way through it over the course of a few weeks and was forever changed with the realization of how powerful my imagination could be. Now I had to imagine the faces of the characters involved in the plot. I had to see the world they lived in using only the descriptions Terry Brooks offered and filling in the gaps with my mind. I swear I can still feel the chill evening air of Southland to this day.

Such a powerful force this fantasy fiction can be on a person, but I feel even more so its effects are on culture as a whole. While I used the word “escape” before, I believe it was my youthful misunderstanding about what I liked about fantasy, because what I like about fantasy is not that I can disappear from the world but through fiction I have come to a better understanding of who I am and I have built a network of the previously unattainable friends I had once longed for. By “escaping” reality temporarily, I built a stronger reality for life.

I have another short post coming up that indirectly emphasizes the role of Terry Brooks in developing relationships:  reviews of the recently released Wards of Faerie by my Father and Grandmother, both experts on his bibliography. Come by August 28th at 7pm to hear Terry Brooks talk about his new book and answer questions from fans! Also be sure to check out World of Dorkness (BookPeople’s monthly fantasy role-playing game club) when they meet September 8th to play Song of Ice and Fire.