Today, Rediscovered Realms is honored to be speaking with Rose Estes – the very creator of TSR’s Endless Quest books, which were so monumental in drawing kids into reading and fantasy back in the early 80s. They were a gateway for me, a driving force for lifelong reading as well as a major inspiration for starting this newsletter
Great interview. First gamebook I ever read was Dungeons of Dread (translated to spanish as Las Cavernas del Terror) and it was a mind-boggling book for me. Reading it was like a epiphany: there were books about elfs and orcs, and swords and spells and magic! And I could be the hero in those books!
Later I read Lord of the Rings, and Dragonlance and years later bought my first roleplaying game. But I've always loved gamebooks and I still have my own copy of Dungeons of Dread, nearly 40 years later.
So thank you very much, Rose. You changed my life.
Endless quests was for me, like many others, the gateway into roleplaying. It was really a stroke of genius to have the reader play a developed and named character (as opposed to the generic "you" in all other gamebook before them).
I had always wondered why she bowed out of the series at number 12 after getting the series running.
Fantastic interview! I’d never heard of Rose Estes before, but now I think she’s one of the most interesting people I’ve read about. So prolific and so confident. Very inspiring.
Rose Estes: On An Unstoppable Endless Quest
Great interview. First gamebook I ever read was Dungeons of Dread (translated to spanish as Las Cavernas del Terror) and it was a mind-boggling book for me. Reading it was like a epiphany: there were books about elfs and orcs, and swords and spells and magic! And I could be the hero in those books!
Later I read Lord of the Rings, and Dragonlance and years later bought my first roleplaying game. But I've always loved gamebooks and I still have my own copy of Dungeons of Dread, nearly 40 years later.
So thank you very much, Rose. You changed my life.
Nice interview
Endless quests was for me, like many others, the gateway into roleplaying. It was really a stroke of genius to have the reader play a developed and named character (as opposed to the generic "you" in all other gamebook before them).
I had always wondered why she bowed out of the series at number 12 after getting the series running.
Fantastic interview! I’d never heard of Rose Estes before, but now I think she’s one of the most interesting people I’ve read about. So prolific and so confident. Very inspiring.
Interesting article. Great details that no one would ever know. A life well lived and explored.
I love this one...brings back so many memories!!! :)