Genese Davis Brings Real Gaming Experience to New Book ‘The Holder’s Dominion’

Friday, 1st March 2013
Posted in Gaming Personality
Tags: author, Book, davis, dominion, gamer, games, holder's, MMO, new, novel, world, world of warcraft

Written by: Bryan Dare

Author Genese Davis‘ first novel, The Holder’s Dominion, releases today, Friday March 1, and if her previous accomplishments are any indication, she is an author to keep an eye on.

Davis seems to find success in everything she does, be it dressage and show jumping (think horses), aircraft piloting, or playing Massively Multiplayer Online games.

As an adult, Davis discovered the gaming world and grew to appreciate the artistry that goes into it and the social bonds that grow out of it. She even created her own website, The Gamer in You, to broaden the oft-debated term ‘gamer’ (i.e. get people to stop being elitist jerks) and to awaken the gamer in everyone.

Despite her late start as a gamer, Davis now has extensive experience founding, running, and playing in competitive raiding guilds in Final Fantasy XI and World of Warcraft and once ranked in the top 100 players in the world for her class in WoW.

What does all of this have to do with a book? Well, The Holder’s Dominion is helping to break new ground as one of the first novels to deal with online gaming, joining the likes of Cory Doctorow’s For the Win. Dominion is even part of an emerging genre called ‘new adult,’ which focuses on characters who are in the early post-highschool portion of their lives, a time of great growth and change.

“I wanted to write for gamers and non-gamers alike about the unpredictable and influential ways that video games change us. I wanted to share with others the amazing experience of collaborative video games and the communities that grow up in and around them.”

The novel follows college sophomore Kaylie Ames as she discovers and becomes absorbed in a popular MMO called Edannair. Like Davis, Ames discovers a close and passionate community within the game. She then strives to protect both it and her fracturing family from the threat of the enigmatic Holder, a powerful player who is stirring up real-life mischief. Since the book is a ‘speculative thriller‘, expect to find a slight fantasy or science fiction element to crop up as well.

Dominion has received praise from some notable individuals, including Professor Richard Bartle, the game theorist responsible for the Bartle Test of player personality types; New York Times-bestselling author Christie Golden, writer of various Warcraft, StarCraft, and Star Trek novels; and New York Times-bestselling author and Lead Story Developer for Blizzard Entertainment, Micky Neilson.

We all know videogames still have a long way to go in terms of achieving widespread social recognition and respect, so it’s always good to see people like Davis trying to bridge the gap and create understanding.

If you’re looking for fiction about games that is told from an honest and informed perspective, free of poisonous stereotypes and misconceptions, pick up The Holder’s Dominion when it releases today. Get it digitally on day one or pre-order a physical copy now on Beaver’s Pond Books, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble. Check out Davis’ visit to 1337LoungeLive below.

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