Lost and Found: An Autobiography About Discovering Family

by Micky Neilson

Lost and Found, the autobiography of N.Y. Times best-selling author Micky Neilson, a 20 year-veteran of the World of Warcraft franchise, is The Glass Castle meets Of Dice and Men. Lost and An Autobiography of Discovering Family, is the harrowing and inspirational memoir of the successful contributor to World of Warcraft and N.Y. Times best-seller Micky Neilson, who was kidnapped by his schizophrenic father as a toddler, spending his earliest years on the run and his teenage years as a foster child. This autobiography chronicles Micky’s experience serving in the first Gulf War, the meteoric rise of Blizzard Entertainment and, most triumphantly, his reuniting with the family that was stolen from him as a child. “No one who reads my fiction today or plays the video games I've contributed to knows that I was kidnapped at eight months old, that I grew up with a schizophrenic father, that I didn't attend school until 7th grade, or that I never knew my true identity until I was reunited with my family after 38 years,” said the author. “It's such an honor to finally be able to share my life story.”

330 pages, Paperback

Published June 14, 2016

About the author

Micky Neilson is a two-time New York Times best-selling author whose graphic novels, Ashbringer (#2 on the list) and Pearl of Pandaria (#3) have both been published in six languages. As one of the first writers at Blizzard Entertainment, he has more than two decades of experience in the cutting edge of the gaming industry. He has self-published three horror novels in his original series The Turning, on Amazon. In 2017 Micky was tapped to write The Howling: Revenge Of The Werewolf Queen, a comic book continuation of the beloved 1981 Joe Dante horror film The Howling. In 2018 Micky completed his first original sci-fi novel, Ridgerunners, and co-wrote the graphic novel The Invisible Empire: Madge Oberholtzer And The Unmasking Of The KKK, as well as the illustrated novel Strange Highways. Most recently Micky wrote the bestselling book The Art Of Spyro: Reignited Trilogy and completed his sci-fi trilogy Skiptracer. Micky lives in beautiful Washington State with his wife and daughter where he enjoys life's essentials: movies, comic books, chocolate and sushi.

Reviews

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was almost late to work because of this book. Couldn't put it down. I found it very lively and easy to read. Mysterious origins, foster families, wild young geeks, mischievous soldiers, and a brief history of Blizzard Entertainment - what could be better? Very engaging. And I'm so glad it had a happy ending.

[Curtis Ketch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing Story

Being one Scott's students I am amazed at this story and feel blessed that Micky's father forged a sense of pride for our school. Thanks Micky for sharing the story of you and your father.

[Joshua Stein · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short note; I freelance as an editor for Riverdale Avenue Books. I regularly post reviews about some (though not all) of the books that I work on for them. Micky Neilson's Lost and Found is one such book.

Memoir is a difficult genre, for a number of reasons. The first is that the story has to be genuinely interesting, beyond merely having a subject of importance, they have to have a story to tell. There is absolutely no doubt that Neilson's story is interesting; it bounces through a relationship with a strange father, experience in foster care, military service, and work at Blizzard. From the standpoint of straightforward Blizzard fans who are looking to Neilson for a memoir fundamentally about the development of the Warcraft franchise, there are some good nuggets in the book for you, though the book scopes out much wider. More than a book for Blizzard fans, the book has a genuinely compelling and strange story.

There are some struggles within the book; some of the areas in relationships linger in places that are peculiar and may even feel redundant, e.g. the expansive focus on some of the peculiarities of the father, while other moments that have potential seem glossed, e.g. experiences in the foster care system, motivations and inspirations behind major artistic undertakings. Altogether, though, the book is well paced and does a good job at tracking how a life moves from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, without those breaks feeling rigid and uncomfortable.

Overall, it is a worthwhile memoir even for those outside of Neilson's typical audience of hardcore fans of the Warcraft universe. Of course, for those who are particularly deep in the Warcraft universe, it is kind of interesting to know a little able the background of one of the important creative influences on the world and story. With the resurgence of the Warcraft franchise in popular culture (e.g. the recent film; hopefully a new RTS Warcraft game getting started behind the scenes; increasing visibility of ESports, especially Blizzard games) the book feels timely and I hope that it does well.

[KayW4 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a strange book! Or perhaps, more to the point, what a strange life this book reveals. Micky Neilson's memoir/set of anecdotes about his life (I think it's mainly the latter) is told in a forthright, extremely simple manner that occasionally baffles, but often succeeds, as the events he depicts, most of them surrounding the strange life of his father, are so outlandish. Not quite as outlandish as his father himself believes perhaps, but strange and heartbreaking enough for the reader to admire Micky regardless of our interest in his adult professional life behind the scenes of World of Warcraft. I have never played the game myself but found that completely irrelevant to the experience of reading this book. It's not particularly well-written, but considering Neilson's upbringing (or lack thereof) it's a masterpiece of eloquence and emotional intelligence. It's just extraordinary what he went through.