Liam O’Brien — known to fans as the heartbreak prince — has worked on all parts of Critical Role’s business, from writing for its animated series to live-streaming for its gothic horror gaming venture.
Now, he’s overseeing the company’s bigger push into print.
O’Brien is one of the eight leaders of the nerdworld business Critical Role. Over the past decade, he and his friends have built a multi-division geek empire that spans animation, game publishing, podcasting, streaming, and live shows.
CR’s book publishing dates back to 2017, when the crew released titles like their first “Vox Machina” art book. But now, as the company celebrates its 10th anniversary, they’re making a proper go at publishing, with a full slate of books to be released in 2025.
In a call from his office — which houses a massive shelf of geeky books and nerdy paraphernalia — the self-described “literary dork” outlined what CR’s push into the publishing business will look like.
2 cofounder-written kids’ titles
CR plans to publish at least two children’s books written by its cofounders in 2025. The first, “Der Katzenprinz,” is a book of fairy tales O’Brien wrote and is scheduled for release on April 8.
O’Brien said the book is a collection of three dark and mystical fairytales, all grounded in the fantasy world of Exandria.
“I was just diving into fairytales, which I grew up on and love. I have books on the shelf behind me that are from when I was a kid, that are full of dark, weird stories,” O’Brien said.
The second CR cofounder-written book is “Smiley Day: A Good Advice Book From Your Favorite Robot Therapist,” by CR cofounder Sam Riegel. It will be released on September 30.
“When you’re a parent, you read a lot of children’s books — and some of ’em are great, and some of ’em were not great,” Riegel, a father of two, told BI. “And we thought, ‘Maybe we should try to make a good one.’”
More D&D-based novels
CR has partnered with authors under the Penguin Random House stable to roll out novels based on their “D&D” campaigns.
An early title released in 2021 under this collaboration was “Vox Machina — Kith & Kin,” a novel-length deep dive into the backstories of the half-elven twins O’Brien and CR cofounder Laura Bailey played on stream.
The Penguin Random House slate for 2025 includes “Tusk Love,” a novel by Thea Guanzon, inspired by characters in CR’s second long-running campaign. And there’s a short story collection with a foreword from O’Brien, “Vox Machina — Stories Untold.”
“The team at Critical Role is incredible at telling stories, so it just made sense to expand those stories into books,” said Elizabeth Schaefer, the publishing director at Random House Worlds.
“The setting and characters are so rich that we’ve been able to publish a wide variety of books—from novels to a cookbook, to a behind-the-scenes making of, to even an advice book,” Schaefer said.
O’Brien joked that he ended up taking charge of CR’s literary offerings because “the others are too busy” — but it’s all worked out since he loves books.
And as part of the team’s publishing drive, it’s O’Brien’s job to curate CR’s art books. He also consults on the company’s graphic novel collaborations with Dark Horse Comics.
“I grew up an avid reader, and my slippery slide into tabletop role-playing games and fantasy was through reading novels,” O’Brien said.
“So really, my whole life has been about being a big nerd and then deciding, ‘Well, I need to be an adult now,’” he said. “And then realizing that that was incorrect and then just fusing it all together.”
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