As you likely know, if you’ve been following the Ultima Codex for any length of time, I’ve been reading through Andrea Contato’s Through the Moongate, releasing each chapter as an episode on the Spam Spam Spam Humbug podcast feed. So perhaps it’s only fitting that, five chapters in, I offer up some thoughts on the book, because it really is an excellent bit of work.

The amazing thing about Through the Moongate is that even if you’ve been around the Ultima fan community for as long as it has had any sort of online manifestation, even if you think you’ve heard all the stories about the creation of the series, and the people who came into Richard Garriott’s life that ended up featuring in the game in one way or another, Through the Moongate will still find ways to surprise you. It really cannot be understated just how much research Andrea Contato did in order to fill the book with the authentic stories of the people who contributed to Ultima — and to Richard Garriott’s formation and success — in some way.

Yes, as you go along, you’ll encounter stories that yes, you have heard before, and then often told by the very people that were the subject of each story’s events. But, there will be stories (or new elements of known stories) that will surprise you — yes, even you — as well. What’s more, Andrea Contato strove for a very honest retelling of events. Yes, Richard Garriott emerges as the hero of the book…but his stumbles, struggles, and makes mistakes along the way aren’t avoided or downplayed, either; we see Lord British grow, personally and professionally, across Through the Moongate’s chapters. Indeed, if you’ve been listening to the chapter readings that have graced the Spam Spam Spam Humbug feed thus far, you’ll have already noticed a few such moments, in which an errant Richard Garriott has been challenged or corrected by a colleague…or a friend.

One other stand-out element of the book is its very down-to-earth, storytelling style. Andrea Contato peppers each chapter with lots of additional information about the events of the day that were going on around Richard Garriott and those near to him. We not only get the story of Ultima; we also get the context of its creation, and more than just a glimpse at where the computer and gaming industries were at — and where they were headed — at the time.

Andrea Contato spent years researching and interviewing dozens of developers who were key to Origin Systems‘ successes, compiling all of their stories into Through the Moongate. The first book, which covers the history of Richard Garriott and Origin from Akalabeth through to Ultima 6, was crowdfunded in late 2018 and released in mid-2019; you can find it for sale on Amazon, and you can learn more about the book and its author at both Theira.it and AndreaContato.com. A second book, which covers Ultima Underworld through to Shroud of the Avatar, was crowdfunded in late 2019, and is currently being edited ahead of a 2021 release.