novels about games

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Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Anyone here taken a look at the novel CODEX by Lev Grossman? It's
billed as a literary thriller, but there's a long and rather involved
thread about a rather interesting fictional (I think) computer game
called MOMUS, accompanied by reflections on virtual reality, gaming
addiction, open source software development, and the sociology of LAN
parties. Surprisingly sophisticated stuff.

Anybody think of other decent novels about video games? Seems like one
of those insufficiently written-about phenomena.

AL
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

In article <e5a73c77.0404241819.77ecf5cf@posting.google.com>, amyleone@hotmail.com (Amy Leone) wrote:
>Anybody think of other decent novels about video games? Seems like one
>of those insufficiently written-about phenomena.
>
>AL

D.B. Weis' Lucky Wander Boy (http://www.luckywanderboy.com/) is an enjoyable
read about a guy who becomes increasingly obsessed with an obscure arcade game
he played as a youth. Not everything in the book is a success, but there are
some great parts, among other neat things, that wax philisophical about
several arcade favorites.

- Jon
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

amyleone@hotmail.com (Amy Leone) wrote:
>Anybody think of other decent novels about video games? Seems like one
>of those insufficiently written-about phenomena.

Several are listed at FAQ 8 at http://www.sloperama.com/advice.html. Among
them: Dream Park by Larry Niven & Steven Barnes - Ender's Game by Orson
Scott Card - Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson - and (arguably) Disclosure by
Michael Crichton.

Cheers! - Tom
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Amy Leone wrote:

> Anybody think of other decent novels about video games? Seems like one
> of those insufficiently written-about phenomena.

Wargames - Probably the most famous.

Little Brother by John McNeil - Can't remember much about this,
but computer games are used to implant suggestions in peoples minds.
I think.

Soul of New Machine by Tracy Kidder - This is actually about the
building of a new mini-computer, but has quite a bit about the
hacker culture of the engineers, including a chapter about Adventure.

Complicity by Iain Banks - Only really mentioned this since I've only
just read it and it's fresh in my mind, but the main character spends
a lot of time playing a 'Civilisation' style game. It's mentioned
quite a bit (with detail about the rules of the game and how well he
is doing), but it's definitely just a minor sub plot.

--
Be seeing you, http://www.bifrost.demon.co.uk/
Sam. jabber: samuel.penn@jabber.org
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Amy Leone startled all and sundry by ejaculating the following words of
wisdom

> Anybody think of other decent novels about video games? Seems like one
> of those insufficiently written-about phenomena.

Tad Williams, Otherland Series.

--
rob singers
pull finger to reply
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

> Anybody think of other decent novels about video games? Seems like one
> of those insufficiently written-about phenomena.

These are the ones I can think of:

Only You Can Save Mankind - Terry Pratchett. A children's book. The first of
the 3-book Johnny series. They are comedies about Johnny and his friends and
the magical things that happen to them. This book is about the mixing of
reality and a computer game. I though it was OK, I though the other 2 books
(not about computer games) was great. Pratchett has also written the often
great Discworld comedy fantasy series and co-written the great apocalyptic
comedy Good Omens.

Execution Plan - Patrick Thompson. Horror comedy about computer games
becoming real. Has some good bits, but lots of the plot feels kind of silly.
Thompson has also written the excellent horror comedy Seeing the Wires. Not
about computer games. I think Thompson is trying to write in the style of
Chuck Palahniuk, who wrote the excellent books Fight Club and Survivor.

Otherland series, starting with City of Golden Shadow - Tad Williams. Set in
the future and has a large number of protagonists. It begins with children
that mysteriously go into a sort of coma after playing virtual reality
computer games. Much of the story is in VR. Very long epic books. I thought
they where OK.

The two first Red Dwarf books, Red Dwarf Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers
and Better Than Life, by Grant Naylor (pseudonym for Rob Grant and Dough
Naylor). Both books have a VR-game as an import plot point. Red Dwarf was a
good comedy TV-series about a spaceship 3 million years in the future. The
creators of the series wrote the books. I liked both books, but disliked how
much of the plots of the TV-series was reused.

Pirates of the Universe - Terry Bisson. Set in a fairly gloomy future.
About a space ranger. Has a sub-plot about VR. Don't know if it quite
qualifies as a VR-game, it is quite weird. A good quirky book.

The Brentford Triangle - Robert Rankin. Science Fiction comedy. Has a very
minor sub-plot about an arcade machine. Second book in the Brentford series.
I liked this book, but not all the others in the series. Robert Rankin
writes silly stories mixing science fiction, fantasy, horror, conspiracy
trilogies etc. My favorite book by him is A Dog Called Demolition.
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

"Jan Thorsby" <no_jthorsby_spam@broadpark.no> wrote in message
news:408b9a89$1@news.broadpark.no...
> The Brentford Triangle - Robert Rankin. Science Fiction comedy. Has a very
> minor sub-plot about an arcade machine. Second book in the Brentford series.
> I liked this book, but not all the others in the series. Robert Rankin
> writes silly stories mixing science fiction, fantasy, horror, conspiracy
> trilogies etc. My favorite book by him is A Dog Called Demolition.

Ah, good, someone else mentioned Robert Rankin. His last-but-one novel, _Web
Site Story_, has a plot involving a computer game / virus making the jump from
computers to humans. It was a good read, but then I do have his complete
assembled works so I'm fairly well-disposed towards his style... (_The
Brentford Triangle_ happens to be my favourite.)

--
Regards,
Ben A L Jemmett.
(http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ben.jemmett/, http://www.deltasoft.com/)
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

amyleone@hotmail.com (Amy Leone) writes:

> Anyone here taken a look at the novel CODEX by Lev Grossman? It's
> billed as a literary thriller, but there's a long and rather involved
> thread about a rather interesting fictional (I think) computer game
> called MOMUS, accompanied by reflections on virtual reality, gaming
> addiction, open source software development, and the sociology of LAN
> parties. Surprisingly sophisticated stuff.
>
> Anybody think of other decent novels about video games? Seems like one
> of those insufficiently written-about phenomena.

Both "OX" by Piers Anthony and "Glory Season" by David Brin have
variants of "The Game of Life" (Conways cellular automata, not the
board game) as strong elements.

If you add movies, there is "The Last Starfighter" and "Tron".

Torben
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

I loved The Last Starfighter! Though I'm afraid to look at it now. I'm
on to BIG IF now by Mark Costello, which is (in part) about a guy
working on a massively multiplayer online whatsit. Doesn't hold up to
Grossman's book though -- you don't feel the sweaty palms of the real
addict.

torbenm@diku.dk (Torben Ægidius Mogensen) wrote in message news:<w5llkj18l0.fsf@pc-032.diku.dk>...
> amyleone@hotmail.com (Amy Leone) writes:
>
> > Anyone here taken a look at the novel CODEX by Lev Grossman? It's
> > billed as a literary thriller, but there's a long and rather involved
> > thread about a rather interesting fictional (I think) computer game
> > called MOMUS, accompanied by reflections on virtual reality, gaming
> > addiction, open source software development, and the sociology of LAN
> > parties. Surprisingly sophisticated stuff.
> >
> > Anybody think of other decent novels about video games? Seems like one
> > of those insufficiently written-about phenomena.
>
> Both "OX" by Piers Anthony and "Glory Season" by David Brin have
> variants of "The Game of Life" (Conways cellular automata, not the
> board game) as strong elements.
>
> If you add movies, there is "The Last Starfighter" and "Tron".
>
> Torben
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Mark Costello's recent _Big If_ follows about five characters, one of
whom is a programmer on a large, amoral, internet-based game. Talks a
lot about the market, the gameplay, the uncomfortable relationship
between computer and real-world violence, and the experience of
coding.

amyleone@hotmail.com (Amy Leone) wrote in message news:<e5a73c77.0404241819.77ecf5cf@posting.google.com>...
> Anyone here taken a look at the novel CODEX by Lev Grossman? It's
> billed as a literary thriller, but there's a long and rather involved
> thread about a rather interesting fictional (I think) computer game
> called MOMUS, accompanied by reflections on virtual reality, gaming
> addiction, open source software development, and the sociology of LAN
> parties. Surprisingly sophisticated stuff.
>
> Anybody think of other decent novels about video games? Seems like one
> of those insufficiently written-about phenomena.
>
> AL
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

On 24 Apr 2004 19:19:30 -0700, amyleone@hotmail.com (Amy Leone) wrote:

>Anyone here taken a look at the novel CODEX by Lev Grossman? It's
>billed as a literary thriller, but there's a long and rather involved
>thread about a rather interesting fictional (I think) computer game
>called MOMUS, accompanied by reflections on virtual reality, gaming
>addiction, open source software development, and the sociology of LAN
>parties. Surprisingly sophisticated stuff.
>
>Anybody think of other decent novels about video games? Seems like one
>of those insufficiently written-about phenomena.

I'll add "Wyrm" by Mark Fabi to the list, which is largely set in the
world of MUDS and similar games. Although it's also set in 1999 which
makes it feel a little dated.


--
David Brain
London, UK
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

In article <NtGic.11828$Ub3.2198@newssvr31.news.prodigy.com>,
Jonathan Blask <ellison@plover.net> wrote:
>D.B. Weis' Lucky Wander Boy (http://www.luckywanderboy.com/) is an enjoyable
>read about a guy who becomes increasingly obsessed with an obscure arcade game
>he played as a youth. Not everything in the book is a success, but there are
>some great parts, among other neat things, that wax philisophical about
>several arcade favorites.

I enjoyed it.

But then, I am guy named Adam, born in 1971, who is obsessed with 1980s
video games, just like the protagonist.

Adam
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

"Jan Thorsby" <no_jthorsby_spam@broadpark.no> skrev i melding
news:408b9a89$1@news.broadpark.no...
> Only You Can Save Mankind - Terry Pratchett. A children's book. The first
of
> the 3-book Johnny series. They are comedies about Johnny and his friends
and
> the magical things that happen to them. This book is about the mixing of
> reality and a computer game. I though it was OK, I though the other 2
books
> (not about computer games) was great. Pratchett has also written the often
> great Discworld comedy fantasy series and co-written the great apocalyptic
> comedy Good Omens.

Come to think of it, one of the kids in Only You Can Save Mankind makes a
joke-game, which Julian Fleetwood made into a real game. It's called Journey
to Alpha Centauri (In Real Time). http://www.wurb.com/if/game/1142
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.int-fiction,rec.games.misc (More info?)

In article <w5llkj18l0.fsf@pc-032.diku.dk>, torbenm@diku.dk says...
>
> If you add movies, there is "The Last Starfighter" and "Tron".
>
> Torben

The Last Starfighter is also a novel by A.D. Foster.

Another book: "Player of Games" by Iain Banks. Far future stuff,
the games transcend the division between board and computer ...

-Peter
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

>The Last Starfighter is also a novel by A.D. Foster.

That's just a novelization of the movie, though.

There's a recent multimedia project from Japan called .hack, about an MMORPG
that is more than it seems. It's got all the usual cyberpunk elements:
coma-inducing video games, corporate cover-ups, and philosophical ponderings
regarding the nature of life and whether it can exist in a computer program.
Project Dothack includes several novels, comic books, a TV series, a DVD
miniseries, and a quartet of video games (which simulate an MMORPG in a
traditional one-player RPG, including e-mail conversations with fictional
players). At the moment, only the TV series, .hack//SIGN; the miniseries,
..hack//LIMINALITY; and the video games, .hack//INFECTION, .hack//MUTATION,
..hack//OUTBREAK, and .hack//QUARANTINE have been translated into English, but I
believe there are plans to translate the novels and comics as well.
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.int-fiction,rec.games.misc (More info?)

> Another book: "Player of Games" by Iain Banks. Far future stuff,
> the games transcend the division between board and computer ...
>
> -Peter

Speaking of which, _Use of Weapons_ also involves a short scene
involving a pirate/erotic/adventure based virtual reality game. In fact,
most of the Culture books involve games at some point.
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

> Several are listed at FAQ 8 at http://www.sloperama.com/advice.html. Among
> them: Dream Park by Larry Niven & Steven Barnes

What I wouldn't give for someplace like Dream Park to really exist...

Sorrow
---
"Are they dead?" - Pugsly
"Does it matter?" - Wednesday
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.int-fiction,rec.games.misc (More info?)

Fangz wrote:

> Speaking of which, _Use of Weapons_ also involves a short scene
> involving a pirate/erotic/adventure based virtual reality game. In fact,
> most of the Culture books involve games at some point.

Use of Weapons is one of my favourite Banks novels.

The moment when you realise *why* the cover of the book has a chair on
it, and what it means, is mind-blowingly cool.


Michael
 
Archived from groups: rec.games.frp.misc,rec.games.misc,rec.games.int-fiction (More info?)

Torben Ægidius Mogensen wrote:

> Both "OX" by Piers Anthony and "Glory Season" by David Brin have
> variants of "The Game of Life" (Conways cellular automata, not the
> board game) as strong elements.

Anthony also had "sprouts", an interesting little
geometric/mathematic amusement, as a fairly important plot point in
"Macroscope", and "The Game" was a focal plot point for the
"Apprentice Adept" series.



--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Live Journal: http://www.livejournal.com/users/seawasp/
 
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