I really love sci-fi novels and I read a lot of books. I read 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson a while back and that book is particularly interesting to me. Rather than each chapter advancing the narrative of the story, there were occasional breaks where a chapter would have a list of semi-random words which just gave the vibe of what’s happening, or some history of a scene, or a recipe for how to build an asteroid.
There’s another book that I have heard of but neglected to write the name down, where the reader of the book is a character within the book, and the narrator speaks directly to you (but not a choose-your-adventure style book).
All of this got me interested in finding other books, preferably sci-fi or maybe fantasy, where the concept of being a book is played with and new ideas are tried. Any recommendations?
Redshirts by John Scalzi. A book about people who realize they’re characters in a badly-written TV show. Near the end, though, the main character starts to realize he’s the main character in a book about people who are characters in a TV show. Very surreal.
Not sci-fi, but Mister B Gone by Clive Barker was really good. The book is a conversation with a demon who is telling you his life story. It is the story of how he came to be trapped in the book you are reading.
I thought the book was super funny and surreal. I saw reviews after finishing that it is considered some of his worst work. That might be true, but the worst 24 carat bar of gold is still a 24 carat bar of gold. Well worth the read imo.
Great suggestion. I had this book sitting by my computer when I was waiting on the computer to finish processing something. Idly picked it up and started reading, then just read the whole book in one sitting. I liked it a lot :)
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski fits that model really well.
Agreed! House of Leaves is a must read. Get the physical book, it won’t work with an Ereader. I got the softcover edtion and it was totally worth it. If I ever sell my house I am going to rough up my copy real good and hide it somewhere for the new owners to find.
The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brookes is a detailed fictional instruction manual. It’s sequel is World War Z which is closer to a normal book, but still has an odd structure of creating a world through interviews … and the The Zombie Survival Guide book exists within it.
WWZ is one of my all time favorite books. They should really make it into a movie. Or, even better, an HBO miniseries.
You mean If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino? Still do check it out
yea this definitely fits the description. brief summary: chapters alternate between the first chapters of different novels, and the main character (addressed as “you”) trying to track down the different novels whose chapters youve just read which are cut off for various reasons. it is great, relatively short (i think 250-ish pages in my copy), and if you dont mind the wild stylistic jumps between chapters its pretty delightful.
I think Idaho Winter by Tony Burgess does this pretty well. It’s a wild read.
Wow, what a mindfuck. Had a bit of time to spare before getting up and read it through in one go. Not what I was expecting from the (honestly boring) cover. Thanks for the recommendation!
Cloud Atlas for its Russian nesting doll narrative structure.
Feersum Endjinn for how it plays with time, space, and even basic concepts of spelling and punctuation.
Generation X for its intwerweaving of advertising and informational sidebars into the text.
Started reading Feersum Endjinn but it hasn’t grabbed me yet. The badly spelled chapter is honestly just annoying to me. There’s a couple of weeks left before it’s due at the library so I might give it another go. But, it’s definitely a weird book which fits my criteria so thank you for the suggestion.
