A Selection of Fiction and Non-Fiction That Will Appeal to Gamers| If You Enjoy: Everquest, Runequest, World of Warcraft, Dark Age of Camelot, Ultima Type of Game: Roleplaying, MMORPGs You Might Enjoy the Following Types of Books: Epic fantasy, historical war, Arthurian legend, possibly mature fractured fairy tales Here Are Some Authors You Can Try: T.A. Barron, Peter Beagle, Charles DeLint, Robert Jordan, C.S. Lewis, Garth Nix, Christopher Paolini, Philip Pullman, J.R.R. Tolkien And Here Are Some Specific Titles to Look For: Marion Zimmer Bradley - The Mists of Avalon; Richard Knaak and Jae-Hwan Kim -- The Sundering: Warcraft: The Sunwell Chronicles #3; Sherryl Jordan -- The Hunting of the Last Dragon; Susan Price -- The Sterkarm Handshake; R.A. Salvatore -- Forgotten Realms series [the libraries own multiple volumes in this series]; Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman -- Dragonlance Chronicles [the libraries own multiple volumes in this series] |
| If You Enjoy: Dungeons & Dragons, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Cyberpunk--The Game, Kindred: The Embraced Type of Game: Traditional Role Playing Games You Might Enjoy the Following Types of Books: Epic fantasy, humorous fantasy or science fiction, Make-Your-Own-Adventures Here Are Some Authors You Can Try: Piers Anthony, Robert Lynn Asprin, Terry Brooks, Stephen R. Donaldson, David Eddings, Katherine Kurtz, C.S. Lewis, Philip Pullman, Robert Silverberg's fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien And Here Are Some Specific Titles to Look For: Larry Niven and Steven Barnes - The Dream Park trilogy, especially Dream Park and The California Voodoo Game; Joel Rosenberg -- The Guardians of the Flame series; Robert Lynn Asprin -- The Thieves World series; Jack Williamson (and others) -- Medea: Harlan's World |
| If You Enjoy: Civilization, Caesar, Age of Empires, Oregon Trail Type of Game: historical simulations You Might Enjoy the Following Types of Books: ancient history, biographies, historical fiction, mythology Here Are Some Authors You Can Try: Gary Blackwood, Peter Dickinson, Adele Geras, Clarence McLaren, Donna Jo Napoli And Here Are Some Specific Titles to Look For: Anne McCaffrey -- Black Horses for the King; Hendrick Willem Van Loon -- The Story of Mankind |
| If You Enjoy: Madden Football, NBA Street, Need for Speed, Tiger Woods Golf, WWF Type of Game: sports games You Might Enjoy the Following Types of Books: sports, adventure, biographies Here Are Some Authors You Can Try: Matt Christopher, Chris Crutcher, Thomas Dygard, Will Hobbs, Jeff Savage, Rich Wallace And Here Are Some Specific Titles to Look For: The Best American Sports Writing [the libraries own various volumes from 1991 to the present]; H.G. Bissinger -- Friday Night Lights; Jon Krakauer -- Into Thin Air |
| If You Enjoy: Myst, Tetris, Bejeweled, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? Type of Game: strategy and puzzle games, sudoku, feng shui, astrology, supernatural, trivia You Might Enjoy the Following Types of Books: mystery, thrillers, travel, puzzle books Here Are Some Authors You Can Try: Dan Brown, Michael Crichton, William E. Coles, E.L. Konigsburg, Carol Plum-Ucci, Vivian Vande Velde And Here Are Some Specific Titles to Look For: Blue Baillett -- Chasing Vermeer; Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner -- Freakonomics; Ben Mezrich -- Bringing Down the House; Rand Miller et al. -- The Myst Reader [the libraries own several Myst volumes by Miller]; Ellen Raskin -- The Westing Game |
| If You Enjoy: America's Army, Doom, Quake, Halo Type of Game: first person shooters (FPS) You Might Enjoy the Following Types of Books: military fiction, horror, apocalyptic fiction, science fiction Here Are Some Authors You Can Try: Tom Clancy, Collier brothers, Bernard Cornwell, John Marsden, Harry Mazer And Here Are Some Specific Titles to Look For: Anne McCaffrey -- Black Horses for the King; S.D. Perry -- Resident Evil series; Amy Efaw -- Battle Dress |
| If You Enjoy: The Sims, The Urbz Type of Game: social simulations You Might Enjoy the Following Types of Books: titles featuring sociology, dysfunction, and relationships, romance, architectural Here Are Some Authors You Can Try: Douglas Coupland, Mel Glenn, M.E. Kerr, Cecily von Zeigesar, Walter Dean Myers And Here Are Some Specific Titles to Look For: David Lubar -- Flip; Will Weaver -- Claws |
| If You Enjoy: Katamari Damacy, Final Fantasy, Dragonball Z, Pokemon Type of Game: Japanese/manga tie-in You Might Enjoy the Following Types of Books: Manga, Japanese culture, graphic novels, drawing books, anime films Here Are Some Authors You Can Try: Rumiko Takahashi, Osamu Tezuka, CLAMP, Akira Toriyama And Here Are Some Specific Titles to Look For: Richard Knaak and Jae-Hwan Kim -- The Sundering: Warcraft: The Sunwell Chronicles #3; Rikki Simons -- Reality Check!; Akira Toriyama -- Dragonball/Dragonball Z [the libraries own multiple volumes in these series], Kingdom Hearts series by Shiro Amano |
| If You Enjoy: Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, City of Heroes Type of Game: Superhero You Might Enjoy the Following Types of Books: comic books, graphic novels, biographies, mythology Here Are Some Authors You Can Try: T.A. Barron, Brian Michael Bendis, Christopher Golden, Stan Lee, Joss Whedon And Here Are Some Specific Titles to Look For: Raphael Jordan and Tom Spurgeon -- Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book; Stan Lee -- The Ultimate Spiderman [the libraries own multiple volumes of the Ultimate... series] |
The following are a few Young Adult novels that feature "gaming" plots prominently:
Crusader by Edward Bloor [1999]
15-year old Roberta struggles to separate truth from virtual reality when she works in her uncle's failing arcade at the mall in this blend of murder mystery and mall rat culture.
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card [1985]
Set in a future where children are trained for military battle using video games, Ender rises above his peers to become a commander of a virtual army.
Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz [2004]
After a chance encounter with assassin Yassen Gregorovich, teenage spy Alex Rider investigates pop star Damian Cray, whose new video game venture hides sinister motives involving Air Force One, nuclear missiles and the drug trade.
Wizards of the Game by David Lubar [2003]
Eighth grader Mercer, whose passion is the fantasy role-playing game Wizards of the Warrior World, hopes to use a fundraiser to bring a gaming convention to his middle school, but instead he attracts four genuine wizards, who are trapped on Earth and want his help in returning to their own world. [Not currently owned by Lincoln City Libraries]
The Virtual War by Gloria Skurzynski [1997]
In a future world where global contamination has necessitated limited human contact, three young people with unique genetically engineered capabilities are teamed up to wage a war in virtual reality.
Leo@fergusrules.com by Arne Tangherlini [1999]
Leonora, a teenager of mixed ancestry, begins to spend most of her time in a virtual reality program but is lured into computer-generated danger when a boy she likes disappears. [Not currently owned by Lincoln City Libraries]
Heir Apparent by Vivian Vande Velde [2004]
A young woman gets trapped in a flawed virtual reality game that will kill her if she doesn't beat it soon.
User Unfriendly by Vivian Vande Velde [2001]
Arvin Rizalli, his mother, and six of his friends pirate a computer-generated, interactive video game that plugs right into the players' brains. [Not currently owned by Lincoln City Libraries]
Locked Inside by Nancy Werlin [2000]
When Marnie is kidnapped by a crazed fan of her mother's, an Internet gaming friend comes to the rescue in this mystery/thriller. [Not currently owned by Lincoln City Libraries]
Van Ran series by Diana Wieler [Not currently owned by Lincoln City Libraries]
Rhan Van uses his success at video games under the name "RanVan" to see himself as a modern knight and to cope with life with his grandmother and as an outsider at his Vancouver high school, with his anger, and with girls.
Here are some non-fiction titles of possible interest to Gamers:
Prima's Secrets of the Games series by [various authors] [various dates]
This series of behind-the-scenes books provides strategies and codes for numerous popular video games.
Brady Games series by [various authors] [various dates]
This series of behind-the-scenes books also provides strategies and codes for numerous popular video games.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook [2nd ed.] by Wizards of the Coast [1995]
The libraries own numerous books associated with the D&D and AD&D games, though few for the the latest edition of the rules -- 3.5. You can find them by doing a search under Subject: Dungeons & Dragons!
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Games Online by Loyd Case [004.479 Cas] [2000]
Joystick Nation: How Videogames Ate Our Quarters, Won Our Hearts and Rewired Our Minds by J.C. Herz [303.483 Her] [1997]
Hacking Video Game Consoles: Turn Your Old Video Game Systems Into Awesome Portables by Ben Heckendorn [621.381 Hec] [2005]
Magic: The Gathering -- Official Encyclopedia by Duelist Magazine [793.93 qDue] [1997]
2005 Gamer's Almanac: Your Daily Dose of Tricks, Cheats and Fascinating Facts by Sean Carton [794.8 Car] [2005]
High Score! The Illustrated History of Electronic Games by Russel DeMaria and Johnny L. Wilson [794.8 Dem] [2003]
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner [794.8 Kus] [203]
Some Prominent Gaming Magazines:
- Computer Gaming World
- Dragon Magazine [ceased publication in 2007]
- Duelist
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
- Game Informer
- Gamepro
- Nintendo Power
- Official X-Box
- PC Gamer
- Play
- Playstation & PS2
- Scrye
- Tips & Tricks
January 2006 sdc/ss | updated April 2008 sdc
Looking for additional novels on this or other subjects? Try out the NoveList database!