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A review by roryroams
Minecraft: The Island by Max Brooks
adventurous
funny
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Okay okay, I know what you're thinking. This is a very strange book to consider a 5 star read, but it's all about expectations and execution. Because this is a such a strange experience, I'm gonna deviate from my usual format a little bit.
Let's start by getting a very important piece of information out of the way. I play minecraft pretty avidly, and though I think you can enjoy the book without knowing anything about the game, a lot of my enjoyment came from my experience playing it.
Now, this book is true to the minecraft experience. Our protagonist is from our world, and ends up trapped in minecraft with no knowledge of the game or how it works. Now, for those who don't know, minecraft is designed to be played without a tutorial. You're just thrown into a world, and have to figure it out for yourself. The trial and error nature of the game is very well reflected in the book.
One of my favourite ways this book references the actual game is when the game updates from the old to new combat system. It was cool to see the protagonist realize that old crafting recipes that didn't work suddenly did, and that "spam clicking" no longer worked. That was my favourite chapter. It added a lot of intrigue for me. If the game updated and it changed things for the protagonist, what does that say about the world?
The best part of this book was by far the humour. I kid you not, this is funniest book I've ever read.
If you play minecraft, read this book. If you don't, consider reading it anyway.
Let's start by getting a very important piece of information out of the way. I play minecraft pretty avidly, and though I think you can enjoy the book without knowing anything about the game, a lot of my enjoyment came from my experience playing it.
Now, this book is true to the minecraft experience. Our protagonist is from our world, and ends up trapped in minecraft with no knowledge of the game or how it works. Now, for those who don't know, minecraft is designed to be played without a tutorial. You're just thrown into a world, and have to figure it out for yourself. The trial and error nature of the game is very well reflected in the book.
The best part of this book was by far the humour. I kid you not, this is funniest book I've ever read.
If you play minecraft, read this book. If you don't, consider reading it anyway.