"Game Night" è un romanzo dello scrittore britannico Jonny Nexus, editore della webzine "Critical Miss" e autore anche di di "The Slayers' Guide to Games Masters", pubblicato nel 2007 dalla Magnum Opus Press. Al momento è disponibile solo in inglese (il linguaggio è abbastanza semplice, di difficoltà medio-facile).
In un mondo fantasy medievale, cinque avventurieri si apprestano a portare a termine una missione iniziata dodicimila anni prima. Ma non sono soli. Infatti sono controllati dagli dei del loro mondo come fossero personaggi di un gioco di ruolo, e la brutta notizia è che gli dei sono pessimi giocatori. Infatti bisticciano continuamente, pretendono che il Creatore, che funge da master del gioco, riporti indietro il tempo per poter rifare delle scene, si distraggono e, insomma, fanno tutto quello che un bravo giocatore non dovrebbe fare.
La narrazione alterna i due piani di realtà, quello dei personaggi e, in corsivo, quello degli dei. Il narratore onnisciente assume di volta in volta un punto di vista molto vicino a quello di uno dei protagonisti, che hanno tutti la stessa importanza.
Il libro ha avuto molto successo fra i fan di Terry Pratchett ed è stato definito pratchettesco dallo stesso John Kovalic, l'autore del bellissimo fumetto nerd "Dork Tower". C'è in effetti qualche richiamo al Mondo Disco, ma "Game Night" secondo me non è assolutamente all'altezza dello stile di scrittura di Pratchett (d'altronde è il primo romanzo dell'autore, c'è tempo). In compenso è comunque ben scritto, e, soprattutto, è molto divertente.
Si percepisce chiaramente che il romanzo era nato come opera di nicchia destinata ad un pubblico di giocatori di ruolo. Infatti per capirlo è utile almeno avere una cognizione di cos'è il gioco di ruolo e come funziona, e magari anche avere presente D&D come termine di confronto per l'ambientazione. Nonostante questo però pare sia stato apprezzato anche da persone totalmente digiune di queste cognizioni, quindi può essere una lettura adatta sia per l'amico super nerd sia per il noob che si vuole trascinare nel gruppo di gioco (in questo secondo caso, il libro può essere una sorta di anti-manuale).
Se vi ispira vi rimando al sito ufficiale dell'autore, a quello del libro e alla preview gratuita del primo capitolo.
"Game Night" is a novel by the British writer Jonny Nexus, editor of webzine "Critical Miss" and author of "Slayers' to Games Masters Guide", published in 2007 by Magnum Opus Press.
In a medieval fantasy world, five adventurers came on the final part of a quest that began twelve thousand years ago. But they are not alone. In fact they are controlled by the gods of their world as if they were characters in a role-playing game, and the bad news is that the gods are awful players. In fact they are constantly bickering, making the Allfather, who is the master of the game, rewind time to redo scenes, getting distracted and, in short, doing everything that a good player shouldn't do.
The narrative alternates between the two planes of reality, the one of the characters and, in italic, the one of the gods. The omniscient narrator assumes in turn a point of view very close to that of one of the protagonists, who all have the same importance.
The book has been very successful among the fans of Terry Pratchett and has been defined Pratchett-like by John Kovalic, the author of the great nerd comic "Dork Tower". There is indeed some reference to the Discworld, but "Game Night"'s writing style in my opinion is not quite up to Pratchett's (after all it is the author's first novel, there's time). On the other hand it is stille well written, and, above all, it is very funny.
It is quite obvious that the novel was born as a work destined to a niche audience of role players. In fact, to understand it is useful to at least have a knowledge of what role play is and how it works, and maybe even to know something about D&D as a comparison for the setting. Despite this, however, it seems that the novel was appreciated by persons without such knowledge, so it can be a reading suitable for both thesuper nerd friend and for the noob you wish to drag in your game group (in this second case, the book can be a sort of of anti-manual).
If it intrigues you, I refer you to the author's official website, to the one of the book and to the free preview of the first chapter.
"Game Night" is a novel by the British writer Jonny Nexus, editor of webzine "Critical Miss" and author of "Slayers' to Games Masters Guide", published in 2007 by Magnum Opus Press.
In a medieval fantasy world, five adventurers came on the final part of a quest that began twelve thousand years ago. But they are not alone. In fact they are controlled by the gods of their world as if they were characters in a role-playing game, and the bad news is that the gods are awful players. In fact they are constantly bickering, making the Allfather, who is the master of the game, rewind time to redo scenes, getting distracted and, in short, doing everything that a good player shouldn't do.
The narrative alternates between the two planes of reality, the one of the characters and, in italic, the one of the gods. The omniscient narrator assumes in turn a point of view very close to that of one of the protagonists, who all have the same importance.
The book has been very successful among the fans of Terry Pratchett and has been defined Pratchett-like by John Kovalic, the author of the great nerd comic "Dork Tower". There is indeed some reference to the Discworld, but "Game Night"'s writing style in my opinion is not quite up to Pratchett's (after all it is the author's first novel, there's time). On the other hand it is stille well written, and, above all, it is very funny.
It is quite obvious that the novel was born as a work destined to a niche audience of role players. In fact, to understand it is useful to at least have a knowledge of what role play is and how it works, and maybe even to know something about D&D as a comparison for the setting. Despite this, however, it seems that the novel was appreciated by persons without such knowledge, so it can be a reading suitable for both thesuper nerd friend and for the noob you wish to drag in your game group (in this second case, the book can be a sort of of anti-manual).
If it intrigues you, I refer you to the author's official website, to the one of the book and to the free preview of the first chapter.
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