I saw [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/CuratedTumblr/comments/17kldyn/minecraft/) on the frontpage earlier today and I can’t stop thinking about it. The way it’s described sounds *awesome*, surreal and contemplative without leaning into fanservice or childlike indulgence in the source material. To save you a click, Max Brooks of *World War Z* fame wrote an official Minecraft novel. Instead of being what most bad videogame books are — generic fantasy indulgences that just happen to be set in the world of the brand — it seems to be an extremely self-aware and introspective story that takes the prompt and runs wild with it.
But let’s be real: Tumblr is not known for its nuanced and frank understanding of media. Are they just cherrypicking and misrepresenting little pieces of the book to make it sound better than it is, or is this book *actually good?* For context, I’m in my 30s and while I played Minecraft as a teenager it was never a huge part of my life. But videogames are, and the premise of diving into a game world with all the strange quirks and oddities that would come with that sounds fascinating. But only if it’s not also a total cringefest or written with the aim of pleasing an audience of preteens. I could see it being refreshingly sincere with a genuine message, like something akin to *The Lego Movie,* or it could feel like a bad fanfic full of anachronistic YouTuber references.
Has anyone here read it and have a take? Is it at least worth the Audible credit? Jack Black narrating also sounds pretty fun.
by happygocrazee
2 Comments
I did not like it. It was too cutesy about the video game stuff for me and I found that restricting the worldbuilding so that it fit the Minecraft universe was just not satisfying at all. The main character has no name and amnesia so there’s nothing to grab on to there. And he keeps learning “lessons” that felt trite. It felt like it was written for sixth graders.
I bought it for my (young) son and he found it incredibly boring.
For me, considering the absurd premise, it was striving too hard for verisimilitude. But I can see how that incongruous mix could be interesting if you wanted another perspective of Minecraft.