I'm not sure about the term "ergodic" literature. It's derived from ergon (= work) + hodos (= path) and supposedly refers to a book for which "nontrivial effort is required for the reader to traverse the text". But that's true of a lot of academic textbooks and some novels. I'd certainly have to exert nontrivial effort to make it through a Lee Child or Harlan Coben book. Ergodicity already had a meaning before it was appropriated for tricky books, and it doesn't help anyone if terms end up with multiple meanings (see also: confabulate) so, if we're looking for a fancy-sounding term for gamebooks and other lean-forward texts what about polyhodal?
Whatever term we use, "Lost in the Labyrinth" on the Beautiful Books website provides a very comprehensive guide to such books, from Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler to Edward Powys Mathers' Cain's Jawbone by way of Choose Your Own Adventure, Fabled Lands, and even Tristram Shandy. There are titles here I'd never heard of, presented in a form that's an exploration in itself. Set off (no need for a map) and see where the journey takes you.
In related news, Riccardo Scaringi, host of the podcast Il Gioco in Tavolo, has just released a book of interviews with such gaming stalwarts as Ken St. Andre, Sandy Petersen, Kenneth Hite, and Shane Hensley. I'm in there too. Narrative at the Crossroads is on sale now.
Also on the subject of gamebooks, Paul Gresty was writing the eighth Fabled Lands book, The Lone & Level Sands, but had to abandon it because of other commitments. That was a shame, The Serpent King's Domain being regarded as perhaps the best in the series, but the good news is that Paul handed over around 750 finished sections. By the standards of most books that's almost finished. We're now looking at bringing in writers to help complete it. The book should eventually round out around 900 sections and will hopefully be the basis of new add-on content for the Prime Games CRPG. To whet your interest, here's the flowchart.
Hi Dave!
ReplyDeleteWould you and/or Jamie consider contributing to the remaining 150 sections?
Jamie has actually written some sections already. Whether I can encourage him to stay interested long enough to finish it is another question. We were supposed to co-write Workshop of the Gods (Vulcanverse book 5) but in the end I had to do it all myself. That's why I'm keeping well clear of agreeing to co-write any book ever again!
DeleteWell, that's settled then.
DeleteThe Lone & Level Sands, by Paul Gresty and Jamie Thomson.
Don't let the fans down, Jamie! :D
Jamie is also working on book 12 -- as in, he's written a dozen sections of that. So, fingers crossed!
DeleteI quite like ergodic literature as a coverall, but it is too abstract for public understanding. I considered it when working on my teaching resource and finally went with 'choice-based fiction' as a seeker-friendly title for the medium. Now when people ask me what i write, a reply of 'choice-based fiction' begins the conversation in the right way.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, Martin. What's wrong with plain English? I'm sure that any use of jargon like "ergodic literature" is designed to make the listener feel dumb, whereas I want people to join in the conversation. Of course, the lady in the video is talking about other kinds of book than purely choice-based, but if we get into that discussion then what kinds of fiction do not call for some work from the reader, if only imaginative work?
DeleteI'm currently reading the first book in Martin's Steam Highwayman series and it's excellent. I'll probably end up buying the other two books although I suspect as with Vulcanverse I won't quite have the attention span or energy to complete it. Possibly the result of a linear gamebook rather than RPG upbringing. Obviously I chose to be a disgraced and penniless heir...
DeleteI was told at Comicon that what gamebook readers want are shorter, more linear (well, acyclic) gamebooks. Steam Highwayman strikes a happy medium in that you can treat each book as a "season" and resume your adventures when you want, whereas in the case of Vulcanverse it really is one vast 700,000-word, 6115-section story. Next time I'll find the time to write a shorter book.
Delete