IF Theory Reader

by Kevin Jackson-Mead (Editor), J. Robinson Wheeler (Editor)

April 2, 2011: Version 2. Minor typo and formatting corrections and a new footnote in the French article. This book has its origins in the early parts of this century. As can easily happen with a project like this, it lost its way some years ago. Last year, it was determined that it should finally come out, even though many of the articles were old. The original authors were contacted, and a number of them were happy to see their articles finally in print (although many of the articles in here can be found on the web in various places). Some made no revisions to their articles, some made minor revisions, and some made major revisions. There were even a few new pieces that snuck in. There is a wealth of information contained in this book, for the first time in one place.

432 pages, ebook

First published February 1, 2011

Reviews

[Blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at a small pocket of the gaming scene. The essays explore the niche genre of interactive fiction in granular detail, and cover a wide range of topics. While published over a decade ago, the slow evolution of IF has ensured that the book is still relevant. In fact, as of late, the IFComp and few remaining places of discussion have been swamped with the minor explosion of minimally-interactive CYOA games, often written by teenagers and with unsubtle political subtext. Traditional IF seems to be taking a backseat to this trend, and unless it recovers, this book may become an artifact, a headstone for a slowly dying beast withered almost to nothingness. Here's hoping that isn't the case; gaming has rarely seen such sophistication, such literary quality, and much like books have with TV and film, IF could rely on that sort of intellectual stimulation to exist in parallel with the sensory overload of mainstream gaming.

[Jacob MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's no book like this, and that does a lot of work, but most of the pieces remain timely. There's something here for any kind of interested reader, with the notable exception of those entering with mostly choice-based knowledge (CYOA connections are also missed opportunities, though I may be misremembering). It's a rather long book without being comprehensive, but there are gems everywhere in the kaleidoscope.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I’ve read yet another extremely niche audience book, but definitely a book to own if you’re involved in the Interactive Fiction scene, or wish you were. Contributions were made by big names in the IF community (Graham Nelson, Emily Short, etc.), but no one from Infocom, which produced the games “considered the canon of interactive fiction” (p389).

Most of the articles were written 10 or so years ago, but only recently put together in book form. Some are good, some are not. Cute how they still worry about spoilers that might reveal Zork puzzle solutions. :)