Today marks the twenty-first
World Book Day, designated by UNESCO and celebrated in over 100 countries!
If you're thinking it's a little early, you're right; the event date changes, with some places celebrating it at various across March and April. It traditionally takes place on April 23rd, but the British likes to be awkward, so... apparently we're getting a full fifty four days head start on this situation.
In any case, whether you're celebrating World Book Day today or next month, here's a collection of Remedy-related and recommended titles to check out:
Milla Marble and The Missing Grandma
by Sam Lake & Minttu Wikberg
Official Synopsis: Milla’s grandma has gone missing. Luckily, Milla will be the world’s second greatest detective when she grows up. She follows a clue – grandma’s red wool thread – into an ADVENTURE waiting in the magical world inside the wall paper in the grandma’s cottage.
Writer, Sam Lake and Artist, Minttu Wikberg teamed up to create a special children's book which saw production last November. The book is available in English and in Finnish (
Milla Marmori ja Kadonneen Mummon Mysteeri) and is published by Helsinki-based studio, Cozy Publishing.
- PaperCut
Fadeout
by Mikko Rautalahti
Okay, Mikki doesn't have a synopsis for the book, but his introduction to the novel
on his blog is gold, so here's a teaser:
About: I wrote a book called Fadeout. It’s a NaNoWriMo novel, and it’s a kind of a crime/mystery thing with some SF/horror/general weirdness elements thrown in for good measure. It’s got suspense, romance, fistfights, a lot of cussin’ and even an ending! In it, you’ll meet Carter, who’s messed up in ways that aren’t entirely natural. Say, would you like to see him try to take down a corrupt politician while dealing with a murder attempt set up by a semi-competent ex-pimp? You came to the right place. [Full blog post...]
Fadeout was a novel by former-Remedy writer Mikko Rautalahti (
Alan Wake,
Alan Wake's American Nightmare, and
Quantum Break), written back in 2011 for NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo takes place during November and challenges writers to create a story in 30 days with a targeted word count of 50,000. At the end of the event, Mikki uploaded his work for free under creative commons on his website, with a suggested donation to Amnesty International. The story can be downloaded in a number of formats including for Kindle.
- Fun Pastimes for Stupid Children (Blog)
House of Leaves
by Mark Z. Danielewski
Official Synopsis: The story remains unchanged [from its original digital format], focusing on a young family that moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story—of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.
Back in 2008, Sam Lake recommended a list of books on the Remedy Forums that
Alan Wake fans may be interested in checking out. One of them was
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, a rather hefty read but beautifully written and presented title. If you like reading books that's a little outside the norm of your standard novel, you may want to check this out!
- Good Reads
- Amazon UK
- Amazon US
- Barnes and Noble
- The Book Depository
- Foyles
Lunar Park
by Brett Easton Ellis
Official Synopsis: Bret Ellis, the narrator of Lunar Park, is a writer whose first novel Less Than Zero catapulted him to international stardom while he was still in college. In the years that followed he found himself adrift in a world of wealth, drugs, and fame, as well as dealing with the unexpected death of his abusive father. After a decade of decadence a chance for salvation arrives; the chance to reconnect with an actress he was once involved with, and their son. But almost immediately his new life is threatened by a freak sequence of events and a bizarre series of murders that all seem to connect to Ellis’s past. His attempts to save his new world from his own demons makes Lunar Park Ellis’s most suspenseful novel.
In this chilling tale reality, memoir, and fantasy combine to create not only a fascinating version of this most controversial writer but also a deeply moving novel about love and loss, parents and children, and ultimately forgiveness.
"It’s all here, all the evidence, including conspiracy to murder a federal agent. There’s no way you’re walking out of here. You hear me in there, Brett Easton Ellis? Huh?"
Lunar Park was the second novel in the list provided by Sam in 2008, for fans of
Alan Wake. Ticking over four hundred pages, the book is part autobiographical and part fantasy.
- Good Reads
- Amazon UK
- Amazon US
- Barnes and Noble
- The Book Depository
- Foyles
The Book of Illusions
by Paul Auster
Official Synopsis: Six months after losing his wife and two young sons, Vermont Professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in a blur of alcoholic grief and self-pity. One night, he stumbles upon a clip from a lost film by silent comedian Hector Mann. His interest is piqued, and he soon finds himself embarking on a journey around the world to research a book on this mysterious figure, who vanished from sight in 1929. When the book is published the following year, a letter turns up in Zimmer’s mailbox bearing a return address from a small town in New Mexico inviting him to meet Hector. Zimmer hesitates, until one night a strange woman appears on his doorstep and makes the decision for him, changing his life forever.
The third and final book in a list of recommended titles for
Alan Wake fans by Sam back in 2008.
The Book of Illusions was published back in 2002 and was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award two years later.
- Good Reads
- Amazon UK
- Amazon US
- Barnes and Noble
Alan Wake [Novelisation]
by Rick Burroughs
Official Synopsis: Welcome to Bright Falls- a seemingly idyllic small town in the Pacific Northwest. The perfect place for Alan Wake, a bestselling crime novelist, and his wife, Alice, to relax for a few weeks. Maybe a second honeymoon and the fresh air will cure Wake of his writer's block. But when Alice goes missing under mysterious circumstances, Wake's desperate search for her leads him into a hell only he could imagine. In the depths of nearby Cauldron Lake, a dark and malevolent presence has awakened from a long slumber. It's reaching out now, turning the townsfolk into mindless killers. Sheathed in shadows, vulnerable only to light, they are Taken. Wake's journey will lead him to the very edge of madness, and deep within the dark woods, he will come face-to-face with a story he has no recollection of ever writing.
To coincide with the launch of the game, Tor published an
Alan Wake novelisation, written by Rick Burroughs. The book is just over three hundred pages, and while it's faithful to the game's story, it isn't a direct copy; adding new details and adventures for Wake.
- Good Reads
- Amazon UK
- Amazon US
- Barnes and Noble
- The Book Depository
Quantum Break: Zero State
by Cam Rogers
Official Synopsis: Jack Joyce spent six years trying to escape—escape his life, escape time, escape the madness of his brother, Will. But when he finally returns home, it turns out his brother isn’t quite so mad. Will has created a time machine, one with the potential to save humanity. War? Preventable. Natural disasters? Stoppable. Except for one tiny problem… his machine will also cause the end of the time as we know it. Now Jack has just one chance to turn back time, to fix what was broken, to save the world.
Similar to launch of
Alan Wake, in 2016, Tor Books published Cam Roger's
Quantum Break novel to coincide with the launch of the game.
Quantum Break Zero State is influenced by the original video game but tells a different story, taking a different path to character's decisions. If you enjoyed the game, you need to check this out.
-
Good Reads
- Amazon UK
- Amazon US
- Barnes and Noble
The Music of Razors
by Cam Rogers
Official Synopsis: In nineteenth-century Boston, a young doctor on the run from the law falls in with a British confidence artist. Together–and with dire consequences–they bring back to the light something meant to be forgotten. A world away in London, an absent father, haunted by the voice of a banished angel, presents his daughter with an impossible friend–a clockwork ballerina. For two centuries, a bullet-removal specialist has wielded instruments of angel bone in service to a forgotten power . . . and now he vows to find someone else to shoulder the burden, someone with a conscience of their own, a strong mind, and a broken will. For a hundred years he has searched for the perfect contender, and now he has found two: a brother and a sister. Walter and Hope. Either will do. Last night something stepped from little Walter’s closet and he never woke up. Now he travels the dark road between worlds, no longer entirely boy nor wholly beast, but with one goal in mind: to prevent his sister from suffering the same fate as he. Only the creature he has become can save Hope. But is it too late to save himself?
Before working on
Quantum Break Zero State, Cam Rogers wrote his debut novel,
The Music of Razors. So if you already read
Zero State and looking for more, this is a good book to go to next!
- Good Reads
- Amazon UK
- Amazon US
