Press Start to Play: Stories

by Daniel H. Wilson, John Joseph Adams

Overview

IT’S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE! TAKE THIS.
 
You are standing in a room filled with books, faced with a difficult decision. Suddenly, one with a distinctive cover catches your eye. It is a groundbreaking anthology of short stories from award-winning writers and game-industry titans who have embarked on a quest to explore what happens when video games and science fiction collide.

From text-based adventures to first-person shooters, dungeon crawlers to horror games, these twenty-six stories play with our notion of what video games can be—and what they can become—in smart and singular ways. With a foreword from Ernest Cline, bestselling author of Ready Player One, Press Start to Play includes work from: Daniel H. Wilson, Charles Yu, Hiroshi Sakurazaka, S.R. Mastrantone, Charlie Jane Anders, Holly Black, Seanan McGuire, Django Wexler, Nicole Feldringer, Chris Avellone, David Barr Kirtley,T.C. Boyle, Marc Laidlaw, Robin Wasserman, Micky Neilson, Cory Doctorow, Jessica Barber, Chris Kluwe, Marguerite K. Bennett, Rhianna Pratchett, Austin Grossman,  Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Catherynne M. Valente, Andy Weir, and Hugh Howey.

Your inventory includes keys, a cell phone, and a wallet. What would you like to do?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781101873304
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/18/2015
Pages:	528
Sales rank:	675,224
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Daniel H. Wilson

Daniel H. Wilson is a New York Times bestselling author and coeditor of the Press Start to Play anthology. He earned a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, where he also received master’s degrees in robotics and in machine learning. He has published more than a dozen scientific papers, holds four patents, and has written eight books. Wilson has written for Popular Science, Wired, and Discover, as well as online venues such as MSNBC.com, Gizmodo, Lightspeed, and Tor.com. In 2008, Wilson hosted The Works, a television series on the History Channel that uncovered the science behind everyday stuff. His books include How to Survive a Robot Uprising, A Boy and His Bot, Amped, and Robopocalypse (the film adaptation of which is slated to be directed by Steven Spielberg). He lives and writes in Portland, Oregon. Find him on Twitter @danielwilsonPDX.

John Joseph Adams

John Joseph Adams is the series editor of Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. He is also the editor of many other bestselling anthologies, such as The Mad Scientist’s Guide to World Domination, Armored, Brave New Worlds, Wastelands, and The Living Dead. Recent and forthcoming projects include: Loosed Upon the World, Robot Uprisings, Dead Man’s Hand, Operation Arcana, Wastelands 2, and The Apocalypse Triptych, which consists of The End Is Nigh, The End Is Now, and The End Has Come. Called “the reigning king of the anthology world” by Barnes & Noble, Adams is a winner of the Hugo Award (for which he has been nominated eight times) and is a six-time World Fantasy Award finalist. Adams is also the editor and publisher of the digital magazines Lightspeed and Nightmare and is a producer for Wired.com’s “The Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy” podcast. Find him on Twitter @johnjosephadams.

Read an Excerpt

God Mode
(Continues…)

---

Excerpted from "Press Start to Play"
by .
Copyright © 2015 Daniel H. Wilson.
Excerpted by permission of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Table of Contents

God Mode
Daniel H. Wilson
 
NPC
Charles Yu
 
Respawn
Hiroshi Sakurazaka 
 
Desert Walk
S.R. Mastrantone
 
Rat Catcher’s Yellows
Charlie Jane Anders
 
1UP
Holly Black
 
Survival Horror
Seanan McGuire
 
Real
Django Wexler
 
Outliers
Nicole Feldringer
 
< end game >
Chris Avellone
 
Save Me Plz
David Barr Kirtley
 
The Relive Box
T.C. Boyle
 
Roguelike
Marc Laidlaw
 
All of the People in Your Party Have Died
Robin Wasserman
 
Recoil!
Micky Neilson

Anda’s Game
Cory Doctorow
 
Coma Kings
Jessica Barber
 
Stats
Marguerite K. Bennett
 
Please Continue
Chris Kluwe
 
Creation Screen
Rhianna Pratchett
 
The Fresh Prince of Gamma World
Austin Grossman
 
Gamer’s End
Yoon Ha Lee
 
The Clockwork Soldier
Ken Liu
 
Killswitch
Catherynne M. Valente
 
Twarrior
Andy Weir
 
Select Character
Hugh Howey

Editorial Reviews

★ 06/15/2015
Even those who doubt the editors' claim that "video games have come to play a vital role in modern human civilization" will be enthralled by these 26 stories (most of which are original to this volume) exploring what video gaming does for and to its participants. The main character in Robin Wasserman's "All of the People in Your Party Have Died" painfully chooses selfish practicality over passion. Physical metamorphoses reveal the essence of a macho lawyer in Marguerite K. Bennett's equally pessimistic but hilarious "Stats." Players discover valuable truths by testing the limits of a fantastic scenario in Cory Doctorow's "Anda's Game." Some stories, such as Chris Kluwe's "Please Continue," vehemently argue against too much immersion in gaming, while others, such as Charlie Jane Anders's "Rat Catcher's Yellows," simply respect the potent allure of living for a brief time in a fantasy world. Wilson and Adams (Robot Uprisings) have assembled a provocative assortment of thoughtful stories, making a valuable contribution to ongoing conversations about the future directions of video gaming. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Fascinating. If you want some interesting, adult takes on aspects your favorite hobby, this is worth picking up.” –Felicia Day, author of You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) and creator of The Guild

"Even those who doubt the editors' claim that "video games have come to play a vital role in modern human civilization" will be enthralled by these 26 stories (most of which are original to this volume). . . . Wilson and Adams have assembled a provocative assortment of thoughtful stories, making a valuable contribution to ongoing conversations about the future directions of video gaming." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Sci-fi fans will find [Press Start to Play] well worth their while” —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

07/01/2015
This anthology gathers leading sf writers as well as games creators famous in the industry for 21 stories about video games. Even in this narrow theme, the collection is remarkably diverse. Editors Wilson (Robopocalypse) and Adams (series editor, Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy) should get bonus points for the inclusion of so many women, but there's also a wide range of games covered. A few nostalgic stories about text games such as Zork are included, as well as Hugh Howey's marvelous first-person shooter game story "Select Character." Immersive MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) are represented by excellent selections including David Barr Kirtley's "Save Me Plz," in which a woman tries to get her boyfriend to stop playing his beloved quest game. T.C. Boyle's poignant "The Relive Box" shows the dangers of games that allow you to endlessly revisit your past. VERDICT While the stories from Boyle, Seanan McGuire, Wilson, Ken Liu, Holly Black, and Howey, among others, might be the draw, writers from the games industry contribute terrific tales as well. This collection will be popular with gaming fans and includes a foreword from Ernest Cline, author of Ready Player One and last month's starred Armada.

Library Journal

2015-05-27
An anthology that examines the relationship between video games and storytelling. In his introduction, co-editor Adams asks, "if exploring video games has become one of the primary ways we create and experience narratives...Why not create some narratives that explore the way we create and experience video games?" It's an intriguing question—which some of the entries in this volume do justice to. Stories like S.R. Mastrantone's "Desert Walk" and Django Wexler's "REAL" capture the spellbinding allure of an immersive game. Hiroshi Sakurazaka's "Respawn" asks what life would be without the finality of death, while Holly Black's "1Up" gives us a twist on a locked-room mystery. Several stories ask who we really are when we lose ourselves in a game (such as Jessica Barber's excellent "Coma Kings"), when our identities are hidden behind avatars (Cory Doctorow's "Anda's Game"), when our avatars can change on a whim (David Barr Kirtley's "Save Me Plz"). The collection is uneven, however. Some stories get stuck in the virtual world and fail to connect with any recognizable reality. But there are many good tales here and a couple of standouts—most notably T.C. Boyle's beautiful, wrenching "The Relive Box," in which a father and daughter struggle for control of a device that lets them relive cherished memories, and Robin Wasserman's "All of the People in Your Party Have Died," which will break your heart with its take on, of all things, the Oregon Trail. A mixed bag, like many anthologies, but sci-fi fans will find it well worth their while.

Kirkus Reviews