Another book, similar premise.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mogworld-Yahtzee-Croshaw/dp/1595825290

Mogworld

Was coming here to make this exact comment. If this premise sounds fun to anyone, you REALLY should check out this book. It's stellar.

> Imagine if the Ai in video games is somewhat sentient.

Yahtzee Crowshaw wrote a book with a sort of similar concept. Basically the AI in an MMO was so advanced the NPCs were self-aware (though not aware they were in a video game, of course). It's a very fun read.

For those interested, and this one in particular reminded me of it, you should check out a book called Mogworld.

See http://www.amazon.com/Mogworld-Yahtzee-Croshaw/dp/1595825290 ... written by the guy that does Zero Punctuation. About an undead in a faux WoW game, that is trying to kill himself because hes tired of the 'immortal' life. Reads a bit like Terry Pratchett

Totally off topic but you might find this enjoyable. As it touches on that very topic. https://www.amazon.com/Mogworld-Yahtzee-Croshaw/dp/1595825290

Mogworld by Yahtzee Crowshaw is a hilarious book about a sentient NPC in a fantasy MMORPG.

Mechanical Failure by Joe Zieja is the first book in space based comedy series. It's great fun.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore is possibly the best book I've ever read. It is about Christ, but it walks the fine line of being respectful, without being worshipful and hilarious, without being mocking. Absolutely brilliant. He wrote another book involving the main angel, called The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror is also hilarious and Christmas themed, if that appeals.

David Brin has written a lot of great stuff. The Practice Effect is a short novel about a guy visiting and trying to understand a very strange planet. It's not as pure humor as the others, but has funny parts. His other books are more serious, but his Uplift series is excellent (you can skip the first book if it doesn't grab you... it's his worst book and just a prelude to the other books), and Kiln People and Glory Season are others that are also great.

Thank you kindly for your nice words!

Recommendations wise...hmmm. If you've heard of Zero Punctuation before, than the name Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw will be familiar. He has written two fantastic books: Mogworld and Jam that are in the comedic narrator lead style - I highly recommend them!

Anything by Sir Terry Pratchett, though usually in the third person style, I have found to be an easy and funny (edit: hilarious, clever, there-aren't-enough-pleasant-adjectives-to-display-my-love-for-his-writing) romp. Who else? Umm.

I'm struggling to think of more, sorry. Er, my novels? That is, when I get around to finishing the damn things.

/r/Books may be a good place to ask. I'm drawing a blank, sorry.

You should read the book "mogworld"

You'd absolutely love Mogworld.

THIS is the only one you need.

This came in my recommended.. have you included this in any of your news posts? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Day-She-Saved/dp/1405940875

Mogworld https://www.amazon.com/Mogworld-Yahtzee-Croshaw/dp/1595825290

Besides the aforementioned Hitchhiker's Guide series, I can recommend Mogworld and JAM, both by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw. (Yes, that one.)

I can't think of anything else I'd recommend offhand.

The author of Mogworld

Have you read Mogworld?

Mogworld, by Yahtzee Croshaw

The protagonist is Jim, a former wizard in training who was killed and then raised from the dead by a necromancer. Every time Jim dies, he's raised again by the necromancer. Now all Jim wants to do is die, once and for all. The book plays on conventions from the fantasy genre, as well as Dungeons & Dragons and videogames. Funny and well written.

The Dresden Files series, by Jim Butcher

It's not really focused on humor, and it's not so much about genre bending. But it is off-kilter in the sense that it's about a wizard/private investigator, and it's set in the modern world and has vampires, faeries, werewolves, etc. I thought the first book was just interesting enough to get me to read the 2nd. I thought it got more interesting as it went on. I've since heard a rumor that Butcher wrote the first few books without a publisher, and only got an editor later on in the series. That might make sense, because I enjoyed the later books much more. (As an experienced reader, you might have already heard of the Dresden Files. It's on reddit's top 100 fantasy books.)

... There's another off-kilter fantasy book out there tickling the edges of my brain, but I can't remember it right now. I'll come back if I can think of it.

John Dies at the End, by David Wong

It's more of an off-kilter action/horror book. There's supernatural stuff, but no wizards of orcs in this one. Still, if you're looking for something sort of genre bending, then this might fit.

Mogworld by Yahtzee Crosshaw
I will never stop recommending this. From the bitingly sarcastic game critic of "Zero Punctuation", this story is equal parts funny, and dramatic. It focuses more on MMORPGs than traditional tabletop games, but even as a non-WOW player I understood and loved every minute of it.


NPCs by Drew Hayes This story focuses more on the aspect of traditional tabletop roleplaying, such as Dungeons and Dragons. It's about a group of NPCs - such as a bartender, a reluctant damsel in distress, and a former minion - who have to take up the roles as fake heroes in order to save their town. It starts off a little bit slow, and at first I was rolling my eyes thinking "okay, I know where this is going" but then it went off in a completely different direction. Highly recommended.


Critical Failures by Robert Bevan
I didn't like this one personally as much as the others - it was a bit too vulgar for my tastes. However, it got some really good critical feedback (heh) and it definitely is an interesting concept. It's basically about a group of players who get trapped in a tabletop game by a sadistic GM. If you play a lot of tabletop games, you can probably see a lot of your group members in the characters. It's part of a series too, (I think there's at least 3) so this one should keep you occupied for a while.

Game Night

The Merchant Adventurer


I haven't read either of these two myself, but they are both on my list, and seem somewhat similar to the kind of thing you're looking for.

Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw wrote a book about an NPC in an MMO. I still have to read it. It's in my to-read list. But here's the link if you want to take a gander. It's great per the reviews.

But as a player of MMOs? You could write from a different angle. How about a "Requiem for a Dream" but instead of drugs, it's MMOs (from as far as I can tell, I was addicted to WoW at one point).

Original https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventure-Time-Islands-Ashly-Burch-x/dp/1608869725/ref=sr_1_60?ie=UTF8&qid=1496809979&sr=8-60&keywords=Adventure+time+graphic+novel

Extended https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventure-Time-OGN-10-Islands-x/dp/1785861220/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496809722&sr=8-1&keywords=Adventure+time+islands+graphic+novel

I've checked both the wiki and wikipedia page and they both no longer mention an extended version which only serves to confuse me further

He wrote Mogworld which involved NPCs becoming aware they were in an MMO, but there weren't any mods as far as I recall.

Read MogWorld by none other than Yahtzee Croshaw.

You read his book?

The only thing I've heard of that's even remotely like that would be Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw. Probably not it, though o_o

You could also try over in /r/whatsthatbook, they might know :)

Yahtzee's book Mogworld is kind of about it. The inspiration was WOW and not D&D, though.

Not trying to dis your prompt, I'm excited to see what people come up with.

However, if you're interested in this concept, you might enjoy Mogworld. Written by Yahtzee of Zero Punctuation fame.

You should probably read Mogworld for the reasons why advanced AI is a bad idea for any videogame.

Sounds a little like something from Yahtzee Croshaw's book

My first mistake was with the Chi-Lites in 1977.

Same reason I listen to Marilyn Manson and watched Dennis Leary and laughed at Sam Kinison and bought shit Steve Jobs hocked me and learned to cook from Gordon Ramsey and listened to Howard Stern get hatemail and read Maddox and Tucker Max being complete assholes and cringe when Simon Cowell or Piers Morgan eviscerate some poor person's dignity and tuned into Judge Judy humiliate idiots in public.

All I can think each time is "Wow, they're paid a lot of money, some have little talent others are truly skilled, but all of them make a career out of being a total asshole."

Then I remember Yahtzee has a lot of talent and doesn't get paid as much money as any of them, and I am very happy to listen to him. He also wrote an amazing novel Mogworld which I highly recommend.

Yeah, Tell-All and Beautiful You don't seem too hot. However, I've still got ways to go with Snuff, Choke, Damned (I heard Doomed is far better, but since it's a sequel the first is necessary), and maybe Pygmy, although it seems nearly unreadable.

Oh, and apparently he just announced a new book of his, too. It's another coloring book, but this time it's a novella...?

'My take'.

As an illustrator it's pretty tricky to get past Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein illustrations.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bernie-Wrightsons-Frankenstein-Wollstonecraft-Shelley/dp/1595822003

I enjoyed this story quite a bit, and since points concerning plot and consistency have already been made, I thought I'd add a few technical notes:

• I see you wanted to keep the Thief's gender unrevealed. However, using "they" as a pronoun is awkward and impossible to translate into other languages. In fact, I noticed you slipped up a couple times, using "she" or "he" here and there, and one time even "it." I would recommend deciding on one gender. Then, later on, you can reveal that the Thief is, contrary to expectations, a man. Or maybe, one of the characters says to another, "What do you mean, 'he?' I thought Mel was a woman." It would be a lot less immersion-breaking that way.
  
  
• You tend to repeat and paraphrase details, making the language a little awkward all around. Try to be more concise with the longer chain actions. An example:
  
  > The first of the creatures’ attacks began, one of them lunging forward towards the group only to find the barrier blocking its attack. With a crash it hit the invisible field around them that Luther was maintaining, stunning it slightly. Luther knew he couldn’t keep the field up forever, even if he kept chanting the magic that formed it would eventually collapse from their attacks.
  
  I already know it's attacking, and I know it's facing the group. I also know that Luther is upholding this invisible field, and I can assume it takes some effort. How about:
  
  > One creature lunged forward, smashing into the invisible field. Luther flinched at the impact, but gritted his teeth and held fast.
  
  That way, it all happens a little faster, and the reader knows Luther is subject to some sort of strain, which builds a little more suspense than simply being told, "By the way, he can't uphold the barrier forever."
  
  Another shorter example:
  
  > Hannes responded to this by swinging down, the creature slamming into the ground below as its bones shattered from the impact.
  
  Could be worded a little more sharply like this:
  
  > Hannes responded by slamming the creature into the ground, shattering its bones.
  
  
• Finally, it's nice that you give an image of the colors and details of characters and apparel, but try not to slip into essay-exposition. Try to tie details into the action as best you can. This wasn't a huge issue, really, but it's my personal taste that goes against paragraphs upon paragraphs about auburn hair and perfect emerald eyes and porcelain skin etc. etc. etc.
  
  Don't let all this technical mumbo-jumbo discourage you, though. I thought your story was rather cool, and I liked the premise. For similar literature, you could check out Yahtzee Croshaw's Mogworld. It's a cool read.
  
  Good Luck!

My favorites are really obscure, you probably haven't heard of them:

Fashion in Action

Journey, Vol. 1

Journey, Vol. 2

Toadswart d'Amplestone

Moonshadow

Now, I know, I know, you said "non-Superhero" but I'll also give you 3 superhero books that might change your mind.

Starman Omnibus Vol. 1

Tom Strong Vol. 1

Astro City: Life in the Big City is currently FREE on Kindle and Comicsology!!!

Unless you're deliberately attempting a video game pastiche like Mogworld where the world is literally a video game and you're playing up the ramifications of that for sentient characters stuck inside, I would strongly suggest you consider coming up with a different inspiration. "The magic system is like a video game," is really not something you want to show up in reviews -- other than for pastiches, it's not a compliment. Video game magic systems are designed to be fun to play, not for immersive worldbuilding that leads to complex characterization and interesting plots.

It doesn't have to be all that elaborate. If you just want to lean into, "there's a source of energy and people use it differently," that could totally be enough, and it would help you decide how that use can manifest. But video games are not a great model on their own. And I love video games, don't get me wrong! This just isn't what they're built for.

There's a good book that addresses this nicely. It's called Mogworld. The main character is resurrected as an undead, and he can't die any more. His body does NOT regenerate, it just keeps degrading more and more. Meanwhile everyone alive at the time, when they die they respawn with a new body, only needing to re-acquire their equipment.

Edit: link

See also 'Mogworld' by Ben Croshaw (Yahtzee from Zero punctuation). Novel-length story based on this concept. Quite well written and very funny.

Mogworld by Yahtzee Croshaw. I just read Mogworld last week and found it very funny; it had interested characters and some unique twists on the fantasy genre with some video game humor mixed in.

I hardly ever read books, i could probably count all the books i have read outside of school on one hand.

That said my favorite would probably be Mogworld Written by Ben Croshaw, better known as Yahtzee

Anyone who thinks the plot is interesting will probably like Yahtzee's Mogworld.

https://www.amazon.com/Mogworld-Yahtzee-Croshaw/dp/1595825290

Yes, the Yahtzee from Zero Punctuation.

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts

My item is the book Mogworld by Yahtzee Crowshaw

Picture this. I go into the office for my next interview and have to sit down in the waiting room for a little while. I sit down and take out this book and kill a few minutes. The interviewer comes out and recognizes the book. He tells me he's a huge fan of Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee's game review web show. We hit it off and go into the interview. He easily remembers me and I get a great job offer a few weeks later.

While not exactly about a necromancer, Mogworld by Yahtzee Crowshaw (Yes, that Yahtzee ) follows the raised minion of a necromancer.

It's a bit more comedic, I don't know exactly what you're looking for, but I certainly found the book enjoyable.

To get you started:

300

Another treatment of the same event:

Cartoon History of the Universe

That has a bibliography, that will lead you to the next ones to read.

(I just found out that King Xerxes from 300 is the same guy as King Ahasuerus from the Book of Esther, in The Bible.)