#Myst video game book series series#

The Miller brothers wrote the entire first novel, but were unsatisfied with the result the Millers pointed out that writing a character for a novel is much harder than writing the characters of a game. At some point in the development of these bits of story, Robyn explained in an interview, 'We started realizing this story is actually something we thought the public would enjoy, so we started pressing to make happen.' Buoyed by strong sales of the video game, publisher Hyperion signed a three-novel, US$1 million deal with the brothers. As the brothers were conceptualizing the various worlds, they also wrote down pieces of the story.

The Millers began the game's development by sketching out puzzles and each individual world the player would explore in the game. The player frees Atrus, leading to the events of the sequel Riven. In truth, Atrus and Catherine are merely imprisoned, and both Sirrus and Achenar are guilty of growing power-hungry and destroying Atrus' books. Both swear that their parents are dead due to the machinations of the other brother, and instruct the player to repair their books so they can be freed. As the player explores Myst, they discover Sirrus and Achenar trapped inside two books. An unnamed protagonist drops into Myst and finds the island strangely deserted. Myst is the home of an explorer named Atrus, who lives on the island with his wife Catherine and two sons, Sirrus and Achenar. The video game Myst tells the story of a special book which serves as a link to a world known as Myst. Younger brother Robyn began working on a children's novel called Dunnyhut though he never completed the work, elements from the story influenced aspects of Myst 's story. Heinlein, and Isaac Asimov Star Wars offered them a glimpse at an exciting, fully realized fictional world. Their vision was refined by the works of fantasy and science fiction writers such as J. Myst co-creators and brothers Rand and Robyn Miller often created fictional worlds and stories as young children. At least two more novels were planned a sample of the first, The Book of Marrim, was packaged with an edition of Myst V: End of Ages. The individual books sold well, with The Book of Atrus making USA Today's Best-Selling Books list. Many reviewers expressed surprise that a novel based on a videogame worked others found the prose dull and uninteresting, or that the book could not stand on its own without the game. Upon release, reception of the novels have been mixed. The plot of each book reveals more of the Myst back-story and the workings of the D'ni. This ability, known as the Art, was practiced extensively by an ancient civilization known as the D'ni, who were only mentioned briefly in the original Myst game. The novels were each written by British science-fiction writer David Wingrove with assistance from Myst 's creators, Rand and Robyn Miller.Įach novel centers on the family of Atrus, a scientist and explorer who has the ability to write special books which serve as links to other worlds, known as Ages. The collection was published in September 2004 and combines three works previously published separately: The Book of Atrus (1995), The Book of Ti 'ana (1996), and The Book of D 'ni (1997).

#Myst video game book series series#

The Myst Reader is a collection of three novels based on the Myst series of adventure games.