Life's Lottery
Author: Kim Newman
Illustrator: Ian Miller (hardback cover)
First Published: 1999
ISBN: 0-684-84016-2 (hardback), 0-671-01597-4 (paperback)
Length: 488 pages (300 sections) (hardback), 615 pages (300 sections) (paperback)
Number of Endings: 120 (I think; it's a bit hard to count)
Plot Summary: You live the life of Keith Marion, an Englishman born
in 1959, from birth until death.
My Thoughts: This is an amazing book. It contains more possibilities
than you could possibly expect, and the paths through it run from funny and
touching to grim and disturbing. The more you read it, the more the paths
rebound off of one another, increasing the meaningfulness of all that
happens. The depth of the book is further enhanced by reading The
Quorum, an interesting novel (reviewed on the
Gamebook-Related Products page) set in the same world. Even the
mechanics of the book are somewhat innovative. The book uses the "go to
x, then y" instruction, which requires the reader to read two sections
in a row -- this means that events that happen in the middle of several
different paths don't have to be pasted repeatedly into different parts of
the book. A nice space-saver. Even more interesting is the fact that the
book works if you ignore the instructions and simply read it from cover to
cover -- there are intermediate sections which can only be found if you read
it this way and which give meaning to the proceedings. In my opinion, this
is a book that everyone (gamebook fan or not) should read. It shows the
remarkable power of the interactive format, and it's more than just a little
bit thought-provoking. The only points which may go against it for some
people are its frequent references to British culture (which I love, but
which may confuse some international readers) and its subject matter
(there's quite a bit of sex, violence and profanity in here). Still, I
just can't recommend this book enough.
Amazon.co.uk should be able to hook you up with a copy if you can't find
one elsewhere.