Mogworld [Paperback]

Yahtzee Croshaw (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 2010

In a world full to bursting with would-be heroes, Jim couldn't be less interested in saving the day. His fireballs fizzle. He's awfully grumpy. Plus, he's been dead for about sixty years. When a renegade necromancer wrenches him from eternal slumber and into a world gone terribly, bizarrely wrong, all Jim wants is to find a way to die properly, once and for all.
On his side, he's got a few shambling corpses, an inept thief, and a powerful death wish. But he's up against tough odds: angry mobs of adventurers, a body falling apart at the seams and a team of programmers racing a deadline to hammer out the last few bugs in their AI.
Mogworld is the debut novel from video-game icon Yahtzee Croshaw (Zero Punctuation). Mogworld is a comic fantasy novel in the tradition of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett, with a video-game twist: the main character is a minor character in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The first legitimate breakout hit from the gaming community in recent memory --Boing Boing

Yahtzee consistently makes me laugh, and even though I dig computer and electronic games, he has cross-genre appeal to anyone who enjoys a sharp wit, unique sense of humor, and plenty of originality - not purely gaming fans --The Future Buzz

Yahtzee consistently makes me laugh, and even though I dig computer and electronic games, he has cross-genre appeal to anyone who enjoys a sharp wit, unique sense of humor, and plenty of originality - not purely gaming fans --The Future Buzz

Product Details

• Paperback: 350 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse Comics (September 14, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595825290
• ISBN-13: 978-1595825292
• Product Dimensions: 4 x 1.3 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (115 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #73,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Yahtzee is the sole creator of Zero Punctuation, a popular weekly game review on the Webby award-winning Escapist online magazine, for which he also earned the Sun Microsystems 2008 IT Journalism award for Best Gaming Journalist. He has also worked as a game designer and dialogue writer for various studios. He was born and raised in the UK and now lives in Brisbane, Australia.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 77 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I will never be able to kill a skeleton in a dungeon the same way again... September 23, 2010

By Allyn Nichol

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've loved Zero Punctuation for a long time now, so of course I expected Mogworld to be hilarious. What I didn't expect was that the book would be more than just funny--it would also be a compelling, well-written story with memorable characters, an incredibly fresh and original plot... and also one of the funniest things I've ever read.

The premise is simple: Jim is an undead mage living in an MMORPG called Mogworld (Multiplayer Online Game World) that is similar to World of Warcraft or any other mumorpuger out there. Death no longer exists in this world; adventurers or NPCs who die are simply resurrected, as is common in MMOs. Jim's goal is simple: die permanently. His story is not the story of a hero. It's about as far away from that as you can get! As Jim himself puts it, "I'd rather be a protagonist." The story is engaging and unique. Familiar fantasy set pieces appear, but are all twisted to poke fun at the standard conventions of both videogames and fantasy novels.

The characters are equally interesting. Each of the main characters has their own particular manner of speaking, to the point that if the entire book was written without dialogue tags, it would still be possible to follow the dialogue. All of the characters are well thought out and complex, with their own motivations and personalities. For a bunch of NPCs with all the trappings of traditional fantasy/game characters, they're surprisingly deep.

This all pales in comparison to the most important part: Mogworld is genuinely funny. Jokes are witty and rapid-fire, but are not overused. Some of the funniest jokes (the octopus eyeballs, Mr. Wonderful's little whatevers) are recurring, but are carefully spaced so they don't become tedious. Sure, there's jokes that could be considered crude in polite company. But while lesser writers may simply put in crude references for the reader to laugh at, Yahtzee makes actual jokes to laugh at, rather than just the crude reference itself. Even better, they are rare and never relied upon to carry the humor. The best jokes are the little ones that subtly poke fun at the conventions of videogames, the behavior of players, and a few sly references to Zero Punctuation that can only be caught by a dedicated ZP watcher. (and reader of Extra Punctuation, for a couple of jokes!)

Although the book may be somewhat inaccessible to those unfamiliar with Internet culture or the nature of MMOs like World of Warcraft, that's OK; writing for a niche isn't necessarily a bad thing, and considering how fast the numbers of Internet users who know about WoW are growing, Mogworld is probably accessible to most people anyway, because it is just so funny. Due to some swearing and other language, I wouldn't really recommend this book to children... but if that child already watches Zero Punctuation, trust me, they're not going to come across anything worse in Mogworld. In short, it is an excellent book immediately recommendable to any Zero Punctuation fan, videogame player, Internet user, or anyone else who appreciates a quick wit and solid writing.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Sublime From Start to Finish... September 24, 2010

By Ana Mardoll TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Mogworld / 978-1-59582-529-2

I've been a fan of Yahtzee's humorous and scathing trademark review style ever since I saw my first "Zero Punctuation" video on The Escapist. When "Mogworld" was announced, I kept my enthusiasm in check with the remembrance that sometimes humorists don't transfer well to new genres, and there's a fairly vast difference of format between 5-minute first-person video game reviews and a 400-page third person fantasy novel, however I shouldn't have been worried - the sharp satire and sardonic wit of "Mogworld" put all my concerns to rest, and I absolutely loved this novel from start to finish.

Mogworld's decidedly unheroic (and undead) protagonist Jim is so delightfully fresh that it's impossible not to love him from the get-go. Jim doesn't take charge in a crowd, preferring to hang back and go along with whatever the majority decides, and there's something terribly refreshing and realistic about such a sensible attitude. Perfectly blending cheerful gallows humor and glum existential uncertainty, Jim is happy enough to go about his daily job as a dungeon rat-pit manager, with the occasional nightly fling off the nearest convenient tower in dogged suicide attempts.

A protagonist like Jim is inherently difficult to write, since the author will be forced to impel the character forward with the plot, as any such movement will only be undertaken by Jim against his better judgment and personal inclinations. Versatility and a surprisingly delicate touch are employed to great effect here - Jim's 'uncharacteristic' spurts of self-preservation are satisfactorily motivated by fear, annoyance, irritation, and pure animal instinct. Of course, it helps that Jim is burdened with an entourage of support characters who all have their own strong motivations for manipulating Jim's actions - and even the smallest ancillary support characters are thoroughly characterized with deep and hilarious dialogue and motivations - including the absolutely delightful inhabitants of Applewheat who look forward with anticipation to their weekly pillaging at the hands of the nearest undead horde.

It's difficult to say what I like most about "Mogworld". I truly enjoyed seeing Yahtzee's trademark style on full display; fans who are familiar with his speaking style will sink into his sarcastic and complex writing style like a warm blanket. Indeed, much of the writing reminds me of my favorite parts of Douglas Adams' novels, particularly what I can only describe as a preference for "antonymic" descriptions (*Is* there a word for the exact opposite of a mugging??). Readers will also appreciate the seamless joining of a "fantasy" plot with a "gaming" premise - the addition of the programmers is handled so cleverly that it's hard not to look forward to the next excerpts of communication from the outside world. And then there are the little touches of humor - running jokes that serve an actual plot purpose, like the adorable magic bunnies that want nothing more than to be cuddled. Perhaps most of all, I admire "Mogworld" for being brave enough to break the two cardinal rules of new authorship - firstly by eschewing the forced romantic relationships and mandatory line-dancing competitions that are so endemic in modern media today, and secondly by managing to find closure at the end instead of ending on a cliffhanger in a transparent grasp for a sequel.

I honestly can't say if everyone will love "Mogworld", but there's definitely a broad appeal here. The humor on display is imaginative and funny (and in several places delightfully dark), and the fantasy and gaming elements are handled perfectly. The dialogue and characters are wonderfully fresh, and while the most prudish may object to some of the innuendo-laden dialogue, I honestly think this is a novel that will appeal to all ages. As an American, I can't truly say whether all that makes "Mogworld" literary "Branston Pickle", but I loved reading it, and I imagine most others will too. I can't help but lament that it would have been more funny if I'd hated the novel and spent the review picking it apart, but I'll leave the satirical reviews to the Three Wolf Moon Shirt guys.

~ Ana Mardoll

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good stuff January 12, 2011

By goodchild

Format:Paperback

Pretty dang funny book. It read a lot like it was Terry Pratchett taking on the subject, but then the author had said he was influenced by Pratchett so that was somewhat expected.
A few pitfalls here and there, but as it's his first novel, I'd say it's a damn good effort. It won't set the world on fire, but it's a quick read, and both very funny and enjoyable. If it sounds interesting to you, pick it up.