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D. B. Weiss
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Lucky Wander Boy Paperback – Bargain Price, February 25, 2003

by D.B. Weiss (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars (78)
"He's nearing thirty, but feckless Adam Pennyman has finally found a purpose: The Catalogue of Obsolete Entertainments, his encyclopedic analysis of every video game ever made. But his research hits a snag with Lucky Wander Boy, the surreal game that ruled his world years ago. Despite its underground cult following, Lucky Wander Boy seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth." But when he lands a copywriting job at the Hollywood production company that owns the game's film rights, Adam's luck takes a turn.
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  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Publisher
    Plume
  3. Publication date
    February 25, 2003
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000HWYKES
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Plume
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 25, 2003
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8.8 ounces
  • Best Sellers Rank: #131,959 in Action & Adventure Fiction (Books)
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.6 out of 5 stars (78)

About the author

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D. B. Weiss

D. B. Weiss

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Daniel Brett Weiss (born April 23, 1971) is an American author, screenwriter, producer, and director. Along with his collaborator David Benioff, he is best known as screenwriter, executive producer, and sometimes director of Game of Thrones, the HBO adaptation of George R. R. Martin's series of books.

His 2003 debut novel, Lucky Wander Boy, is themed around video games.

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Gage Skidmore [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

3.6 out of 5 stars
78 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book entertaining and nice to read, with decent prose though opinions on writing style are mixed. The story receives mixed reactions, with some appreciating it while others find it unengaging. Moreover, the information content is positive, with one customer highlighting its insights into video game history. However, character development and thought-provoking elements receive negative feedback, with one customer noting the presence of unlikable characters. Additionally, the wit and thought-provoking aspects also get mixed reviews.

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ReadabilityInformation contentStory qualityThought provokingWitWriting styleCharacter development
8 customers mention "Readability"7 positive1 negative

Customers find the book engaging and entertaining, with one mentioning it's a smart romp through video game nostalgia that leaves readers exhausted at the end.

"...I highly recommend it. It is a worthwhile read, and I think that anyone who likes Existentialist Fiction will enjoy it...." Read more

"This was a nice read. It wraps itself around your mind with Pennyman's romanticism of a time and experiences that are both lost and trivial...." Read more

"...it for a lit class read through most of it and thought it was pretty interesting and added some interesting views on videogame culture." Read more

"I bought this book for a literature class and although it is interesting and thought provoking I feel like I really could have been better......" Read more

3 customers mention "Information content"3 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's information content, with one customer highlighting its insights into video game history and another noting its detailed coverage of old school games.

"...The book is filled with asides about various old school video games which is fun if you're a fan but the story feels slow and the ending is not what..." Read more

"...thing I really enjoyed about this book was the information I gained about the history of video games and google could have taught me that...." Read more

"...and thought it was pretty interesting and added some interesting views on videogame culture." Read more

10 customers mention "Story quality"5 positive5 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's story, with some appreciating it and finding the premise interesting, while others find it boring.

"Interesting premise & decent prose, but quite a few unlikable characters, including the protagonist, make it hard to stick with...." Read more

"Could not finish the book. The book was very disappointing to me. It seemed to get worse the more I read it...." Read more

"...I find it very convoluted and poorly written in many parts. I appreciate the story and the ability to tell that story for what it is." Read more

"...old school video games which is fun if you're a fan but the story feels slow and the ending is not what you'd think...." Read more

3 customers mention "Thought provoking"2 positive1 negative

Customers have mixed reactions to the book's thought-provoking nature, with some finding it clever, while others note it lacks wisdom and conclusion.

"...book for a literature class and although it is interesting and thought provoking I feel like I really could have been better......" Read more

"...In short, while I lapped up the intelligence, the lack of wisdom left me feeling empty...." Read more

"...Characters (3 stars) – Adam Pennyman is the smart, cool, screw-this-hollow-society lead, and he was fun to travel around with...." Read more

3 customers mention "Wit"2 positive1 negative

Customers have mixed reactions to the book's wit, with one finding it very witty, while another finds the social commentary bland.

"...His sentences are packed, clever, and funny...." Read more

"...The characters are shallow, the social commentary bland, and the ending ..... nonexistent...." Read more

"...The book was really good with some very witty observations on life. I highly recommend it...." Read more

3 customers mention "Writing style"1 positive2 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing style of the book.

"...D.B. Weiss' writing seems scattered, like he was on an acid trip when he wrote this. The story just seemed blah!" Read more

"Interesting premise & decent prose, but quite a few unlikable characters, including the protagonist, make it hard to stick with...." Read more

"Not a favorite in writing style or anything honestly. I find it very convoluted and poorly written in many parts...." Read more

4 customers mention "Character development"1 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the character development in the book, with some finding them unlikable.

"...The characters are shallow, the social commentary bland, and the ending ..... nonexistent...." Read more

"Interesting premise & decent prose, but quite a few unlikable characters, including the protagonist, make it hard to stick with...." Read more

"Plot – 3, Characters – 3, Theme – 4, Voice – 4, Setting – 3, Overall – 3..." Read more

"...He is a downright misogynistic, rude, insane sort of guy...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • One Guy's Opinion
    3.0 out of 5 stars Plot – 3, Characters – 3, Theme – 4, Voice – 4, Setting – 3, Overall – 3
    Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2014
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    1) Plot (3 stars) – A disillusioned 20-something sets off to find meaning through the secrets trapped in a long dead arcade game, a quest that takes him from Poland to LA to Japan. Overall, it’s a decent setup. But the plot wasn’t weaved in an engaging enough way to make me want to turn pages. And in the end, I was glad I wasn’t invested in the quest, because its resolution was anti-climactic.

    2) Characters (3 stars) – Adam Pennyman is the smart, cool, screw-this-hollow-society lead, and he was fun to travel around with. The rest of the cast, however, were a bit ho hum—lacking in nuance or surprises—from his girl interests, to his boss, to the eventual object of his infatuation.

    3) Theme (4 stars) – Weiss uses classic video games as a vehicle to explore all sorts of metaphysical issues—life, death, meaning, love—really too many to list. And for that, my brain was thoroughly entertained and kept reading. But as I kept going, I noticed something missing—any heart or conclusion. In short, while I lapped up the intelligence, the lack of wisdom left me feeling empty.

    4) Voice (4 stars) – Weiss is smooth with the pen. His sentences are packed, clever, and funny. The only reason I wouldn’t give the writing 5 stars is for the same reason as above: for all the wit, the sentences lacked real heart.

    5) Setting (3 stars) – There was enough description to make me see the poverty of Poland and the darkness of a basement full of programmers. But I didn’t necessary feel transported there.

    6) Overall (3 stars) – This was a tough call. Overall, I enjoyed the smart romp through video game nostalgia. But without any wisdom or conclusion, I just felt too empty in the end to recommend it.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Harkius
    5.0 out of 5 stars Its Super!
    Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2003
    Verified Purchase
    Sarcasm aside, this novel is great. A prime example of what I label Existentialist Fiction, the protagonist is a self-accepted geek who finds the meaning of life to be a metaphor located in video games. But not contemporary ones where you are allowed, almost, the same intellectual wandering as with TV, but rather the arcade classics of his youth: Pac-Man, Space Invaders, etc. These, according to him, were the pinnacle of human entertainment.
    The novel proceeds through the standard motions of the postmodern angst novel, boy meets girl, boy tries to figure out what life is about, boy loses girl giving his life definition, boy finds new girl, etc. However, the ending is quite unique: instead of one concluding chapter, there are four, all called Replay. All four are different though, and it seems to be a case of pick whichever ending you like the best. While quite arrogant, the ending actually works, for some reason that I can't quite understand. It's arrogant and conceited, but it works and it is fun.
    The book was really good with some very witty observations on life. I highly recommend it. It is a worthwhile read, and I think that anyone who likes Existentialist Fiction will enjoy it. Buy it, read it, share it, and enjoy it.
    Harkius
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Justin Gauthier
    4.0 out of 5 stars Replay
    Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2014
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    This was a nice read. It wraps itself around your mind with Pennyman's romanticism of a time and experiences that are both lost and trivial. Video gamers, especially digital immigrants (those born pre-1980) will find things to like about this book.
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  • Cindy
    2.0 out of 5 stars I prefer Ready Player One or any other book with a likeable main character
    Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2014
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I bought this book for a literature class and although it is interesting and thought provoking I feel like I really could have been better...

    SPOILERS AHEAD

    First off, the main character is a guy named Adam Pennyman. He is a downright misogynistic, rude, insane sort of guy. I'm pretty sure we're meant to dislike him but I still have a really hard time with books whose protagonists I hate. He ends up turning crazy so that's a bit better but really. What it really boils down to is one guy whose been flying by the seat of his pants all his life. Who lies his ways into jobs and treats women horribly. He idolizes video games and tries to create meaning in his life by creating something for future generations but in the end all it proves is the fact that he thinks of relations between video games and real life that don't exist--that shouldn't really be meaningful or in any way symbolic. It left me rolling my eyes until I got dizzy. He is constantly trying to make himself a "hero" and that life becomes all about him and that he's "destined" for greatness somewhere. He thinks he's better than everyone because he tries to break the system and can cheat people out of their money but in the end he's just a stupid creep who masturbates to pictures of game creators. And in the first ending you see him crash and burn which is so very satisfying. All I see is a character that doesn't grow but flounders around and wastes peoples time, who cheats on his girlfriend and doesn't even feel guilty at all, who tries to make himself more than he really is. The only thing I really enjoyed about this book was the information I gained about the history of video games and google could have taught me that.

    How the author chooses to end the novel in a sort of "replay" finish is particularly disappointing. It can be taken as a "choose your own ending" or even something where you have to play all the endings to get to the true ending but really all that it left me was an empty feeling. Him repeatedly playing LWB even in death seemed like a major copout to what could have been a really good ending.

    The book isn't compelling and I won't be reading it again. My only sadness is, because I bought it for the kindle, I can't exactly "return" it.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • JackJack
    3.0 out of 5 stars Ambitious, entertaining, but sadly flawed.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 9, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    The strength of this novel lies entirely in its setting. It is one of the few stories set in the world of retro gaming (and certainly the first, as far as I know), and Weiss clearly knows his subject matter well. Several chapters are devoted to nostalgic descriptions of old arcade games, whilst providing hooks on which to hang backstory and character development.

    A standout section describes how the narrator dealt with the trauma of a terminally-ill parent by locking himself away, playing a Fantastic Voyage-style game, fervently imagining that his actions would halt a real-life disease. This perfectly captures the magical thinking of childhood, and makes for enthralling reading. As we move forward in the narrator's timeline, we are presented with increasingly convoluted interpretations of games like Donkey Kong and Frogger, as though they had a deeper philosophical message. When the author starts comparing Pac-Man's "insatiable hunger" to Marx’s revolutionary socialism, it reads like a mockery of the kind of breathless prose of Wired magazine. It's not great satire, but it works to illustrate the increasingly unstable mindset of the central character, whilst still remaining rooted in the real world.

    Sadly, it's the introduction of the fictional game "Lucky Wander Boy" where the book goes off the rails. The titular game is presented as a 'holy grail' of retro-gaming: hard to find, impossible to emulate, and written by a reclusive programmer. This tantalising premise is then unexpectedly dropped, as the book takes a sharp left turn into sci-fi fantasy. This is intercut with unnecessarily gruesome sequences, supposedly extracted from an old Chinese book about torture and dismemberment. The tone of these sections fits uneasily with the rest of the novel, and don't really connect to the narrative at all.

    The final sections of the novel introduce some promising non-linear elements, as events get 'replayed' several times, arcade-style, in the search of an elusive happy ending. Sadly, Weiss can't really recover from the middle third.

    I dearly wish that this book had been more harshly edited. It's so full of promise, and many threads of the plot hint at a much more profound resolution. Like the 8-bit gaming industry it celebrates, Lucky Wander Boy has a wildly promising start, that never really gets the ending it deserves.

    That said, if you know your Magnavox from your Famicom, it's certainly a novelty to read a story that shares your culture, and for that reason alone, it's worth a read.
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