Analyzing Digital Fiction out

Another piece of good news: Analyzing Digital Fiction is now out with Routledge. It contains a chapter on functional ludonarrativism in The Path, and I've co-authored the Introduction, which discusses the types of games and gaming we consider to come under the remit of digital fiction. Here's the website.

News from MIT Press

The index for Literary Gaming is now done, the proofs have been submitted, and the cover image finalised. Here it is:

I'm really pleased with the way the screenshots from The Path and Loss of Grasp show the breadth and diversity of literary gaming.
The book is scheduled for release in April 2014 - very exciting. I've also just received the first endorsement, from Prof Sandy Baldwin, which I'm very flattered by:

It is easy to say games contain narratives and easy to say that narratives are playful. Saying so does little other than repeat existing rather poor metaphors for games and narratives. Astrid Ensslin does something much harder and more rewarding: she takes on all the works occurring on the spectrum from games to literature (what she calls the L-L spectrum) and provides the first rigorous descriptive vocabulary for reading these works. I was surprised and informed by the diversity and invention found in the works examined. More than this: I was persuaded and even amazed by the rich and fine-tuned readings Ensslin offers. Literary Gaming sets the standard for understanding literary lucidity. 

Book manuscript submitted

After a four-month extension from MIT Press I've now submitted the full manuscript of Literary Gaming to the publishers. The contents are as follows (although they're likely to change following the reader comments):

Chapter 1       Introduction

1.1                   Ludicity and literariness in the digital age
1.2                   Ludic books and literary "games"
1.3                   Methodology and structure

Chapter 2       Playing with rather than by rules

2.1                   Introduction
2.2                   Ludology and its philosophical foundations 
2.3                   Playfulness as aesthetic tool and weapon
2.4                   Games, play and literature
2.5                   Literature born digital
2.6                   Art games versus Game Art

Chapter 3       Between ludicity and literariness

3.1                   Introduction
3.2                   Cognitive frameworks for reading and gameplay
3.3                   Viewing Axolotls - approaching the ludic in digital literature
3.4                   The literary-ludic spectrum
3.5                   Approaching functional ludo-stylistics

Chapter 4       "The pen is your weapon of choice": ludic hypertext literature and the play with the reader

4.1                   Introduction
4.2                   Alea: Deena Larsen's Firefly
4.3                   Ilinx: Richard Holeton's Figurski at Findhorn on Acid
4.4                   Mimicry: Shelley Jackson's Patchwork Girl
4.5                   Agon: Robert Kendall's Clues
4.6                   Discussion

Chapter 5       "Love poem or break up note?" Ludic hypermedia fiction and Loss of Grasp

5.1                   Introduction
5.2                   Heuristic ergodicity in games and digital interactive art
5.3                   Analyzing Loss of Grasp: fallaciousness, heuristic ergodicity and cybertextuality
5.4                   Discussion
                   

Chapter 6       "Your innocence drifts away": anti-ludicity and ludic mechanics in The Princess Murderer

6.1                   Introduction
6.2                   Antiludicity as subversive design practice
6.3                   "Clicking" damsels in distress: The Princess Murderer and its antiludic agenda
6.4                   Discussion

Chapter 7       Of windsighs and wayfaring: Blue Lacuna, an epic interactive fiction

7.1                   Introduction
7.2                   IF as the classic hybrid between adventure game and literary narrative
7.3                   Blue Lacuna - epic, novel and game
7.4                   A ludostylistic approach to analyzing Blue Lacuna
7.5                   Discussion

Chapter 8       The paradox of poetic gaming: evidence of everything exploding

8.1                   Introduction
8.2                   Digital détournement in Game Art and art games
8.3                   Pop-surrealism and poetry gaming: Jason Nelson's evidence of everything exploding
8.4                   Discussion

Chapter 9       From paidia to ludus: The Path, a literary auteur game

9.1                   Introduction
9.2                   To game or not to game: slowness, dérive and allusive fallacy
9.3                   The Path - transmediation, tragedy, trauma
9.4                   A ludostylistic analysis of The Path
9.5                   Discussion

Chapter 10     Conclusion

 References

Glossary