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What we bought: Our favorite books of 2022
Here are our favorite books of 2022, as chosen by Engadget readers.
Hitting the Books: The fall 2022 reading list
Hitting the Books Quarterly is back with a brewer's six-pack of great titles to get you clear through to cuffing season!
Amazon's Kindle Vella episodic story platform to launch in July
Amazon has announced a new serialized fiction store called Kindle Vella, which lets users buy and interact with episodic stories using in-app credits.
Hitting the Books: The latest 'Little Brother' is a stark cybersecurity thriller
Back in 2008, New York Times best-selling author and Boing Boing alum, Cory Doctorow introduced Markus “w1n5t0n” Yallow to the world in the original Little Brother (which you can still read for free right here). It follows Yallow’s archrival, Masha Maximow, an equally talented hacker who finds herself working as a counterterrorism expert for a multinational security firm.
Spotify's new scripted fiction podcast stars Pedro Pascal and Carrie Coon
Spotify-owned Gimlet just launched a new scripted fiction podcast, Motherhacker. The series explores "the dark side of the web," and it marks another attempt by Gimlet and Spotify to popularize fiction podcasts.
'Law & Order' creator Dick Wolf is getting into scripted podcasts
TV super-producer Dick Wolf is getting into the fictional podcast game. The creator of the Law and Order franchise and his company Wolf Entertainment are co-producing a scripted podcast with Endeavor Audio called Hunted.
‘Good Omens’ and the art of avoiding Armageddon
The world will end one day. That's a plain fact; what's unknown is the exact manner in which humanity will be erased from existence. Whether the oceans will boil us from below like a massive earthenware lobster pot, or a nuclear holocaust will strip the planet bare, or biological warfare will infect our evolutionary timeline, is anyone's guess, and everyone has a theory.
The Daily Grind: Do you make tributes to the lost?
There are games I will remember for the rest of my life, even though they're gone. I still have all of my screenshots from the vigil in Atlas Park when City of Heroes was on the chopping block. I have documents I wrote up for defunct guilds in games I no longer play. My wife and I wrote up stories about the ultimate fates of our characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic when we realized we were probably never going back. Some goodbyes are more permanent than others, but for some people, goodbye is a chance to move on and never look back. For others, even though you say goodbye, you keep a piece of it with you. You make a tribute. So what about you, readers? Do you make tributes to the games, online friends, guilds, and even periods of time that are gone forever? Or are you the first to say out with the old, in with the new? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Carbine's Chad Moore on WildStar's fresh focus on lore
There's a big focus on WildStar's lore recently. Aside from the big lore drops, dubbed "Loremageddon" by Carbine Studios, the game's official site has begun releasing a series of short stories detailing important moments in the game's history, from the first space voyage of the Cassian people to dealing with the Genesis Prime now. That's a lot of storytelling, the sort that should be continuing on well into next year. We had a chance to sit down and ask a few questions of creative director Chad Moore regarding what we've seen thus far for the game and what the goals are with this renewed focus on the game's setting and story. If you'd like to know a little more about the setting and what players can expect from the ongoing history lesson, check out the interview just past the break. There's also a new story available today detailing the first contact between the Cassians and the Eldan.
World of Warcraft offers up the complete Tales of Pandaria
Do you feel that you got a sense of all the storytelling to be found in Mists of Pandaria? Probably so; you've had more than a year to get through everything, after all. But there's more to the lore than just what's found in World of Warcraft. The complete Tales of Pandaria series of short stories has been collected on the official site, complete with the option to download the stories for offline reading. None of them is essential for understanding what took place on Pandaria, of course, but each of them provides a larger context that questing can sometimes miss. Not really your thing? More interested in watching players beat one another up in-game? Then you can watch the World of Warcraft North American Arena Tournament this Sunday. Starting at 9:45 a.m. EDT, the live stream will cover the best-of-five matches between the current teams in the running, with the three best teams getting a shot at the championships at BlizzCon. If that's more interesting to you than fiction, get the full details on how to watch and who's in the running.
RIFT shows off the City of Nightmares
What's your next vacation spot in RIFT? Have you not yet decided? Then perhaps you'd like to consider Draumheim, City of Nightmares! Don't worry; it's just a name. It's really more of a collection of eldritch horrors and faceless creatures shaped of dread. Some of them are even downright pleasant! Draumheim is home to the Onir, creatures of dream born in the unconscious thoughts of Telara's residents. Some of them are perfectly happy and well-adjusted people who will be happy to make your acquaintance, while others are just as nightmarish as their place of residency would imply. Lord Arak has taken much of the city, however, raising new nightmares and taking control of the local government through violent means. As you can imagine, that means it will be up to the player characters to set things right. So get ready for a visit to the city of nightmares itself! (For the record, Silent Hill is just a small town of nightmares.)
Website builds the fiction for Tale of Tales' new game, Sunset
Developer Tale of Tales wants you to get acquainted with the world of their upcoming game, Sunset. One small, tiny, teensy-weensy problem though: unlike the developer's previous games, which took place in or were inspired by established universes, Sunset's land of Anchuria doesn't exist yet. So, Tale of Tales is building up the fiction of Sunset, starting with a website aimed at attracting tourists to the city of San Bavon. Even though we in the real world already know that Sunset will feature an oppressive regime, the website also contains little hints that not all is well in the land of Anchuria. One section reads: "The museums and theaters have been closed to make room for state of the art factories and well equiped consumption centers. Work and freedom for the people of Anchuria!" Because closing down museums is always a good sign. Tale of Tales noted on their Tumblr that they will share the story behind Anchuria and Sunset as they invent it. [Image: Tale of Tales]
Path of Exile previews its first mini-expansion, Sacrifice of the Vaal
The first mini-expansion for Path of Exile is coming out on March 5th, and it's meant to be a big one. This isn't supposed to just improve and expand the core game but to set the pace for the game's upcoming update structure and future expansions. So today is serving as the first preview of the update, teasing the lore behind Sacrifice of the Vaal as well as outlining the future reveals. Players will be set against Queen Atziri and the Vaal corruption she has spread throughout the land, as they try to harvest these malicious powers for their own ultimate ends. It's also hinted that players may have to sacrifice before the expansion is over if they want to put down this threat. The development team is hoping that Sacrifice of the Vaal will be the start of a four-month update schedule for the game, so players should keep their eyes peeled -- more reveals are coming before the March 5th launch date.
Here's a list of The Repopulation's weapon abilities
Guess what, Repopulation fans? It's time for another update, that's what. Above & Beyond has posted a list of alpha weapon abilities on the game's website. The post notes that "some weapon lines are still under construction and missing abilities," but it's nonetheless an extensive info dump that gives those of us outside of alpha testing a quick look at the sci-fi sandbox's combat particulars. The Repopulation's dev team has also released the sixth chapter of its Evening Star short story. You'll find both updates behind the links listed below.
Another stretch goal hit for The Repopulation, another short story chapter posted
The second Kickstarter for The Repopulation is humming along at a decent clip at this point. It's already met its target goal, and now it's just a matter of smashing down stretch goals. The latest mark has funded the addition of calprate mounts to the game; they're the vaguely deer-goat-thing displayed in the header image, for the record. Except that one doesn't have a player-shaped bit of cargo on its back. Baby steps. In addition to looking forward future stretch goals, the team is also posting chapters of a short story to the official website. Chapter 4 of "Evening Star" is available to read now, detailing more of the world and feel of The Repopulation for existing backers and potential future backers. Or just people in need of a science fiction story to read on a Friday afternoon -- they're welcome as well.
WildStar implores Dominion citizens to go space-west in a new arkship
Do you feel the lure of the frontier? WildStar's Dominion certainly hopes you do. But as a citizen of the most powerful organization in the known galaxy, you won't be heading out into the frontier with nothing more than a spacesuit and a poorly written star chart. No, you'll be cruising to Nexus in the finest vessel ever built by the Dominion shipyards, the arkship Destiny! Assuming you pass the tests to be sent out there in the first place. The Dominion can't just send the rabble, after all. The latest installment of WildStar Wednesday details the luxurious amenities in all their glory, ranging from VIP lounges and ample recreational space to training simulations and a fully functional church. Those selected for the journey will be given every opportunity to excel once they touch down on the planet's surface, with experienced travelers given the option of bypassing most of the tutorial experience for a trip straight to Nexus. Take a look at the full rundown to get a better idea of how the Dominion travels in style, which will likely be contrasted by the Exiles arriving in a spacesuit with a poorly written star chart.
EVE Evolved: Making EVE history
EVE Online has the odd distinction of being one of the only MMOs in which the developers have almost no control over the active storyline. There have been plenty of fiction articles written about the game's backstory, and the NPC factions occasionally butt heads in short news pieces, but none of it feels very real. It's only when these events actually occur inside the game world that they become real, and when that happens, the outcome is at the mercy of players. 2010's spectacular Sansha abduction live event was the perfect example of this, with thousands of players becoming immersed in a very real emerging storyline. The story was fluid and evolved based on what players did, and so it made the NPC factions come alive in a way that fiction never could. While the scripted NPC portions of these storylines certainly constitute part of EVE's history, the most interesting tales follow the unexpected actions of players and alliances. The fascinating thing is that the audience for these stories extends far beyond the playerbase itself, with news of high-profile events occasionally taking the global gaming media by storm. But for every 3,000-man battle and 200 billion ISK scam that's reported, there are hundreds of smaller events that would be just as interesting to read about or watch a video on. Most of these events have been lost to the mists of time, kept secret or talked about only among those directly involved ... until now. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the types of NPC-based and player-run stories that happen regularly in EVE and speculate on CCP's upcoming plans to document and preserve that history.
WoW adds uniting element to YA novel about a transsexual teen
"Look! Look! Someone wrote something and actually mentioned World of Warcraft!" That used to be A Thing, a Really Big Thing. After eight years and millions and millions of players, though, it's much less of A Thing. Everybody knows WoW. In fact, the last time a group tried to make a big deal out of the fact that someone played WoW, the outcome didn't turn out in their favor. So WoW has evolved from A Weird Thing to An Everybody Thing, sort of like the latest hot TV show or book. It's something people talk about over coffee. And that's why author Rachel Gold chose to have the teenage protagonists of her young adult novel Being Emily play WoW -- that, and the opportunity WoW provides to try on different gender roles by playing characters of the opposite sex. You see, Being Emily is the first YA novel to tell the story of a transsexual girl from her perspective. "I've been playing WoW since its first weekend, and although I'm not transsexual myself, I know that a lot of my trans friends who game found relief in the ability to play a character that matched the gender they know themselves to be, regardless of what body they were born into," Gold observes. "I included that feature of gaming in the novel by having the main character and her girlfriend both play WoW (casually, since they're in high school)." Since Being Emily arrived in bookstores at the end of June, it's hit #2 on Amazon.com's Hot New Releases in Teen Fiction & Literature. Gold talks with us about why the book resonates with teens and how WoW is helping open doors for people searching for new identities and places to be accepted for themselves.
NaNoWriMo tools for Apple devices ... and a few hot deals on writing tools
When it's time for Halloween, it's also time for another autumn tradition -- National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo. Over the years, a number of TUAW bloggers and readers have participated in the annual event, which runs exactly thirty days and is designed to give would-be writers the confidence and support needed to write a 50,000-word novel. Let's look at some tools for helping you crank out your novel, and revel in some deals on tools for planning and writing that book. iOS You may mock the idea of using an iOS device as a serious writing platform, but with an external keyboard you can definitely get some work done. All of my NaNoWriMo 2012 pre-planning work has been done on an iPad with a Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Cover in Apple's Pages (US$9.99) app, and it works very well. This year, thanks to iCloud syncing, I've decided to use Pages as my virtual typewriter and paper for NaNoWriMo. If I want to do work on the iPad, I can turn on the Logitech keyboard, fire up Pages, and get to work. When I am sitting at a Mac, I'll fire up Pages and pull in the document from there. The app, combined with iCloud, is finally quite useful in round-tripping between devices. One other advantage pointed out by my erstwhile publishing companion Erica Sadun was that I should be able to use Dictation on the iPad (as well as my OS X Mountain Lion Mac and iPhone) to write, so perhaps I can actually do some writing on the iPhone this year. When Erica brought this up, it occurred to me that Dictation could be very helpful in writing more realistic dialogue between characters. I'll let you know how that goes... Anyway, let's look at some app choices you have for the iPad other than Pages. I'll leave it to the reader to determine which app fits your writing style and wallet. My Writing Spot for iPad ($4.99) Novel in 30 ($4.99) NanoWriter ($1.99) Storyist for iPad ($9.99) Yarny (free, for iPhone, requires Yarny Pro cloud account) iA Writer ($0.99, universal app) PlainText (free, universal app) A Novel Idea (free, universal app) DraftPad (free, universal app) celtx script ($4.99, universal app, screenwriting) Write 2 ($2.99, universal app) Elements for Dropbox (On sale for $2.99, universal app) Free Writing (free, universal app) Just Type ($0.99, universal app) enso Writer ($3.99, universal app) WriteRoom ($1.99, universal app) Werdsmith (free, $2.99 in-app purchase for full features, universal app) Writing Kit ($4.99, universal app) Byword (On sale for $2.99, universal app) Of all of these choices, my personal recommendations would be Pages, Storyist for iPad, iA Writer, PlainText, or WriteRoom. Mac Many writers are probably going to want to sit down at a keyboard in front of a MacBook or iMac to do their work. It's comfortable, it makes you feel like a real writing professional and with a larger screen you have the ability to tweet your friends while slaving over your hot novel (that's known as having writer's block...). As mentioned, I'll be doing work on the iPad this year, if anything just to see how much the tools have improved. But my MacBook Air and iMac will also be pulling duty as I crank out my daily allotment of 1,666 words. Here are some Mac writing tools you can count on to get your novel written by 11:59:59 PM on November 30, 2012. Pages ($19.99) Write 2 ($6.99) TextEdit (free, comes with OS X, iCloud enabled) Notepad (free) FoldingText ($24.99) WriteRoom ($4.99) WordMate ($12.99) Clean Writer Pro ($0.99) Writer ($2.99) MultiMarkdown Composer ($9.99) StoryMill ($29.99) Manuscript ($39.99) Nisus Writer Pro ($79.99) Zen Writer ($19.99) Microsoft Word (Part of Microsoft Office 2011, $149.99 for Home & Student Edition) Scrivener 2.0 (50% off normal price of $45 for NaNoWriMo winners, 20% off for all participants, and free trial version available for the month of November) Storyist ($59 for download version, use code NANOWRIMO12 for a 25% discount, free Nanowrimo trial edition (download link) is available) Ulysses ($11.99) Although I've personally tried a lot of these apps for TUAW reviews, some tools I'd consider using are Pages, WriteRoom, StoryMill, Ulysses, Microsoft Word 2011 and Storyist. Why Word? Well, if I was going to send my novel to a publisher, chances are very good that they'd want the manuscript in Word format, so make sure that whatever app you use can save your document into Word. Me? I'm using Pages. Good luck, NaNoWriMo participants, and if you're so inclined sign me up as your writing buddy on the NaNoWriMo site -- I'm "Tantalus."
Write fiction for EVE Online, win fabulous prizes
EVE Online lends itself to stories. Not just news stories, although those crop up with fair regularity, but stories about the vast and hostile galaxy filled with spaceships, mining, and corporate warfare. If you've got a story to tell about the game, then you're in luck: An officially endorsed writing contest has just been announced, judged by representatives of CCP Games. And the prizes are nothing to sneeze at, including a new graphics card, a year's worth of PLEX, and over 20 billion ISK. The contest offers two ways for players to enter. First, you can write up a wholly fictional story based entirely in the lore, or second, you can write up an account of events centered around your characters in the game. Either way, contest entries are expected to be between 1500-5000 words in length and must be submitted by December 2nd. If you've got a story to tell, take a look at the full contest page and get writing.
