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A review by scheu
You by Austin Grossman
3.0
Austin Grossman played a lot of Nethack.
The game is not mentioned explicitly in the book, nor is this fact mentioned in any of the blurbs, but it is nevertheless really obvious. Especially when he mentions the phrase 'you suddenly yearn for your distant homeland' which is a random Nethack effect description.
I don't have any problem with this Nethack love as I also have played A LOT of Nethack. In some ways it is the 'ultimate game' - relentlessly difficult, rewarding to the clever, timeless. As a gamer, I have spent copious amounts of time playing it and the other inspirations for Realms of Gold (Ultima chief among them) in my (mis)spent youth (and adulthood). I caught all the references. It was a fun time.
Ultimately, though, I never attached to any of the characters. I couldn't figure out what Russell's deal was. I also thought the ending was pretty flat. I am probably not the only reader who felt that in the end, somehow, we would be told that THIS IS THE ULTIMATE GAME - THE GAME OF LIFE! or something, hoping otherwise, of course. Maybe there was no other reasonable ending. I don't know. I hope not.
The game is not mentioned explicitly in the book, nor is this fact mentioned in any of the blurbs, but it is nevertheless really obvious. Especially when he mentions the phrase 'you suddenly yearn for your distant homeland' which is a random Nethack effect description.
I don't have any problem with this Nethack love as I also have played A LOT of Nethack. In some ways it is the 'ultimate game' - relentlessly difficult, rewarding to the clever, timeless. As a gamer, I have spent copious amounts of time playing it and the other inspirations for Realms of Gold (Ultima chief among them) in my (mis)spent youth (and adulthood). I caught all the references. It was a fun time.
Ultimately, though, I never attached to any of the characters. I couldn't figure out what Russell's deal was. I also thought the ending was pretty flat. I am probably not the only reader who felt that in the end, somehow, we would be told that THIS IS THE ULTIMATE GAME - THE GAME OF LIFE! or something, hoping otherwise, of course. Maybe there was no other reasonable ending. I don't know. I hope not.