''Lucky Wander Boy'' is the 2003

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

D. B. Weiss Daniel Brett Weiss (; born April 23, 1971) is an American television writer, director, and producer. Along with his collaborator David Benioff, he is best-known as co-creator of ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), the HBO adaptation of George R. ...

. The book's official website describes the work as: "A novel of video game addiction, Hollywood serfdom, ill-fated romance and extremely misguided notions about Japan, Lucky Wander Boy marks the debut of an original new voice that will captivate wanderers of every description."

Plot introduction

The story involves Adam Pennyman and his obsession with and attempts to catalog

video games Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

into a book called "The Catalogue of Obsolete Entertainments". He is particularly obsessed with the fictional Japanese arcade game ''Lucky Wander Boy''. While the ''Lucky Wander Boy'' game is fictional, many actual classic arcade and home video games are mentioned in the book.

Reception

Salon.com's Andrew Leonard referred to ''Lucky Wander Boy ''as "smart and engaging" and complimented the novel's ironic humor and intricate structure. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'', however, considered it a "postmodern yawn" which would appeal only to "Trekkies and

Donkey Kong is a video game franchise created by Shigeru Miyamoto and owned by Nintendo. It follows the adventures of a gorilla named Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong and his clan of other Ape, apes and monkeys. The franchise primarily consists of plat ...

fanatics".Lucky Wander Boy
reviewed at ''

''; published March 1, 2003; retrieved November 25, 2020

References

{{reflist 2003 American novels 2003 science fiction novels Novels based on video games Video game culture 2003 debut novels Works by D. B. Weiss