''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 ...
by
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. 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, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedb ...
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'', 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 and his clan of other apes and monkeys. The franchise primarily consists of platform games—originally s ...
fanatics".
[Lucky Wander Boy]
reviewed at '' Kirkus Reviews''; 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