| I believe "Crossroads Adventures" is one line of this genre. They
are marketed by the publishers of fantasy role-playing games, among
other folk. I call them "branching novels." I have co-authored
one and am writing another.
The way you role-play is by making decisions at selected branch
points. You read a short passage -- anywhere from a paragraph to
a handful of pages -- and come to some text that invites you to
do A and turn to page X or to do B and turn to page Y. Depending
on your choice, the plot goes one way or the other.
As a result, the book can be different with each pass through it.
Also, any one pass is approximately equivalent to a short story.
The simple selection method listed above is just the beginning.
You can also play a character using a character sheet provided in
the book. In that case, some of the branch points are simple
decisions, but others depend on the outcome of dice rolls. (Some
books supply random number tables at the back, so you don't need
dice.) So the course of the plot is determined by a mixture of
your decisions, your fictitious abilities, and luck.
Typically, these novels are pitched at teens and young adults.
Some teachers find them very useful in reading classes, since the
readers get so involved with them. Most of them are fantasy or
science fiction. At least, I don't recall seeing any other genre.
The genre has limitations. Often, the plot must converge on the
same event from several directions. This meeting-point must be
written so as to be consistent with all possible pasts. Also, the
book is really several superposed short-stories or novelettes rather
than a novel, so the plots must be short. Finally, the author's
"message" cannot be communicated in an unambiguous statement of
what happens, but in the pattern of all the possibilities allowed.
Earl Wajenberg
|
| As for other genres, there are a number of adventure books of
the same type -- there were a few Indiana Jones and James Bond
(separately, not together :-)) tie-ins a few years back in this
format.
I've also noticed a short run of teen romance books in this format.
I suppose the reader decides whether she accepts the guy's invita-
tion to the prom or whatever. :-)
--- jerry
|