Minecraft (book)

Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus "Notch" Persson and the Game That Changed Everything is a book written by Daniel Goldberg and Linus Larsson (and translated by Jennifer Hawkins) about the story of Minecraft and its creator, Markus "Notch" Persson. The book was released on October 17, 2013, and includes many different tips and tricks for the game.

Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus "Notch" Persson and the Game That Changed Everything
First edition
AuthorsDaniel Goldberg, Linus Larsson
Audio read byJonathan Davis
Original titleMinecraft: Block, pixlar och att göra sig en hacka
TranslatorJennifer Hawkins
LanguageSwedish
SubjectsMinecraft, Markus Persson, Mojang
GenreBiography
PublisherNorstedts förlag, Seven Stories Press
Publication date
September 13, 2012
Published in English
October 17, 2013
Pages256
ISBN978-1-609-80537-1

Content edit

The book is a biography of Persson that also covers Minecraft's popularity and the Swedish gaming industry.[1] The book describes how Persson was inspired by games like Dungeon Keeper, Dwarf Fortress, and Infiniminer, and how he was convinced that he was onto something big from the very beginning. It also described how Persson documented the development openly and in continual dialogue with other players.[2]

Publication history edit

The book was first published by Norstedts förlag in Sweden in 2012, under the title Minecraft: block, pixlar och att göra sig en hacka (ISBN 9789113049250). An English translation by Jennifer Hawkins was published in 2013 by Seven Stories Press, who claimed that it was the first book about Minecraft to be written in that language.[3]

Reception edit

The book was described by John Biggs of TechCrunch as "beautifully human".[4] Its portrayal of Persson was praised by Publishers Weekly as "moving" and by Paul Stenis in Library Journal as "compelling",[5][6] but was criticized by Nick Kolakowski of the Washington Independent Review of Books for being too shallow.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Kolakowski, Nick (November 26, 2013). "Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus 'Notch' Persson and the Game that Changed Everything (Review)". Washington Independent Review of Books. Archived from the original on June 2, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  2. ^ Goldberg, Daniel; Larsson, Linus (November 5, 2013). "The Amazingly Unlikely Story of How Minecraft Was Born". Wired. Conde Nast. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  3. ^ Reid, Calvin (November 4, 2013) [Published online November 1, 2013]. "Mining the 'Minecraft' Phenomenon". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 260, no. 44. ISSN 0000-0019. Archived from the original on September 9, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  4. ^ Biggs, John (November 19, 2013). "Minecraft, The Book". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on December 31, 2013. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  5. ^ "Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus 'Notch' Persson and the Game that Changed Everything (Review)". Publishers Weekly. Vol. 260, no. 47. November 25, 2013. ISSN 0000-0019. Archived from the original on August 9, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  6. ^ Stenis, Paul (November 15, 2013). "Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus 'Notch' Persson and the Game That Changed Everything (Review)". Library Journal. Vol. 138, no. 19. ISSN 0363-0277. Archived from the original on August 9, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2023.