Gaslight & Steam

In the same vein as What Color is Your Parachute, this book takes a broad view of careers and the world of work. Viewed through the lens of Zen Buddhism, the reader is invited to think about what work means to them, what satisfies them, and to develop a career that fits them spiritually, mentally, and emotionally.

Drawing from real-life experience with a broad and varied portfolio, the authors cover all the aspects of writing for video games. They address narrative games specifically (which means a focus on first person shooters, roleplaying games, and adventure games) starting with an analysis of those types of games and proceeding to the role of the writer, asset management, project management, and more. Many of the chapters are applicable not just to other disciplines in game development and design, but also in other areas like web development that involves content.

From Kirkus Reviews (as “Watchfires to the North”):
Arthur minus the mumbo-jumbo, the round table and Excalibur–here Artyr, an indifferent warrior but a great general. This is the memoir of a king, Lucius Bedwyr Marcianus of Turris Alba, from the time he was sent out on his first mission at thirteen and returned with the badly wounded Artyr, to Artyr’s death ‘many years later while the chief of Bedwyr’s army. Bedwyr writes formally, almost regally, of their many battles, of their trip to New Rome (Constantinople) to learn the art of cavalry warfare, of his marriage (“”my dear Sybilla””), of many well-known characters–Gladhad (“”a mystic””), Gwenyfer (“”a good and loyal wife””), Mylan–their names spelled in the old way. Constant action is complemented by Bedwyr’s reflections on character and history; as human as any diary keeper, he subtly records his own maturing and that of his elusive cousin Gwenyfer, but Artyr, he comments, was never youthful. An anthropological record of the period, a realistic look at a legendary figure–Artyr or Arthur he’s especially convincing here.

From the publisher:
Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.

But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she’s finally gained the control she’s always sought―and will use her new-found power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She’ll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.

With Marcella’s rise, new enmities create opportunity–and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.