Hamlet on the Holodeck: The Future of Narrative in Cyberspace - Updated Edition

Outstanding at parts, particularly in the meatier sections in the middle of the book that deal with emergence, agency and the possibilities of kaleidoscopic progression in digital narrative. This is certainly a must for anyone who wants to work with story-telling on digital formats. The only issue I would have would be in the slightly shallow handling of the first and last couple of chapters, which wind the book up and round it down a little poorly. Either way, I would still recommend this as a fascinating and in-depth study that draws many interesting conclusions.

The computer as a medium for storytelling opens up many new narrative forms. Murray, who brings a classical literature background to the field, argues for the role of the author also in interactive media. The picture she paints is most closely related to roleplay, where an "author" has created the arena, the props and the core plots for the participating actors. Improvisation in a commedia dell’arte sense, where the actors play fixed characters in a repertoire of standard scenes, is another important element.

A forecast of possible ways in which the future will use our desire for narrative. The projections repay further study.