Mar 062013
 

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Bedlam is the latest novel from Christopher Brookmyre, who you may know for his delicious, dark, funny crime writing, or his gothic horror / Doom 3 re-enactment ‘Pandaemonium’.

I’m going to get right to the point: as somebody who has played more than enough computer games in his time, I can’t recommend this enough. It’s a fast-moving thriller that is a true genre-hopper, a pacey nostalgia trip, and chase through videogame history, from Quake to Jet Set Willy, to Liberty City and onwards – that never stands still long enough to become stale.

A hallmark of Brookmyre’s work – one of my favourites – is the satire, and the plot gives him the freedom to extract the urine from an entire shedful of targets, as he dances his way through a youth spent in front of a glowing screen. Bizarrely, the novel is a result of a collaboration between Brookmyre and a game studio, so Bedlam: the game should be popping up for you to play sometime next year.

Just don’t get wrapped up in it, ok?

Bedlam is out now in hardback, published by Orbit, £17.99.

Ryan S Thomason, artist, illustrator & print guru…

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