Zarf Updates

I have blogged every previous Cyan Kickstarter, so the foolish hobgoblin demands this post. Cyan is now crowdfunding the Myst Trilogy "Guild of Writers" Deluxe Collection.

These are the three Myst novels originally published 1995-1997, "by Rand and Robyn Miller with David Wingrove". (But, everybody understands, really written by David Wingrove -- then a new and modestly successful SF writer -- based on story ideas and concepts by the Millers.)

The paper editions have been out of print since the 90s, except for a short on-demand run of the Book of Atrus in 2023. Ebook versions have been in and out of availability.

This Kickstarter is for a new super-fancy edition. "Foil-stamped, faux-leather cover" with all the trimmings. Slipcovered if you back at a high enough level. "Contextual D’ni footnotes," ooh, nice.

The text of the books has been updated to fit better with the "modern" lore, meaning Myst 5 and Myst Online. Most of these are minor adjustments. (The epicenter of the D'ni cavern has been shifted from the Middle East to the Midwest; mules instead of camels; that sort of thing.) However, the Book of D'ni has been more seriously updated by Cyan veteran Harrison G. Pink:

In fact, about 1/3 of the third novel has been re-written, and the book is now approximately 15% longer than it was! We’ll go into more detail about the changes and the motivations for them in a future update, but rest assured, the stories and characters you know and love will remain recognizable.

(In case you were wondering: yes, a fourth book has long been hoped for. But Cyan put the kibosh on it at this year's Mysterium panel. A partial outline exists but it's incomplete and doesn't match up with the "modern" lore. So the Book of Marrim will not be appearing any time soon, and not at all from that story concept.)

Book delivery is estimated for a year from now (October 2027). Since the manuscripts are finished, this is just a matter of printing and shipping. This is being handled by Merrick Books. Apparently they're a "book project manager", rather than a publisher, but they seem to have managed a lot of book projects so they're probably good for this one. Mind you, if their project page is to be believed, the Myst trilogy is already three times the size of their previous largest.

So. All that said, I am not stepping up to back this project. I can reasonably be accused of being a Massive Myst Fan, but I am not particularly a fan of the books. I tried reading the Book of Atrus once, many many years ago, and I just couldn't stick to it. I never even tried the others. I'm sorry.

Yes, I enjoy artifacts as much as the next fan. I treasure my bronze marker switch.

As it happens, last month I came across a Book of D'ni at a bookshop in Gloucester, MA. That completes my collection of the original Myst hardcover editions.

I'm happy to have these. But that doesn't mean I need to own every edition. Oh, I'll probably spring for the updated ebooks. I might one day have a question about the textual changes. For my bookshelf, I don't feel the need.

But I see the Kickstarter is has passed half a megabuck already. Clearly plenty of folks do feel the need. If that's you, go hit the button.