The Book of Atrus; The Book of Ti'ana; The Book of D'ni

tachgb

What happened to The Book of Marrim, and is this book connected with Myst V End of Ages at all?

Am I of the understanding that each Myst game recieves a full book? If so, did Myst IV recieve one ?

I've ordered The Myst Reader from amazon which contains all 3 books from this thread title, and still waiting to recieve it. Am I right that these 3 books relate to Myst, Riven and Myst 3 ?

Slightly confused over all this.

NeoGhola

:: This post contains possible spoilers ::

KEY:

BoA: The Book of Atrus
BoT: The Book of Ti'Ana
BoD: The Book of D'ni
BoM: The Book of Marrim (As yet unpublished.)

First, I don't know what's going on with the Book of Marrim (I want news as well.)

Second, the books don't tie into the games specifically, though the characters and themes and all that do.

BoA takes place just before Myst, and details Atrus' youth and where he learned the Art.

BoT takes place before BoA, and explains the downfall of the D'ni empire.

BoD takes place between Riven and Exile, ending just before Exile begins.

So, if you want to do the story in chronological order, it is as follows:

BoT
BoA
Myst
Riven
BoD
Exile
Revelation
End of Ages

The Book of Marrim takes place four years after the Book of D'ni (According to the sample chapter that was available with the Collectors Edition of Myst V), so it takes place between Exile and Revelation.

I hope this didn't give away too much, and I hope I helped you out.

~Ghola

tachgb

Thankyou so much NeoGhola for that info. I'm eager to get stuck into those books, but still waiting for it to arrive. Yeah, I saw the sample of The Book of Marrim in my Collector's Edition of Myst V, but I dare not read it incase it may spoil anything from the previous books.

I'm liking the story so far in Myst IV, but I adored the story of Riven, and I thought Ghen to be a great character, cold and calculating, yet menacing and charming, I simply couldn't decide whether he was good or bad, or simply misunderstood, but that was at the beginning stages of Riven, you soon discover things about him. I'm hoping there's more of Ghen in either of those books.

NeoGhola

Hmm. I seem to remember taking part in a lengthy discussion on the Cyan(?) forums about Gehn... I won't spoil anything for you.

Urie

Once you read the Book of Atrus and even the end of Book of Ti'anna, you'll see more of Gehn and why he turned out the way he did.

stinkingD

Funny, I just finished the book of Ti'ana last night.  An excellent novel.  Even better than the book of Atrus.

Even though I love the Myst games, I wasn't expecting much from the novels simply becuase most film and game novels don't amount to much.  But, I was very suprised.  They actually stand on their own as great books regardless of the games.

NeoGhola

***CONTAINS SPOILERS***

It is amazing how well the books turned out. I think it owes to the fact that the Myst games would never have been as much a success if not made by such excellent story tellers - tee'ahnatee.

Though, the games are much enhanced by those books, and vice versa - at least playing Myst and Riven fills in most gaps between BoA and BoD. Perhaps the Book of Marrim will fill in some gaps between Exile and Revelation, and perhaps End of Ages - as Atrus eventually flees Tomahna to end his days in the paradise, and I hate to say that sentance, because Atrus is such a noble character - but in this situation is apt.

RTRebuilder

I also purchased the Myst Reader, and enjoyed all three books.  Later on, I learned that if I would have purchased the books separately, I would have received Aitrus's map in BOT, which provides a sketch of the caverns from the volcano down to the Ae'gura. 

So, while it saves money to get the reader, you miss out on the wonderful map.

NeoGhola

That map is not just missed in the Myst Reader, it was also missed in the paperback version of BoT. I'm still looking for them in HC though, if anyone is willing to part with their copies?

Whitch2

Check out Ebay, NeoGhola.  They have a bunch available over there at the moment.

NeoGhola

I may just have to do that, thanks Whitch2

RTRebuilder

There is the online version of the map:

http://www.riven.com/dni_maps.html

It is very small.  You can click on selected portions of the map to get an enlargement.  But it just doesn't replace the real thing.

DeviceMD

Oh, man. Just thinking about them want me to reread the Myst books.

I want Book of Marrim to come out.

SeaOtter

I haven't read the books -- are they as complex as the world?

I want to try them but keep telling myself any minute now I'll get an e-mail telling me I am in Beta testing...

: )

And are the books a series or is each a stand-alone?

NeoGhola

Each book is stand alone, but is part of the Myst series, just as each game is stand-alone.

:: POSSIBLE SPOILER ::

However, to fully understand the story behind all the characters, you need the books. Not so much the Book of D'ni, as that takes place between Riven and Exile, but it does explain the importance of Releeshan, and why it is so imperative you rescue the book from Saavedro.

Books of Atrus and Ti'ana are a massive requirement to know the story, as it goes into massive details to the events preceeding Myst and Riven - and explains how that room once called 'Dunny' was not a single trap room.

I suggest you read them, even if you get into Beta - you need something to do when you're travelling or your connections down.

JackalCarlos

Book of Ti'ana was my favorite.

And I'm anxiously anticipating Book of Marrim.