Where to find it: The author hosts a page for the book which has two sample chapters downloadable for free, and links to places to buy it.
What is it, in summary?:Constellation Games is a comic and philosophical first contact novel where humans are on the receiving end of first contact. The main character, Ariel Bloom is a video game programmer and enthusiast whose primary reaction to seeing the arrival of these advanced and ancient alien species is, approximately "I wonder what kind of video games they have!" He then gets wrapped up in matters large small with a number of alien and human friends and factions, as he tries to keep up with the political/cultural changes provoked the Constellation as well as his blogging.
What do you love about it?: The book's sense of humor, its reflections on art, games, culture and politics, and some of the characters in particular, are especially appealing to me. It is one of my favorite "comfort" reads/re-reads.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: The book itself, almost by necessity, focuses on human perspectives. But the various alien cultures are really fascinating and I am really intrigued by the development they do get/the peeks we get into their cultures. I am likely to request either world-building or stories about various alien characters in particular.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfill your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: It's a novel, so, hard to go for sub-sets.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): There are comprehensive author's notes on the linked page above, so I would recommend scanning those for subjects/topics that might be in these areas. There are some sex scenes, but they aren't graphic, and if I recall correctly, some discussions of racism in the abstract, but not much to flag with CW. A bit of violence in the book, but even that is on the lighter side, I think.
Rec: Constellation Games (Leonard Richardson, 2012)
Media: Novel
Approx length: 368 pages
Where to find it: The author hosts a page for the book which has two sample chapters downloadable for free, and links to places to buy it.
What is it, in summary?: Constellation Games is a comic and philosophical first contact novel where humans are on the receiving end of first contact. The main character, Ariel Bloom is a video game programmer and enthusiast whose primary reaction to seeing the arrival of these advanced and ancient alien species is, approximately "I wonder what kind of video games they have!" He then gets wrapped up in matters large small with a number of alien and human friends and factions, as he tries to keep up with the political/cultural changes provoked the Constellation as well as his blogging.
What do you love about it?: The book's sense of humor, its reflections on art, games, culture and politics, and some of the characters in particular, are especially appealing to me. It is one of my favorite "comfort" reads/re-reads.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: The book itself, almost by necessity, focuses on human perspectives. But the various alien cultures are really fascinating and I am really intrigued by the development they do get/the peeks we get into their cultures. I am likely to request either world-building or stories about various alien characters in particular.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfill your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: It's a novel, so, hard to go for sub-sets.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): There are comprehensive author's notes on the linked page above, so I would recommend scanning those for subjects/topics that might be in these areas. There are some sex scenes, but they aren't graphic, and if I recall correctly, some discussions of racism in the abstract, but not much to flag with CW. A bit of violence in the book, but even that is on the lighter side, I think.