Personal Effects: Dark Art – The Future of Storytelling?
The new novel by J.C. Hutchins (author of the acclaimed 7th Son trilogy of podcast novels) is here, and it has been getting a huge amount of interest around the world, and quite rightly so. The book, a psychological thriller with some very unnerving supernatural elements, is more than just a good book.
How come? Personal Effects: Dark Art is packaged in a unique hardback format, containing a batch of ‘Personal Effects’, i.e. documents, ID cards, notes, photos and more pertaining to events in the book itself.
With these items, along with websites (Google the companies in the novel and there they are), voicemail numbers and more, you the reader can become part of the book and even discover more about it than the characters themselves ever know.
The concept for Personal Effects: Dark Art is from notorious games designer Jordan Weisman, who got Hutchins involved to supply the novel. It is an ingenious way to take in a story, and it really does add to your enjoyment of the book.
Much more than being just a gimmick, this approach to involving the reader in the action is actually very exciting, and bodes well for future volumes in the series. An extremely good book presented in a brilliant way. I can’t wait for the next one.
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