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New Bizarro Author Series
8-Bit Apocalypse
A giant Atari gaming cartridge attacks the heart of downtown Denver, causing mass destruction by bringing classic games to life. Trains turn into giant centipedes, citizens must cross busy roads by jumping across the tops of moving cars, and vehicles levitate over the city, shooting electricity at the people below. It's up to Jimmy Toledo, Chuck E. Cheese employee and former gaming prodigy, to fight back against the games. But first he must overcome his crippling social anxiety, the crushing memory of his past failures, and his worthlessness as a human being. Does Jimmy have the skillz to save the girl from the Donkey Kong game and reach the final level-the kill screen?
90 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 20, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
August 25, 2014
When Jimmy was seven, he was one of the best video gamers in the world until he choked during a Donkey Kong tournament and his dreams died. Now 35 and working at Chuck E. Cheese, Jimmy's life is going nowhere until a giant irradiated Atari cartridge invades Denver. Will this be Jimmy's last chance at redemption?
To paraphrase Forrest Gump, the New Bizarro Author series is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. Sometimes, it's chocolate, sometimes a crunchy frog, and sometimes it's a story about a giant video game cartridge trashing Denver.
Back in the 1980's, Atari buried some cartridges in the New Mexico desert, mostly ET but some others and Amanda Billings builds her tale around this event. Jimmy, the Chuck E. Cheese loser, is the only one around who realizes what is happening and how to stop it. Imagine playing Centipede but shooting at a train instead of a pixelated insect. Or dodging real cars to play Frogger.
The story reminds me of The Last Starfighter a bit but what it really reminds me of is the episode of Futurama where Fry has to fight the aliens from the planet Nintendoo 64. It's a fun story with equal measures of video game nostalgia and wholesale carnage.
If I had to complain about something, I'd say I wish the book was at least twice as long. At 90 pages in the print version, there's not a lot of meat to it. Still, it was a lot of fun while it lasted. Four out of five stars.
To paraphrase Forrest Gump, the New Bizarro Author series is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. Sometimes, it's chocolate, sometimes a crunchy frog, and sometimes it's a story about a giant video game cartridge trashing Denver.
Back in the 1980's, Atari buried some cartridges in the New Mexico desert, mostly ET but some others and Amanda Billings builds her tale around this event. Jimmy, the Chuck E. Cheese loser, is the only one around who realizes what is happening and how to stop it. Imagine playing Centipede but shooting at a train instead of a pixelated insect. Or dodging real cars to play Frogger.
The story reminds me of The Last Starfighter a bit but what it really reminds me of is the episode of Futurama where Fry has to fight the aliens from the planet Nintendoo 64. It's a fun story with equal measures of video game nostalgia and wholesale carnage.
If I had to complain about something, I'd say I wish the book was at least twice as long. At 90 pages in the print version, there's not a lot of meat to it. Still, it was a lot of fun while it lasted. Four out of five stars.
March 25, 2023
I purchased this novel to feed two addictions I have willfully acquired: reading about video games and bizarro fiction. Though this was published alongside other more grotesque works by a primarily bizarro publisher, this was more an ode to video game history in fictional form than a bizarro novel in my opinion. Sure, it features violence, absurdity, and sex, but the bizarro genre has begun to cross over with other genres, and this represents one of those cross-breeds.
I will mention the author also lives in Colorado. The book is set in Denver. I live in Denver. Why do you need to know this? You don't, just realize that the depiction of Denver traffic in the novel is not exaggerated. It really is that bad, with or without random cars possessed by the spirit of a video game cartridge.
If you know a little bit about Atari and it's flagship games, and the history of the system and the fiasco surrounding ET The Extra-Terrestrial, you will score bonus points with this book, and be rewarded with extra laughs.
There are a lot of laughs to be had in this book. I used up most of my laugh points. (Okay, I'll stop). The reason I took off one star from the score was the needless repetition. The main character is stitched together from a laundry list of neuroses, some of which require him to constantly rely on whisper videos to soothe his aching phobias and crippling self-doubt. Ample backstory is offered to support this eccentricity, but Jimmy's behavior, no matter how believable, was annoying to witness much of the time. The side characters are also quirky, and somewhat offensive. But sensitive readers need not bother reading bizarro fiction. The humor in this piece explores the darker side of humanity, but does it in a way that retains a certain innocence born of nostalgic love for pixilated pasts. Fans of retro video games may experience nostalgasm.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. It could have been longer. I would have read more. I would love to see a series. How about a 16-bit sequel? Just write one of these for each major retro system. Do it. I dare you. Can we please just get more novels incorporating video games? If you know of any more send the recommendations my way.
I will mention the author also lives in Colorado. The book is set in Denver. I live in Denver. Why do you need to know this? You don't, just realize that the depiction of Denver traffic in the novel is not exaggerated. It really is that bad, with or without random cars possessed by the spirit of a video game cartridge.
If you know a little bit about Atari and it's flagship games, and the history of the system and the fiasco surrounding ET The Extra-Terrestrial, you will score bonus points with this book, and be rewarded with extra laughs.
There are a lot of laughs to be had in this book. I used up most of my laugh points. (Okay, I'll stop). The reason I took off one star from the score was the needless repetition. The main character is stitched together from a laundry list of neuroses, some of which require him to constantly rely on whisper videos to soothe his aching phobias and crippling self-doubt. Ample backstory is offered to support this eccentricity, but Jimmy's behavior, no matter how believable, was annoying to witness much of the time. The side characters are also quirky, and somewhat offensive. But sensitive readers need not bother reading bizarro fiction. The humor in this piece explores the darker side of humanity, but does it in a way that retains a certain innocence born of nostalgic love for pixilated pasts. Fans of retro video games may experience nostalgasm.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. It could have been longer. I would have read more. I would love to see a series. How about a 16-bit sequel? Just write one of these for each major retro system. Do it. I dare you. Can we please just get more novels incorporating video games? If you know of any more send the recommendations my way.
February 23, 2017
review to come
November 24, 2013
This might come off as too much complaining, so let me say at the top - I really enjoyed this book. It had all the elements I hope to encounter in a weird book, it was pretty well written, there were one or two truly funny moments that took it from being a book to being a memorable book.
High concept is harder to pull off than some people think. The concept is only 1/3 of the whole. You need a strong, interesting concept to pull a reader to a book, and Billings has that here: old Atari games buried in the radioactive Nevada desert form into one giant cartridge that attacks Denver, and turns the city into a large video game that our hero, Jimmy has to beat to save the day. That's a really good setup, yeah?
The next piece is character. If you don't have an interesting character that I can root for (or against, depending) then your concept is only going to carry the book so far. At some point, my interest will wane because there are no stakes for me the reader if there are no stakes for the character. If it's thinly-drawn caricatures of people bouncing around in this conceptual world, I'm not hanging around for long. Again, Billings nails this as well. Jimmy is a former video game prodigy from the 80s who now works in a Chuck E. Cheese. He listens to YouTube whisper videos to soothe him while he cleans vomit from the play tube. Life sucks for him. And then the Atari game attacks, and he seems to be the only one who gets what's going on, and the only one who can save the day. High-five to Billings here for a uniquely odd character that drew me in and made me care about what was at stake for him.
The final piece of the puzzle, when you have a great concept and an engaging character, is to do something with them. Give them a story. This is where the complaint comes in. Billings was so, so close here. There is a good story, but I just feel like it could have been a little better. The Atari cartridge jumps from one game to the next as Jimmy defeats each level - Centipede to Frogger to Space Invaders to, finally, Donkey Kong. There's a lot of rich material to work with here, but for some reason, Jimmy doesn't get to do a whole lot with it. He doesn't even technically beat the Frogger part himself, but instead becomes a spectator for a few pages. And then the final Donkey Kong sequence is basically about 2 1/2 pages long. We barely get into Jimmy's biggest hero moment, and then it's gone.
That's my only complaint, and I suppose it's also praise for Billings's little book. I wanted more. I didn't want to breeze through it so fast. She has the essentials that make a great high-concept story, but at 70 pages, we don't get to spend nearly enough time in this world. I don't know if it's ironic or hypocritical of me to make this complaint, considering my own history, but there it is. Billings left me wanting more, and I look forward to finding more from her. 8-Bit Apocalypse is a great, little book that I recommend to anyone, gamer or not, because it has all the elements of a good story. I had fun here, and if this is indicative of the quality of all the NBAS books this year, then you'll want to get your hands on all of them. Bravo, Amanda.
High concept is harder to pull off than some people think. The concept is only 1/3 of the whole. You need a strong, interesting concept to pull a reader to a book, and Billings has that here: old Atari games buried in the radioactive Nevada desert form into one giant cartridge that attacks Denver, and turns the city into a large video game that our hero, Jimmy has to beat to save the day. That's a really good setup, yeah?
The next piece is character. If you don't have an interesting character that I can root for (or against, depending) then your concept is only going to carry the book so far. At some point, my interest will wane because there are no stakes for me the reader if there are no stakes for the character. If it's thinly-drawn caricatures of people bouncing around in this conceptual world, I'm not hanging around for long. Again, Billings nails this as well. Jimmy is a former video game prodigy from the 80s who now works in a Chuck E. Cheese. He listens to YouTube whisper videos to soothe him while he cleans vomit from the play tube. Life sucks for him. And then the Atari game attacks, and he seems to be the only one who gets what's going on, and the only one who can save the day. High-five to Billings here for a uniquely odd character that drew me in and made me care about what was at stake for him.
The final piece of the puzzle, when you have a great concept and an engaging character, is to do something with them. Give them a story. This is where the complaint comes in. Billings was so, so close here. There is a good story, but I just feel like it could have been a little better. The Atari cartridge jumps from one game to the next as Jimmy defeats each level - Centipede to Frogger to Space Invaders to, finally, Donkey Kong. There's a lot of rich material to work with here, but for some reason, Jimmy doesn't get to do a whole lot with it. He doesn't even technically beat the Frogger part himself, but instead becomes a spectator for a few pages. And then the final Donkey Kong sequence is basically about 2 1/2 pages long. We barely get into Jimmy's biggest hero moment, and then it's gone.
That's my only complaint, and I suppose it's also praise for Billings's little book. I wanted more. I didn't want to breeze through it so fast. She has the essentials that make a great high-concept story, but at 70 pages, we don't get to spend nearly enough time in this world. I don't know if it's ironic or hypocritical of me to make this complaint, considering my own history, but there it is. Billings left me wanting more, and I look forward to finding more from her. 8-Bit Apocalypse is a great, little book that I recommend to anyone, gamer or not, because it has all the elements of a good story. I had fun here, and if this is indicative of the quality of all the NBAS books this year, then you'll want to get your hands on all of them. Bravo, Amanda.
January 16, 2014
This was a cool book. I really liked it because it combined the Atari gaming culture of my youth with the cellphone culture of my adulthood. You don’t have to know a lot about gaming, or I guess early gaming, to like this book but it does add to the experience.
For those of you who want to read this book but don’t know that much about Atari games and/or competitive gaming in general I recommend watching “The King of Kong”. Actually anybody who hasn’t seen “The King of Kong” should watch it. It’s funny and the ‘bad guy’ is a total jagoff.
Read this book, watch “The King of Kong” and get your game on.
For those of you who want to read this book but don’t know that much about Atari games and/or competitive gaming in general I recommend watching “The King of Kong”. Actually anybody who hasn’t seen “The King of Kong” should watch it. It’s funny and the ‘bad guy’ is a total jagoff.
Read this book, watch “The King of Kong” and get your game on.
December 11, 2013
Pleasantly surprised by the quality of Billing's first novel, a nice addition to the bizarro genre. I know it's become a bit of a fad to be into retro gaming, but she brings feelings of warmth and bitter rejection to a subject usually relegated to the fuzzy, empty emotion of nostalgia. Bizarro as a genre definitely has a lack of feeling for the characters - after all, in a world where rules don't exist, it can be difficult to grasp onto any memory or piece of fact to become attached to. Yet I felt Jimmy, although generic and somewhat passive, to be a likeable, well-rounded and quirky character.
My gripe is that the climax was a mere two pages, which may have more to do with page requirements than anything else, as I know Eraserhead Press favors shorter works. Still, I look forward to seeing more from Billings in the future, and this was one of my favorite books of 2013.
My gripe is that the climax was a mere two pages, which may have more to do with page requirements than anything else, as I know Eraserhead Press favors shorter works. Still, I look forward to seeing more from Billings in the future, and this was one of my favorite books of 2013.
October 13, 2014
Ha! 8-Bit Apocalypse is kind of amazing. Unique concept, a loser as the hero (and who hasn't felt like a loser-at-life at some point or another and imagined themselves as the epic hero instead?), and overflowing with humor. I laughed a lot while reading, out loud and without shame, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
There are problems, namely the extremely short climactic scene at the end. Another reviewer mentioned this and I have to agree: the most important part of the book, the bit that throws the final punch, is only about three pages long. More time was spent establishing Jimmy as a loser than focusing on him being a heroic loser. And if I can be technically picky for a second, a better copy-editor would've been a good idea. Typos, missing periods, and several missing words like 'the' and 'a' should've been caught before going to print.
Overall this is a great read, one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys something a little bit different from the bestseller lists and usual recommendations. Quick and amusing, definitely worth the time.
There are problems, namely the extremely short climactic scene at the end. Another reviewer mentioned this and I have to agree: the most important part of the book, the bit that throws the final punch, is only about three pages long. More time was spent establishing Jimmy as a loser than focusing on him being a heroic loser. And if I can be technically picky for a second, a better copy-editor would've been a good idea. Typos, missing periods, and several missing words like 'the' and 'a' should've been caught before going to print.
Overall this is a great read, one I would recommend to anyone who enjoys something a little bit different from the bestseller lists and usual recommendations. Quick and amusing, definitely worth the time.
March 6, 2014
Jimmy Toledo is a guy who knows what he likes: whisper videos (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define...), vac beds, the women of the Korean nail salon by the food court and competitive gaming. He also cleans up puke at Chuck E. Cheese's for a living. Form a line, ladies!
When that long rumored mass grave of ET Atari cartridges becomes radioactive, we see trains become giant centipedes and characters have to act out Frogger by crossing traffic.
Amanda made extensive use of the run-on sentence in this, her debut effort, but it never came across as anything other than a humorous plot device.
Example: "There's a giant Atari cartridge and it's crushing dogs and pigeons and shaking the ground and people are kind of screaming but also taking pictures of the whole thing with their phones!!!!"
Every NBAS (New Bizarro Authors Series) offering this year seems to have one core strength going for it. I'm going to say that Amanda's strength is the ability to craft great action scenes. It couldn't have hurt to work with Bradley Sands as Editor for this one. She also has a knack for presenting strange subcultures and fascinations in a palatable way.
I wasn't crazy about the ending, only because I felt like there was some more mileage left to wring out of the plot. But the New Bizarro Authors Series isn't about writing your magnum opus, it's about exhibition, showing us what ya got.
When that long rumored mass grave of ET Atari cartridges becomes radioactive, we see trains become giant centipedes and characters have to act out Frogger by crossing traffic.
Amanda made extensive use of the run-on sentence in this, her debut effort, but it never came across as anything other than a humorous plot device.
Example: "There's a giant Atari cartridge and it's crushing dogs and pigeons and shaking the ground and people are kind of screaming but also taking pictures of the whole thing with their phones!!!!"
Every NBAS (New Bizarro Authors Series) offering this year seems to have one core strength going for it. I'm going to say that Amanda's strength is the ability to craft great action scenes. It couldn't have hurt to work with Bradley Sands as Editor for this one. She also has a knack for presenting strange subcultures and fascinations in a palatable way.
I wasn't crazy about the ending, only because I felt like there was some more mileage left to wring out of the plot. But the New Bizarro Authors Series isn't about writing your magnum opus, it's about exhibition, showing us what ya got.
December 27, 2014
I'm old enough to have had an Atari as a child. It was probably more my older brother's. He did play Centipede and Space Invaders and I'd watch him.
Anyhow, This book would be good for those who are all nostalgic for Atari games or into video games in general. The story is about poor, currently loser-ish Jimmy. As an adult, he works at Chuck E. Cheese's, and fantasizes about Korean women and water massages, and listens to youtube whisper videos to calm himself down.
(Jimmy had potential as a child. He could've been a winner and the first person to ever finish Donkey Kong!)
Then some radioactive atari games rise up and start attacking. Only Jimmy seems to know what to do.
It's a strongly written book, and I did enjoy reading about Jimmy. It otherwise just wasn't my thing.
Anyhow, This book would be good for those who are all nostalgic for Atari games or into video games in general. The story is about poor, currently loser-ish Jimmy. As an adult, he works at Chuck E. Cheese's, and fantasizes about Korean women and water massages, and listens to youtube whisper videos to calm himself down.
(Jimmy had potential as a child. He could've been a winner and the first person to ever finish Donkey Kong!)
Then some radioactive atari games rise up and start attacking. Only Jimmy seems to know what to do.
It's a strongly written book, and I did enjoy reading about Jimmy. It otherwise just wasn't my thing.
February 20, 2014
Of course this was going to be the first NBAS book I read this year! A fellow lady with a love for video game culture? Hells yes. All the way.
8-Bit was fast paced, which is awesome, because Billings got to pack a lot of action and hilarity into a short novella. Jimmy was such a fun character I wanted more of him and the narrative that followed his pathetic life. Billings doesn't shy away from anything, which just makes this even more awesome.
Billings, I can't wait for your next book.
8-Bit was fast paced, which is awesome, because Billings got to pack a lot of action and hilarity into a short novella. Jimmy was such a fun character I wanted more of him and the narrative that followed his pathetic life. Billings doesn't shy away from anything, which just makes this even more awesome.
Billings, I can't wait for your next book.
December 14, 2013
Jimmy is a loser. Stuck in a dead-end job at Chuck E. Cheese, he constantly listens to whisper videos on his phone to soothe his crippling social anxiety while he cleans vomit out of the play tubes. Then the apocalypse happens. A giant mutated Atari cartridge begins attacking Denver by bringing classic games to life, such as Centipede, Frogger, and Space Invaders (although “E.T.” is absent because that game was so horrible that the cartridge would likely self-destruct; seriously, it's a cancer!). Now it's up to Jimmy, who is the only one who has figured out what's going on and knows how to play the games in order to stop the apocalypse.
This is the story behind 8-Bit Apocalypse by Amanda Billings, part of this year's New Bizarro Authors Series. This is always a fun series and I look forward to it every year because it brings us new and experimental voices in fiction, and it's always interesting to see what stories new authors can come up with and how they choose to tell those stories.
In 8-Bit Apocalypse, Jimmy is a very flawed but identifiable character. The reader can easily feel sorry for him and can root for him, although at times one might feel like they want to reach into the page and slap some sense into him. In that case, the novella length of this book is probably a good thing, as a character like Jimmy would have a very difficult time carrying a full-length novel. Most of the other characters are fairly two-dimensional and tend to simply stand there taking video of the events with their phones, but they don't need more characterization for the purposes of the story. This is Jimmy's story, and the other characters are there merely to give something for Jimmy to play off of.
The story is decent, if a a bit inconsistent. The action tends to get a little jerky and doesn't have the smoothest of flows, but then again most of the action takes place within living Atari games, so this smoothness is relative. The ending seems very anticlimactic at first glance. But when one thinks about it (and it's also explained within the text), it's actually the most appropriate ending one can be given with this kind of a story and its theme.
I know that 8-bit anything is trendy right now, but it has a soft spot in my heart because I grew up in the age of Atari. Those games were simple yet had a certain elegance that stuck with the players and are remembered fondly to this day. 8-Bit Apocalypse is similar. The characters aren't complicated, and neither is the plot (there's not really any mystery or anything unanswered), and even seems a little by-the-book. At the same time, this gives the book a simple elegance that manages to stick with the reader for a while after they finish. Whether this will still be remembered fondly 30 years from now like the Atari games referenced within remains to be seen. But the book is simple yet satisfying in its own way, providing a solid story and characters that provide a modern literary look down an electronic memory lane.
8-Bit Apocalypse earns 3.5 whisper videos out of 5.
This is the story behind 8-Bit Apocalypse by Amanda Billings, part of this year's New Bizarro Authors Series. This is always a fun series and I look forward to it every year because it brings us new and experimental voices in fiction, and it's always interesting to see what stories new authors can come up with and how they choose to tell those stories.
In 8-Bit Apocalypse, Jimmy is a very flawed but identifiable character. The reader can easily feel sorry for him and can root for him, although at times one might feel like they want to reach into the page and slap some sense into him. In that case, the novella length of this book is probably a good thing, as a character like Jimmy would have a very difficult time carrying a full-length novel. Most of the other characters are fairly two-dimensional and tend to simply stand there taking video of the events with their phones, but they don't need more characterization for the purposes of the story. This is Jimmy's story, and the other characters are there merely to give something for Jimmy to play off of.
The story is decent, if a a bit inconsistent. The action tends to get a little jerky and doesn't have the smoothest of flows, but then again most of the action takes place within living Atari games, so this smoothness is relative. The ending seems very anticlimactic at first glance. But when one thinks about it (and it's also explained within the text), it's actually the most appropriate ending one can be given with this kind of a story and its theme.
I know that 8-bit anything is trendy right now, but it has a soft spot in my heart because I grew up in the age of Atari. Those games were simple yet had a certain elegance that stuck with the players and are remembered fondly to this day. 8-Bit Apocalypse is similar. The characters aren't complicated, and neither is the plot (there's not really any mystery or anything unanswered), and even seems a little by-the-book. At the same time, this gives the book a simple elegance that manages to stick with the reader for a while after they finish. Whether this will still be remembered fondly 30 years from now like the Atari games referenced within remains to be seen. But the book is simple yet satisfying in its own way, providing a solid story and characters that provide a modern literary look down an electronic memory lane.
8-Bit Apocalypse earns 3.5 whisper videos out of 5.
October 7, 2014
This is a book for me.
A giant Atari cartridge attacks Denver, and it's up to Jimmy, a former child-prodigy video game contestant-turned Chuck E. Cheese employee, to get to the kill screen and save the world.
This is a solid book. It doesn't read like a first book by a young author. There's strong social commentary, on how we view tragedies in today's connected world. It's wildly entertaining and funny as hell. Jimmy is a sympathetic character, and we actualy feel bad about his sad existence.
The climax was a bit short for me, left me wanting more. But I guess this could be viewed as a compliment.
This is a great book, and Mrs. Billings will surely be a great addition to the Eraserhead Press's roster.
A giant Atari cartridge attacks Denver, and it's up to Jimmy, a former child-prodigy video game contestant-turned Chuck E. Cheese employee, to get to the kill screen and save the world.
This is a solid book. It doesn't read like a first book by a young author. There's strong social commentary, on how we view tragedies in today's connected world. It's wildly entertaining and funny as hell. Jimmy is a sympathetic character, and we actualy feel bad about his sad existence.
The climax was a bit short for me, left me wanting more. But I guess this could be viewed as a compliment.
This is a great book, and Mrs. Billings will surely be a great addition to the Eraserhead Press's roster.
September 17, 2017
A mutated Atari cartridge arrives to the city and destroys the world, with only a loser and former video game champion being the hope for humanity. The lead is relatable, the story is insane and fans of retro gaming will get a kick out of all the references. Short and sweet, and way better than that Pixels movie.
April 4, 2014
I did enjoy this novel but it suffered greatly from the super short length. The protagonist is very much like the protagonist of an 8-Bit video game, which is to say that he has a back story and some great action sequences but that's about it. I think this is an intentional move and I admired the cleverness of it but unlike an 8-Bit video games character I couldn't really imagine being in his place and found it difficult to get too invested in him.
The idea of the book is basically the same as the one from Futurama's Anthology of Interest II and has some cross over with Ernest Cline's Ready Player One. However, unlike the previous two efforts, 8-Bit Apocalypse has little of the sensation of what it feels like to be an arcade junkie or the culture of gaming that surrounds it. You get the impression she was inspired to write the book by watching King of Kong but did little other research in to the subject other than the odd Wikipedia. For that reason I was a little disappointed in the book. When a premise has been done before as well as Futurama did it then the author really needed to bring something fresh to the make up.
On the plus side, Billings can write a bit and some of her description is excellent. I also very much enjoyed the device of Korean women living in the protagonist's mind, though it had scope to create a lot more conflict than it did. I'd like to see Billings tackle something a bit longer: 8-Bit is too much action and not enough character for my tastes. Additionally, I felt that the sex scene was tacked in to the book simply to make it more bizarro and it wasted time that would have been better spent on the story.
The idea of the book is basically the same as the one from Futurama's Anthology of Interest II and has some cross over with Ernest Cline's Ready Player One. However, unlike the previous two efforts, 8-Bit Apocalypse has little of the sensation of what it feels like to be an arcade junkie or the culture of gaming that surrounds it. You get the impression she was inspired to write the book by watching King of Kong but did little other research in to the subject other than the odd Wikipedia. For that reason I was a little disappointed in the book. When a premise has been done before as well as Futurama did it then the author really needed to bring something fresh to the make up.
On the plus side, Billings can write a bit and some of her description is excellent. I also very much enjoyed the device of Korean women living in the protagonist's mind, though it had scope to create a lot more conflict than it did. I'd like to see Billings tackle something a bit longer: 8-Bit is too much action and not enough character for my tastes. Additionally, I felt that the sex scene was tacked in to the book simply to make it more bizarro and it wasted time that would have been better spent on the story.
April 20, 2014
I really liked the idea behind this book and the writing was solid throughout. Jimmy, the protagonist, had a great backstory (his actual childhood was real shitty, but readers get a strong picture of his character). And Billings keeps on weaving two Korean women and a female Russian whisperer into Jimmy's thoughts and that worked really well.
What bothered me about the book was the blatant bent against technology. In a way, the characters in 8-Bit Apocalypse reminded me of the scene from God Bless America where one of the movie goers gets killed for filming the carnage before him. (If you haven't seen that movie, sorry...) At times, this was quite comical. But other times the technology felt forced.
But overall, I enjoyed this book. The writing was solid and the plot was entertaining. I'd give it a 3.5/5 if only Goodreads allowed.
What bothered me about the book was the blatant bent against technology. In a way, the characters in 8-Bit Apocalypse reminded me of the scene from God Bless America where one of the movie goers gets killed for filming the carnage before him. (If you haven't seen that movie, sorry...) At times, this was quite comical. But other times the technology felt forced.
But overall, I enjoyed this book. The writing was solid and the plot was entertaining. I'd give it a 3.5/5 if only Goodreads allowed.
July 18, 2014
Billings is absolutely one of the wittiest and most insightful authors to publish in the entire New Bizarro Author Series. The book is an extremely funny collection of awkward moments and geek culture. If you have a fond spot for 80s video games, then this is something you should check out.
I've got the same small gripe about this book that I have with all of Bradley Sands' choices for the NBAS, which is that it is not actually weird. It's another comedy--a great comedy with some quasi-sci-fi tropes--but it doesn't strike me as Bizarro. Luckily for Billings, she's an amazing author who can find success wherever she may choose to market her work.
So this is more clever than weird, but a very fun read with well crafted prose. It can only spell great things to come from this author.
I've got the same small gripe about this book that I have with all of Bradley Sands' choices for the NBAS, which is that it is not actually weird. It's another comedy--a great comedy with some quasi-sci-fi tropes--but it doesn't strike me as Bizarro. Luckily for Billings, she's an amazing author who can find success wherever she may choose to market her work.
So this is more clever than weird, but a very fun read with well crafted prose. It can only spell great things to come from this author.
April 1, 2016
When an Atari cartridge begins creating large scale recreations of classic games, killing thousands in the process, it's up to a loser to save the day. Billings' novel introduces us to Jimmy who's at the end of his rope when the chaos breaks loose and his childhood gaming obsession is called upon to fight through the Atari attacks. A thoroughly entertaining read, with references that it doesn't take a die-hard gamer to catch. The only downside is the ending feels a bit rushed, otherwise a very strong bizarro novel from Amanda Billings.
May 7, 2014
Fantastic book.
Billings has a finger on the pulse of modern times, but also knows how to kick it old school. The pop culture references in this book are spot on, and when you look behind their hilarious and ingeniously used instances, you can see how the author uses them to make comments about society today.
This is a killer debut and a great example of good bizarro storytelling.
Billings has a finger on the pulse of modern times, but also knows how to kick it old school. The pop culture references in this book are spot on, and when you look behind their hilarious and ingeniously used instances, you can see how the author uses them to make comments about society today.
This is a killer debut and a great example of good bizarro storytelling.
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