SciFiChick.com was able to interview author James Frey to talk about his latest ambitious release – Endgame!
Can you tell us a bit about the story behind Endgame?
The book is about a game that has been prophesied and foretold for thousands of years. Generations of players have trained for it in secret. It starts when 12 asteroids slam into earth’s surface. The outcome of the game will determine the future, if any, of humanity. The story is told over the course of three novels, and a series of novellas. I hope readers find it exciting and fun, and it keeps them turning the pages to find out what happens next.
How does the associated treasure hunt work?
There are puzzles and clues built into the book. If you solve them they lead to location of a hidden key. If you find the key it opens a case filled with $500,000 dollars worth of gold.
When is the rest of the trilogy scheduled to release?
A novel will come out every October for the next three years, and there will be a series of novellas that come out in-between the release of the novels.
I read that a game and film based on the novels are coming too. Can you talk a bit about those?
Google Niantic is building an ARG and a mobile game that will allow readers and gamers to
Can readers enjoy the book without getting involved in the puzzles?
Absolutely. The first priority was writing a fun, cool, exciting book, a book that could be read and enjoyed without engaging the puzzle at all. I hope people love the characters and the story as much, if not more, than the experience of the puzzle.
If this series and multi-platform compilation is successful, do you plan to do more?
Right now I’m focused on Endgame. There’s so much work and so much planning to do. I do think that in the future, readers will see more projects like Endgame. Things like it have been discussed and debated and predicted for years, and it is inevitable that more will be created.
What’s next for you and/or Full Fathom Five besides the Endgame novels? What are the next novels on the horizon?
Full Fathom Five is doing all sorts of things. The fifth I am Number 4 novel came out and the series is rolling along. We have another Dorothy Must Die novel coming out, and our first pilot just got ordered. We’re working on some new ideas and are hoping for a great 2015!
What inspires you?
Books and movies and games and music. Readers who write to me. Things I see in the world. I always try to write and create things I wished existed in the world. Things I wish I got to experience as a reader.
Who are some of your favorite authors? What books do you love?
Henry Miller, Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Jack Kerouac. I live Tolkien, CS Lewis, George RR Martin. I just read Lev Grossman’s new book The Magician’s Land, and loved it.
What do you do when you’re not writing? In your spare time?
Hang out with kids. Ride go-karts, swim in our pool, get chased around. And I read for about an hour every night.
Thanks for your time! Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Endgame is coming!