Young adult novel inspires Minecraft map

Young adult novelist Andrea Buchanan has sanctioned a Minecraft map, available now, to recreate locales and make a meta-game that ties into her book, “Gift.”

March 28, 2012 12:30 PM5

The indie hit Minecraft has been flexible enough to support projects like machinima, but books are less charted territory. To tie in with her young adult novel Gift, author Andrea Buchanan sanctioned a special map to recreate familiar settings from the book and create a meta-game within the Minecraft framework.

The Gift map is available to download now. Players familiar with the story will recognize the locales, likely a bit more cube-based than they appeared in their imagination. The setting ranges from the real world of southern California, to the dream world, and the underworld. The goal is to find and complete the Gift Monument, by gathering wool, iron, gold, and diamond to place on it.

Chances are most of the Shacknews readership isn’t composed of 14-year-old girls, but the concept itself is unique enough to take notice. We don’t usually see novels working hand-in-hand with video games, as our medium tends to borrow more from the fields of TV shows and movies.

“As an avid Minecraft player myself, I wanted to devise a map that would be both challenging and fun to explore,” said Buchanan in the announcement. “The map’s three different worlds add a layer of complexity, while its thematic connection to the book gives it an exciting twist.”