by Kris Schnee
Most of the series can be read in any order, and there are many characters whose plotlines overlap. The books also vary in how much "game stuff" there is, versus real-world events. To help you decide which might interest you next, here's a list:
The Main Plot
-Virtual Horizon: The rise of Ludo and Thousand Tales.
-Liberation Game: The parallel story of an AI-friendly colony in Central America. Focuses on the real world.
The Crafter's Story
-Crafter's Passion and Crafter's Heart: Two volumes about handyman Stan, adventuring in and out of the game.
Further Adventures
-The Digital Coyote: A story of mind editing and intrigue, with plenty of in-game adventure.
-Thousand Tales: Learning To Fly: All about a silly virtual war within Talespace, and why it matters.
-Queen of Nowhere: A very game-focused story about a girl from 2020 who's revived in 2040 and plays in Talespace's space area.
-Freelance Minion: An early player, in 2035, helps create Ludo's social network. Mixes real and game adventures. Expected publication in 2020.
The Side Stories
-Thousand Tales: Side Quests: Short stories from many perspectives, about what happens behind the scenes during "Virtual Horizon".
-Thousand Tales: Extra Lives: More stories of the Game. Free!
Other Tales
-Fairwind's Fortune: Set in 2038, about a devoted player and a tough choice involving uploading.
-2040: Reconnection, and The Great Sage: Two side-stories involving a schoolteacher turned magic adventurer.
Finally, See "Tower of Sol" for something like the bad future that Linda imagined, and the upcoming "The Dream of Aveire" for one possible good future where humanity's descendants take to the stars.
Those familiar with the series may wonder about the book "Thousand Tales: How We Won the Game". I disliked how that story jumped around between so many POVs, so I took that book offline and split it. The book you're reading now is the core plotline of Paul and Linda, massively expanded and revised. (I kept thinking of more and more things to add, including a scene inspired by the cool cover art.) "Thousand Tales: Side Quests" is the other stories from that original book, plus new ones that highlight the Game's early days and some later fun stuff. So "Side Quests" doesn't have a single protagonist, although it does have a recurring thread about the Green Sage.
If you're interested in the game-like aspects of this setting, there is a whole community of readers and writers for that. See "LitRPG/GameLit" on Reddit, Discord and so on, along with a site called Royal Road. Here are several groups devoted to the subject, and another on the next page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGsociety/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPG.books/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/GameLitSociety/
https://www.reddit.com/r/litrpg/
To learn more about LitRPG, talk to authors including myself, and just have an awesome time, please join the LitRPG Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPGGroup/
Thousand Tales Timeline
There are many stories in this setting. Here's a big-picture view of what's happening. The current "main" stories span the period from 2034 to 2040. Book names are shown in [brackets].
2020s
-Invention of "Tier-II" AIs, comparable to animals.
-Political turmoil. The USA divides, creating the "American Free States". The new AFS annexes Cuba. Korea re-unifies. China has a revolution. (No specific US politicians or parties are ever blamed.)
-Establishment of Castor, a sea-surface colony near Cuba. [Everyone's Island] is not quite canon, but close to how it happened.
2035
[Freelance Minion]
-Invention of "Tier-III" AIs, comparable to human intelligence. One of several inventors of this technology, Alain "Blue" Delune, had open-sourced much of his code.
-Release of the video game "Thousand Tales". Its creators are known as the Three Sages, including famous AI designer "Blue", industrial hardware designer Clark "Green" Ostler, and artist Emi "Red" Takahashi. Full activation of the game's master AI, Ludo.
-Secret research partnership between Ludo and a rich Saudi noble.
-Ramon "Remora" Amanecer is an early player who uses Ludo's expanding social network to thwart a kidnapping.
2036
[Virtual Horizon, Liberation Game]
-Creation of a group of 108 human-level ("Tier-III") AIs for select players of Thousand Tales.
-Brain uploading technology is invented, granting a form of immortality to its users. The technique is extremely expensive.
-Terror attack on a Tales themed nightclub. Green flees and uploads. Blue goes to work for the American (US) NSA. Red is kidnapped by the Chinese.
-The Kira Incident, the death of an innocent girl, helps get uploading more widely accepted.
-Paul "Horizon" Kostakis becomes an early uploader and co-founder of the Knights of Talespace, an in-game police/moderator group.
-Cibola, a Central American nation, hosts a Mormon colony affiliated with Ludo. Its co-director Robin MacAdam kills a local rebel warlord and grows in power.
2037
-More AIs are created, but far fewer than there are human players. They don't have quite the same social status as the "Originals".
-Uploading technology gets open-sourced, so that competing firms can start offering it.
-Rumors of the NSA and China possessing powerful "Tier-IV" AIs called FAE and Jade Dragon, comparable in intelligence to Ludo.
-Experimental cybernetic "awakening" of animals using AI. The creatures are too young and few to have much influence for years.
2038
[Crafter's Passion, Fairwind's Fortune]
-The Hundredfold Experiment, a test of accelerated brain time, leads to more optimized uploading systems and falling costs.
-Stan Cooper, teenage handyman, rebels against a "social credit" system and goes to work for Ludo.
-Gail "Fairwind" Schonluft wins a lottery and moves to the AFS with her new boyfriend, who works for the Knights of Talespace.
2039
[Crafter's Heart, The Digital Coyote]
-"Blue" Delune is rescued from the US in the form of a flawed brain upload.
-Growth of the Ludic Order, a Ludo-worshipping cult that the AI disavows.
-Grand Exposition of a Thousand Tales, in Cuba, shows off the group's organization and technology.
-Coordinated terror attack on Ludo's facilities worldwide, fought off with several deaths and explosions. FAE, an AI rival to Ludo, is blamed.
-Cibola colony declares independence as a small AI-friendly nation, Silver Circle.
-Major price drop for uploading; new piecemeal technique also available to address philosophical problems.
-Political operative Pete "Sunset" Timaeus uploads to overcome crippling shyness and leave his crooked boss.
2040
[Learning To Fly, Queen Of Nowhere, 2040: Reconnection, The Great Sage]
-Andre "Sky Diver" Vasquez uploads after an airplane flight turns deadly.
-The Troll War, a silly conflict in the magical realm of Hoofland, helps set new social rules for Talespace that encourage out-of-game interaction.
-Susumu "Pip" Yamayuchi becomes the first person uploaded from a brain in long-term frozen storage. She tries to adjust to the world of 2040 after her death in 2020.
-Schoolteacher Alma manages to afford uploading, becoming part of a relatively middle-class wave. She pushes for the use of uploading to fix mental problems and provide quality education.
-The Great Taste Project, a research program, is finally completed. The senses of smell and taste within Talespace are greatly improved, ending a longstanding complaint.
-Sunset connives his way into effectively neutralizing FAE and allying with the Chinese AI called Jade Dragon. Ludo estimates a much more optimistic view of the future starting now.
-"Red" Takahashi is rescued from Ch
ina, reuniting the Three Sages at last.
-Launch of the Challenger asteroid-mining probe, carrying AI and uploader crew beyond Earth.
-Thousand Tales' uploader count reaches 100,000, but some have left and other people have used competing systems.
About the Author
Kris Schnee has been a parrot trainer, an MIT graduate, a zoo intern, a lawyer, a game designer, and most recently a software developer. He lives in Florida.
Galleries:
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Kris-Schnee/e/B00IY1HDDY/
http://kschnee.deviantart.com
http://kschnee.xepher.net
Discord (Snow#5044)
Twitter: @KrisSchnee
Mail: kschnee at xepher.net
Interested in hearing about new books by the author, and commentary on writing and world-building? Sign up for a mailing list at http://eepurl.com/cRvqWH.
The Crafter Series
Crafter's Passion
Crafter's Heart
The Thousand Tales Series
Virtual Horizon
Thousand Tales: Extra Lives
Liberation Game
Fairwind's Fortune
The Digital Coyote
Thousand Tales: Side Quests
Thousand Tales: Learning To Fly
Queen Of Nowhere: A LitRPG Adventure
2040: Reconnection
Thousand Tales: The Great Sage
Freelance Minion (coming 2020)
Also By Kris Schnee
Everyone's Island
Striking the Root
Dragon Fate: Interactive Fiction
Perspective Flip
Mythic Transformations
Tales of Kitsune
Fateweaver's Quest
Striking Chains
God In a Bottle: Stories Of Exploration
Tower of Sol: A GameLit Novella
The Dream of Aveire (coming 2020)
