Alex: You’ve also worked on a free Marketplace map of Summer’s base.
Max Brooks: Yeah! When you go into the map, it’s way after Summer and Guy have moved on, so the mountain you’re seeing is not exactly as it was in the book. Actually, that was another huge challenge. I was two-thirds of the way through writing The Mountain and I sat down to play the game, and the whole Nether had changed, top to bottom! But instead of getting angry, I realized that was probably the greatest life lesson! When the world changes, you gotta change with it.
Alex: Just like The Island, the book is incredibly detailed.
Max Brooks: Research is very important to me in everything I do. I don’t write that many books because I have to spend years researching. With something like Minecraft, I live under the fear of someone saying, “That would never happen!” So I played thousands of hours of Minecraft, making sure the physics of the game work in the book. Plus, there are certain things that just happen in Minecraft that you could never think of on your own. In The Island, my character shoots his last arrow at a creeper and hits a bat that happens to fly by. That really happened when I was playing Minecraft!
Alex: A lot of the fun of these books comes from the way they feel so real.
Max Brooks: Yeah, and also, with everything I write I want to build trust with the reader. I want them to know that when they read one of my books, they can trust me to take them on a journey through a land that I know – that I’m their tour guide.
Alex: I enjoyed your insights into what Minecraft smells like. Netherrack, that was an eye-opener.
Max Brooks: You know, I’m very lucky to have such a wonderful editor, Sarah Peed. On the first book, she pushed me, asking what the Island feels like. What do things taste like? What does the breeze feel like on your face? What does the grass feel like under your feet? I want the book to be an immersive experience, and I thought, netherrack, it should smell sulphurous. It should smell like farts. Yeah, I said it! When you drink Night Vision, it should taste like carrot soda, tangy and bubbly and a little bite on your tongue. I wanted people to feel like they were there.
Alex: Thanks so much, Max!
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