It’s an extremely small Hollywood world after all where Max Brooks’ new Minecraft novel is concerned. As Brooks (World War Z) tweeted recently, Sean Astin is doing the audio version of Minecraft: The Mountain. It’s always notable when you can listen to Samwise Gamgee narrate a new book, but there are levels upon levels to this one. Astin and Brooks went to high school together, which is one thing, but take it back a generation and you have this complicated sentence: the son of Patty Duke and John Astin narrates the audiobook of a novel by the son of Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks.
Are you dizzy? I’m dizzy. Duke and Bancroft also starred in The Miracle Worker together. There are probably more connections. That’s how it works.
Brooks and Astin were both extremely cheery about this convergence of the fates:
Ohmygod, @SeanAstin is doing the voice for the audio version of my new book, Minecraft: The Mountain!
Preorder: https://t.co/oH69bBu8uK#MaxBrooksMinecraft #MinecraftTheMountain @PRHAudio @DelReyBooks @Minecraft pic.twitter.com/EZBGV5omL1
— Max Brooks (@maxbrooksauthor) February 18, 2021
When you go to High School with someone who becomes a living legend & they write a rip roaring & deeply moving book & you get the chance to perform the audio version…well, all is right in the Minecraft world!!!! #MaxBrooksMinecraft #MinecraftTheMountain
@PHRAudio@Minecraft https://t.co/tXqxMg0QV9— Sean Astin (@SeanAstin) February 19, 2021
Minecraft: The Mountain is Brooks’ second Minecraft novel for Del Rey, which has a whole handful of Minecraft novels by intriguingly chosen authors (including Mur Lafferty, Catherynne M. Valente, and Nicky Drayden). Here’s the synopsis:
In the new official Minecraft novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Minecraft: The Island, a stranded hero stumbles upon another castaway—and discovers that teamwork might just be the secret to survival.
Wandering a vast, icy tundra, the explorer has never felt more alone. Is there anything out here? Did I do the right thing by leaving the safety of my island? Should I give up and go back? So many questions, and no time to ponder—not when dark is falling and dangerous mobs are on the horizon.
Gurgling zombies and snarling wolves lurk in the night, and they’re closing in. With nowhere to hide, the lone traveler flees up a mountain, trapped and out of options… until a mysterious figure arrives, fighting off the horde singlehandedly. The unexpected savior is Summer, a fellow castaway and master of survival in these frozen wastes.
Excited to find another person in this strange, blocky world, the explorer teams up with Summer, whose impressive mountain fortress as a safe haven . . . for now. But teamwork is a new skill for two people used to working alone. If they want to make it home, they will have to learn to work together—or risk losing everything.
Minecraft: The Mountain is available March 2nd.
