The best books for understanding virtual worlds and internet culture

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since childhood, I’ve been dazzled by the idea of virtual worlds described by pixels, first in ancient computer games, and then in novels that gave the rudimentary graphics of decades past a vivid new life—from the hallucinatory realities in Philip K. Dick’s novels to William Gibson’s Neuromancer to most of all, Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash. As a young writer, I stepped sideways into a dream assignment: Helping make the Metaverse real. After writing about it for two decades, however, I’m still learning about it now.


I wrote...

Making a Metaverse That Matters: From Snow Crash & Second Life to A Virtual World Worth Fighting For

By Wagner James Au,

Book cover of Making a Metaverse That Matters: From Snow Crash & Second Life to A Virtual World Worth Fighting For

What is my book about?

I tell the strange and inspiring true story of the Metaverse, before and after it became a high-tech media buzzword. Drawing from 20 years of writing about the topic, beginning with my time as the official virtual world embedded journalist in Second Life. I clarify the many myths and misunderstandings about the Metaverse, while explaining why it’s becoming an important part of how we experience the Internet—and how it already matters to hundreds of millions of people using platforms like Roblox, Fortnite, and VRChat. Along the way, I interview notable pioneers including Snow Crash author Neal Stephenson and Philip Rosedale—along with the quirky, amazing community members who turn pixels into a place with endless wonders.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Snow Crash

Wagner James Au Why did I love this book?

The OG Metaverse novel is still as smart, hilarious, rollicking, and inspirational as it was 30 years ago.

I’m amazed at how many technologists talking about the concept have not read it and realized how influential and prophetic it actually is, envisioning scenes of virtual life that have since become commonplace for millions of Internet denizens.

Often pigeonholed as a standard dystopian sci-fi tale, Snow Crash is too sly, satirical, and kinetic to fit that category. And reading it will clarify why so many people in tech have yearned to build something like the Metaverse for decades, even referencing it during development discussions—including me! 

By Neal Stephenson,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked Snow Crash as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The “brilliantly realized” (The New York Times Book Review) breakthrough novel from visionary author Neal Stephenson, a modern classic that predicted the metaverse and inspired generations of Silicon Valley innovators

Hiro lives in a Los Angeles where franchises line the freeway as far as the eye can see. The only relief from the sea of logos is within the autonomous city-states, where law-abiding citizens don’t dare leave their mansions.

Hiro delivers pizza to the mansions for a living, defending his pies from marauders when necessary with a matched set of samurai swords. His home is a shared 20 X 30…


Book cover of My Tiny Life: Crime and Passion in a Virtual World

Wagner James Au Why did I love this book?

Julian wrote “A Rape in Cyberspace,” a widely-discussed Village Voice article about transgression in LambdaMOO, a very early virtual world (known as a MUD, for multi-user dimension) depicted completely in text.

Expanding this story into a deeper exploration of its fascinating user community, My Tiny Life was incredibly influential to me as a very young writer—convincing me that online games and virtual worlds offered endless stories and insights into the human condition.

His book remains crucial to understanding virtual worlds. Indeed, as I write in my own book, a senior developer at Meta desperately tried to get colleagues to read it, so they didn’t repeat past mistakes. Sad to say they didn’t, and so they did.

By Julian Dibbell,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked My Tiny Life as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is the true story of a journey into LambdaMOO, a virtual Eden, where race, gender and identity were infinitely malleable and whose visitors thought they had escaped from all usual cultural limits. Until a brutal rape and ideological warfare between high and low castes brought the virtual and real worlds into seizmic collision. "LambdaMOO is a new kind of society, where thousands of people voluntarily come together from all over the world. What these people say or do may not always be to your liking; as when visiting any international city, it is wise to be careful who you…


Book cover of Postmortems: Selected Essays Volume One

Wagner James Au Why did I love this book?

A legendary online game designer who helped lead development on incredibly influential MMOs including Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies, Raph also happens to be a keen and witty writer, willing to dive deeply on what went right (and often hilariously wrong) on his many projects over a storied career.

Postmortems is a front-row seat to the practice, and the eternal paradox of trying to create an otherworldly realm while also dealing with fixities of human nature. Or as he might put it, can you make an online world set in the Star Wars universe when every player wants to be a Jedi?

By Raph Koster,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Postmortems as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Few game designers have shared as many lessons learned as Raph Koster. In a quarter-century of writings and talks, he has offered up game design lessons, online community theories, and candid self-evaluation.

This first volume of a three-book set of selected essays collects previously written postmortems and many brand new pieces. They are accompanied by historical material such as posts written for players, chat logs, speeches, design sketches, and more. The result is an inspiring historical look back at the development of virtual worlds.

These are the stories behind Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies, the story of the early…


Book cover of The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything

Wagner James Au Why did I love this book?

While many game developers have often referred to the virtual world they were building as inspired by the Metaverse of Snow Crash, the term never quite caught on outside their industry—until seasoned media executive and venture capitalist Matthew Ball came along.

Hitting the shelves exactly 30 years after Neal Stephenson’s novel was published, Matt changed all that, explaining the concept in terms that the broader business world could understand. Also highly recommended for delving into the financial and technical challenges that must be surmounted to create a fully instantiated Metaverse.

By Matthew Ball,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Metaverse as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The term "metaverse" is suddenly everywhere, from debates over Fortnite to the pages of The New York Times to the speeches of Mark Zuckerberg, who proclaimed in June 2021 that "the overarching goal" of Facebook is to "bring the metaverse to life."

But what, exactly, is the metaverse? As pioneering theorist and venture capitalist Matthew Ball explains, it is the successor to the mobile internet that has defined the last two decades. The metaverse is a persistent, 3D, virtual world-a network of interconnected experiences and devices, tools and infrastructure, far beyond mere virtual reality. And it is poised to revolutionise…


Book cover of Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet

Wagner James Au Why did I love this book?

From a certain angle, metaverse platforms are the quirkiest example of the social media revolution, where grassroots creators express themselves online to gain fans, influence, and (on the very high end) a full-time income.

Deeply and thoughtfully reported by someone who started her own journalist career in social media, Taylor’s book is a must-read on the rise of the social media revolution, from the early 2000s era of blogging (when I got my own start) to the video sharing powerhouse of TikTok—and evolving to a broader ecosystem forecast to be half a trillion dollars in value by 2027.

By Taylor Lorenz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Extremely Online as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'A terrific history of the online creator economy.' The New York Times

'This book is about a revolution. It has radically upended how we've understood and interacted with our world. It has demolished traditional barriers and empowered millions who were previously marginalized. It has created vast new sectors of our economy, while devastating legacy institutions. It is often dismissed by traditionalists as a vacant fad, when in fact it is the greatest and most disruptive change in modern capitalism.'

Acclaimed Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz presents a groundbreaking social history of the internet-revealing how online influence and the creators who…


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Price of Vengeance

By Kurt D. Springs,

Book cover of Price of Vengeance

Kurt D. Springs

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Teacher Cook Barista Guardian

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What is my book about?

Liam was orphaned at the age of two by a group of giant carnivorous insects called the chitin. Taken in by High Councilor Marcus and his wife, Lidia, Liam was raised with their older son, Randolf in New Olympia, the last remaining city on the planet Etrusci.

As an adult, Liam becomes a soldier. After being cut off from the city, Liam finds that there is an alien intelligence behind the chitin. To defeat it, he must discover who he is and how to use his powers. Then, Liam discovers that a traitor, responsible for his birth parents' deaths, had murdered his beloved foster parents. Will the price he has to pay in his quest for vengeance prove to be an even more unbeatable foe?

Price of Vengeance

By Kurt D. Springs,

What is this book about?

"From the cover to the opening pages, Price of Vengeance grabs the reader and takes them on a wild ride. Fasten your seat belts for this book." -S. J. Francis, author of Shattered Lies

What is the Price of Vengeance? One could understand why Liam was angry. He was orphaned at the age of two by a group of giant carnivorous insects called the chitin. Taken in by High Councilor Marcus and his wife, Lidia, Liam was raised with their older son, Randolf in New Olympia, the last remaining city on the planet Etrusci.

As an adult, Liam becomes a…


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