Rating: 
Summary: Excellent antecedent to "MYST -- The Book of Atrus"
Review: Co-Author David Wingrove has done a first class job developing some fictitious people into a living, breathing civilization, complete with its own customs, government, recreation, language, and all else that can be expected of a culture. Since the best selling CD-Rom video game "MYST" was released in 1993 two novels have been published, "MYST -- The Book of Atrus," and "MYST -- The Book of Ti'ana." Each novel has penetrated deeper into the MYSTerious chronicles of the ancient D'ni culture. The latter of these books, "MYST -- The Book of Ti'ana" examines the D'ni in a more involved look through the eyes of the first outsider to visit the D'ni, Anna, and exposes what brought a once powerful nation to a rash and senseless destruction. Mr. Wingrove brings topics to light such as, friendship, connivance, betrayal, and love. "MYST -- The Book of Ti'ana" decked with rich and vivid descriptions, distinct and well-developed characters, and a plot as intricate as a well-made piece of lace, made it a challenge to set down. "The Book of Ti'ana" proves t be an important corner piece to the involved puzzle of MYST. This book goes highly recommended
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing and very hard to put down.
Review: Did you ever wish you could step into the world of MYST without solving puzzles that vex your brain and try your patience? Well, now you can. This book is your window into the world of the people of D'ni through the eyes of an outsider, and it is quite a compelling journey at that. For fans of the MYST series of games, this is a treat to say the least. The descriptions of excavation work are technical but not so much so that you can't picture scenes in your head or know exactly what's going on. I love the sense of awe and wonder that is present as the heroine of the story makes her journey into this ancient culture and learns it's language, customs, traditions and so on. The descriptions of the various Ages are vivid but simple enough to be beautiful to your mind without being too wordy. One great thing about this book too is the pacing. There are plenty of scenes of working with the rocks, caverns, and so on, but the book never drags. Throw in a very engaging plot of the dangers of change to ancient customs and the re-emergence of an old nuisance to D'ni society, and you have a sure-fire recipe for a book that is a winner. There's even elements of a very clever who-dun-it thrown in for good measure. In short this book has it all. Vivid characters you can care for, crisp pacing, tension, awe, wonder, beauty, and a real emotional effect on the reader. Take a journy back in time to the world of Myst before the games. Step into a world of wonder that is so enticing that you may wish you never had to leave. You will definitely remember this story long after you close the book. It's only too bad that there isn't a linking panel in the book itself somewhere. Peace. :)
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I am a huge Myst fan, and when I found this book at the store, I totally freaked out. I bought it, and when I started reading it, I absolutely could NOT put it down! It took me just a few short days to read it because it was so great! It's a fantastic book, and any Myst fans are sure to enjoy it.
Rating:
Summary: beautiful yet so sad...
Review: I cried myself to death when I read this story for the first time. I grew a strong love for Aitrus after reading this story. I fell in love with him and even now I still do. I loved it so much how Rand created his character as he is raised and born as a sweet, gentle, caring, and brave young D'ni. He is a lovable character even towards his own people. The rest of the D'ni hated the humans, but why not Aitrus and his parents? If only the world of D'ni wasn't so prejudiced, then what happened to the once grand and beautiful underground city would never have happened. A mistake that could've been prevented, but sadly, sadly did not. Veovis was a great villain, but when so far just because of Aitrus getting involved and in love with a human being. Why destroy the entire city just because one little mistake? The D'ni people should have destroyed A'Gaeris not exile him from the city. He is my most hated character even more than Veovis. A character that should have been destroyed a long time ago. A mistake, a truly great mistake.
All-in-All, I believe this book is still my all-time favorite. It still pains me to read it to the end as I always end up crying at the end. I feel like I am there, and that is just an amazing feeling. Aitrus will always be my most favorite character in the entire story. BoT is a worth read... I highly recommend it! Get the hardcover if you can, because it is so extremely gorgeous and the map of Aitrus is just incredible. To read the story and see how talented Aitrus is when he created the map just blew me away. I love you, Aitrus! Forever!
Rating: 
Summary: Must-read Myst
Review: I must say that, even tho I didn't enjoy this as much as The Book of Atrus, I found it mighty cool. For anyone who is interested in the Myst story then this book is essential. It took quite a bit of time to get going at the start (about 100 pages are devoted to drilling holes) and Rand Miller uses the word 'great' to describe almost everything. It gets a bit annoying. But soon enough the story picks up in pace and builds interesting and sympathetic characters, even making one of the bad guys seem justified in his actions. Some of it is superfluous but not so much that it's boring. I found the end to be a bit fast and confusing. Not enough is described and one the last page is finished you might feel like things aren't tied up so well. Though there is another book after this one. I hope that the character of Saavedro from Myst III is mentioned somewhere, tho it is cool to have a young Gehn as a character is this one. If Saavedro doesn't show up then I know I am not alone in wishing for a fourth Myst novel. I am very much looking forward to reading 'The Book of D'Ni' and I hope it lives up to this and the first. For anyone who is interested The Sci-Fi channel are making a 240 minute mini-series of Myst set for airing sometime this year. I don't know what the story is yet but I believe that either Rand or Robin Miller are executive producing. The book has only six chapters averaging about 100 pages each and has random black and white drawings sporadically scattered through-out.
Rating:
Summary: What else can I say?
Review: I played Myst. I played Riven. Myst was great. Riven was even better. Way better. I joined a mailing list on Riven, where I was pretty confused about things when they talked about the D'ni. I put in my theories, but I had no backing behind them. Everyone kept telling me to READ THE BOOKS! So I did. This one is definetely my favorite. I explains everything you would need to know about the D'ni, and more, in a format that is fun to read. Fun to read doesn't begin to describe it. I got sucked in (no, for all you Myst/Riven fans, it isn't a linking book) and I couldn't put it down. The characters are very realistic. I almost changed my mind about Gehn after I had my doubts aboiut him after playing Riven. I think they did Veois and A'Gaeris best, as characters, but the others were cool also. Definetely buy this book, is you are a Myst/Riven fan. If you aren't, buy it, and you will become one. I am still on the Riven mailing list. I am more obsessed than that, now also.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: Probably the best book out of the Myst trilogy, based on the computer games. Aitrus, and the underground society known as the D'ni that he belongs to, are trying to "dig" to the surface. Far above, in the desert, Anna lives with her father. Their two paths will cross in a strange way, for after Anna tragically loses her father, she tries to go down. She finds D'ni. The story that unfolds thereafter is complex and fascinating, and provides an invaluable backstory to the games. Part romance, part sci-fi, part fantasy, all amazing!
Rating:
Summary: INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!! (Yes, but, Ti'ana... how could you?!??)
Review: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! SPOILERS BELOW:
I was struggling to find this and book of D'ni several weeks ago and found them in a bookstore. I was so excited about it. I had book of Atrus for a very long time and it was good. Book of Ti'ana made me fell in love with Aitrus. He was my most favorite character due to his sweet personality towards Ti'ana. They were so in love until the end. The ending made me burst into tears for a whole night. That shows how much I love him. The book makes me feel like I'm actually there, side-by-side with Aitrus and Ti'ana (what a gorgeous D'ni name). This may sound stupid, but, I think when it came to Aitrus' fate, the well-written parts made me feel like I was in the middle of that situation. Watching Aitrus.... well, you find out for yourself. The ending would've been longer, though. Like when Anna "ran across" the room to get Gehn, they could've showed Gehn's grief when he finds out that his beloved father has passed on.
I never found the hardback but I will. The map! Aitrus' map I must have it.
This book is definitely worth it. With its well-written story and romance between two young people, and the struggle to survive, this book is for everyone. BUY IT! You'll love it. Veovis was an idiot. To trust A'Gaeis was stupid. I knew he would cause chaos to a city of D'ni. I felt bad for their people. But Veovis was a great villian. But got what he deserved in the ending. Handsome, yes? But crazy, too. I find Aitrus the "handsome" type. To Miller bros. and Wingrove!! Don't stop writing! Your talents will keep me going back for more!! I love you so much!!
I must collect all the Myst things. The Myst Trilogy is great! But RealMyst is going to be in my collection next!
I am looking forward to all the new Myst things coming out. Like the Book of MARRIM. I hope Rand puts this out on shelves. I will definitely buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Your link to the Myst world...
Review: The basic premise behind the entire Myst series (including the games) is this: If the universe is infinite in both time and space, then every single possible scenario, every single possible world, must have existed (or will).
IS the universe infinite? We'll never know for sure, unless we bump into some kind of boundary (in which case we'll know for sure that it's NOT infinite). But we'll never be certain that it IS infinite, because we'll always wonder if the universe ends beyond the next galaxy...
Philosophy and physics cross science fiction when you learn that there's an underground civilization, a people who refer to themselves as the "D'ni," who have found a way to visit other worlds, which they call "Ages," by writing books.
But these are no ordinary books.
Although this volume in the series does not go into much detail about the book making process, suffice it to say that it is very complicated. The result is a carefully crafted book that will magically transport you ("link" you) to the specified Age.
THIS book itself won't send you to another corner of the universe...At least not physically. But you WILL eventually become absorbed in the Myst world, if you can get past the beginning, which is really slow.
In Part I you learn about Aitrus, a young "Guildsman" working on the D'ni's latest project: making a tunnel to the surface to explore what lies above. In Part II, you learn about Anna, an intelligent geologist and surveyor living with her father on the surface. Things really start to pick up in Part III, when, as you can guess, Aitrus and Anna meet.
The rest is a rollercoaster ride that leaves you mentally breathless. I enjoyed the remainder of the book greatly and delved into it with every spare second I had. And like any good story, it left me wanting more at the end. Luckily, there was a tidbit of the next book in the series at the end, and so my departure of the fantasy world that this book had sucked me into was not so abrupt.
Aside from the occasional grammatical and spelling errors (which shouldn't bother you unless you're trained as a copy editor, as I am), this was a great read. It stirred my imagination in a way that only the greatest stories do (ahem, Lord of the Rings).
There were a couple of loose ends, like **and don't read the remainder of this paragraph if you don't want any spoilers** the suggestion that Aitrus' foe/friend/foe/friend Veovis may have had a romantic interest in Anna...
But I didn't expect this book to be particularly well written and developed anyway (again I present Lord of the Rings as a fine example of both substance and presentation). The purpose of this book is primarily to give background and depth to the games.
Ultimately, The Book of Ti'Ana is a love story, right through to the end. For all you sentimental folks, especially you sci-fi-loving girls (I know you're out there), the romantic aspect is a really nice treat.
If there was anything that touched me about this book, it was Anna's comparing her bond with Aitrus to the connecting of two Ages: "...sometimes it felt as if they were the books of each other-to which each one linked." For anyone who's ever been [or wanted to be] in love, this is a powerful metaphor, and the relationship it represents is the common thread that runs throughout this book. -K.
P.S. - If you liked this review, please rate it. I enjoy sharing my reads with others, and wouldn't mind if my reviewer ranking reflected that ;-)
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Summary: A history of the begining of the end
Review: This book gives you the story behind the story of Atrus, and the games of Myst. It takes place right around the time of the fall of D'ni. Your questions as to how such a great society fell are answered. This also brings to light the dangers of breaking with social customs which have been brought about after many years of experience and tradition. A must if you have read and enjoyed any of the other myst books or the games. This starts on the surface of earth, with Ti'Anna(Atrus's grandmother) as she is out in the desert, then finds her way to D'ni, then marries Atrius, and raises Ghen.
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