SECOND LIFE: The First, Best Metaverse in Words and Pictures is a new book from metaverse media partner Hari Sutherland, a professional author IRL with several published books, both fiction and nonfiction. His new book, as the title suggests, is devoted to Second Life, and I’m thrilled to recommend it, both for longtime SL veterans and the uninitiated wondering why this unique and quirky virtual world has thrived for so long.
It's also the very first paper and ink coffee table book fully focused on Second Life -- that I can recall, at least! -- and it’s sumptuously illustrated and narrated by Hari. A beautiful tribute to the virtual world, both the platform and the global community who've come together to build it, it also features moving stories of the many people who've transform themselves for the better through their avatars.
"As is often the case, a number of things — thoughts, ideas — collided," Hari tells me, explaining the source of its inspiration. "Serendipity, really, or perhaps an honest-to-goodness zeitgeist. A lot of exciting things seem to be happening around Second Life right now."
More below, including a look at the hardcopy:
I knew that Philip Rosedale had come back to SL, and I think that led me, maybe through a search or mention somewhere, to discover and read your thought-provoking book, Making a Metaverse that Matters. I also knew that the SL mobile was close to launching, and of course we’d just got PBR, which was a huge leap. Plus, SL just turned twenty-one last year, an amazing achievement.
At the same time, I’d been looking through folders of photos I’d taken in SL over the years, especially landscapes, and realized some of them were quite good and held up well. And out of the blue the thought came: “Hey, I’m a writer (in RL), I have lots to say about SL, I have all these photos, and nobody’s done a coffee table book about Second Life!”
The next day, the idea still seemed a good one. A book celebrating SL’s communities and their amazing creativity. A book for current residents and people curious about SL. An honest exploration of our favorite virtual world with an overall positive tone to counter all the persistent misconceptions, half-truths, and outright lies about SL.
This was mid-September. I made notes, outlining the book’s structure and began to write. Before long, I saw I’d either need to take a lot more photos to fill a 100-page book covering so many areas of SL and/or ask some of the many great photographers in SL if they’d allow me to feature some of their work. And the response — as well as that of some of the bloggers I contacted, like yourself — was so positive that it gave me the enthusiasm and drive to power through and produce a finished, edited, proofed work which should have taken at least six months in about ten weeks! Of course, I wanted to get the book out in time for the holidays, but, yeah — it was an insane effort, especially as I also did all the graphic layout.
Is this the right book at the right time? We’ll see. But I had one hell of a lot of fun doing it, and I truly hope my small contribution will help promote the growth of the best metaverse we have, as well as every resident’s pride in being part of it.
Here’s lookin’ at you, friends.
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