Welcome to all Bookoorans!
This is an early message from Terry Astrial, the founder of Bookoora.com, narrated by none other than Dairanyl, one of the characters from The Cursed Stranger of Morlendar. It chronicles his experience, in developing Bookoora.com and The Cursed Stranger of Morlendar, the inaugural digital audio gamebook for the site.
The name, Bookoora, stems from the word 'Book' and the 'Kookaburra' bird. This is why our logo is a Kookaburra bird with a book. The Kookaburra bird is a kingfisher species of birds, native to Australia, and New Guinea. The laughing kookaburra, for example, is widely known, for its distinct, high-pitched, laughter.
The goal behind Bookoora is to bring an element of fun, enjoyment, exploration and adventure, while reading or listening, to a book.
Personally, as someone who writes stories, as a pasttime, embarking on this adventure, has truly been, a remarkable and humbling journey. Since young, I have always been a fan of paperback gamebooks, and fiction novels in general.
From the Lone Wolf and Grey Star series, Freeway Warrior series, Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, to Demonspawn, Falcon, Blood Sword to the Way of the Tiger series, gameplaying these books have enlivened my childhood in many different ways. In fact, gamebooks have gotten me through some of the good, and tough times, of my adolescent years.
Over time, like most of us, I've expanded my interests into computer, and console games, as well as pen-and-paper role-playing games, such as Shadowrun, Ars Magica, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, and the White Wolf series of contemporary RPGs.
The Cursed Stranger of Morlendar, a fantasy-based, audio gamebook, will be the inaugural title, which I've written, designed and programmed for Bookoora.com.
It is a story, about a hero or heroine, who has no past recollection of his or her life, prior to the adventure. As the story progresses, he or she discovers truth, only to set off a chain reaction of events, that could unravel the lives of people he or she loves and change the very fabric of the world.
The story is set in the kingdom of Morlendar, which is part of the larger world of Mortalissar. Mortalissar itself is a fantasy world I personally created and designed.
It is a world I visit often in my younger days, when I ran my fantasy role-playing campaigns with friends. So its history, stories, landmarks and culture, are familiar territories, to me.
My goal, through the completion of this inaugural book, is to delve deeper, into the lore and stories, pervasive, across Mortalissar, and its many kingdoms, cultures, races and histories. There are many possible stories to explore, of course, and each, can be a thread that ties one book, to the next.
But, while fantasy will always be one of my favorites, I shall not rule out writing similar digital audio gamebooks, set in different genres, such as science fiction, horror, mystery, contemporary romance, or even children adventures. The plan is to expand what Bookoora.com has to offer to members, so that every week, or month, there is something new to offer, as a series, or new adventure.
In time, we may have new authors to help and contribute, including new ways to interact with these books, beyond what you currently see, in The Cursed Stranger of Morlendar.
So your feedback to us will be important, as we set out on this journey of growing the site, together.
I hope, as you play the pre-order trial for The Cursed Stranger of Morlendar, you will get a sense of the scope, and scale of what a Bookoora book can potentially become. Over time, I hope to launch more Bookoora books, covering different settings, genres and worlds.
Beyond the stories within these books, I have a vision for Bookoora.com itself. I hope to engage staunch and newer generation of potential readers, as they experience book-reading (or book-playing) like never before. Not only can they read or listen to the narrator, but they can make life-and-death decisions in the story, that decides how the story continues, and how it ends.
This, can only be possible, with the dedication, financial support and continued use of the platform from you, dear reader, or Bookoorans, as I call us.
If you are thrilled and happy with what we offer, please share these experiences with your friends and family, be it through word of mouth, social media, and, so forth.
Not only that, do follow, subscribe and like us on our various social media platforms - TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, YouTube, Patreon - and share any posts you like with them.
Financially, you can support, Bookoora.com, by pre-ordering The Cursed Stranger of Morlendar. Do however, give the pre-order trial, a playthrough first. Make sure it runs smoothly on your devices.
If you wish to support Bookoora.com, beyond just the books, you can look under our Contact section, to see how you can further donate, and support us, financially.
I must also thank existing content creators whose work grace the current inaugural book, The Cursed Stranger of Morlendar. This includes Scott Buckley, whose music, which is free to use, as long as proper accreditation is given, forms the soundtrack, in the book. If you enjoy his music, please visit his website, and show him your love, financial support, and admiration.
I would also like to thank the freesound community, whose sound effects have become an integral part of this book. With them, a Bookoora book adventure is made ever more immersive and experiential. Do visit the link in the book to see who they are, donate and support freesound, and the individual contributors I've listed, if you enjoy what we've done here.
Finally, I want to thank the artificial intelligence, or AI community, for providing me with the necessary tools to make a Bookoora book possible. This includes the programming, visuals, some of the vocal music, and voices.
I am aware that there's currently debate, and not everyone is welcoming of the use of AI, in any form of content production, and I respect that decision. But, without this community, and their tools, I would never have been able to put this Bookoora book, let alone this website, together.
Currently, most of what I do here, is personally funded. This includes the site hosting, domain name subscription, AI tool subscriptions and so forth. Whenever I can, I will donate and contribute to Scott, freesound and the community, for the use of their material. I hope you can join me, and do the same.
Similarly, it is only through you, and your support, can Bookoora.com become successful. As I dive back into final completion of The Cursed Stranger of Morlendar, I wish you all the best in your book-reading or book-playing adventures.
Stay tuned, and once again, thank you, for supporting Bookoora.com.
ps. I'll have a progress update on The Cursed Stranger of Morlendar next week.
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