Myst: The Book of Atrus

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The Book of Atrus is the first book in the Myst series of novels, set in the same universe as the Myst computer games by Cyan Worlds. A rough draft of the story was written by Ryan Miller in 1994. Later, Richard VanderWende and Rand and Robyn Miller re-worked the story into an extensive outline. Eventually David Wingrove was hired to write the story into a novel. The first chapter of the original draft was later released online on the 24th of September 2003 on Myst-related websites (however it appears they have been since taken down). After David Wingrove's reworking of the novel it was published in 1995 in New York by Hyperion with ISBN 0786861592. The second book in the series is Myst: The Book of Ti'ana and the third is Myst: The Book of D'ni.

The book provides a lot of background information on the D'ni and the persons of the games. The book's main character is Atrus, following him throughout his birth and early youth with his grandmother Anna, and then through the meeting with his father Gehn. Later, Atrus' first writing and study of the Art appears. The final scenes take place in Riven where he encounters Catherine .

Towards the end of the book, the stage for the games is set, with Atrus and Catherine free, Gehn trapped, and the Myst Linking Book falling down the abyss. The closing words of the book are also the opening words of the very first Myst game.