NextGenBooks.com Celebrates One Year Of Adventures, Novels And Online Games For Wii | PS3 | PSP | DS | PC And Mac

NextGenBooks.com is celebrating its first anniversary following a bumper 2006-07 packed full of innovative web based content for console, handheld and PC gamers. Beginning in late 2007, NextGenBooks.com was formed by bestselling fantasy author Darren Reid as a way of bringing his two loves together; gaming and literature. Since NextGenBooks.com launched, one year ago, it has brought a wide variety of free electronic books to console owners the world over, beginning with Reid's own novella The Genesis of the Shadow and D.A. Adams' On a Perilous Road.

The NextGenBooks.com library grew steadily throughout its first year, collating short stories and novellas from a variety of top new authors including Kim Silva, Kyrinn S. Eis, D.W. Goyette, Brianna Beaulieu and Joseph Carroll. Additionally, the site also saw the release of a number of new novellas from Reid including his acclaimed graphic novel, Xevicom Forever. All ebooks released through NextGenBooks.com are optimized to run not only on PC and Mac but a variety of home and handheld consoles including Wii, PS3, PSP and DS.

In early 2007 NextGenBooks.com launched the first in a series of adventures that blurred the line between traditional storytelling and interactive gaming. The Sword of Oz, the prequel to L. Frank Baum's masterpiece The Wizard of Oz, was an epic fantasy tale written by founding author Darren Reid that allowed readers to choose how the story unfolded. This interactive novel featured a branching storyline with multiple endings, a cinematic writing style, and, like all titles released on the site during its debut year, was completely free. The end of summer 2007 also saw the release of NextGenBooks.com's most ambitious project when The Half Broken Crown: The Broken Kingdoms, a web based MMO for console, PC and handheld gamers, went live. This immersive point and click adventure launched in September and is due a massive update, including a graphical overhaul, in the coming weeks.

The final release from NextGenBooks.com of the year is the interactive novel Black Sun that is being written by some of the site's most popular writers. Black Sun is being produced as a series of individual episodes, each one written by a different author. Following the launch of each new episode readers of the series will be able to vote on how they want the story to develop. Episode One, by Darren Reid, went live at the beginning of November. Episode Two, by D.W. Goyette, launches today.

To celebrate more than a year of creating and bringing stories, tales, and interactive adventures to the gaming world NextGenBooks.com is currently showcasing a 'best of' collection on the site's main page, highlighting some of the best free ebooks released this year. Moving into 2008, NextGenBooks.com will continue to lead the way in bringing traditional storytelling to the gaming world with its innovative new series Black Sun, even more free ebooks and regular updates to The Half Broken Crown: The Broken Kingdoms.

For more please visit www.NextGenBooks.com, www.DarrenReid.co.uk, www.nextgenbooks.com/thehalfbrokencrown, or www.nextgenbooks.com/blacksun