pure gnar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB0g5gM0bk0

 

 

“The 21 Steps” is a fast-paced, finely-tuned thriller that uses Google Maps to take the reader through the story’s events. Written by British purveyor of spy thrillers, Charles Cumming, the story is told through Google’s information bubbles with brief statements and images that take the reader from the streets of London to Edinburgh, Scotland with plenty of action and mini-cliffhangers along the way.

“The 21 Steps” is the first installment of the six-part “We Tell Stories” project by Penguin Books, which takes six contemporary writers and has them write a story based on a classic book. Cumming’s classic was The 39 Steps by John Buchan. We spoke to Cumming about “The 21 Steps” and We Tell Stories.

 

play em’ off

 

What makes this first story innovative is that is essentially a mash-up of a simple linear adventure story with Google Maps. The text appears in bubbles attached to points on the map (occasionally you get richer content, such as a text message actually shown on the display of a mobile phone, or a photo of what the narrator is describing), and as you click the links to move the story forward (there is a lot of clicking), the narrator’s journey is plotted on the map. As you switch from chapter to chapter, the style and scale of the maps change. This can be quite exciting at first – it starts in the new St Pancras International station (which I liked because they used to be a client of mine!) – but when the action is all set in one building, for example an Edinburgh hotel, it seems a bit pointless to have a bird’s eye view.