Island Worlds by Mark Jp Wolf

Island Worlds by Mark Jp Wolf

This anthology explores the most iconic type of imaginary world, and one with the longest of histories and traditions; the island world.

In this volume, we have not only case studies of particular island worlds (arranged roughly in chronological order), but also theoretical essays looking more broadly at island worlds and their conventions and creation. The essays also examine island worlds across a variety of media, including those of literature, film and video, comics, video games, board games, and beyond. Regardless of one’s interest in the realm of subcreation, there is something of interest to be found here, as the essays also tie their topics into other areas, such as AI and complexity theory. With the interdisciplinary and transmedial nature of the topic, the book is designed to appeal not only to scholars, but to be accessible to any audience interested in popular culture and especially in franchises based on imaginary worlds.

This anthology will be of general interest to advanced students and scholars of imaginary worlds in a variety of fields, including Popular Culture Studies, Comparative Media Studies, Video Game Studies, Transmedia Studies, Film Studies, and Literature.

Mark J. P. Wolf is Distinguished Professor in the Department of Digital Media & Design at Concordia University Wisconsin, USA. His 30 published books include The Video Game Theory Reader (2003), The Video Game Theory Reader 2 (2008), Encyclopedia of Video Games (two-volume First Edition, 2012; three-volume Second Edition, 2021), Building Imaginary Worlds (2012), The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies (First Edition, 2014; Second Edition, 2023), LEGO Studies (2014), Video Games Around the World (2015), the four-volume Video Games and Gaming Cultures (2016), Revisiting Imaginary Worlds (2017), The Routledge Companion to Imaginary Worlds (2017), The Routledge Companion to Media Technology and Obsolescence (2018), World-Builders on World-Building (2020), Exploring Imaginary Worlds (2020), Fifty Key Video Games (2022), Calculated Imagery (2025), and Navigating Imaginary Worlds (2025).