READERSVOICE.COM: You said on your website that you were thinking of taking a bit of a break for a while and that you would catch up on some reading. I was wondering what sort of things you hoped to read.

DISASTERPEACE: Indeed. I have a few books I’m currently reading but have been neglecting, such as Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell by David Yaffe and How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking by Jordan Ellenberg.
I also have a list of books that I’ve already flagged that I’d like to read next, such as Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, and Maynard James Keenan’s memoir A Perfect Union of Contrary Things. I’d also like to step back in time a bit and revisit John Steinbeck, and maybe check out Moby Dick for the first time.

RV: What are some of your favourite books over the years, whether fiction or nonfiction, about music or games or anything really?

DP: I grew up reading Goosebumps, and certainly had my fair share of required reading while I was in school. I don’t think I really got into reading recreationally though until college. I can definitely point to phases, where I was reading lots of similar material, whether it was fantasy and science fiction; books about ice hockey, music, psychology, relationships, or taking more of an educational interest in various things through non-fiction.
The Hobbit is definitely a favorite of mine that I can vividly remember, as well as reading Harry Potter, which I did voraciously over the course of a few weeks.
Foundation by Isaac Asimov is another favorite that I remember appreciating for its cleverness.
A music book that really stuck with me is Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, which really captures the power music can have on people in surprisingly fundamental ways.
My favorite book about games I can recall is Masters of Doom [by David Kushner]. I recall that it was written somewhat roughly, but the story of an upstart game company in the 90s was vivid and somewhat bizarre, and I think gave me a lot of context I hadn’t had previously.
A few years back I started getting into graphic novels, and developed a really strong interest in the work of Moebius, the French artist [also known as Jean Giraud]. The World of Edena is probably my favorite of his stories that I’ve read.
My all-time favorite graphic novel though is Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, by Hayao Miyazaki. It was probably the biggest influence on my score for Hyper Light Drifter.

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