The Pillars of the Earth – Multimedia Book no comments
Penguin Group (USA) and Starz, LLC have launched what
they are calling the Amplified Edition of Ken Follett’s bestselling novel The Pillars of the Earth. This iPad app is a tie-in to the Starz Originals 8-hour mini series based on the book.
The Amplified Edition has a number of multimedia and other added features:
- An interactive Character Tree, housed in a virtual stained glass window, grows as characters are introduced in the book, allowing the reader to learn more about the selected characters and their corresponding relationships. As the story progresses, the stained glass window becomes more intricate and reveals more and more about the characters.
- Contextual video footage and still images are carefully blended into the eBook from the corresponding section of the Starz series, so readers can choose to watch beautiful clips of cathedrals, horses and men in shining armor while inside the eBook. Or if they prefer, they can watch clips as well as longer scenes in another section of the Amplified Edition.
- Ken Follett’s Multimedia Diary, which is the author’s on-set impressions of the process of bringing "The Pillars of the Earth" from page to screen.
- Behind-the-scenes insights into the making of the event series, looking at how the filmmakers captured Follett’s vision and created the medieval world of "The Pillars of the Earth," including interviews with the actors, director and producers.
- A Listening Lounge features music – including hymns, soundtrack themes, and battlefield scene scores – from the Starz Originals series.
- A sneak preview of Ken Follett’s next book coming this fall.
Updates to the book app will, “occur repeatedly while the TV series airs so that consumers who purchase the Amplified Edition will have a dynamic user experience that complements the story and the viewing experience of the 8-part series.”
The Pillars of the Earth is a great book; it remains to be seen if it will be helped by the addition of multimedia. Nonfiction, how-to and children’s books are examples of material that can benefit from multimedia. Adding multimedia to a fictional work requires a lot of finesse or it starts looking tacked on and forced and becomes a distraction.
Available now at iTunes.
