Absurd Ventures has announced the forthcoming novelization of A BETTER PARADISE Volume One: An Aftermath, adapted from the hit science-fiction audio series written by Dan Houser. The novel is planned for publication in Fall 2025 and will be the first release from Houser’s new Absurd Ventures imprint in partnership with Simon & Schuster distribution.

Set in the near future, A BETTER PARADISE tells the story of the ill-fated development of an ambitious but addictive video game project led by inventor and psychologist Dr. Mark Tyburn. As the advanced software they developed began delivering unexpected and disturbing results, the team fell apart under strange circumstances and the project was abandoned. The game world and the super-intelligence within were discarded, left dormant and undiscovered. Until now.

The audio fiction podcast A BETTER PARADISE debuted at #1 on Apple’s Fiction charts and won the 2024 Signal Award for Best Episode of Scripted Fiction, awarded to the show’s season finale. Sports Illustrated’s review of the audio series proclaims it is “fascinating… thought provoking… there’s humanity in every line.”

The novel will go deeper into the origins and secrets of the mysterious video game’s development as told by the tortured souls who are now on the run from the AI entity they played a part in creating and unleashing.

Absurd Ventures is also presently developing A BETTER PARADISE for television and is developing an open-world action-adventure video game set in its universe.

Dan Houser was co-founder of Rockstar Games and was creative director and lead writer of the GRAND THEFT AUTO, RED DEAD REDEMPTION and BULLY video game series among others. A BETTER PARADISE Volume One: An Aftermath is the first story in an expansive new universe created and written by Houser and is one of several original IP universes he is now developing under the Absurd Ventures banner.

The Absurd Ventures publishing imprint is being overseen by Jason Bartholomew, CEO of Midas Group, a cultural communications and literary agency based in the UK and USA, working alongside clients such as PRH, HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, Bookshop.org, Windham Campbell Prizes, Women’s Prize Trust, and authors such as Lucy Foley and Patricia Cornwell. More details will be released about the Absurd Ventures publishing imprint in the coming months.

QUOTES 

Dan Houser, Absurd Ventures Founder and CEO: 

“Everything I’ve written, whether an interactive or linear story, begins as prose. Once a story works as prose, it can be told in other mediums. A Better Paradise, which we launched initially as an audio fiction series, was written and produced almost as a hybrid of a traditional ‘radio play’ and an audio book. While we were working on it, it became very clear that there was a book hidden in there that just needed a bit of fleshing out and developing. I am looking forward to sharing this novelization later this year as another version of our first story from the world of A Better Paradise.”

Jason Bartholomew, CEO, Midas Group:

“Having collaborated with countless authors and publishing houses in my career, I knew instantly what a sensational opportunity this would be. We all know from Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto and other ground-breaking projects what a renowned and important storyteller Dan Houser is. To have Dan’s first novel as the inaugural release for the Absurd Ventures imprint will set the tone for our aims to explore thrilling, fun and surprising new universes and we can’t wait to share more about it all. Exciting times are ahead!”

About Absurd Ventures: Absurd Ventures is an entertainment company creating new IP across all mediums including video games, live-action and animated TV, film, fiction podcasts, books, comic books and more. Absurd Ventures’ original properties include the sci-fi thriller universe “A Better Paradise,” the crime fiction universe “American Caper,” and the comedy satire universe the “Absurdaverse.” The company has already launched a chart-topping audio fiction series set in the “A Better Paradise” universe and will be debuting an American Caper comics series and Absurdaverse animation projects in 2025. Founded by Dan Houser, Absurd Ventures is headquartered in Santa Monica, with additional studio offices in Marin, CA.

Storytelling. Philanthropy. Ultraviolence.

The A BETTER PARADISE audio fiction series is now available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and other podcast platforms.