Clouds

Stefano Gualeni (Ph.D.) is Professor at the Institute of Digital Games (University of Malta) and Visiting Professor at LCAD (Laguna Beach, California). He is the author of the following monographic books: Virtual Worlds as Philosophical Tools (2015), Virtual Existentialism (2020 – with Daniel Vella), Fictional Games (2023 – with Riccardo Fassone), and The Clouds: An Experiment in Theory-Fiction. Find out more about him and his games at www.gua-le-ni.com.

• - Acknowledgments The Clouds - 1. RETURNING SAILS- 2. EVENING BELL- 3. DESCENDING GEESE- 4. EVENING SNOW- 5. NIGHT RAIN- 6. AUTUMN MOON- 7. TWILIGHT GLOW- 8. CLEARING WEATHER- 9. Afterword by the author: AN EXPERIMENT IN THEORY-FICTIONThree Essays- The Expressive Use of Fictional Games in The Clouds- Theodicy and Existential Meaning in Simulated Universes- On the Unnatural Narrative Trope of UnhappeningIndex

How can works of fiction help us ruminate on and answer questions about the nature of time and reality? Can fiction do philosophy? And how do games, specifically as they occur in fiction, contribute to philosophical understanding? Stefano Gualeni sets about answering these questions through demonstration. The Clouds first offers a novella centering on Carla, a Maltese professor of climate science who learns of a strange and unexplainable atmospheric phenomenon two weeks prior. As Carla searches for answers, she starts to question whether larger forces might be at play.- Alex Fisher, University of Cambridge, UK"Unhappening": what could possibly go wrong? The centrepiece of Stefano Gualeni's The Clouds is a formally inventive science fiction novella dramatising that theme with verve, humour and acute observation. The Clouds is an original book, unafraid to explore the boundaries of genre while providing striking refractions of contemporary debates around fiction and reality, mind and time.- Ivan Callus, Professor of English, University of Malta, Malta