Novels and Other Books Featuring Go

The three classic Go novels are "The Master of Go" ("Meijin") by Yasunari Kawabata, "The Girl who Played Go" by Shan Sa and "First Kyu" by Dr Sung-Hwa Hong.

[1]	"The Master of Go" was written by Kawabata and first appeared in book form in 1954 in Japanese and called "Meijin". It was translated into English in 1972 at about the time of his death. The story is based on the 1938 Meijin title game, for which he was a reporter. It records the change from the old order to the new, with it being the old master's last match. Kawabata received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1968.
[2]	"The Girl who Played Go" was first published in French in 2001 under the title "La Joueuse de Go". The Author, Shan Sa, comes originally from Beijing, but she moved to Paris when a student. The story is set in war-torn Manchuria of the late 1930s and tells of the forbidden love between a Chinese Go champion and a Japanese army officer. The narrative alternates between the perspectives of the two main characters.
[3]	"First Kyu" by Dr Sung-Hwa Hong was first published in English in 1999, translated from Korean by American Go professional Janice Kim. The story tells of a young man struggling to become a Korean Go (Baduk) professional and how it affects his life and relationships.

Here is a list of mainstream novels and some other books that feature Go.

[4]	"Shibumi" is a thriller where the main character, the assassin Nicholai Hel, learnt Go by himself when a child in Shanghai and then studied in Japan under a pro during WW2. All the sections of the book are given Go terms such as Fuseki, Sabaki and Seki. A recent edition (illustrated) has Go on the cover. The author is named "Trevanian", which is a pen-name of American author and professor Rodney Whitaker (1931-2005).
[5]	American author Don Winslow has written the novel "Satori" (2011) as a prequel to "Shibumi". It features the formative years of Nicholai Hel, the Japanese-trained assassin. Winslow learnt Go through being a fan of "Shibumi" and included many Go metaphors and references in the new book.
[6]	The fifth book by Chris Bradford "The Ring of Water" in the "Young Samurai" [7] series (March 2011) features the young hero, Jack Fletcher, playing Go in Nara to save his life and those of his friends. Here is a review [8] from BGJ 155 and more about the book [9].
[10]	David Mitchell (1969-) is an English novelist who lived more than 8 years in Japan. His 2010 book "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet" [11] is about a Dutchman, who went to live in Dejima, Nagasaki, in 1799, and features some Go references, including games between Japanese officials. Here is a review [12] from BGJ 155. An alternative cover [13] and another alternative cover [14].
[15]	David Mitchell also mentions Go in one of the linked short stories in "Cloud Atlas"; in the futuristic Korean setting of "An Orison of Sonmi ~ 451" the title character is mentioned as playing Go on her computer and against a friend.
[16]	Jeffery Deaver's crime novel "The Stone Monkey" is about illegal Chinese immigrants and features Go several times in the story as the detective is taught to play by a Chinese colleague. The section header pages all quote from "The Game of Wei-Chi" by Pecorini and Shu.
[17]	Jeffery Deaver's 2010 thriller "Edge" is about an agent who is in witness protection and is a games fan. He plans his protection by various games strategies. He collects games (67 in one house and 121 in another) and likes to visit his local games club in DC where one can play "chess, bridge, Go, Wei-Chi, Risk or dozens of other games."
[18]	Scarlett Thomas (from Canterbury) has written a mystery novel "PopCo" (2004), where the employees of the PopCo toy company all play Go and the main character's cat is called Atari (see page 11).
[19]	David Boop is a Go player and his 2008 novel "She Murdered Me with Science" features Go. The main character visits a Go parlour in America (see page 41) and plays with a Japanese friend. An old lady uses the game position to predict his fortune.
[20]	Robert van Gulik (1910-1967) was a Dutchman who lived in Japan and China and produced a series of Judge Dee mysteries set in ancient China. "The Chinese Lake Murders" contains Go within its plot. Here is a review [21] from BGJ 156. An alternative cover [22].
[23]	Sara Paretsky's collection of detective stories "Windy City Blues" has a story called "The Takamoku Joseki". In it, Mr Takamoku runs a Go club in his flat in the same block as that of the detective, V.I. Warshawski. He has a problem when someone scratches a Go ban and then one of the players dies during a club meeting.
[24]	A successful French novel, now available in English, is "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" by Muriel Barbery (2006). The plot involves philosophy and the relationships between a girl of 12 and her concierge, who is a secret intellectual, and also a Japanese businessman who moves into their building. The chapter "Profound Thought No. 7" features a whole page argument about the basics of Go, between the girl and a film producer who is making a movie of Shan Sa's "The Girl Who Played Go". An alternative cover [25].
[26]	"Walking on Glass" by Iain Banks features three stories of converging lives. In one, a couple are trapped in a futuristic tower playing various seemingly impossible and uncompletable games in order earn freedom. One of these games is Open-Plan Go, played on an infinite board and only completable by using stones that are infinite in one direction from a point.
[27]	English author David Wingrove features Go in "The Middle Kingdom", the first volume of his epic future history work "Chung Kuo" (and in other volumes in the series too). In chapter 3 the villain plays against a computer while waiting for a victim, the game record he leaves showing him to be one of the strongest players. Later on the rising hero takes 7 stones on a real board against the villain, but slowly watches "his position crumble on all sides", until he resigns. The author's note says it is "not merely the world's best game but its most elegant". He quotes Pecorini and Shu's book "The Game of Wei Chi" (1929) as his source on Go. An alternative cover [28].
[29]	"Limbo System" is a Sci-Fi novel by Rick Cook (1989) in which all the chapters are named after Go terms. An starship comes into to contact with demonic aliens who want to steal their technology. Sukihara Takiuji is the best Go player in the crew and plays every day against other crew members and even against the aliens. Go principles are used to analyse the aliens' actions.
[30]	"Starborne" is a Sci-Fi novel by Robert Silverberg (1996), reworked from a science fiction short story named "Ship-Sister, Star-Sister", in which the crew of a starship set out to explore the universe. Quite a big part of both the short story and the novel mention Go, describing games between various characters (one of them a Blind Go player) at some length.
[31]	"Jian" by Eric Van Lustbader (1985) is the first of his two thrillers that feature Go. The main characters play and analyse politics and their actions against Go strategies, in a background of battles for control of Hong Kong.
[32]	"Shan" by Eric Van Lustbader (1986) is the second Jake Maroc story and the follow up to Jian. It features battles between opium gangs.
[33]	"Silk Road" by American poet Jeanne Larsen (1989) is a fantasy set in 8th century China (part of a trilogy). It features a girl's quest to find her mother guarded by celestial beings. Two of these, the Jade Emperor and an under-secretary play Go with black and coloured pearls, and they also hold conversations around the board.
[34]	"Queen Magic / King Magic" by Ian Watson (1986). This fantasy novel features two countries at war with magic initially by the rules of Chess. The game rules change in other worlds to Snakes and Ladders, Monopoly and so on. In one world the game is Go and camps appear on an empty plain, alternately black and white, obeying Go rules.
[35]	"Split Infinity" by Piers Anthony (1980) is the first of the Apprentice Adept series of novels by this England-born American fantasy writer. It features two parallel worlds and the exploits of a game champion, serf Stile.
[36]	"Isle of Woman" by Piers Anthony (1993) is a collection of short stories about men and women through history. Chapter 16 "T'ang" features Go, but any game of skill could have replaced it.
[37]	"No Shadow in the City" by John Callaghan (2012) is a mystery story about crime in Glasgow. However the main character, Stevie McCabe, is away in London at the start of the book and one of the things he is doing there is playing Go.
[38]	"Intuition" by Allegra Goodman (2006) is set in a cancer research lab. On page 164 two characters are playing Go.
[39]	Other European books featuring Go include German Günter Karau's war thriller "Go Oder Doppelspeil Im Untergrund", which features Go on the cover, and French Georges Perec's "La Vie mode d`emploi" (Life a User's Manual) and "La Disparition".
[40]	Non-fiction works that mention Go are "Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" by Douglas Hofstadter and "Infinity and the Mind" by Rudy Von B Rucker.

There are many books with passing references to Go. For instance, Arthur Golden mentions Go twice in the novel "Memoirs of a Geisha". Sensei's Library has a list of minor references [41].