Now both writers have tried something different: single-volume narrative histories of the entire war.

ECONOMIST: The second world war

For years now, Blizzard has been playing with how to allow the minutiae of a real-time-strategy game to translate into a true single-player narrative.

FORBES: Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Delivers a Pitch-Perfect RTS Campaign

Trying to decipher body language from a single gesture is like trying to find narrative meaning in a single word.

FORBES: How Savvy Negotiators Read Your Body Language

But when a game is a single-player, narrative-based affair, inevitably that appeal can wane.

BBC: Screenshot of Halo

Whereas science fiction is a narrative, with a single track from start to finish, architectural plans and models are open-ended.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

To be sure, single mothers are swimming against the tide in a culture that in its predominant narrative declares our children are liabilities in society, not blessings.

CNN: Single mothers, stand proud