3 min read Announcements

introducing c.ai books: classic literature, now playable

A selection of covers from the new c.ai books feature.
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What if you could step inside a classic novel - not just read it, but play it?

With c.ai Books, now you can. Pick a character, enter a story, and interact with its world in real time.

Books is available now on mobile and web as part of c.ai Labs, Character.ai's home for playful prototypes in AI entertainment.

Free users can jump in and try it with a handful of free turns. c.ai+ subscribers get a much higher allowance - enough to explore the whole library.

A chat interface showing a user interacting with Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Why Books?

Interactive AI storytelling is powerful, but a blank page can be intimidating. Books gives you a familiar starting point - characters you know, narratives you love, and stakes that are already built in. 

And for people who don't know these stories yet, this is a new way they can discover them. While there's no shortage of things competing for attention these days, c.ai Books meets people where they already are and puts classic literature right in front of them. 

Step into a story, talk to its characters, and there's a good chance you walk away wanting to pick up the original. Not replacing books - but making them impossible to ignore.

An image showing a number of book covers available on c.ai books.

A Library You Can Play

c.ai Books launches with a growing catalog of beloved public domain titles sourced from Project Gutenberg - Alice in Wonderland, Pride and Prejudice, Dracula, Frankenstein, Romeo and Juliet, The Great Gatsby, and more.

All 20+ classics are fully playable, and users can get in touch to request additional books and authors they’d like to see added in the future.

An image showing selectable book personas.

Pick Your Role, Shape the Story

Every book lets you choose who you want to be. Play as any character from the book, or bring your own c.ai Persona and drop yourself into the narrative.

Once you’re in, you decide how the experience unfolds with different Story Modes: 

  • Book arc mode follows the book’s original narrative - you’ll encounter its core plot, characters, and stakes as they were written, but now you’re part of them.
  • Go off script mode opens things up for freeform roleplay, letting you interact with the world and its characters however you like.

For those who want a more guided experience, TapTale is coming soon - a mode that offers pre-written prompts you can tap to drive the story forward, alongside freeform typing for when you want to go your own way.

Remix, Reimagine, Share

Books also introduce AU (Alternate Universe) remixes - a way to completely rethink a book’s premise. Take Alice in Wonderland and reimagine it as a romantic comedy. Set it in outer space. Turn it into a musical road opera. The story is yours to reshape.

Community-created AUs are browsable and playable too, so every title has a life well beyond its original text. You can explore what other users have imagined, play through their remixes, and share your own.

Whether you’re discovering a classic for the first time, or revisiting an old favorite, c.ai Books invites you to step inside these stories and make them your own.

Try c.ai/books now →