Books written in Video Game's universe

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marella152

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Has anyone read any books or comics that are based on/ continuation of a video game?
I know there has probably been tons of them but I was wondering if any of them are any good. I have always discredited them as most likely being terrible, so I have never picked one up.

The reason I ask is this: I saw a Dragon Age: Origins book at B&N the other day and laughed it off. A few days later I started playing DA and was only about a few hours in. For those of you who have checked out my trade thread know that I recently broke my hand and the cast I am in make sit entirely impossible to play just about anything. I thought about how I could keep myself involved in the Dragon Age universe for a while without the game - I was reminded of the book, and it suddenly didn't seem like a terrible idea.

Sorry for the explanation, but back to the original question: Have you ready any books that stemmed from video games? Did you like them? Would you recommend any?

I look forward to seeing what comes out of this.
- Dom
 
I've heard the Dragon Age and Mass Effect books are, but I've read some awful ones as well. The Baldur's Gate novel comes to mind. The old Doom books were pretty bad as well as I remember. I never picked up the Warcraft books (this was before Warcraft III) and always wondered about them. In short I think you'll be ok on the Dragon Age books. I'm waiting to get my xbox back and I'm contemplating pick up the books as well.
 
I really liked the Mass Effect novels by Drew Karpyshyn. I believe he was also the lead writer on ME. I've never read any other videogame-based novels either, but I was so taken by the ME universe I decided to give them a shot. I had also read a Star Wars novel by Karpyshyn that I liked, so I was a bit more open to the idea. I felt a bit silly reading them--I have an English degree for god's sake--but they were enjoyable, and that's what matters. The books weren't great literature, but they were interesting stories. Karpyshyn's writing style is on the plain side but competent, and he manages to avoid the awful dialogue that you get in a lot of lesser straight-to-paperback fiction.

I think what it comes down to is not judging the proverbial book by its cover, or its genre--they may be the exceptions to the rule, but there are talented writers working in the game industry and deep, interesting game universes begging to be explored in ways that wouldn't work in a game. The reviews on Amazon for the Dragon Age books seem to be pretty positive--I would give it a shot.
 
Back in high school, I read Eric Nylund's, The Fall of Reach. It was the first of however many Halo novels there are out there today. I picked it up after really enjoying the game and found the book to add some much appreciated color around the backstory of the Master Chief and the universe as a whole. Granted, the writing is not award winning, but if you are able to find the stories within the game universe interesting then it is most certainly passable.

Most recently, I read through David Gaider's prequel to Dragon Age: Origins, The Stolen Throne. I specifically held off on purchasing the game because I wanted to first immerse myself in the universe. The novel itself felt very "been there, done that", taking a lot of inspiration from The Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time and other medieval fantasy, however it does work to provide a semi interesting backstory for the land of Ferelden. Having read through the book and completed the game, I can say that my experience was much more interesting and meaningful as a result. Running into characters in the game world that played significant roles in the novel was really pretty exciting.

Now to wrap up my rant and provide you with an answer to your question, I would recommend that you go ahead and check out some video game fiction. When it comes down to it, if you enjoy playing a game specifically for its story then chances are you will not be disappointed by an associated novel.
 
I thought about picking up Aspho Fields recently; Karen Traviss [author] I think. - Gears of War prequel. I just finished Gears 1 & 2, back-to-back.

I think the last time I read fiction was the Running Man though.
 
[quote name='Mospeada_21']I thought about picking up Aspho Fields recently; Karen Traviss [author] I think. - Gears of War prequel. I just finished Gears 1 & 2, back-to-back.

I think the last time I read fiction was the Running Man though.[/QUOTE]

I don't know about this in particular, but other stuff I've read by Karen Traviss has been pretty good.
 
There was an amazing series of books written by F.X. Nine called the Worlds of Power. Mega Man, Bionic Commando, Infiltrator, Blaster Master. Great stuff, not to be missed.
 
Yeah, The Gears of War books were pretty good.

The Force Unleashed was not bad either.

Lots of people like the Halo books, but I've never read them.
 
Huh, I started a similar thread awhile ago and didn't get many responses :p

Anyway, I haven't read much, save for the Disgaea manga (which I can't recommend) and the Valiant Nintendo comics (which are worth keeping an eye out for). I'd like to pick up some of the StarCraft books (and maybe comics/manga), but don't know where to start. My husband has read some of the WarCraft tie-ins, and aside from Richard Knaack's stuff, he thought they were all right.
 
I remember my first encounter with a videogame book was a MYST tie-in. I can't remember too much about it... something about Atlus, maybe a prequel. I was really young and it was pretty complicated to read. From there, I read some Resident Evil books, they were novelizations of the first two games(with some changes), and I'm sure they're pretty crappy.

It seems every game out there gets a comic or manga. I haven't really ventured into this too much, but alot of them seem to be rather weak one-shots. I used to read Sonic the Hedgehog comics back in the day, but that's about it. I thumbed through the first chapter of the Persona 4 manga and it seemed alright, it's really just a retread of the game's story, but that's probably a good thing.
 
"you will be killed by demons!!"
haha - that's exactly what I'm afraid of

comments have been great. I think I will go check out the DA book.
I think I'll stay away from Sonic books...
 
[quote name='marella152']I think I'll stay away from Sonic books...[/QUOTE]
You do not know what horrors would have been unleashed had you asked me for a quote.
 
[quote name='marella152']humor me[/QUOTE]
Oh, lord...

Yep, Diosoth's site is still up. Ahem!

Seriously, not too late to back out.
Seriously, fuck off.
For reals. It's not a matter of the writing being bad, it's... look, we had two threads dedicated to this guy, alright?
It's not... they're not even books, okay? They've never been published or anything. I was joking. They're...
Fine, fuck you.
Note that "she" in the example ahead refers to Rouge the Bat, a character introduced in... Sonic Adventure 2, right? Yeah, that's right.
She explained, "there's something I want to do. Right now..." Pinning
her husband against the wall, she slowly unbuttoned his shirt,
kissing his stomach. Thomas was starting to develop solid muscles
from constant physical activity, sexual or otherwise. Sliding his
belt out from the pant loops, she took the zipper down.

I spent a fair bit of time trying to find an example that wasn't too graphic, but still gave you a gist of what was up with the over 9000 100 chapters he wrote of that stuff.

I now plan on spending the rest of my day perfecting the art of un-reading it. Which is a shame, because it's a damn cold out, and the liquor store is so far away...
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']There was an amazing series of books written by F.X. Nine called the Worlds of Power. Mega Man, Bionic Commando, Infiltrator, Blaster Master. Great stuff, not to be missed.[/QUOTE]

I remember these. I stole the Mega Man 2 one from my elementry school's library when I was like 7 years old.
 
Crotch - I am truly sorry to have brought back so many terrifying memories for you.
hahaha! I can't believe that's for real. I never heard of that guy before
thanks for that!
 
About a month ago I picked up a three pack of the first three Halo novels (The Fall of Reach, The Flood, and First Strike. I only recently played through the entire Halo series so it's so far been a nice companion piece. I'm actually finding myself playing the original title again to see how similar it is.
 
[quote name='eastshore4']I remember my first encounter with a videogame book was a MYST tie-in. I can't remember too much about it... something about Atlus, maybe a prequel. I was really young and it was pretty complicated to read. From there, I read some Resident Evil books, they were novelizations of the first two games(with some changes), and I'm sure they're pretty crappy.[/QUOTE]

The Myst books were not bad. They are the only videogame books I've ever wanted to read.
 
I've read some of the Warcraft related stories. Most of them aren't bad, and the Warcraft universe itself has so many storylines and lore going on that it easily lends itself game related books. One of the little details I enjoy about World of Warcraft is finding books and other reading material in game that your character can click and read on.

And Morrowind...don't get me started on that. My character had an obsession with trying to steal and read every book in game, along with all the pillows from each house. Her personal goal in life was to make sure that no NPC in that game got a good night's sleep or was able to further educate and entertain themselves via books.
 
This reminds me, the first video game related book I read was some Super Mario Adventure books where you chose your own way.

I loved those books, even though I died a couple of times.
 
[quote name='Swift900']Most recently, I read through David Gaider's prequel to Dragon Age: Origins, The Stolen Throne. I specifically held off on purchasing the game because I wanted to first immerse myself in the universe. The novel itself felt very "been there, done that", taking a lot of inspiration from The Lord of the Rings, The Wheel of Time and other medieval fantasy, however it does work to provide a semi interesting backstory for the land of Ferelden. Having read through the book and completed the game, I can say that my experience was much more interesting and meaningful as a result. Running into characters in the game world that played significant roles in the novel was really pretty exciting.[/QUOTE]I echo pretty much every thing he says, except I beat Dragon Age before reading the books. I'm almost done with The Stolen Throne and am going read The Calling next. For a game which, IMO, is really great primarily for its story, the books do contribute to the immersion. The books are nothing extraordinary, but they're certainly not bad and are easy reads.
 
Interesting thread topic that doesn't get much discussion. The first Gears of War book was quite decent actually. I haven't read the second. The Mass Effect novels were good for background, but a bit average. Haven't found anything else that piqued my interest, though I may pick up the Brothers in Arms novel.

As for fan fiction, nobody beats SquirrelKing, author of "Full-Life Consequences," a story so awesome it was adapted to a short film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHxyZaZlaOs
 
[quote name='CaptainJoel']This reminds me, the first video game related book I read was some Super Mario Adventure books where you chose your own way.

I loved those books, even though I died a couple of times.[/QUOTE]

LOL

I loved chose your own adventure type of books as a child. I remember I would try to make the most fucked up decisions I possibly could, just so I could read about the book's character meeting some untimely end.
 
I've read almost all of the Warcraft universe books and have enjoyed each one, if you are a fan of the universe or fantasy itself I'd highly suggest the books.

R.A Salvatore writes great books in the Forgotten Realms universe (it's a game :D)
Not exactly a game but the Drizzt legend books are really interesting...
 
[quote name='SuxoR']I've read almost all of the Warcraft universe books and have enjoyed each one, if you are a fan of the universe or fantasy itself I'd highly suggest the books.

R.A Salvatore writes great books in the Forgotten Realms universe (it's a game :D)
Not exactly a game but the Drizzt legend books are really interesting...[/QUOTE]

Well, unfortunately Salvatore didn't write the Baldur's Gate book or the 2nd or the "title removed by request of The Crotch" book. They were all awful. I wish I could see Salvatore's take on the events in all of those. Also the Icewind Dale games share only the setting with Salvatore's Icewind Dale Trilogy.
 
I've read numerous video game based novels (not too many comics though) and enjoyed most of them , even the ones that weren't that great. I'll echo thoughts that others have mentioned that if the game in question has a large universe and/or you enjoy the universe within the game , it probably wouldn't hurt to at least check out a novelization for it.

Game novels that I've read:
Halo : Fall of Reach , The Flood , First Strike. Enjoyed them all and look forward to eventually reading Contact Harvest , Ghosts of Onyx , The Cole Protocole and the other new ones that just came out.

Gears of War : Aspho Fields , surprisingly good. Want to read Jacinto's Remnants.

Resident Evil : all but Zero Hour. Despite being horribly inconsistent with the games , they were decent reads. Actually enjoyed the 2 original stories (Caliban Cove and Underground) more than the others because they were something new.

Brute Force : Betrayals. Despite the game being mediocre , the book was actually decent. Worst part about it was the ending though
All the main characters are "killed" , cloned and have the memories of the events of the book erased from their minds , effectively making the events of the book almost meaningless.
Can't remember if that factors into the game at all since it's been a while.

Currently reading through the first Perfect Dark novel. Too early to give a judgment though. Also have the Doom novels but have never read through them all the way.
 
[quote name='StarKnightX']
Gears of War : Aspho Fields , surprisingly good. Want to read Jacinto's Remnants.
[/QUOTE]

I'm not surprised this was good. It's written by Karen Traviss. Her Star Wars Republic Commando books were awesome. The team from the game shows up Triple Zero a bit, but the Republic Commando novels focus on a different team. (game = Delta squad, Books = Omega squad). I've only read the 1st two books, but I really want to pick up True Colors and Order 66.
 
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