Games turned into books. Have you read any?

[Gray-Fox-44]

Hi everyone! I tried to find a post like this, but didn't find any  The thing is that I've recently started reading the first of the Resident Evil novels, which title is RE book 1: the Umbrella Conspiracy (published in 1998 and written by S.D.Perry), and I was wondering whether any of you have read them, or any other books of games that turned into novels.

As for this one, I've read the first 4 chapters so far and I really like it. I'm a huge fan of the RE series, so picturing everything the book tells is quite easy, but the characters are vaguely described so if you haven't played the games (or seen the movies) it's a bit hard to imagine what the characters look like.

One thing that crossed my mind was the fact that I've never come across any topic related to reading in the site, and this might provide a good kickstart. Who knows, maybe even a "We read" event in the forum 

What are your experiences related to this topic?

 

[evilartifact]

I remember reading a book based on The Elder Scrolls, during the Oblivion game if I recall. I never finished it, and I can't remember much about it other than the main character was an Argonion. Also can't remember the name of the book. Got it as part of a promotion or pre order. The part I did read was enjoyable enough though.

 

EDIT: Ah, this is the one: The Infernal City it is called.

 

http://store.bethsoft.com/the-infernal-city-an-elder-scrolls-novel

Edited February 1, 2017 by evilartifact

[thegirlruka]

11 minutes ago, Gray-Fox-44 said:

One thing that crossed my mind was the fact that I've never come across any topic related to reading in the site, and this might provide a good kickstart. Who knows, maybe even a "We read" event in the forum 

There was a we read event last year started by Bucknerd and RoyalRedPanda.

 

[RedPage17]

The Last of Us Comic was pretty good.

 

[damon8r351]

A few, and they all sucked. As Raymond Feist once put it, "What makes for good gameplay makes sucky fiction."

[Gray-Fox-44]

7 minutes ago, damon8r351 said:

A few, and they all sucked. As Raymond Feist once put it, "What makes for good gameplay makes sucky fiction."

 fair enough. I'll let you know once I finish the book 

 

34 minutes ago, kuuhaku said:

There was a we read event last year started by Bucknerd and RoyalRedPanda.

 

Good one! I suck at finding posts 

Thanks for the link!

[madbuk]

I've read a couple of the AC novels (Secret Crusade, Forsaken and Unity were good, couldn't get into Black Flag, still have the Syndicate tie-in and the latest novel that I own but have to get to), the Tomb Raider tie-in (bad fanfaction, basically) and the Lara Croft novel (eh... it's not too good so far but I'm very early into it).

 

If I've read any others, they're not coming to mind.

[Next3Exits]

I know the games are based on the books, but has anyone read the Witcher series? I've been thinking about picking them up as my reading list is getting a little thin.

[RevengeancePrime]

I've read a couple of the Gears of War books (Aspho Fields and Jacinto's Remnant) and I really enjoyed both of them. They added a great deal of emotional depth to the characters that we don't often see in the games. You also learn more about the Locust such as how they breed, which is pretty sickening. The books also go into a lot more depth about events that occurred prior to the first Gears game such as the hammer of dawn strikes and the Pendulum Wars. 

[Nightstream88]

Think I've only read Halo books think the one I did like was Halo The Cole Protocol
been a while since I read them so not entirely sure if it was that one or not.
Think I had one of the Assassin's Creed books but haven't gotten around to reading it yet.
 Was originally planning on getting Gears of War, God of War, Mass Effect and some of the other Halo and Assassin's Creed books but never gotten around to it yet.

[HaSoOoN-MHD]

1 hour ago, Next3Exits said:

I know the games are based on the books, but has anyone read the Witcher series? I've been thinking about picking them up as my reading list is getting a little thin.

Buy The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny first and if you like them pick up the saga.

[Edunstar84]

2 hours ago, Next3Exits said:

I know the games are based on the books, but has anyone read the Witcher series? I've been thinking about picking them up as my reading list is getting a little thin.

I've read all of them, except a few of them, and I think they are brilliantly written. Great history and lore.

[Redgrave]

Only thing I can think of that I actually have read are the Resistance comics. They were alright, though the artstyle for one of the stories made it hard to tell what certain things were. Oh and I guess the Injustice comics count too. Those were pretty cool and I enjoyed it more than the games story.

 

Otherwise there's lots of ones I wouldn't mind reading but for me it's just hard to pick up a book and read it. I know most of the Halo novels (especially ones dealing with the Forerunners) are supposed to be really good. The Mass Effect novels sound like hit and miss though. The one that came out right before Mass Effect 3 just came off as a terrible fanfiction. This is actually a scene in it where Kai Leng breaks into Anderson's apartment to place some bugs.

 

 

The absolute madman.

[ShadowReplicant]

I can wholeheartedly recommend all three Mass Effect novels written by Drew Karpyshyn, the lead writer on Baldur's Gate II, KOTOR, Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 (not 3, which is why the story took a dive). Apparently, he also wrote some of the best Star Wars novels, but I haven't read those.

 

I've also read all of the ME comics except Mass Effect: Foundation – they're not exactly masterpieces, but definitely worth a read if you're a hardcore fan. The Last of Us: American Dreams is a nice little prequel story with some interesting art.

 

Final Fantasy VII: On the Way to a Smile is another game related novel I own. It's been a while since I read it, must've been like 8 years ago. My Japanese wasn't that great back then but I remember it being a fairly easy read. Fans of FF VII and Advent Children should find some enjoyment in it, not sure if there's a translation available though.

 

And then there's the Asura's Wrath manga. I absolutely loved the game so I had to have it. It's currently on my reading backlog.

Edited February 2, 2017 by ShadowReplicant

[Intoner_Zero]

I think the only game to book story I read was one on Resident Evil: Code Veronica many, many years ago. I think it was so-so, lol.

As for book to game, I've read the first Witcher book and about half of the second. I like them and plan to buy the whole series digitally. Was also curious about the Metro books too.

[Redgrave]

4 hours ago, ShadowReplicant said:

I can wholeheartedly recommend all three Mass Effect novels written by Drew Karpyshyn, the lead writer on Baldur's Gate II, KOTOR, Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 (not 3, which is why the story took a dive). Apparently, he also wrote some of the best Star Wars novels, but I haven't read those.

 

Yeah he wrote the Darth Bane novels and a couple ones based off The Old Republic MMO, which I guess counts for this thread. The only one I read was the Revan novel and it was okay.

[voodoo_eyes]

Only two.

 

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (based on the game of the same name)

Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (based on the expansion to the game above)

 

Both are fantastic.

[Gray-Fox-44]

13 hours ago, ShadowReplicant said:

Final Fantasy VII: On the Way to a Smile is another game related novel I own. It's been a while since I read it, must've been like 8 years ago. My Japanese wasn't that great back then but I remember it being a fairly easy read. Fans of FF VII and Advent Children should find some enjoyment in it, not sure if there's a translation available though.

I'll try to find a translation for this one. Great contribution 

[Sigma999]

I only remember reading Assassin's Creed Brotherhood book by Oliver Bowden

[Dav9834]

On 2/1/2017 at 11:08 AM, Gray-Fox-44 said:

Hi everyone! I tried to find a post like this, but didn't find any  The thing is that I've recently started reading the first of the Resident Evil novels, which title is RE book 1: the Umbrella Conspiracy (published in 1998 and written by S.D.Perry), and I was wondering whether any of you have read them, or any other books of games that turned into novels.

As for this one, I've read the first 4 chapters so far and I really like it. I'm a huge fan of the RE series, so picturing everything the book tells is quite easy, but the characters are vaguely described so if you haven't played the games (or seen the movies) it's a bit hard to imagine what the characters look like.

One thing that crossed my mind was the fact that I've never come across any topic related to reading in the site, and this might provide a good kickstart. Who knows, maybe even a "We read" event in the forum 

What are your experiences related to this topic?

 

Another Resident Evil S.D Perry fan!! 

She really makes the books enjoyable to read the way she writes them! 

 

I have read all of the Resident Evil books by S.D Perry. Multiple times! It's a great series! Imo way better than most of the games plots, and the movies should have been based off the books. 

The ones that are her original story in the RE universe are just as great as the adaptions, sometimes better. 

I really wish the movies were based off her originals.

I do wish she continued and wrote about 4. 

Damn now I want to read them again while listening to resident evil themes(a must imo. Nothing like hearing this while reading S.D Perrys masterpieces!) 

 

Alright I'm putting the lid on my excitement. It's not often I see or read about people who have read some of the books, let alone know they exist 

[VeldinX]

I have the official Uncharted novel "The Fourth Labyrinth" but haven't gotten around to reading it yet... someday! 

 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2017 by dell9300

[QuinlanLJ]

On 1. 2. 2017 at 5:47 PM, damon8r351 said:

A few, and they all sucked. As Raymond Feist once put it, "What makes for good gameplay makes sucky fiction."

This quote may be true about games that rely solely on gameplay, but not if a game has a good story or setting. Then it's all in the writer to make a good story come out of it.

 

I know the games are based on the books, but has anyone read the Witcher series? I've been thinking about picking them up as my reading list is getting a little thin.

If you love the games, you should love the books too. It will give you A LOT of backstory about Ciri, Geralt & Yennefer. You have to start with The Last Wish, then Sword of Destiny and only after that you can start with the Blood of Elves book which is the first book in the actual Saga. The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny are pretty much books made of short stories, it's like reading about individual missions Geralt goes through meeting familiar characters on the way.

[HaSoOoN-MHD]

On 2/2/2017 at 0:41 AM, Redgrave said:

Only thing I can think of that I actually have read are the Resistance comics. They were alright, though the artstyle for one of the stories made it hard to tell what certain things were. Oh and I guess the Injustice comics count too. Those were pretty cool and I enjoyed it more than the games story.

 

Otherwise there's lots of ones I wouldn't mind reading but for me it's just hard to pick up a book and read it. I know most of the Halo novels (especially ones dealing with the Forerunners) are supposed to be really good. The Mass Effect novels sound like hit and miss though. The one that came out right before Mass Effect 3 just came off as a terrible fanfiction. This is actually a scene in it where Kai Leng breaks into Anderson's apartment to place some bugs.

 

 

The absolute madman.

Was someone actually paid to write this garbage?

[Elvick_]

I've read Halo: The Fall of Reach, and the Ratchet and Clank comic... and I think that's about it.

Fall of Reach was incredible. Don't remember the R&C comic... maybe I didn't read it. I have it, like I have The Last of Us, inFamous comics too. Oh and i have a few Pokemon books, as well as some Spectrobes books... I've only read a few of the Pokemon ones.

[Winkuru]

I love the witcher short story collections but the novels are kinda bumby ride but still worth a read.

 

Actual gaming novels wise i have read couple of warcraft books which ranged from okay and barely okay to garbage. Besides those i found one of the Halo books from fleamarket for 1 euro and if i remember correctly i think it was actually pretty okay. It was the one that takes place before Halo 4 (can't remember the name)