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Gears Of War Novels Get New Author
Posted by Mike Fahey at 1:40 AM on July 22, 2008
How very odd. Back in January we reported that Steven L. Kent, author of the Clone series and The Ultimate History Of Video Games would be penning a series of novels based on Gears of War, but now Del Rey has announced an entirely different sort of clone author for the series. Karen Traviss, who wrote the excellent Star Wars: Republic Commando series of novels. No offence to Mr. Kent, but my excitement level just kicked up a notch.
"Playing Gears of War is a kick-arse experience," said Del Rey editor Keith Clayton, "And the Gears of War books should remain true to the spirit of the game. I'm happy to announce that the marriage of Karen Traviss and chainsaw bayonets is a match made in heaven--or hell, if you happen to be a Locust drone."
The first novel, Gears of War: The Battle Of Aspho Fields will go on sale October 28th, exploring the relationship between Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. Let's just hope there's no kissing involved. Hit the jump for more info.
EPIC GAMES AND DEL REY ANNOUNCE NOVELS IN THE GEARS OF WAR VIDEO GAME UNIVERSE
NEW YORK, NY - July 21, 2008 - Epic Games, Inc. and Del Rey, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today that Del Rey will publish three novels set in the gritty world of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Gears of War video game series. The first novel, GEARS OF WAR: THE BATTLE OF ASPHO FIELDS, written by #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Traviss, will go on sale October 28, 2008. The Gears of War 2 video game, the highly anticipated sequel to the genre-defining third-person shooter that won over 30 game of the year awards, will be released worldwide exclusively for the Xbox 360™ on November 7, 2008.
In GEARS OF WAR: THE BATTLE OF ASPHO FIELDS, the last human stronghold on Sera braces itself for another onslaught from the Locust Horde, as ghosts come back to haunt Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. For Marcus -- decorated war hero, convicted traitor -- the return of an old comrade threatens to dredge up an agonizing secret he's sworn to keep. As the beleaguered soldiers of the Coalition of Ordered Governments take a last stand to save humankind from extermination, the harrowing decisions made at Aspho Fields have to be relived and made again. Marcus and Dom can take anything the Locust Horde throws at them -- but will their friendship survive the truth about Dom's brother Carlos?
"After finishing the first Gears of War game, players were left wanting to know more about Delta Squad and the events leading up to Emergence Day," said Epic Games' president Michael Capps. "This trilogy of novels opens up whole new worlds of storytelling opportunities, and will add even more context to the upcoming comic book series, game sequel and motion picture. We loved Karen Traviss' work on the Republic Commando series, and we can't wait to get her Gears book to our fans."
"Playing Gears of War is a kick-arse experience," said Del Rey editor Keith Clayton, "And the Gears of War books should remain true to the spirit of the game. I'm happy to announce that the marriage of Karen Traviss and chainsaw bayonets is a match made in heaven--or hell, if you happen to be a Locust drone."
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
Concretepiggy
Posted 2:26 AM 22/7/08
I'm interested in this; I love dark, gritty, apocalyptic settings. I'd hope this would be written like Warhammer 40K books (Dan Abnett's style particularly) and just be OTT and exciting, with an intriging plot to keep the book ticking over between the action.
Concretepiggy
ƒox
Posted 2:16 AM 22/7/08
Does anyone actually care enough about GoW's story to buy a novel about it? I mean, GoW is big franchise now but I'm pretty sure it's appeal to most people is it's gameplay, not it's story. =/
ƒox
MetalGearMax
Posted 2:14 AM 22/7/08
Really been looking forward to the GoW novels. Good to hear the 1st one will be available soon.
...any word if it's follow up will be "bigger, badder and more badass"?
MetalGearMax
jasoncourt
Posted 2:10 AM 22/7/08
(hehe) I could swear I just read 'Gears of War' and 'novel' in the same sentence.
jasoncourt
parasiteartist
Posted 1:58 AM 22/7/08
Sweet!
parasiteartist
EvilFiek
Posted 1:55 AM 22/7/08
Can I get another Eric Nylund Halo Novel first, please ;(?
EvilFiek
everybest
Posted 1:53 AM 22/7/08
Gross.
everybest
wild homes got the wrong bloke!
Posted 2:46 AM 22/7/08
This just doesn't make any sense. Karen Traviss loves some clone troopers, some Mandolorians, some clones, Boba Fett, some other, non-Boba Fett Mandolorians, um... maybe a Jedi or two... and some more clone troopers.
Do you see where I'm going with this? I just don't see this making a ton of sense for a Gears of War novelisation. Oh well.
wild homes got the wrong bloke!
Athrun
Posted 2:41 AM 22/7/08
@ƒox: You could say the same thing about Halo. Most of what we know about Halo comes from the books.
Athrun
ThursdayNext
Posted 2:39 AM 22/7/08
Maybe I'm a snob, but personally I could sum this up in three words (well, two words and a noise).
"Meh, Fan Fiction"
ThursdayNext
jenovasilver
Posted 2:33 AM 22/7/08
You know what, perhaps this novel will bring some much needed plot and story to the GOW-verse...that can never be a bad thing right?
You get the right writer and you can make almost anything be gold.
*looks at the Halo books*
yep.
jenovasilver
Glaiel-Gamer
Posted 3:40 AM 22/7/08
I found the first chapter:
"Then marcus look at his buddies, and how awesome all the lighting looked shining off their very shiny full body armor. It looked almost real, only very, very shiny. And lacking color, which made it look even more real. He thought to himself, "Man, real-life has great graphics." He then noticed all the bump mapping... I mean actual bumps on the ground, and admired the graphics of his world. Then he noticed he had a chainsaw gun, rendered beautifully with state of the art graphics. What could he do with a chainsaw gun, he thought to himself. Then he had an idea. He found an innocent creature thing, also with amazing graphics, and cut it in half. The intense amount of blood spewed all over the place. How could one creature hold so much blood? It's so real so it couldn't be an illusion, the graphics are just that good. Plot? Oh no we're trying what we did with the game and sacrifice a good story in order to get good graphics. Now back to the story. The bump-mapped textures of fenix's helmit refracted through the procedural convulsion filtered 3D smoke effects and....."
Glaiel-Gamer
ca$h
Posted 3:36 AM 22/7/08
To be on topic here, the idea of 'expanding' GoW's fiction is pretty hilarious considering the series has none.
The entire novel will consist of Marcus and Dom being sent from one shooting gallery to the next while using the bare minimum of pseudo-whitty grunt speech to get through.
Oh, and it would be totally awesome if they were gay, if only to see all the little brats around the internet go into critical meltdown mode when it's announced.
@Lijik:
ha-HA *rolls eyes*
ca$h
Polterg3ist
Posted 3:31 AM 22/7/08
Karen Traviss?!
SCORE!
Polterg3ist
Lijik
Posted 3:22 AM 22/7/08
@ca$h:
Woah, that fury you just displayed was pretty kick-ass.
Lijik
ca$h
Posted 3:14 AM 22/7/08
God that pisses me of.
'kick-ass' is an action, not a damn description. In fact, I will maul the next person who uses 'kick-ass' to describe a noun.
ca$h
warf0x0r
Posted 4:29 AM 22/7/08
@Glaiel-Gamer: Wow, I bet that chapter goes on forever.
warf0x0r
KurtangleTN
Posted 5:41 AM 22/7/08
Wow a game without a storyline and they make a book about it, no wonder people don't read.
KurtangleTN
Foxstar Sixtail
Posted 5:35 AM 22/7/08
If Halo can be made into a enjoyable read, so can Gears of War.
Foxstar Sixtail
Aristeia
Posted 6:08 AM 22/7/08
I could've cared less about a Gears of War novelization til I saw that it was Karen Traviss writing it. I mean, she really transformed the entire Clone Wars era for me. Episode 2 and 3 suddenly gained new meaning due to her Republic Commando series.
When she writes combat, I experience the heat of the battle. When she writes soldier camaraderie, I feel their brotherly love.
People can mock all they want, but the fact is, some authors can perform alchemy and polish turds into real gold. I have high hopes for this new series, despite the original subject matter.
Aristeia
c0rnpwn
Posted 6:36 AM 22/7/08
I, too, enjoyed the Republic Commando books muchly(too bad about no Republic Commando game sequel, if any game deserved one it was that)! I'm excited to hear about Karen Traviss, I might pick this one up (or continue reading more Star Wars books...or maybe Tucker Max).
c0rnpwn
MetalGearMax
Posted 9:18 AM 22/7/08
@ca$h:
That's a kickass post!
MetalGearMax
freakout
Posted 11:12 AM 22/7/08
@wild homes desires a pudding!: she sure loves her Star Wars, but the thing I've always loved about her books is the sheer level of grit she manages to pack in there. I swear, sometimes I have to pick dirt out from under my fingernails. If anyone can write emotionless, gruff soldierly types you can actually empathise with, it's Traviss. Look no further than her in-depth studies of Boba Fett as an example...
Good choice, Del Rey.
freakout
Lijik
Posted 3:58 PM 22/7/08
@ca$h:
Oh come off it, you knew that was coming when you were whining about some insignificant shit like that.
Lijik
owlish
Posted 11:50 PM 22/7/08
Karen's writing is boring and formulaic. Bring back Steven L. Kent!
owlish
ca$h
Posted 4:02 AM 23/7/08
@Lijik:
I still mauled you though motherfucker ;)
ca$h
luir
Posted 4:32 AM 22/7/08
no way gears story or universe is that deep,
a damn comic book by marvel/dc would fit much better
luir
Courage_Dog
Posted 4:10 AM 22/7/08
@Glaiel-Gamer: hah
Courage_Dog
Ultimate.Tomato
Posted 4:11 AM 24/7/08
@wild homes works for the IRS, journalises games!: I think this is a perfect fit! Karen Traviss did a wonderful job on the Republic Commando series, largely because of well-written characters and relationships. Those books are not about clones or Jedi, those are just elements of the setting. What the books are really about is the camaraderie of a military squad, which is a common theme to both stories.
Ultimate.Tomato