6 Surprisingly Good Books Based on Video Games
The book world and the video game world don’t always mix (for one thing, it is supremely difficult to partake of both at the same time). Novelizations of popular game franchises have been growing in popularity, of course, but when revered critical voices like Roger Ebert have gone to their graves decrying video games as an art form, it’s not surprising the tie-ins don’t have the strongest literary reputation.
Know what? That’s rubbish. Just as there are plenty of Star Trek and Star Wars novels that should be read by anyone interested in science fiction, there are many great books with strong ties to games. Below, we suggest 6 of them. Next time you’ve got a spare minute, instead of pulling out your phone to slingshot birds, pull out a book and read the saga about slingshotting birds!
ICO: Castle in the Mist, by Miyuki Miyabe
The beloved adventure game ICO was released in 2001 to critical acclaim, but sales were sluggish. That didn’t quell the cult following that grew up around it. A few years after its release, Miyuki Miyabe published a novelization, ICO: Castle in the Mist. It took seven years to get an English translation, but the wait was worth it. The book adds a considerable amount of context to a minimalist game. The story focuses on Ico, a young boy born with a pair of horns on his head, a phenomenom fabled to occur only once in a generation. When these horned children turn 13, the villagers take them to the nearby castle and leave them as a sacrifice to the presence that abides there. When Ico arrives to meet his end, he finds a girl sleeping in a cage atop a pool of living shadows. She’s not supposed to be there, and he doesn’t want to be there, so the two attempt an escape. It’s a touching fantasy tale about ancient legends, modern heroes, and of course, friendship.
Infinity Blade: Awakening, by Brandon Sanderson
The makers of the Infinity Blade mobile games—swipe-based combat experiences specializing in upgradable armor, varied weapons, and increasingly enormous foes rippedfrom childhood nightmares—aimed high when commissioning an author to write a novella to bridge the narrative between games. Prolific best-seller Sandserson proved a good choice, crafting a highly readable adventure that will appeal to high fantasy readers whether they are fans of the game or not. A knight named Siris has journeyed to the Dark Citadel with the sole purpose of defeating the army of Titans and destroying the God King. His father had the same mission, as did his father before him, and his grandfather—generations of warriors have given their lives to kill the tyrant, without success. Siris aims to redeem his bloodline by accomplishing an impossible task, no matter how many immortal foes he has to tangle with. If he can get his hands on the Infinity Blade, victory is assured.
BioShock: Rapture, by John Shirley
“Is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow?” These words form the first pieces of narrative in 2008’s BioShock, a first-person shooter that made us wonder why we used to think all those other first person shooters were so good. The phenomenal in-game story included a number of tense emotional exchanges that hit really close to home. A few years later, John Shirley wrote this prequel, which steps back to consider the events and characters that set the stage for the game: government conspiracies, global fear of annihilation, and one headstrong dreamer named Andrew Ryan who wanted to change it all. Great men and women deserve better than a life lived in terror, and Ryan will ensure they get it by building the utopia of the future: Rapture, a shining city below the sea.
Halo: The Fall of Reach, by Eric Nylund
When the Halo series took over the video gaming scene in the early 2000s, a series of tie-in novels kicked off almost immediately. The first and arguably best is Eric Nylund’s Halo: The Fall of Reach, a best-selling book that takes place before the events of the Halo games and follows a group of genetically modified experimental soldiers who hold the fate of mankind in their blood-soaked hands. Master Chief is one of these soldiers, called SPARTANs, and he’ll do anything it takes to defend the planet Reach from a ferocious Covenant attack.
Alan Wake, by Rick Burroughs
The psychological thriller game Alan Wake follows a best-selling novelist as he investigates his wife’s disappearance in the small town of Bright Falls. Along the way, he keeps encountering events from his latest novel, only changed from the way he remembers writing them. The Alan Wake book, then, is a novel starring a novelist that’s about a game about a novelist. Inception your way around that for a moment, then forget the logical loop, because it’s a great read. It’s pretty much a straight novelization of source material was already well-written and remarkably book-like.
Magicka: The Ninth Element, by Dan McGirt
Magicka is a game about wizards, a pale-skinned guy who sleeps in a coffin but definitely isn’t a vampire, and mixing spell elements to set your friends on fire. Magicka: The Ninth Element is a natural extension of that moderately insane world, which means you’re in for a hilarious read. This comedic fantasy by Dan McGirt is a prequel that follows four wizards through the hidden catacombs beneath a magic school as they seek out the legendary ninth element. Along the way, they’ll blow up a few things just for fun, and maybe uncover a sinister plot brewing within their own ranks. Or, maybe they won’t. Maybe they’ll just walk into a secret chamber and be all, “Hey look, the ninth element!” and spend the rest of the story throwing a barbecue.
What game would you love to see turned into a book?