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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
Oh yes, after reading that description you surely are drooling over this book. Well hold yer spit 'n lend me yer eyes 'cause thar are a some problems here (God, I love pirate talk!). One - a simple question. Did you play the game? If you didn’t know: yes this is a game, but not just any game. This game is a masterpiece, probably my favorite so far. Ok, so if you didn’t know this then shame on you. If you didn’t play the game then I say drop the idea of buying and reading this book. If you want to buy it just to have something pretty to look at then go ahead. The cover is amazing, as all the artwork for this game is. Two. If you are a gamer and you played it… well, no difference there, is it? The book follows the game pattern maybe too closely for my taste. It was great that at some points I was comparing the way the assassinations were done in the book to the strategies I used in the game. This went on for what? A quarter or half of the book but eventually I got bored. I thought I’d love it because, let’s face it, so many great characters appear in the story. We have Ezio, Leonardo, Machiavelli, La Volpe, Mario and many more. Eventually even these characters couldn’t keep me from falling asleep while reading it. Some details were cool, stuff that I didn’t notice in the game but I still find the story chaotic. I feel that the events don’t stick together too well. Towards the end of the story we have a scene (no spoilers, don’t worry) where *blank* looks at *someone*. Those who played the game know it’s Desmond. So we have a hint that he should have been in the book too. But I don’t know where because I couldn’t trace him. I think it would have been cooler if the author integrated the Animus in the story somehow. Maybe it would have given the book a bit of spice. I am really disappointed because I was expecting something more of this. I feel bad that I won’t be giving it such a high score…
Aaanyways, I’ll add a part that I really enjoyed. This is one of the reasons why I love this game so much.
‘People of Florence! Come! Gather round. Listen well to what I say! The end approaches! Now is the time to repent! To beg God’s forgiveness. Listen to me, if you cannot see what is happening for yourselves. The signs are all around us: Unrest! Famine! Disease! Corruption! These are the harbingers of darkness! We must stand firm in our devotion lest they consume us all !’ He scanned them with his fiery eyes. ‘I see you doubt, that you think me mad. Ahhhh… but did the Romans not say the same of Jesus? Know that I, too, once shared your uncertainty, your fear. But that was before Savonarola came to me. He showed me the truth! At last, my eyes were opened. And so I stand before you today in the hope that I might open yours as well!’ The preacher paused for breath. ‘Understand that we stand upon a precipice. On one side, the shining, glorious Kingdom of God. On the other – a bottomless pit of despair! Already you teeter precariously on the edge. Men like the Medici and the other families you once called masters sought earthly goods and gain. The abandoned their beliefs in favor of material pleasures, and they would have seen you all do the same.’ He paused again, this time for effect, and continued: ‘Our wise prophet once said, “The only good thing that we owe Plato and Aristotle is that they brought forward many arguments which we can use against the heretics. Yet they and other philosophers are now in hell.” If you value your immortal souls you’ll turn back from this unholy course and embrace the teachings of our prophet, Savonarola. Then you will sanctify your bodies and spirits – you will discover the Glory of God! You will, at last, become what our Creator intended: loyal and obedient servants!’
But the crowd, already thinning out, was losing interest, and the last few people were now moving away. Ezio stepped forward and addressed the beguiled preacher. ‘Your mind,’ he said. ‘I sense it is your own.’
The preacher laughed. ‘Not all of us required persuasion or coercion to be convinced. I already believed. All I have said is true!’
‘Nothing is true,’ replied Ezio. ‘And what I do now is no easy thing.’ He unsprung his wrist-blade and ran the preacher through. ‘Requiescat in pace,’ he said. Turning away from the kill, he pulled his cowl close over his head.
Two and a half stars for this...
Aaanyways, I’ll add a part that I really enjoyed. This is one of the reasons why I love this game so much.
‘People of Florence! Come! Gather round. Listen well to what I say! The end approaches! Now is the time to repent! To beg God’s forgiveness. Listen to me, if you cannot see what is happening for yourselves. The signs are all around us: Unrest! Famine! Disease! Corruption! These are the harbingers of darkness! We must stand firm in our devotion lest they consume us all !’ He scanned them with his fiery eyes. ‘I see you doubt, that you think me mad. Ahhhh… but did the Romans not say the same of Jesus? Know that I, too, once shared your uncertainty, your fear. But that was before Savonarola came to me. He showed me the truth! At last, my eyes were opened. And so I stand before you today in the hope that I might open yours as well!’ The preacher paused for breath. ‘Understand that we stand upon a precipice. On one side, the shining, glorious Kingdom of God. On the other – a bottomless pit of despair! Already you teeter precariously on the edge. Men like the Medici and the other families you once called masters sought earthly goods and gain. The abandoned their beliefs in favor of material pleasures, and they would have seen you all do the same.’ He paused again, this time for effect, and continued: ‘Our wise prophet once said, “The only good thing that we owe Plato and Aristotle is that they brought forward many arguments which we can use against the heretics. Yet they and other philosophers are now in hell.” If you value your immortal souls you’ll turn back from this unholy course and embrace the teachings of our prophet, Savonarola. Then you will sanctify your bodies and spirits – you will discover the Glory of God! You will, at last, become what our Creator intended: loyal and obedient servants!’
But the crowd, already thinning out, was losing interest, and the last few people were now moving away. Ezio stepped forward and addressed the beguiled preacher. ‘Your mind,’ he said. ‘I sense it is your own.’
The preacher laughed. ‘Not all of us required persuasion or coercion to be convinced. I already believed. All I have said is true!’
‘Nothing is true,’ replied Ezio. ‘And what I do now is no easy thing.’ He unsprung his wrist-blade and ran the preacher through. ‘Requiescat in pace,’ he said. Turning away from the kill, he pulled his cowl close over his head.
Two and a half stars for this...
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It was okay. Of course I liked the game better, I never understood why they made books out of games. Yet this one was a bit better than the others i read. I gave only two stars because it was not as fantastic as I expect it to be.
not bad for a book based on a video game, but it started to remind me of a really bad dungeons and dragons game after the second half
Each artistic medium has its own specific ways of catching your attention, engaging you and transmitting its information. For video games, that's a lot of action. For books, it's the little details and insights.
Assassin's Creed: Renaissance is a blow-by-literal-blow retelling of AC II, the game. Which would be great, if it managed to act like a book, and not like a written video game. To explain the difference: if this novel were required to write about Leonardo da Vinci's painting sessions, it would say, "He drew a woman. Behind her, he made a few green swirls. A yellow brushstroke represented for a road. The woman's hair was a bit curly. He called it 'Mona Lisa'."
The games give you the impression that they're really well-researched. The setting and atmosphere are pretty damned amazing, for one, and the characters are fun; however, the book decided that it doesn't give a damn about the Renaissance, even if that's the literal title of the volume, so all descriptions, insights, details and atmosphere are nearly non-existent. Instead, they're replaced with endless action sequences which sound exciting at first and then become repetitive, endless, and boring as hell.
I'm very happy I played Assassin's Creed II, so that when my eyes lost their focus from sheer boredom, my brain could supply the details anyway, since I already knew every single detail in the story.
This sad abuse of a good story dragged on over 500 pages of blows, running about, then more blows and more running about, which sounded like someone describing what they saw the characters do on the screen while somebody else played a video game.
Unfortunately, it's less exciting to watch someone play a game than to play it yourself - and it's a lot less exciting to hear them *talk* about it. Which is what Bowden does, with little input of his own.
Final verdict: hellishly boring.
Assassin's Creed: Renaissance is a blow-by-literal-blow retelling of AC II, the game. Which would be great, if it managed to act like a book, and not like a written video game. To explain the difference: if this novel were required to write about Leonardo da Vinci's painting sessions, it would say, "He drew a woman. Behind her, he made a few green swirls. A yellow brushstroke represented for a road. The woman's hair was a bit curly. He called it 'Mona Lisa'."
The games give you the impression that they're really well-researched. The setting and atmosphere are pretty damned amazing, for one, and the characters are fun; however, the book decided that it doesn't give a damn about the Renaissance, even if that's the literal title of the volume, so all descriptions, insights, details and atmosphere are nearly non-existent. Instead, they're replaced with endless action sequences which sound exciting at first and then become repetitive, endless, and boring as hell.
I'm very happy I played Assassin's Creed II, so that when my eyes lost their focus from sheer boredom, my brain could supply the details anyway, since I already knew every single detail in the story.
This sad abuse of a good story dragged on over 500 pages of blows, running about, then more blows and more running about, which sounded like someone describing what they saw the characters do on the screen while somebody else played a video game.
Unfortunately, it's less exciting to watch someone play a game than to play it yourself - and it's a lot less exciting to hear them *talk* about it. Which is what Bowden does, with little input of his own.
Final verdict: hellishly boring.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The book is a fairly basic one and is essentially a scene for scene of the video game. But it's been such a long time it was nice to be reminded of the plot.