Reviews

Desert Oath: The Official Prequel to Assassin's Creed Origins by Andrew Holmes, Oliver Bowden

agentnk_'s review against another edition

5.0

this is the first time reading an assassins creed novel. used to play games but never thought of reading the in lore novels. It took some time to really get to know the characters and tell which one was which. It is told mostly from Bayek’s POV, but there are other characters too, and you can literally feel the difference between their personalities and their feelings.

since this is sort of a prequel for the origin game gives a lot of back stories.

harveyhorse321's review against another edition

adventurous tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

I started reading the Assassin’s Creed series when I first encountered the games, aged around 13. I enjoyed them but even then recognised that the writing just is not that great. I will continue to read them all because I love the games to an obsessive extent, and to be fair to the author of this one and most of the others, he does add a great amount of lore to the AC universe that is meaningful. Some of the books, like Forsaken, have really stuck with me, but this one was quite lacking in substance. Very forgettable and despite the bar being set pretty low, quite disappointing.

casia_w's review against another edition

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

jordanrhys's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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? Yes

4.0

vingilot's review

3.0

Bayek's backstory is told! In a good story with quite a few missed opportunities.

Bayek's father leaves, which sets Bayek on a quest to find him. Helped by his love Aya, he learns more about his father and his business than he ever bargained for. Endangering himself, and those he loves in the process.

Some of these tie in novels are more closely tied in then others. This is definitely in the other camp. This does help it somewhat, it does avoid the all too common pitfall of spending the bulk of it on the backstory which is not found in the game, and then rushing through the game's plot because it feels obligated to cover it too. No this is entirely stand alone, which is a good thing! However it could have used a bit more foreshadowing, and some of the side characters didn't feel the same as they are in the game story.

Also... This book should have been about Aya in my opinion, it is her we don't get to know well enough in the game, and I for one would have love to hear more. The previous book about henry green would have been a good model of how I would have preferred this one. Hell they did not have to change the story much to make it fit, just give it from her perspective.

I can speculate about whether this book too fell victi8m to the all too common sexism in the industry at the time this was written, but that serves little purpose. The game was long rumored to be planned to feature Aya more heavily than she did in the finished product. And this book gives similar vibes.

Anyway, not a bad book, just with some missed opportunities.

teapotgoblin's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

blacque's review against another edition

4.0

Light reading, more so than I initially expected, but fun and pleasant for lore-searching fans of the game.

woodstocknation's review against another edition

4.0

As an avid Assassin's Creed lover, this was a really fun take on the origin of Origins, if you will. Looking forward to reading the others!

sabregirl's review against another edition

5.0

Was a little worried I wouldn't like this book, since I wasn't a big fan of Origins when I first played it (replaying it now and enjoying it a lot more.) and not a total fan of Bayek. While this gives a deeper understanding of Bayek and how he is, it definitely reaffirms my hatred for Aya. She still went through all that shit and treated Bayek like shit and made him second guess everyone and everything.

thedayoflight's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I nice little prequel story to the game but not as good as other AC books that I've read.