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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I love Haytham so much 😭
If this is supposed to be Haytham his diary, it's incomplete, the story itself isn't bad, and a different perspective on Haytham and Connor s relationship.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
slow-paced
Μόνο ένα μυαλό χωρίς εμπόδια είναι ικανό να συλλάβει τη χαοτική ομορφιά του κόσμου. Αυτό είναι το μεγαλύτερο προσόν μας».
Despite being a long time player of the excellent Assassin's Creed series, I'd never picked up one of Oliver Bowden's novelisations due to mediocre reviews.
However, thanks to the charismatic, snarky and downright wonderful Haytham Kenway in the third game, my interest was peaked when i learned that Bowden's novelisation follows Haytham rather than the eponymous hero - his son Connor - of Assassins Creed 3 (the game on which the book is based). With that in mind, I read Forsaken, hoping to learn more about Haytham and glean some juicy info on his life both before, during and after the game's setting.
In that sense, I wasn't disappointed. Taking on the form of Haytham's personal journal, we learn much about him as a character and this gives his character much more depth and sympathy than was hinted at in the game. His relationship with other characters throughout the game is also expanded on (his interactions with Charles Lee not seen in the game are particularly fine) and we also learn more about his feelings regarding his once lover, Ziio, and their son, Connor.
As can be expected from a book that is part of the successful Assassin's Creed franchise, there is a lot of action. The action scenes are reasonably snappy and well written, and a couple of 'missions' as it were had me on the edge of my seat. That said, you certainly get the feeling that you'd rather be playing the book rather than reading it - regardless of writing skill, we're used to manoeuvring these situations on our games consoles, and I wished I could play some of these scenes.
There is also a lot of repetition from the game. I understand that in comparison to the previous novelisations, there is a whole lot of original material here. However, when there is repetition it's dull and doesn't feel necessary - we don't gain a whole lot more than we did in the game (except in one memorable circumstance, anyway).
Overall, it's a good novelisation and I have a lot of love for how Haytham was handled throughout, but in the end the writing isn't quite sharp enough, and the plotting not tight enough to warrant 4 or 5 stars.
However, thanks to the charismatic, snarky and downright wonderful Haytham Kenway in the third game, my interest was peaked when i learned that Bowden's novelisation follows Haytham rather than the eponymous hero - his son Connor - of Assassins Creed 3 (the game on which the book is based). With that in mind, I read Forsaken, hoping to learn more about Haytham and glean some juicy info on his life both before, during and after the game's setting.
In that sense, I wasn't disappointed. Taking on the form of Haytham's personal journal, we learn much about him as a character and this gives his character much more depth and sympathy than was hinted at in the game. His relationship with other characters throughout the game is also expanded on (his interactions with Charles Lee not seen in the game are particularly fine) and we also learn more about his feelings regarding his once lover, Ziio, and their son, Connor.
As can be expected from a book that is part of the successful Assassin's Creed franchise, there is a lot of action. The action scenes are reasonably snappy and well written, and a couple of 'missions' as it were had me on the edge of my seat. That said, you certainly get the feeling that you'd rather be playing the book rather than reading it - regardless of writing skill, we're used to manoeuvring these situations on our games consoles, and I wished I could play some of these scenes.
There is also a lot of repetition from the game. I understand that in comparison to the previous novelisations, there is a whole lot of original material here. However, when there is repetition it's dull and doesn't feel necessary - we don't gain a whole lot more than we did in the game (except in one memorable circumstance, anyway).
Overall, it's a good novelisation and I have a lot of love for how Haytham was handled throughout, but in the end the writing isn't quite sharp enough, and the plotting not tight enough to warrant 4 or 5 stars.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The book was great and could propel be read without the games
Haytham is such an intriguing, complex character. He's easily my favourite one in the entire series, which was the reason that I wanted to read this. Now, I've never read a novelization like this before, and likely I won't do it again. I hoped for backstory and insights into Haytham's character, but... This had no depth. None at all. It didn't have any of the complexity of Haytham's character. It felt like his voice was entirely off, and at times, he was acting out of character. To me, it was not a believable account of how he became to be the person he is. That, plus there were no meaningful chapters about the relationship to his son (which I was really looking forward to), only some shallow conversation. I did, however, learn that Haytham means little eagle, which is a neat detail (and I'm not sure if I missed it before or if it was only mentioned in this book).
So I've never been able to bring myself to read a video game novel before, but after playing AC Rogue finally and remembering how much I love Haytham Kenway, I thought I'd give this a go.
Honestly? The writing is pretty awful. The story is very much a series of snippets that are barely linked. But I still love Haytham's background stories and his thoughts, whilst a little too opaque in this book, are exactly what I hoped Haytham was thinking through the game.
Haytham remains a fascinating character. I wish only that his story could have been written better.
Honestly? The writing is pretty awful. The story is very much a series of snippets that are barely linked. But I still love Haytham's background stories and his thoughts, whilst a little too opaque in this book, are exactly what I hoped Haytham was thinking through the game.
Haytham remains a fascinating character. I wish only that his story could have been written better.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes