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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
The first few pages caught my attention. I loved how Oliver Bowden portrayed Ethan Frye's character. He got me excited about the book. But somewhere in the next few chapters the story started to slow down drastically for me. And then it started picking up again towards the end when the twins came into the picture. Love the ending!
This book was difficult for me to rate because I liked the characters a lot and the story was interesting, but it was written poorly. There was very little detail, and this made it difficult to properly follow what was happening. There were a lot of gaps and jumps in detail and story, and a lot of it felt more like a summary from a bystander than a story about the people experiencing it.
This was a really solid book up until the point where it turned into a mediocre retelling of the game.
That sounds really negative, but I actually quite liked it. The first two thirds or so really added depth to the character of Henry Green, and built up the events leading to the story in ways that changed my perspective on things and added to my enjoyment of the game. Even the few chapters from younger Evie's perspective were cute and I felt like they complemented and added to her characterization in game.
Which is what made me so disappointed once the book caught up with the game storyline. I felt like the first parts of the book really lent a lot of insight into the characters and their motivations, but once the story reached the timeline of the game that all disappeared. It was really noticeable that most, if not all, of the dialogue after that point was just copy and pasted from the game script, strung together by pretty basic descriptions of what happens during gameplay. Not to mention the rushed feeling of cramming many many hours of gameplay into less than 100 pages. Multiple characters were simply left out, or merited only a single mention. Even Jacob was heavily sidelined, as Evie was the only one of the twins to have focus chapters. I'd hoped that a novelization which used Evie regularly as a POV character might do a little more with her. Besides (unintentionally?) implying that she had a massive crush on Lucy Thorne. I'm pretty sure that was just a side effect of the fact that most male authors find it physically impossible to describe female characters in a way that doesn't focus on their attractiveness or lack thereof, but hey I'm gonna take it as confirmation that Evie, like her brother, is into people of multiple genders. On the subject of Evie's romantic life, I was also really looking forward to an expansion of Evie and Henry's romance, but again... not much added that wasn't already there.
So, in conclusion, absolutely read the first two parts of the book and fall in love with Henry Green all over again, then stop once it gets caught up to the timeline of the game because there's nothing worth it after that.
That sounds really negative, but I actually quite liked it. The first two thirds or so really added depth to the character of Henry Green, and built up the events leading to the story in ways that changed my perspective on things and added to my enjoyment of the game. Even the few chapters from younger Evie's perspective were cute and I felt like they complemented and added to her characterization in game.
Which is what made me so disappointed once the book caught up with the game storyline. I felt like the first parts of the book really lent a lot of insight into the characters and their motivations, but once the story reached the timeline of the game that all disappeared. It was really noticeable that most, if not all, of the dialogue after that point was just copy and pasted from the game script, strung together by pretty basic descriptions of what happens during gameplay. Not to mention the rushed feeling of cramming many many hours of gameplay into less than 100 pages. Multiple characters were simply left out, or merited only a single mention. Even Jacob was heavily sidelined, as Evie was the only one of the twins to have focus chapters. I'd hoped that a novelization which used Evie regularly as a POV character might do a little more with her. Besides (unintentionally?) implying that she had a massive crush on Lucy Thorne. I'm pretty sure that was just a side effect of the fact that most male authors find it physically impossible to describe female characters in a way that doesn't focus on their attractiveness or lack thereof, but hey I'm gonna take it as confirmation that Evie, like her brother, is into people of multiple genders. On the subject of Evie's romantic life, I was also really looking forward to an expansion of Evie and Henry's romance, but again... not much added that wasn't already there.
So, in conclusion, absolutely read the first two parts of the book and fall in love with Henry Green all over again, then stop once it gets caught up to the timeline of the game because there's nothing worth it after that.
I really enjoyed this. My mum actually saw this in our local bookshop and very kindly got it for me - I absolutely loved the game (Assassin's Creed: Syndicate) so was interested when I saw there was a book. It was a fun, entertaining read and it was interesting to learn abit more about some of the characters. If you enjoyed the game you would probably like this.
Oh gosh. I love this book, about as much as I love the game.
This is a very nice insight on the life of Jayadeep Mir, all the whys and hows. It's nice to know Henry's reasoning, why he is so reluctant to join the twins in the field, why when battling he looks like he doesn't have the spirit of the fight in him.
Love Freddie's part of the book. He kinda grew on me, something game!Freddie did not achieve, or more like, he felt just like a sidekick for Jacob.
My biggest, most favourite thing was reading about Ethan Frye. First of all - hot dad, second - goddamn so much of Jacob is in him and so much of Ethan is in Jacob. I kinda have a thing for the Frye men, I get it. But also hear me out - Ethan's garden jealousy. *That* made me chuckle. A few chapters later I was crying, though.
Love the supernatural connection between the twins. Absolutely love every mention of Jacob and his successes in fighting the Templars. Can't say Evie did anything significant, though, except making heart-eyes at Henry and (as more shown in the game) bitching at Jacob.
Though it did not stop me from enjoying Evie's part or stop me from liking her. The way how she is portrayed in the book made me realise how actually young she is, and maybe even a bit obsessed with the Pieces of Eden, but she is well-rounded enough to be likeable and relatable.
Shotout for all the discussions of the Creed and how the Assassins' view the world. Freedom and all that. Love the most of Ethan's discussions about the way of the Assassin and how it has to change - thus raising Jacob and Evie with a slightly different wisdom in mind. You must find your own path.
As for the writing, it's nice and easy at some paragraphs, then goes into a complete mess of repetitive sentences and sometimes it was difficult to follow the author's idea. But all battle scenes are great and fluent and fast. Okay, except for the Starrick one. It was horrible. The ending was a bit disappointing and anti-climactic, too, not at all saved by the cute epilogue.
Anyway, none of it is going to take my 5 star rating off. Love the book, love the Creed, and now I'm off to get the other AssCreed novels.
This is a very nice insight on the life of Jayadeep Mir, all the whys and hows. It's nice to know Henry's reasoning, why he is so reluctant to join the twins in the field, why when battling he looks like he doesn't have the spirit of the fight in him.
Love Freddie's part of the book. He kinda grew on me, something game!Freddie did not achieve, or more like, he felt just like a sidekick for Jacob.
My biggest, most favourite thing was reading about Ethan Frye. First of all - hot dad, second - goddamn so much of Jacob is in him and so much of Ethan is in Jacob. I kinda have a thing for the Frye men, I get it. But also hear me out - Ethan's garden jealousy. *That* made me chuckle. A few chapters later I was crying, though.
Love the supernatural connection between the twins. Absolutely love every mention of Jacob and his successes in fighting the Templars. Can't say Evie did anything significant, though, except making heart-eyes at Henry and (as more shown in the game) bitching at Jacob.
Though it did not stop me from enjoying Evie's part or stop me from liking her. The way how she is portrayed in the book made me realise how actually young she is, and maybe even a bit obsessed with the Pieces of Eden, but she is well-rounded enough to be likeable and relatable.
Shotout for all the discussions of the Creed and how the Assassins' view the world. Freedom and all that. Love the most of Ethan's discussions about the way of the Assassin and how it has to change - thus raising Jacob and Evie with a slightly different wisdom in mind. You must find your own path.
As for the writing, it's nice and easy at some paragraphs, then goes into a complete mess of repetitive sentences and sometimes it was difficult to follow the author's idea. But all battle scenes are great and fluent and fast. Okay, except for the Starrick one. It was horrible. The ending was a bit disappointing and anti-climactic, too, not at all saved by the cute epilogue.
Anyway, none of it is going to take my 5 star rating off. Love the book, love the Creed, and now I'm off to get the other AssCreed novels.
3/5 stars
Assassin's Creed: Underworld is the companion novel for Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, the latest (and my favourite) Assassin's Creed game.
I guess I'll start off with the big negative with this one that brought it down the two stars, and that's the editing. There is a big problem with repetitiveness- at one point an entire section was repeated, as well as small phrases being used within paragraphs of each other. There were a lot of grammar mistakes and some sentences were written as if they should be longer; the flow was just off, and it did inhibit my enjoyment of the novel quite a lot.
I did enjoy the action and fight sequences, and that area really captured the tone of the game. Sometimes it seemed as if things weren't described enough, like one minute a character would be standing on a roof, and the next minute entering a hidden entrance without any solid description of how they’d got there. It was as if the author was relying on us in the second part (Evie’s part) to be familiar with the game, which I am, but might cause problems for anyone who decides to read the book before they play the game.
I have to say, the characterisation was pretty on point, and I really enjoyed character and relationship developments. I enjoyed getting a deeper look into Henry and Ethan’s backgrounds, as well as seeing how they became familiar with Abberline. The chapter where (spoiler alert, for anyone who hasn't read the book/played the game yet) Ethan dies really upset me, and I did end up crying, which wasn't really a surprise to me.
In particular I enjoyed the written dynamic between Evie and Jacob. I feel that some authors struggle to write sibling relationships, especially twins, efficiently, capturing the closeness that comes with it but also the constant annoyance at your sibling, but Bowden really did capture what I loved so much about the twins’ relationship in the game. I do wish the twins' part had been a bit more detailed, but the game is literally about them so I guess I can’t really complain all that much. I also didn't really enjoy reading about the romance between Henry and Evie all that much; I prefer seeing it played out in the game than in writing, but I think that's more of a personal issue I have with a lot of romance sub-plots at the moment.
Overall an enjoyable book that did add to my knowledge of the characters, but I did have my problems with it and I don't think I'll pick up any more of the other books as I don't feel like it will help me understand what goes on in the other games that I'm unfamiliar with.
Assassin's Creed: Underworld is the companion novel for Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, the latest (and my favourite) Assassin's Creed game.
I guess I'll start off with the big negative with this one that brought it down the two stars, and that's the editing. There is a big problem with repetitiveness- at one point an entire section was repeated, as well as small phrases being used within paragraphs of each other. There were a lot of grammar mistakes and some sentences were written as if they should be longer; the flow was just off, and it did inhibit my enjoyment of the novel quite a lot.
I did enjoy the action and fight sequences, and that area really captured the tone of the game. Sometimes it seemed as if things weren't described enough, like one minute a character would be standing on a roof, and the next minute entering a hidden entrance without any solid description of how they’d got there. It was as if the author was relying on us in the second part (Evie’s part) to be familiar with the game, which I am, but might cause problems for anyone who decides to read the book before they play the game.
I have to say, the characterisation was pretty on point, and I really enjoyed character and relationship developments. I enjoyed getting a deeper look into Henry and Ethan’s backgrounds, as well as seeing how they became familiar with Abberline. The chapter where (spoiler alert, for anyone who hasn't read the book/played the game yet)
In particular I enjoyed the written dynamic between Evie and Jacob. I feel that some authors struggle to write sibling relationships, especially twins, efficiently, capturing the closeness that comes with it but also the constant annoyance at your sibling, but Bowden really did capture what I loved so much about the twins’ relationship in the game. I do wish the twins' part had been a bit more detailed, but the game is literally about them so I guess I can’t really complain all that much. I also didn't really enjoy reading about the romance between Henry and Evie all that much; I prefer seeing it played out in the game than in writing, but I think that's more of a personal issue I have with a lot of romance sub-plots at the moment.
Overall an enjoyable book that did add to my knowledge of the characters, but I did have my problems with it and I don't think I'll pick up any more of the other books as I don't feel like it will help me understand what goes on in the other games that I'm unfamiliar with.