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wandering_not_lost 's review for:
XCOM 2: Escalation
by Rick Barba
Absolutely the best of the XCOM2 tie-in books. Also, if you are a Skirmisher fan, this is THE book to get, as there is tons of Skirmisher lore in this, as well as some Reaper and general world lore. The plot is a little wonkily paced and put together, and it ends on a cliffhanger (where the rest of the plot is continued in the War of the Chosen DLC), but in the end I gave it 5 stars because I didn't care about these weaknesses through the whole book, because the characters and characterization was so great.
To be clear, since the official summary is not: this book is set after both Resurrection and the Factions graphic novel. It's unclear how long after Resurrection, but probably at least a year or three after Factions. XCOM is up to fighting strength, with mid-level equipped troops on hand, and Mox, who ended Factions still in ADVENT, is now training Skirmishers and is one of Betos' most trusted lieutenants. The plot follows a good handful of POV characters: newish Skirmisher Darox and his team; Dr. Marin, a scientist on the Avenger; and Petrov, a Reaper who survives the Hunter wiping out her team. You also see them have significant interactions with familiar faces from the game (Mox, Bradford, Tygan, and Volk, in particular-no Templars, as they show up as a plot device but never speak with anyone), as well as other new characters.
Amazingly, I liked all of these folks. The major characters had a good amount of time to interact with each other and show you who they were, and even the minor characters got to dig into their quirks and opinions, without the author beating you over the head with it. Little moments such as Marin trying to cheer up his soldier friend who'd just lost part of his squad in a battle, Darox talking to a friend who is squeamish about having his chip removed, and Petrov chatting with Darox about what it was like working in ADVENT all make the book. Also, the conversations were just fun to read, with little bits of lore about the world tucked everywhere, and this is the sort of stuff I like in my military-ish sci-fi.
The plot ostensibly revolves around the Reapers, Skirmishers, and XCOM all coming together to investigate new ADVENT activity in their area and to try to fight the Chosen, who've just started hunting them. (For this reason, the book plot doesn't mesh flawlessly with Mox's introductory mission in WotC. In this book, Mox, Bradford, and Volk all know of each others' factions, and they even successfully work together. So, the game's beginning antagonism/distrust between the factions seems off.) There's a few operations that the characters take part in, with a good number of nods to gameplay elements. But, overall...this is a book about the characters, not about the plot, and it shows. One mid-book operation ends up feeling pointless and the enemy's actions never explained. The ending feels rushed, with some of the final sequence happening off-screen and it not being terribly clear to the characters if they succeeded or failed. From a stand-alone plot standpoint, it's pretty lopsided, with a very weak conclusion. As a very long, fanfictionesque prelude to War of the Chosen, however, it really, really succeeds.
To be clear, since the official summary is not: this book is set after both Resurrection and the Factions graphic novel. It's unclear how long after Resurrection, but probably at least a year or three after Factions. XCOM is up to fighting strength, with mid-level equipped troops on hand, and Mox, who ended Factions still in ADVENT, is now training Skirmishers and is one of Betos' most trusted lieutenants. The plot follows a good handful of POV characters: newish Skirmisher Darox and his team; Dr. Marin, a scientist on the Avenger; and Petrov, a Reaper who survives the Hunter wiping out her team. You also see them have significant interactions with familiar faces from the game (Mox, Bradford, Tygan, and Volk, in particular-no Templars, as they show up as a plot device but never speak with anyone), as well as other new characters.
Amazingly, I liked all of these folks. The major characters had a good amount of time to interact with each other and show you who they were, and even the minor characters got to dig into their quirks and opinions, without the author beating you over the head with it. Little moments such as Marin trying to cheer up his soldier friend who'd just lost part of his squad in a battle, Darox talking to a friend who is squeamish about having his chip removed, and Petrov chatting with Darox about what it was like working in ADVENT all make the book. Also, the conversations were just fun to read, with little bits of lore about the world tucked everywhere, and this is the sort of stuff I like in my military-ish sci-fi.
The plot ostensibly revolves around the Reapers, Skirmishers, and XCOM all coming together to investigate new ADVENT activity in their area and to try to fight the Chosen, who've just started hunting them. (For this reason, the book plot doesn't mesh flawlessly with Mox's introductory mission in WotC. In this book, Mox, Bradford, and Volk all know of each others' factions, and they even successfully work together. So, the game's beginning antagonism/distrust between the factions seems off.) There's a few operations that the characters take part in, with a good number of nods to gameplay elements. But, overall...this is a book about the characters, not about the plot, and it shows. One mid-book operation ends up feeling pointless and the enemy's actions never explained. The ending feels rushed, with some of the final sequence happening off-screen and it not being terribly clear to the characters if they succeeded or failed. From a stand-alone plot standpoint, it's pretty lopsided, with a very weak conclusion. As a very long, fanfictionesque prelude to War of the Chosen, however, it really, really succeeds.