A review by ezzydesu
Tom Clancy's The Division: Broken Dawn by Alexander C. Irvine

4.5

 ''Translate that into civilian.''
''We're cooked,''

I have received this book for free from Titan Books in exchange of an honest review.

I have a handful of hobbies and playing video games is one of them. Ofcourse Ubisoft's game adaptions of Tom Clancy's books have been on my radar and I have added The Devision franchise to my TBP, a To Be Played list, which is a gamer variant of a TBR I just invented. So yeah, this book coming unto my path was PERFECT.

The storyline of this book is hard to explain in short and if I try, it might seem a bit dull. And perhaps the faint red line of the story can seem a little boring, but it's the details and the goal that makes the plot so thrilling along the way. The on first sight small things are so significant and everything is so much bigger than directly displayed on paper, as the more indirect meaning of certain events are the key. I can say this isn't an easy, light and laidback read as it shows how little is needed to make modern society collapse completely. But it is such a good read that will leave you on the edge of your seat until the end.

Can I say that I absolutely loved the characters? Each character, however small, had a clear and unique personality. They were written in such a way I could almost imagine the different ways people walked and how their voices sounded.
Each character was completely appropriate for their age and experiences. The kids were stubborn and curious, the Division agents were properly trained with the instincts and reactions of something between a soldier and a regular street cop. Regular civilians didn't miraculously know how to handle every sitation properly, they just followed their gut and self-preservation. I love that, it gives a sense of realness to the people of the story.

A small issue I had with this book is that it is taking place in America. I am a European and have never been across the pond (yet). Everything is so different here, so I had a really hard time to visualize the surroundings of the story. Really, fantasy books are easier somehow! Everything is big, bigger, biggest in the US and distances can be so weird aswell. Sometimes the MC's were traveling between two cities and the times plus distance would bring me halfway across the country here! It didn't ruin the fun for me at all, but I had to refrain myself from googling EVERYTHING out of curiosity.

I think I would be reading more of Alex Irvine's titles at some point. He has written tie-in novels and novel adaptions for both games and comics, two things I like very much. Irvine's writing is very interesting and really has its own flow and signature. I would read more of his work because of just that.

I very much recommend this novel, both for lovers of dystopian and gamers. As I haven't played any The Division games yet, I can't tell you how it ties in with the game lore, but it seems like this book about the events right before the start of The Division 2 and the ending suggests that aswell as it isn't wrapped up, but more as if the story continues elsewhere. Think about a book ending in a cliffhanger and the sequel wraps that up eventually. In this case the game seems to be the sequel.
I have read this book as a standalone with next to no knowledge about the game and its lore and I can tell you it works perfectly well as a standalone novel for whoever wants to enjoy it.
★★★★✩½