smallharmlesskitten post=6.72829.774479 said:
Gears of war Fan-Fiction....If this is a lemon...
It isn't
supposed to be, but still... that's the exact vibe I got from this extract. No offence to the author, but I really don't think that a
Gears novel could work.
Gears is one of those action flick-type games that work very well in a visual medium, but not so well on text. What makes
Gears, the action, the excellent gameplay, the expansive visuals with a very medieval theme (thanks Cheeze), and even the characters, they work much better when the audience is able to
see them. The visual medium is powerful, and video games in general (and
Gears specifically), utilise the strengths of the medium to become what they are, meaning it's very hard to translate this into text and still keep as well-received as the games.
The thing is, and this might just be youth and nostalgia, I've read better
fan-fiction than this... but that was based on
Final Fantasy 8, meaning it had excellent character depth and a well fleshed out background to work with. The author of this piece has that in
Gears, but it's much more faint. The author's gotta work on focusing what makes a novel great in
Gears, it strengths, and further that.
I don't see this working as an action novel to be honest. The main reason people read action novels are because they offer the reader an opportunity to escape, and experience heart-pounding action that they could never experience in real life. Unfortunately, the target demographic for
Gears is one that's already played the games, meaning they have already stepped into the boots of Marcus Fenix. They've already had a taste of the action in
Gears,
first-hand. Unlike novels such as
Ice Station, the target demographic (those who've played the games) will be picturing in the back of their head,
That would be so sweet if I could do it. The major strength of an action novel, the ability to transport the reader into the body of the protagonist, it's been done before in the games, and in my opinion, been done better.
Hey, I might be wrong (hopefully), and this piece of the novel isn't as good as the rest of the novel. Still, I'm not going to hold my breath.
Edit: I've been reading the interview (thanks again for the link Cheeze), and... it's a real shame, the author's given me yet another perspective to look at
Gears from. Unfortunately, and I mentioned it, but, when reading the interview, reading about her going on about the novel and what it would contain, my brain pictured it as a game. It's the flaw in this novel... one people might be able to move on from, but I won't. Shame too...
Edit Edit: It's not that I don't think the author's a good writer; far from it, she's quite good. I just don't think a book based on a video game could work. Regardless of how well she writes, I for one will always find it better if it were a video game, or even a movie. Again, not the fault of the author, just the medium.
