Taking place hundreds of years prior to Lionhead’s existing Fable RPG trilogy, in the time after the fall of the Old Kingdom, Fable: Blood of Heroes is a companion novel tie-in with the upcoming co-op action RPG Fable Legends, which is coming out later this year as a free-to-play title for Windows 10 and Xbox One.
During this early era in Albion history, the kingdom is young and full of darkness and magic. But fear not, for Heroes, previously thought to be nothing more than legend and fairytale, have returned to fight back against the dangerous creatures that lurk in the wilderness. In Blood of Heroes specifically, a child- and hero-devouring witch named Yog has come out of hiding with a plot to break the curse that now limits her full and terrible powers. At her bidding are three riders–an ogre, a redcap, and a nymph–who have been sent out across Albion to enact her plan.
On the case are eight Heroes, split into two parties of four, before eventually converging as one united force of bravery and heroism. Team one–Inga, Rook, Leech, and Jeremiah Tipple–begins the adventure by investigating the arson of a pub in the village Brightlodge at the hands of a redcap, a mischievous, pyromaniacal breed of creatures that get its name from the red caps that have been securely nailed into their skulls. Obviously the nails must have caused some brain damage, because the goblin-like pests act like they have more than a few screws loose. Team Hero’s second group of Albion’s best and bravest–Glory, Shroud, Winter, and Sterling–pick up from the first team’s findings by embarking on an investigation of the dusty quarry town of Grayrock.
Instead of chapters that are numbered or given titles vaguely describing the events of the pages to follow, each chapter simply bears the name of a Hero, with the story continuing from where the last chapter left off, only from the perspective of a different character. It’s a neat way to give each Hero equal page time so readers can become acquainted with the characters they will soon be able to control directly when Fable Legends comes out. According to the game’s official website, seven of the eight Heroes from the book are currently listed as playable characters–as are a handful more that do not appear in the novel. (Tipple’s the odd man out.)
And for the most part, the cast is a diverse and likeable bunch. The characterization isn’t particularly deep or complex, but each Hero has a distinct personality and, in the words of Liam Neeson from Taken, a very particular set of skills that complements those of their fellow party members. Inga is the brave warrior tank of the group, equipped with an enchanted shield named Bulwark, which appears to have the spirit of a powerful mage living inside it. Tipple is the team’s brutish brawler, his strength perhaps only outmatched by his desire to hit the Cock and Bard inn for a night of drinking and debauchery. Sterling is a cocky, flamboyant cuss cut from the Prince Charming archetype, but despite his reputation for being a “stuck-up peacock” he is an exceptionally talented swordfighter. Despite her uplifting, life-of-the-party attitude, Winter is no joke when it comes to channeling her strong Will to conjure elemental spells of ice and cold.
Then there are Leech and Shroud, the two black sheep of the Hero profession. Leech uses his study of corpses and jarred collection of body parts and organs to fuel his ability to siphon life away from one creature and use it to heal another. Shroud shares a similarly peculiar fascination with death, only he uses his knowledge of how things die to broaden his skills as a master assassin representing the secret society known as the Conclave. The fact that he knows twenty-six ways to kill someone with a soup spoon should tell you all you need to know about this guy.
Author Jim C. Hines, of Goblin Quest fame, also does a wonderful job of staying true to the Fable series’ brand of humor by complementing its darker elements and high-fantasy world of swordplay and spellcasting with a lighter side that adds the right amount of charm to liven things up. Between ogres that wear and argue with the “noggins” of other ogres–you see, in Fable ogres have both their brain and heart inside their head and can survive and somehow talk without a body–and the Albion-wide infatuation with chickens, it’s clear from the opening pages that this is not a tale to be taken too seriously.
Blood of Heroes very much reminds me of the Fable series at large. It’s not super in-depth, and it does give off an impression of not quite reaching its full potential, but in the end its quickly-paced storytelling, fun fantasy action, and undercurrent of lighthearted humor are enough to win you over. Just don’t expect the epic scope and world building of Lord of the Rings or even Dragonlance.
Fable: Blood of Heroes works as both a one-off, standalone story and a companion book expanding upon the existing universe. So whether you’re a diehard Fable fan or a high-fantasy geek with little to no preexisting knowledge of the video games, this novel deserves a small slot on your bookshelf.
Fable: Blood of Heroes was published by Del Rey and written by Jim C. Hines. It is available now at Amazon
Disclosure: A copy of Fable: Blood of Heroes was provided to VGBlogger.com by Del Rey for review purposes.
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As is becoming increasingly common with prominent gaming franchises, the Deus Ex series is being adapted into a tie-in novel.
Written by sci-fi author James Swallow and published by Del Rey Books, Deus Ex: The Icarus Effect brings the cyberpunk dystopia of the popular video game franchise to the world of written word on paper pages, telling a 352-page story with characters and events that will overlap with the series’ upcoming third installment, Human Revolution, which will be out early next year for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
Deus Ex: The Icarus Effect will be available throughout North America and Europe in February 2011 for $15.
]]>DEL REY BOOKS ANNOUNCES NOVEL BASED ON THE DEUS EX VIDEO GAME SERIES
NEW YORK, NY – July 12, 2010 – Del Rey, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, announced today that Del Rey Books will publish a novel based on the Deus Ex video game series. DEUS EX: THE ICARUS EFFECT will be written by author James Swallow and will release in 2011.
DEUS EX: THE ICARUS EFFECT is set in the complex and enthralling world of Deus Ex, a cyberpunk-style technological dystopia where all is not what it seems. In the not-so-distant future, the world is a place of great innovation and technological advancement… but also a place of chaos and conspiracy. New technologies push the limits of human potential, even while they threaten the very future of the world. And from the shadows, dark and secret powers are coming together to take control, intent on designs so large, so intricate, they will take decades to come to fruition. But when two unlikely heroes—Anna Kelso, a Secret Service agent, and Ben Saxon, a special-ops soldier—draw uncomfortably close to the truth, the choices they make here and now will alter the course of history… or usher in an age of darkness.
“We’re really pleased to be able to announce this new DEUS EX novel with Del Rey books,” said Andre Vu, Marketing Game Manager, Deus Ex. “The novel is set in the DEUS EX universe and there will be characters and story elements in it, that will overlap with our next videogame DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION, which we hope fans will be very excited about.”
DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION the game has recently been unveiled at E3 2010 in Los Angeles, where the game received over 25 award nominations from gaming media from around the world, securing 13 awards at the show.
DEUS EX: THE ICARUS EFFECT will release in North America and Europe in 2011, the book will also be available in many other countries around the world please keep an eye on the Official Deus Ex: Human Revolution website for further details.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
JAMES SWALLOW is a renowned science fiction author whose first foray into writing came with the Sundowners Series, published in 2001. Since then, Swallow has gone on to pen both novels and scripts for popular franchises such as Doctor Who, Stargate, Warhammer 40,000, and Star Trek. He has also worked on numerous videogames including Star Trek Invasion, Maelstrom, and Killzone 2. In 2009 the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers awarded James with the Scribe Award for Best Speculative Fiction Original. He lives and works in the UK.
ABOUT DEL REY:
Del Rey Books (http://www.delreybooks.com) was founded in 1977 as an imprint of Ballantine Books, a division of the Random House Publishing Group, under the guidance of the renowned Judy-Lynn del Rey and her husband, Lester del Rey. Del Rey publishes the best of modern fantasy, science fiction, and alternate history. In 2004 it expanded by launching Del Rey Manga, which has grown to be a major force in the U.S. graphic-novel field.
About Square Enix Ltd.
Square Enix Ltd., a part of Square Enix Europe business unit, is a London-based wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd., one of the most influential providers of digital entertainment content in the world. Square Enix Ltd. publishes and distributes entertainment content from the Square Enix Group including Square Enix, Eidos and Taito in Europe and other PAL territories. Square Enix Ltd. also has a global network of leading development studios such as IO Interactive, Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montréal. The Square Enix Group boasts a valuable portfolio of intellectual property including: FINAL FANTASY, which has sold over 97 million units worldwide, DRAGON QUEST® which has sold over 54 million units worldwide and TOMB RAIDER which has sold over 35 million units worldwide, together with other well established products.
More information on Square Enix Ltd. can be found on the Internet at http://www.square-enix.com