When the term "video game novel" comes to mind, what is the first thing that you think of?

Personally for me, I cannot help but be reminded of many a night when taking that long Texas bus ride home from work while reading "The Well of Eternity" a tale about the cataclysmic battle of Mount Hyjal, when the demonic Burning Legion was "banished" from Azeroth. It was the first of the "War of the Ancients" books and it stared classic characters such as Malfurion, Tyrande, and Illidan. As well as Krasus and Rhonin.

Now before I go any further I fully admit that these books would normally be considered guilty pleasures at best. The writing isn't exactly on par with other great fantasy writings (R.A. Salvatore anyone?) but I digress, I found myself enjoying this book because I was so invested in the lore of Warcraft.

With that being said, I can't help but feel that video game books are often a critical part of any game that you wish to become truly invested in. Does this mean that your gaming experience will be greatly effected should the book be horrible. Of course it might! There have been rewrites for books where the lore specifically contradicted a critical moment during story telling, but it is still important to experience these pitfalls and blunders from time to time if for no other reason than to become better invested in the game in question.

I'm not the only one who feels this way as well, I asked a few of my co workers and while some of them have never picked up a video game novel, a few of them gave some delightful responses:

John Davidson I've read a bunch, I like the Mass Effect novels. Also, the Diablo III book wasn't bad and the Halo books weren't awful either.

Maxwell: I read the novelization of Resident Evil 3, as well as the first three StarCraft books when I was younger. I would suggest the Witcher novels, those are by far my favorite--though that series started with books and then was made into video games.

So what kinds of books are out there? Well by now most people are aware of the scores of Blizzard themed novels, but let us dig a little deeper,Bioshock Rapture, Gears of War, Mass Effect, and Halo are just a few that come to mind but there are fuller lists of games that can be found all over the internets.

But there is a darker side to the word of video game novels, for they are not all created equally. For example, let us look at StarCrafts Shadow of the Xel'Naga.. While many of the other books in the Star Craft series managed to hold their own this one. This book was horrible. If you played the game, and especially if you were a fan of the game you might expect this book to be an interesting look into the battle between the Protoss and the Zerg Swarm, expecting perhaps an epic tale of struggle and survival.

The books description even sets us up for great expectations saying: "Each species struggles to ensure its own survival among the stars in a war that will herald the beginning of mankind's greatest chapter -- or foretell its violent, bloody end."

Now, this book, does NO SUCH THING! If you were to look at some of the reviews for this particular chapter in the series you might feel compelled to run in fear and possibly refuse to ever pick up another video game novel again, I could honestly go on and on for some time but I'll spare you the rant.

Now I personally feel that these books, have a major impact on the games mythos and despite what blunders may occur should still be a large part of any fans gaming experience. I feel that ultimately their impact on the world and advancement of story is a positive one. Furthermore if a game wishes to delve deeply into a particular character or event this is an invaluable tool that should be utilized.

With that I feel that it is also important to make note of those books that should have adaptations created in honor of celebrating it's healthy lore, detailed characters, and amazing story. For example this is what Peter Brown had to say on what game he thought deserved a novel:

"The one I would read without pause would be an examination of Delita's character during the ending of Final Fantasy Tactics. He is such a conflicted and pivotal character in the grand scheme of the main story, and his conclusion during the epilogue was so dramatic, that it always bugged me to no end that the events in between are left to our imaginations. I've certainly come to my own conclusions/assumptions, but I would absolutely read a novelization of those events if it was penned by the game's director and scenario writer, Yasumi Matsuno."

Finally my dear readers, I would like to invite you and encourage you to take part in this weeks Chalk Talk, the theme is "The Art of Storytelling".



A great man once said that a mind needs a book as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.

We want you to discuss video games in literature and its effect on the games mythos and history. If you are in need of some inspiration consider some of these points: do video game novels have a positive or negative impact? Do you feel that some games in desperate need of deeper explanation into the lore or are some books simply tools used to coarse fans into spending more on their beloved franchise.

When you have finished your blog be sure to mark it as editorial and send a PM to me so that I can see what you've written. As an added incentive, this week we will be gifting the featured users of this weeks chalk talk some little goodies from our video game novel library.