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Product Description
Book Description
The first games tie-in novel to this hugely successful game: high-octane, all-action and telling the story of beleagued humanity, facing a powerful alien species bent on their destruction.
Product Description
The story of Delta Squad's toughest fighters - soldier's solder Marcus Fenix and steadfast Dominic Santiago - as well as a detailed account of the pivotal battle of the Pendulum Wars. As kids, the three of them were inseparable; as soldiers, they were torn apart. Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago fought alongside Dom's elder brother Carlos at Aspho Fields in the epic battle that changed the course of the Pendulum Wars. There's a new war to fight now, a war for mankind's very survival. But while the last human stronghold on Sera braces itself for another onslaught from the Locust Horde, ghosts come back to haunt Marcus and Dom, as the return of an old comrade threatens to dredge up an agonizing secret Marcus has sworn to keep. As the beleaguered Gears of the Coalition of Ordered Governments take a last stand to save mankind from extinction, the harrowing decisions made at Aspho Fields have to be relived and made again. Marcus and Dom can take anything the Locust Horde throws at them - but will their friendship survive the truth about Carlos Santiago?
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I really am not the target demographic for this book. First off I don't play computer games and I don't read military SF... except for maybe Tanya Huff and Karen Traviss. If it hadn't been for the fact that I love Traviss' Star Wars Republic Commando books I would never have looked at this twice let alone picked it up... and if that had been the case I would have missed out because this book is good. It's hard to compare because - as I say - I don't have much Mil-SF in my reading repertoire to compare it with, but as a book about believable characters in extreme circumstances, coming to terms with the pain that life has thrown at them in the past and is still throwing at them in the present, this works really well. I'm not gushing; though it's by no means slow to start the action, it took me fifty or so pages to really get into this - possibly because I must be one of the few people on the planet who had no clue what Gears of War was about - but once I got into the pattern of this book and began to understand some of the world background it all fell into place. It's a pair of stories, one set in the book's present and the other in its past. The present story tells of humankind's fight for survival against an alien menace which has emerged from beneath the surface of their planet to destroy most of the population and reduce cities to rubble. The backstory is of three boys growing to be men and soldiers during the last few years of an eighty year war between human factions (pre alien menace) culminating in the Battle of Aspho Fields and the death of one of the trio. It's about secrets untold and words never said and the damage they can do which runs as deep as bullets. Traviss has a knack or putting a human face on war. You can tell in every line that she has deep respect for the men and women on the front line everywhere, in fact and in fiction, and she knows what she's talking about. (It's obvious she does from her bio.) The characters are, if not always likeable, compelling and - yes - I cared what happened to them, and what will happen to them, for though this book has a satisfying conclusion, Traviss has wisely not wrapped up all the loose threads. There are plenty more untold secrets out there, people left behind in need of retrieval, and a new threat developing for the ragtag bag of resource-depleted humans.
This book says it's the prequel to the award winning video game. Hopefully there's room for at least another prequel and possibly more. I'll be watching out for them.
This book says it's the prequel to the award winning video game. Hopefully there's room for at least another prequel and possibly more. I'll be watching out for them.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The book is based within two different time periods, the first being 14AE, and based after the light mass bomb was dropped at the end of the first game, at the same time it jumps back and forth between then and from around the time Marcus was 10 up to when he was a Gear, and the assault on Aspho point. Marcus and Dom both feature heavily in the story and it's great to see them develop before we knew them as COG soldiers. The hidden character that plays as the third leg to this tripod is Carlos Santiago, also known as Dom's brother. You are probably thinking `I can't remember Carlos in GOW'; well you will find out why.
The main focus of the story is about Dom and Carlos adopting Marcus as an honorary Santiago, as he becomes like a brother to them. They grow up together, join COG together and serve together. As much as the story plays a large part of this book, the real substance comes from the bond that these 3 people together, and the emotional connections that they share.
It's done really well and as a fan of GOW I found it great to delve more into these characters personalities, and not just the main cast, but also Baird, Cole, Stroyd, Hoffman etc.
The writing feels well done, and it's clear that Traviss has taken her other experiences from writing other video game adapted novels and produced a well-presented story. The only issues are that it feels like the writing could be better in places, where she sometimes describes situations in a round about sort of way, rather than being more precise and to the point, and that the prose could have used a little more work in parts, with some sentences sounding unnatural and out of place.
There is another complaint that I have about the novel, and it's one she doesn't shy away from, and that is her pro-military perspective peppered throughout the book. She even has the first two pages of the book talking about her respect of the people serving in the armed forces. It didn't bother me as part of the story, because at the end of the day the Gears universe is very military based, but it does at times feel like she is trying to beat you across the head with her pro-military stick, like her description of the stranded being seen largely as vermin, and one quote from the book that really stood out for me was when she had Dom talking about why he joined the service and says "Who wouldn't what to serve, though? How can they live with themselves?"
You're pro-military. We get it.
Despite these shortcomings, it's still a good book. The narrative is good, and I was worried that jumping back and forth between different periods would feel disjointed, but it actually works well as a way of developing characters, and our understanding of them. The story is good, with the brutality of war being described in gory detail, and she also does a great job of making you care for these characters, and for fans she even delves into Marcus' time spent in the slammer. The best thing about the book is also how independent it is from the games, by not relying too heavily on the books for the back story, but by also placing a few nods for those who do play the games. Hammer of dawn anyone?
The main focus of the story is about Dom and Carlos adopting Marcus as an honorary Santiago, as he becomes like a brother to them. They grow up together, join COG together and serve together. As much as the story plays a large part of this book, the real substance comes from the bond that these 3 people together, and the emotional connections that they share.
It's done really well and as a fan of GOW I found it great to delve more into these characters personalities, and not just the main cast, but also Baird, Cole, Stroyd, Hoffman etc.
The writing feels well done, and it's clear that Traviss has taken her other experiences from writing other video game adapted novels and produced a well-presented story. The only issues are that it feels like the writing could be better in places, where she sometimes describes situations in a round about sort of way, rather than being more precise and to the point, and that the prose could have used a little more work in parts, with some sentences sounding unnatural and out of place.
There is another complaint that I have about the novel, and it's one she doesn't shy away from, and that is her pro-military perspective peppered throughout the book. She even has the first two pages of the book talking about her respect of the people serving in the armed forces. It didn't bother me as part of the story, because at the end of the day the Gears universe is very military based, but it does at times feel like she is trying to beat you across the head with her pro-military stick, like her description of the stranded being seen largely as vermin, and one quote from the book that really stood out for me was when she had Dom talking about why he joined the service and says "Who wouldn't what to serve, though? How can they live with themselves?"
You're pro-military. We get it.
Despite these shortcomings, it's still a good book. The narrative is good, and I was worried that jumping back and forth between different periods would feel disjointed, but it actually works well as a way of developing characters, and our understanding of them. The story is good, with the brutality of war being described in gory detail, and she also does a great job of making you care for these characters, and for fans she even delves into Marcus' time spent in the slammer. The best thing about the book is also how independent it is from the games, by not relying too heavily on the books for the back story, but by also placing a few nods for those who do play the games. Hammer of dawn anyone?
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Gears Of War: Aspho Fields is a good book for the fans that want to get to know the characters of the games. Aspho fields covers the back story Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago and Dom's older brother Carlos.
There is many flash backs to relate the past events and it is well written. no surprise here as the author is the writer of the games story.
There is many flash backs to relate the past events and it is well written. no surprise here as the author is the writer of the games story.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Awesome
The entire set of these books are some of the best I have read, cannot wait for the final instalment to be released in august. Read more
Published 4 months ago by shane t
Gritty military sc-fi
Karen Traviss does a great job of bringing some Gears of War goodness to those of us who like to relax our trigger fingers once in a while. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Michael Finn
excellent!
If your a fan of the games this is a must have as the story from the games is created with the help of karen herself. Read more
Published 9 months ago by DAM01984
Enjoyed thoroughly
Being a fan of the games, i was interested to see how the books panned out. I enjoyed this book and the insight into the characters. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mr. Andrew James
Developing the franchise for fans
I bought this book because of my interest in the Gears of War franchise. I thought the world and universe created by Epic was very amazing and little exposure and insight was given... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Bruno Galvão
A slice of sci-fi warfare
I'm not usually interested in reading novels based upon a television, film or videogame franchise; the novelisations of 'Alien' and 'Aliens' are perfect examples of how sloppy even... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Ironspider
Great Book, A must of any gears fan!
Right, I'm not into the long and detailed reviews so I'm gonna make this short and sweet. If you're a massive gears fan or have even played gears then I recommend you buy this... Read more
Published 24 months ago by RB
Grubtastic
Well I'm a massive Gear fan, love the game and played the game to death, still playing it. I've never bought a book concerning a games franchise, so didn't know what to expect. Read more
Published on 26 May 2010 by Scogy
Gears of War crunching into reverse
I bought this book with very high expectations, and ended up sorely disappointed.
First the good points on the book. Read more
First the good points on the book. Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2009 by W. I. Stewart
Great Book
I am a fan of the games and when i seen this book it was a must buy for me and i made the right choice in doing so. It is a prequel to the games and is set in two time sets. Read more
Published on 26 Aug 2009 by P. Prizeman
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