Killzone: Ascendancy

by Sam Bradbury

'There is no poetry or romance in war, it is brutal and ugly and terrifying and it turns men into animals - shrieking, screaming and running while destroying all in their path. It is survival'Visari, the vicious Helghast dictator, is vanquished, lying dead at the feet of ISA forces soldiers Sev and Rico. Yet the battle is far from over. Visari's death has wreaked havoc in the Helghast Empire, leaving a legacy of destruction. His last act of violence - a nuclear bomb - has decimated the Special Forces. Sev and Rico must complete their mission alone. They will fight to the death to keep the ruthless Helghast troops at bay. Based on Sony's bestselling game Killzone 3

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction

400 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2011

Reviews

[Julian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really dumb, but also really entertaining!

[Jacob Bencker · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fast read, action packed book. The story follows the events of the Video Game, Killzone 3 for the PS3, which it follows closely. Aside from some extra dialogue, background info and some character insight, it didn't bring much more to the table than the game. I was hoping for a tale that would bring the Hollywood blockbuster that was KZ3, into a more believable medium. I hoped for a sci-fi, WWII in space with griping drama mixed in. This was not the case. Often times, it felt like the protagonists suffer from main character syndrome. (Oh this guy can't die because he's a main character!) This wasn't a fault of the author mind you, this was a fault of Killzone 3's Michael Bay story telling. (A noticeable contrast to Killzone 2).One really shouldn't expect a great story out of a action film. The same is true for this book.

I honestly would have liked more material outside of the game. More meaningful dialogue, more character development, more back story for, well, everything! Killzone's universe is interesting to me and I wanted to see more of it. More lore! More history! Nah, that wasn't the case. It was nice getting inside the head of Sev and Stahl, but I would have liked more of that too. Perhaps insight into other characters as well. By the end of the book, I was disappointed there wasn't much substance outside of the game.

Ascendancy is best described as action interspersed with shallow drama. Mind you, the initial drama is great don't get me wrong, but when you start to see the same, "Phew! Almost died there!" scene about a dozen times, you really start to loose interest in the characters' plight.

Spoiler Alert: isn't it convenient ALL the protagonists survive at the end but everyone else dies? Despite surviving a Nuking, a firefight through a nuclear site, being hunted by six months, fighting their way into a heavily defended city again and then running a suicide mission into the Helghast station, and despite loosing their entire army, Jammer, Rico, Sev and Narvile are the only survivors?

What happened to Gedge and Hooper and Doc Hanly and all those other secondary characters I actually started to like?
"Nope. Gotta kill them off to make the story more gripping!"
But what about the protagonists? If everyone around them could die in an instant, why doesn't Rico or Narvile? At least one of the dying would have made Sev and Rico and Jammer seem less bullet proof and more like fortunate survivors of a bloody war.

Bottom line: Not a terrible book to read, in fact its quite excellent at the beginning and early middle, but don't expect a deep story like Ringworld by Larry Niven or The Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. If your a KZ fan, give it a read if you've got nothing better to do. If not, read a deeper story instead, like Ringworld.

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[David Dalton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Truly did read like a video game. Endless action, one major crisis after another. Was expecting a little more in character development, but can't say I am too surprised. But action packed for sure.

[Chris The Lizard from Planet X · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fast read, action packed book. The story follows the events of the 2011 Sony Video Game, Killzone 3 for the PS3, which it follows closely. Aside from some extra dialogue, background info and some character insight, it didn't bring much more to the table than the game. I was hoping for a tale that would bring the Hollywood blockbuster that was Killzone 3, into a more believable medium. I hoped for a sci-fi, WWII in space with griping drama mixed in. This was not the case. Often times, it felt like the protagonists suffer from main character syndrome. (Oh this guy can't die because he's a main character!) This wasn't a fault of the author mind you, this was a fault of Killzone 3's Michael Bay type plot. One really shouldn't expect a great story out of a action film. The same is true for this book.

I honestly would have liked more material outside of the game. More meaningful dialogue, more character development, more back story for, well, everything! Killzone's Sci-fi Universe is interesting to me and I wanted to see more of it. More lore! More background history! Nah, that wasn't the case. It was nice getting inside the head of characters like Sev and Stahl, but I would have liked more of that too. Perhaps insight into other characters as well. By the end of the book, I was disappointed there wasn't much substance outside of the game.

Killzone: Ascendancy is best described as action interspersed with shallow drama. Mind you, the initial drama is great don't get me wrong, but when you start to see the same, "Phew! Almost died there!" scene about a dozen times, you really start to loose interest in the characters' plight.

Spoiler Alert: isn't it convenient ALL the protagonists survive at the end but everyone else dies? Despite surviving a Nuking, a firefight through a nuclear fallout ,being hunted by six months, fighting their way into a heavily defended city again and then running a suicide mission into the Helghast Base, and despite loosing their entire army, Jammer, Rico, Sev and Narvile are the only survivors?

What happened to Gedge and Hooper and Doc Hanly and all those other secondary characters I actually started to like?
"Nope. Gotta kill them off to make the story more gripping!"
But what about the protagonists? If everyone around them could die in an instant, why doesn't Rico or Narvile? At least one of the dying would have made Sev and Rico and Jammer seem less bullet proof and more like fortunate survivors of a bloody war.

Overall, Not a terrible Novelization to read, in fact its quite excellent at the beginning and early middle, but don't expect a deep story like Ringworld by Larry Niven or The Star Wars: Thrawn Trilogy by Timothy Zahn. If your a Killzone fan or into Sci-fi media differently give it a read.

[Nicholas Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book's blurb breathlessly vaunted that the author, whoever they are (Sam Bradbury is a pen name) is an acclaimed writer - which I think is a bit of an oversell. The book's gets a lot of things right with its characterisation and pushing the narrative along, but even for a book adaptation of a videogame there are repetitive and tedious passages that, unfortunately, make the frequent action sequences become formulaic and tired. You're going to read a lot of characters slamming clips into their M82's as they slide behind cover thinking to themselves 'Shit, that Hig almost got me' etc etc.

I think the book still has strengths of characterisation, timing and motivations (a lot of inner monologue and soliloquuy), and if you're the sort to enjoy the 'airport novel' style writing of Dan Brown or Matthew Reilly you won't be disappointed.

Probably the best Killzone book we're going to get, take what you will. I think it's a worthwhile read if you are interested in the series, because Killzone has some interesting politics and lore (once you get beyond the baddies basically being cockney space Nazis). Okay for what it is.

[J.B. Mathias · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I played Killzone 3 so I'm not sure how accurate this was to it and how much it filled in that wasn't in the game. I read it fresh after playing killzone 2 though and enjoyed it. It added a little character depth to a pretty one dimensional group of characters.

The writing was not the greatest, it was definitely written for a crowd that doesn't read a lot. It was very matter of fact and tends to gloss over a lot of thing. For someone who hasn't played the games I wouldn't recommend it but if you love the series its a fun easy read.

[Diane Boucher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my usual kind of read but I really enjoyed it. Plenty of action and good characters.

[Mihai · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an ok book because it’s just the story form the third game wich I never played, overall was pretty enjoyable one and loved reading it

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sure, it was action-packed, with very little standing-around and chit-chatting. My only dislike is the predictability of the language, if that makes any sense. Maybe I just didn't like the way it was written. Otherwise, a pretty fast and interesting read.

[Kimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this because it's just action packed but still you feel along with the main character. The book definitely doesn't hide the ugly side of warfare. For a game novel... Very good!

"There is no poetry or romance in war; it turns men into animals."

[Futures · Rating 5 out of 5]

The futuristic style theme in this novel is very interesting