Darksiders: The Abomination Vault

by Ari Marmell

Ride with the Horsemen of the Apocalypse as they seek to unearth a plot that could plunge all of Creation into chaos!
 
Ages before the events of Darksiders and Darksiders II, two of the feared Horsemen—Death and War—are tasked with stopping a group of renegades from locating the Abomination Vault: a hoard containing weapons of ultimate power and malice, capable of bringing an end to the uneasy truce between Heaven and Hell . . . but only by unleashing total destruction.
 
Created in close collaboration with the Darksiders II teams at Vigil and THQ, Darksiders: The Abomination Vault gives an exciting look at the history and world of the Horsemen, shining a new light on the unbreakable bond between War and Death.

Genres: Fantasy, Video Games, Fiction, Audiobook, Gaming, Mythology, Horror

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

When Ari Marmell has free time left over between feeding cats and posting on social media, he writes a little bit. His work includes novels, short stories, role-playing games, and video games, all of which he enjoyed in lieu of school work when growing up. He’s the author of the Mick Oberon gangland/urban fantasy series, the Widdershins YA fantasy series, and many others, with publishers such as Del Rey, Titan Books, Pyr Books, Wizards of the Coast, and now Omnium Gatherum.

Ari currently resides in Austin, Texas. He lives in a clutter that has a moderate amount of apartment in it, along with George—his wife—and the aforementioned cats, who probably want something.

Reviews

[Montzalee Wittmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darksiders: The Abomination Vault by Ari Marmell with Bob Walter (Reading) is the audio book I just finished and boy, it was AWESOME! The voice was perfect for this book! I felt I was there and in the battles, or in hell or heaven or where ever the trek lead. A fantastic story, a stand alone, of one of The Horsemen, Death, as he tries to solve a riddle before it sends Heaven, Hell, and everything created into chaos. Totally glued to my tablet the whole time! The plot had so many twist, surprises, and suspense, and even humor in there. Strange creatures along with known creatures helped created this strange world. The writing itself was so well done that I felt I could smell, feel, hear, see. and taste everything that was going on all the time. His words were magic in themselves. Wonderful! I have never even seen this game or played video games but it is suppose to be from a video game.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say? I'm a huge HUGE fan of the games and have been since I first got wind of the first one. So when I found out that they were doing a book I knew is get my hands on it eventually.

After reading the reviews I was a little hesitant but I know that I like books even when others don't. And I have to say that I did enjoy reading this one. I really loved the interactions between the Horsemen. Yes, you an see that they are about one another but these are strong personalities and stronger creatures so you are bound to have clashes between them.

I personally enjoyed the writing style and how the author portrayed the characters present. It certainly explains WHY Death is willing to go to the end of the realms to clear War's name. I loved seeing more of sassy Death because I loved that in the second game. I think he stayed true to the characters and that's really nice because you can honestly accept this as just another chapter in the games.

So, yes. I enjoyed this book very much and I know I will be rereading it! And I actually have already started. :)

[Crowinator · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

Death, the Horseman of the Apocalypse, and his crow Dust are awesome (Kratos, God of War, BAMF awesome). The weapons called Grand Abominations are really inventive in a super-disturbing way. The writing is competent, a mix of snarky modern dialogue with a melodramatically boastful high-fantasy tone (that most likely fits well within the Darksiders game). Otherwise, as a gamer and a reader, I'd rather play this game than read a novelization of it. There were several scenes in this book (especially some of the ten-to-fifteen page battle scenes) where I could picture playing it and enjoying it a lot more. I wonder if this book would add anything for die-hard Darksiders fans that I, having not played the game, am missing, but I don't think it truly stands on its own. If anything, though, this book made me want to give the game a try, so I think I will stick with reading original fiction (I'd like to read Marmell's YA series for sure) and only reading video game manuals.

Are there any really excellent video game tie-in novels out there? Recommendations to change my mind?

[Adam Sparks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aside from being terribly - TERRIBLY - written, it's not bad. I like a lot of the insight into the Horsemen's background, especially how much of a bastard Death is. But seriously, the writing is BAD. The awful over-use of horrendously grotesquely terribly disgusting metaphors are the mark of a novice and the more action-y scenes were so dully written that they couldn't keep the attention of the most saintly of readers.

[Jagged · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Creation is quite impressionable. Everyone leaves a trail of their actions. And everyone, however wise, however powerful, however immortal, make mistakes.
All it requires is patience to wait for them. And you'll find no one, in all Creation, quite so patient as Death."

The writing was phenomenal. However, at times, the descriptions of places got a little out of control. Even though it was written beautifully, it ended up pulling me out of the read, and then irritating me. There were more than one occasion where I wound up skipping ahead to get back to the story. But make no mistake, you will see the scenes as intended by Marmell, right down to the cracks in the pavement.
Rather long, random tangents were also undertaken throughout the book.
These gripes are easily forgiven because of the amazing writing, plentiful action scenes coupled with the impeccable world building.
It was a fantastic read.

[Jason Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like the story but I hate the writing. You can use all the robust words you want to paint the scene, but the way it was done here was like watching Bob Ross tell me why he chose each color to do so. Fuck just get to the point. I wrote like that in grade school to fill the necessary word count and that's exactly what I felt like the author was doing here.

[Reni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't read media tie-ins anymore. I read a lot more of them when I was tiny (say, about twelve), but I can count the number of good books I discovered that way on one hand, I guess, and you can often tell when an author's heart isn't invested in the story and characters.

Why did I read this one then? To be honest, I was simply curious. I should have known better, but I wanted to see for myself what a book might do with the rich lore of this franchise. In this case, however, the answer is "not much.

There are a couple of reasons I like these game so much. The number one reason admittedly are the horses (because I am a girly girl, and it does not matter to me whether my pony sparkles or farts hellfire as long as I get to pet its cuddly nose and mount up to trample my foes into bloody pulp). The second is the art design. And the third biggest reason would be the one integral to my insterest in reading this book, which is the lore. The Darksiders universe is a mix-up of fantasy tropes as well as concepts and creatures from Abrahamic religions. It's pretty fun, as it leads to such inventions as angels wielding big, fat laser cannons.


Imagine riding that to work. I want one!

So, yes, I was curious about this book, because I am convinced that the Darksiders franchise lends itself to tell crazy awesome stories even in a non-visual medium. Unfortunately this books tells neither a particularly great story, nor does it take advatange of its own medium in any significant way.

The descriptions and especially the action scenes felt very much visually oriented. As if this were a write-up of a movie or, indeed a video game, instead of simply a book that was conceived as a book. Since this book invents its own plot and is not a retelling of one of the games, there was no need to include so many elements from the source medium. Long action scenes, generally, are simply more enjoyable in a visual medium than in a novel. Which is why I felt pretty bored with most of those in this book after a while.

The same is true for the plot itself. It simply is not very imaginative despite the unique setting: We get doomsday devices and star-crossed lovers and all if it is played pretty much straight. Nothing for me to get particular excited about then. Even the bits that the book added to the franchise's mythology weren't especially exciting (Oblivion? Seen it done before about a hundred times), and then there's the times that book apparently gets its canon mythology confused (someone draw me a timeline and explain to me how this novel can be taking place before the birth of Mankind, but after the destruction of Eden?).

You know, a game can always balance a weak plot with great gameplay and a stunning art design. To save a weak plot a novel needs fantastic writing and strong characters.

I did not feel like this book provided either. The writing is not all bad, but rather to purply for a video game tie-in. Fewer adjectives might have been a wiser choice. Apart from that the writing is competent, but not inspiring: PoV changes make sense and add to the story by providing fore-shadowing or connecting various plot strands, and characters with very different world views read differently. It's just that, for example the villain PoV's suffer because there is not that much interesting stuff going on in the villains' minds, as they're pretty one-dimensional.

So, no, the characters didn't wow me either. The characters the book invents by itself are pretty much all common fantasy archetypes with not twist at all to them. Some are basically even copies of game characters.

(And while I appreciate that media tie-ins are basically glorified fanfic, I felt like this got out of hand once or twice. Did War really have to encounter a young Uriel? What purpose did that serve? It doesn't make their in-game relationship any deeper, as it's perfectly clear they don't really know each other the first time they meet in Darksiders.)


Fanservice is important, I guess.

And the actual characters we know from the games are not expanded upon. Which is sad. Since the games mostly consists of the PC wandering through dungeons alone and solving platforming-puzzles, dialogue and character building moments are scarce. So it is not like the book would have risked too much but giving the characters a bit more of an inner life, considering how little canon characterisation there is to contradict.

But then, the novel somehow managed to do just that. Characters' voices feel off on occasion. Another review already pointed out how Death's humour is much more sarcastic and less sardonic than in the games, which I find sad. Also, the novel's Death is a lot, a great lot fonder of uttering cool one-liners, which did nothing to endear him to me. Some scenes even read like they were written just to build up to another one-liner, which is something I could have done without.

Also, after a while I had the distinct impression that none of the characters in the book had any conversation skills. They take offense incredibly easily, and violently. It's like there are no characters in the book who can talk to each other without secretly wanting to bash the other's heads in. Conversations frequently devolved into characters hurtling threats at each other.

Even the Horsemen were constantly fighting and bickering among themselves. After 300 pages it gets really exhausting. Although, occasionally Azrael would show up and tell everyone to calm down in what were among my favourite moments of the book. In fact, Death and Azrael appeared to be the only characters capable of holding a civilised conversation -- most of the time. Whenever Death wasn't feeling too mopey. Still, their couple of scenes together were a welcome relief and constrat to the constant aggressive posturing engaged in by the rest of the cast.


"Everyone, calm yo' tits!" - not actual dialogue but close enough.

Anything else I liked? Yeah, I thought Death's feelings over and taking responsibilty for taking part in the extermination of his people for the greater good was handled in a convincing way, as was his guilt for basically getting War killed. You can see why he would try everything to make it up to him, without admitting his own guilt to his fellow Horseman, of course.


Concluding, as a media tie-in this is an okay book. Fans of the games shouldn't pass this up if they thirst for another trip into the Three Kingdoms, especially if they can get this cheap somewhere. But, especially as a standalone, The Abomination Vault simply is not that good a book. I've read worse books this year, and I've certainly read worse media tie-ins in the past, but it's not a novel I am going to pick up to read again any time soon.

[Travis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am just going to keep this review short and simple for one reason and one reason only, I'M SUCH A HARDCORE FAN FOR THIS SERIES. I have loved the Darksiders video game franchise since the beginning and yes, I can realize this isn't a perfect book by any means. I still found myself incredibly happy while reading. It was fun, it was action packed, it gave a better in depth look into the overall lore and history of this franchise and world.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, and really enjoyed the dialogue.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting case in a book, being heavily tied as it is to both the storyline of a video game already released (the original "Darksiders") as well as a game soon to be released called "Darksiders II." It is almost impossible for me to judge the book on its own merits due to feeling that without prior knowledge and exposure to the "Darksiders" world it seem both flat and to lack its own sense of internal cohesion.

Judged as additional canon to both "Darksiders" and "Darksiders II," the book is an excellent installment - it adds depth to the characters of War and Death, as well as shines a light on their particular race's shared back-story with events leading up to Apocalypse of the first game, and the parallel story of Death in his quest for personal and general redemption. Marmell, an author I had yet to encounter in other associated game novelizations, seems to capture the vital essences of Death and War while at the same time expanding the mythos of the game-world and its history.

The fatal flaw, however, is that without the support of the games upon which it is based the book cannot stand on its own. This is perhaps not an issue for many readers of game novelizations from other intellectual properties, but for myself I prefer a story that includes enough structure to support itself separate from its source material (excepting in the case of a single book from a series of books, which does not appear to be the case here). "Darksiders: The Abomination Vault" is a great read for anyone familiar with the "Darksiders" universe, but for those without that experience it will likely disappoint.

[Arjun Iyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with books/novels, video games too are notoriously hard to adapt to any other format. However, Darksiders: The Abomination Vault in my opinion has set the benchmark when it comes to novels based on video games. The narrative is clear and crisp, the descriptions are as lavish and outrageous as the subject matter itself and the action sequences do not deviate from how gamers would actually play the game. The book captures the nuances of both protagonists (or anti-heroes) brilliantly, giving each one of them the depth and complexity required to make you feel like a part of the story.

A downside to this book (like any other book based on video games) is that it can be truly enjoyed only by gamers. On its own, the book is a good read but if you're not into gaming and/or haven't played games like Darksiders, God of War or Assassins Creed, you won't be able to fully appreciate just how well the writer has weaved the intricacies of the game mechanics into the book.

[Carla Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember watching my son play this game on his X-Box, and while I am not a gamer (is that the proper word these days?) I was stunned by not only the really wickedly cool graphics, but also the complexity of the story line involved in the game. Video games have come a long way since I spent hours failing to find the princess in Mario Bros!

So when I saw this book (had no idea anyone would think to write a prequel story) I had to buy it for my son, who read it, enjoyed it, and urged me to read it also (mother-son bonding anyone?) And I'm glad I did. It's a great story in it's own right, but though I think you'll get more out of it if you are already acquainted with the Darksiders characters, I see no reason for the uninitiated not to enjoy it, especially if you're looking for a good, action-packed, well-written fantasy.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is certainly something enjoyable. True it's somewhat disturbing at times but, not so much where you feel sick.

The Grand Abominations were interesting weapons, the story of how they were made is what I actually found a tad bit disturbing, but then again it just adds to their importance and the power they hold.

Death was my main interest in this, he just never stops with those witty, sarcastic remarks of his, which had me laughing far more than I was probably supposed to but who cares, right? :D


anyway, all in all, the books great, Death's greater xD and if you haven't read it yet, you should!

[Iwi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was fine, the fighting was a little much but it is a hack and slash game. I liked when the horseman were just talking with each other. The last like 20% was pretty fun but getting there felt like it could have been condensed into like five chapters.

[Abhinav · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can find the full review over at The Founding Fields:

http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/11/...

Shadowhawk reviews the first tie-in novel to the popular Darksiders video game series.

“Smart and witty, this is the kind of video game tie-in fiction that I absolutely love to read, but find precious little of in the wild” ~The Founding Fields

In my review of James Swallow’s Deus Ex: Icarus Effect, I remarked on how common it was for most video game novelisations to so utterly miss the mark, and just be terrible repetitions (at best) of the narrative gameplay, rather than something with a character of its own. If I want to get a straight up adaptation of the in-game narrative, I might as well play the game missions again rather than read them. You can easily guess I’m sure which is much more exciting I hope! When it comes to Darksiders, I have zero experience with the setting since I’ve never played the game. I didn’t even know about it until earlier this summer Ari Marmell blogged about it. I’d been following Ari for a while by then and had read his first Widdershins novel, which I’d found to be quiet an exciting and engaging one. Going into Darksiders: The Abomination Vault with zero expectations in that regard, as I did with David Gaider’s Dragon Age: The Silent Grove Volume 1, kept me open to be truly wowed, and that is exactly what happened here.

In Darksiders: The Abomination Vault, one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Death returns after half a century of self-imposed exile from the affairs of the universe and the Charred Council. And on his return, he finds himself involved from the get go in finding out which new enemy has sought to breach the defenses of Eden, and whether or not this attack was meant to break the fragile peace between the angels of Heaven and the demons of Hell. Set in an era that is several ages before the events of the Darksiders games, the novel also explores the core reasons why Death and his brother War, another Horseman of the Apocalypse, have a close bond in the game. With weapons of a bygone age that can destroy the universe itself, Death and War define their relationship against the troubles they face in ensuring that there is still a tomorrow.

Having read Ari’s Widdershins novels, I had a certain expectation of the narrative style that he would go for. Since I knew next to nothing about the games, I had no idea if his particular styles would work, or not. As I read the novel, one thing emerged, at first slowly, and then in leaps and bounds: this novel might very well be Ari’s best work to date. In the Widdershins novels, he went for a very heavy tongue-in-cheek style to suit the age of his protagonist and the sort of troubles she finds herself in as an accomplished thief. In my review for False Covenant, I noted that his constant use of sentences within brackets, sometimes even entire paragraphs, really pulled me out of the story and limited how much fun I was having on my read through. Compared to that, its as if Darksiders: The Abomination Vault is Ari perfecting his craft and getting closer to the peak of his career, in my experience. The differences between the Widdershins novel and this one is a difference between a snarky Young Adult novel and a mainstream heroic fantasy novel; the differences are just too stark, they stand out.

I can certainly say that I enjoyed Darksiders: The Abomination Vault far more than I did either Thief’s Covenant or False Covenant. With this novel, Ari explores the concepts of honour and brotherhood in a way that he doesn’t in those novels. Death was, to my great surprise, a rather snarky character himself, where I had been expecting this dour, gravely-voiced figure. He quips at all the right moments, he easily puts even the vaunted Charred Council on the back-foot, and he is so self-assured that he can give his “masters”, the Charred Council, the finger and they can’t do anything to him. They will threaten the most dire punishments and censure of course, but what separates Death’s arrogance from that of any other such character is that he is right and he knows exactly what he is doing. As the narrative unfolds, we learn that Death, being the oldest of the four Horsemen, is privy to a hell of a lot more knowledge about the Nephilim (the race the Horsemen belong to, its last survivors) than any other person living. And there are reasons for that too, as War eventually and inevitably, finds out.

For my money, Death is one of the coolest characters I’ve read of this year.

[Saad Merchant · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION FIRST(just in case you find my review boring and don't read the rest) -

Darksiders the Abomination Vault is simply not just a filler like the irritating kinds brilliant series like Naruto n Bleach make us suffer... IT'S AN ACTUAL HAPPENING AND TELLING OF AN ACTUAL INCIDENT from the pasts of Death and War.

So if you played the game and you're a fan of the characters and universe - its a must read and if you've not played the game... read the book... it may intrigue you enough to want to play the game.

The Game and the book relation -

My advice to you is - don't read this book without playing Darksiders 1 which is about the rider of the apocalypse - War and preferably read it after you've done that and just before playing Darksiders 2... because the book as a tendency to get you really excited about seeing more n more of the eldest horseman - DEATH!

I'm midway through Darksiders 2 right now and it being a rpg'ish hack and slash game, it doesn't have as much dialogue as a book would have or atleast as much as I'd like - but trust me even without the dialogue - DEATH carries himself, looks and fights in a very very KOOL! - way.

While War fights more like "BAM BAM! BOOM! AAAARRRGH! KABOOM!" and so on n so forth...

Deaths more like "zoom! zoom! slash slash slash slash... (too fast to count any more and only a second has passed)... slash slash... DEATH...slash.. Death (too many deaths to count) ... another second has passed.... it ends... insert cheeky/sarcastic dialogue" ... and he walks away leaving Death in his wake


Okay crap! - what am I talking about? I was supposed to be reviewing Abomination Vault...

What i was trying to say was? When you play Darksiders 2 - you'll see more of Death fighting and lesser dialogue to reflect his personality and its kool but ...

In the book -

He talks a lot more and not-giving-a-crap-if-I'm-sounding-repetitive I'm gonna say he talks very kool-ly... very sarcastic, hilarious as well, threatening and scary when he has to be and always reflecting power, experience and intimidating (without even trying to) his foes.

You will actually learn why Death is the way he is, why he will do anything it takes to protect his younger brother War especially, why certain characters in the Darksider 1 game are the way they are, while shedding MUCH MUCH more light on the certain mysterious yet interesting characters from the game - like Lilith and Abaddon and Azrael...

AND even gives you an important basic background on interesting central characters of Darksiders 2... like the crow-father, Death's relation with the charred council, his necromancy, his weapon Harvester and 'Dust' - Death's crow that serves as his scout and death's affection towards him...

and there's just sooo sooo much more to talk about... it even introduces completely never before heard characters like -

The Keeper... an extremely powerful (and mysterious) servant of the charred council, like Death... and about the only person that Death respects as an equal or someone he can relate with atleast...

and most importantly it also give you a long glimpse at Death's dark past as a nephilim... and the atrocities (and trust me - its pretty atrocious!) he committed and is ashamed of.

All in all its a real treat for Darskider fans filled with goodies.

The fights scenes are also really well-written (which is kinda vital when you're writing a story for a hack n slash game) ...

And while introducing users to newer and never-before mentioned locations of the Darksider world... Ari Marmell describes each one very very well.

I know this review is pretty crap for a someone that's not been introduced to the Darksiders world before... but my instincts to ramble on as a fan took over me...

but I think I should shut up now and just end it with an absolutely brilliant quote that Death ends the book warning -

"Creation is quite impressionable.EVERYONE leaves a trail of their actions. And everyone, however wise, however powerful, however immortal, makes mistakes. All it requires is the patience to wait for them. And you'll find no one, in all creation, quiet so patient ....

as Death".

- Death, Darskiders Abomination Vault...

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Darksiders is a sort of medley of over the top action, fantasy, science fiction, and super heroes based in mythology.
There aren't a lot of books written about super heroes specifically because it is difficult to showcase the sort of action they can deliver in literature without coming off a little absurd or ridiculous.

This book suffers from this exact problem on multiple levels. The author presumes, and perhaps rightly so, that readers will have knowledge of the games and their content. Therefore, the book builds on preexisting lore and does little to clearly fill in the blanks for any who haven't experienced the source material before reading. The action struggles to capture the over the top action sequences with lengthy portrayals of elaborate acrobatics that are not difficult to visualize, but begin to feel tedious as the text that accompanies the seconds of action often take minutes of reading to absorb.

Overall the book does capture a large part of the Darksiders feel, particularly Death's surly sarcasm and overly confident attitude. The lore feels in tune. The plot feels in sync. It all comes together to make sense without traipsing outside of the established lore.

The biggest fault of the books is in the style of writing, itself. This is a story of fiction. Fantastic action scenes by super powered and immortal beings. In short, it is a work of fiction and most of what is contained within is impossible. However, the author feels the need to express any sort of extreme with the word "impossible". He jumped impossibly high, ran impossibly swift, with a strength that was impossible, holding a sword whose width was impossible. Seriously though, the word impossible/impossibly is on at least every other page and sometimes in several places on a single page. It really begins to feel like such a strange way to escape describing something.
It's fantasy. Of course it's impossible. Now give more details.

But worse than that is that the word is truly POINTLESS when used that way. If something seems impossible, ok it obviously wasn't. But when something is impossible--it's impossible. You can't say something that happened IS impossible without having a bit of disconnect. This author does it so often that the book was beginning to feel comically tedious at points. I found myself waiting for the next impossible episode of impossibly impossible impossibilities to impossibly occur.

This one particular hang up on a useless word is not the only utter waste of space within.
How many times do we need to be told that something "literally" happens. Or that something was a "veritable" version of itself? Only a few more examples... It all feels so redundant and essentially meaningless as the book plugs along.

2 Stars for generic descriptions and terrible use of language. 3 Stars for capturing the characters well and maintaining the setting and feel of Darksiders.

[Love of Hopeless Causes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apologetic and contradictory introduction, because stupid gamers aren't smart enough to understand Cosmic Horror, right? Prologue from Hell, mixed metaphors, confused mythologies, and that's just the opener. Audiobook reader at a nightmare's gallop. When will video game companies learn?

[Petia Vladimirova · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book describes Death as a bloodlust, which EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE we see in the game and comic books.
We see unneeded carnage, too much conversations, since we know fourth Horseman as a silent one. Guts, blood, gore, made up moments and lack of empathy with him.
In game Death is "accused" for being not such a bad man, he saves multiple characters, offers salvation to a lost soul. He slaughters a lot, but only those who stand on his way.
SPOILER!!! SPOILER!!! SPOILER!!! In book, sending Balisatra to exile, mocking on Hadrimon's fate, ... Is author making fun of us or I missed something through the story? I couldn't accept that, after all I saw, after the games and the dialogues and the whole story where Death is actually not such a badass, this end just didn't fit. None of the story fits. Death in this book and Death in Darksiders series are not the same personalities. This comes from person played the game 20 times and memorized every word, every sight, every detail of Horseman's character.

I also can say manner of writing is kinda chaotic. Too similar sentences, too long descriptions of battles and things that are not so important, and at the same time not enough details of actually stuff.
It's all so rotten, so disgusting, such a lack of aesthetic. In games we have both good and bad, all we have here is guts and corpses.
There are absolutely nailing parts, like the never ending fights between War and Death. And such that could drive you crazy with their slow motion. Really, when you are awaken from death the last thing to explain would be how you crash trees. Death asked angel what happened and we read a few pages for nature with the same words over and over again. Sloppy.
In game Death is with his mask while fighting Nephilim, in book he puts on a mask to apart his past from his present. In game Death bleeds, in book it says he can be wounded but he doesn't shed bloods.
In comics War is speaking open to Lilith, even treating her, in book War is forbidden to meet Lilith not to fall under her influence...
If you are going to be a fan and write about someone else's character, first learn everything about him! Loud words are not gonna help you here.

AND... Death is not a savage, some moments makes those who read being disgusted. In original version he helps others, spare things that are asking to be slayed, in book - not so realistic I have to say, he shows no mercy, a whole new different character that is not Death. Good fan fiction, but not good enough to be perfect. If it was me, I would write it other way. Better way.

[Puuush · Rating 3 out of 5]

First: I love Darksiders 1. I like Darksiders 2 though it really gets sloppy in the end. So I had to pick up the novel. :)

I didn't expect much but I was a bit dissapointed. I didn't regret it though.

Writing exciting action for overpowered horsemen is not easy I guess because everyone knows that Death just has to swing the scythe (or two scythes, or the scythe is now a hammer, and now a spear, and now a big scythe again) and everybody dies. Also every injury can be healed in no time... yeah, that's booooring. The actions and monsters were accurately descripted like they appear in the game. That's okay, but seemed forced most of the time. (But as it is a game-novel it's normal I guess)

The story was okay. Not too surprising but alright. A bit dissapointing that Death had conveniently all information on hand.

I liked the dry humor, I liked Dust and the horses. I also liked War a lot (but I'm a War-fangirl). But I certainly did not like the weak council, the pathetic Watchers or the uncreative worlds that were described in the story.
Especially I did not like how much more powerful Death stood above War. He's the horseman of ...well, WAR! And Death was a bit too afraid of dying for the fact that he is, well, Death.
(But that's a flaw in the games as well. The horsemen don't seem to have anything to do with the things they represent).
War might be his younger brother, but he's powerful too and has abilities Death lacks. Also players of Darksiders2 are very likely to have played Darksider 1 and will therefore have a strong attachment to War. Maybe even more than to Death. Author and publisher should have taken this into account.

Language/style: annoying!
Many repititions.
The overly use of the word "impossibly". Death always jumps impossibly high, the scythe slashes an impossibly amount of enemies, the wall he climbed was impossibly steep.
The usage of italics in nearly every sentence was really going on my nerves.
And the infamous sentence of doom could be found as well: "And then hell broke loose!"
It gets better in the end.

Overall - nice if you liked the games and are not the overly critical reader.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a tie-in novel for the _Darksiders_ videogame series. (The series was cancelled after two games when the development company cratered. But they commissioned this novel first.)

The writing is *not* the high point of the videogames. Neither is the characterization. Or the worldbuilding. To be blunt, these games are about great visuals and really excellent level and puzzle design. I was curious if those qualities could be translated into prose. Surprise! They can't. It's not a very good novel.

The setting, if you're unfamiliar with the games, is an extended Miltonian universe -- demons, angels, Hell, Heaven, and a liberal mash-in of whatever else the designers could think of. The protagonists are the Four Horsemen, here retconned as the four survivors of the extinct Nephilim. They go around pissing off Heaven and Hell on the orders of the mysterious Charred Council. The games take place after an Apocalypse-gone-wrong destroys the Earth. (Yes, Apocalypses can go wrong.) The book, in contrast, is set long before the birth of the human race. A cache of superweapons turns up; Death and War are sent out to deal with it before either the "good guys" or the "bad guys" can make a mess.

The author makes a serious attempt to capture the high-speed button-mashing combat of the game. Lots of lovingly-described acrobatic butchery. There's also lots of lovingly-described scenery (some beautiful, more horrific, just like in the games). It recalled the games to mind very well, but I don't know if non-players would get anything out of it.

The same goes for the characters. War and Death (plus their siblings* Fury and Strife, who would have starred in the next two games) are basically grunting hulk-monsters waving oversized anime weaponry. They get to be sarcastic in cut scenes, is the extent of them. To his credit, the book author sets up some character development -- the Horsemen have an actual sibling-like relationship, which is informed by their already-eons-old history as immortals and survivors of a dead race. But there's not a lot to it.

(* Fury is a Horsewoman, in case you were wondering.)

[Susan]

At first it seems like one of those movies made based on video games, where gamer fans watch because it's based on the game, not necessarily because it's something new and ground-breaking. The writing is REALLY wordy. As in, I was getting bored with it not even a chapter in and was going to give it up. Guess what stopped me?

Death.

Or the book's version. He's SARCASTIC (and so is his horse, it's snarky without ever saying anything). It's AWESOME. See example:


Again that irritating little laugh. “Why, as a gesture of friendship! I so want us to be friends.”

“It’s good to have goals. Keeps us motivated,” Death told him. “But I wouldn’t wager anything you can’t do without, were I you.”

“How unkind! We’ve only just met!”

“And I already despise you. Imagine how much greater my loathing will become when I have gotten to know you.”




The rest of what I read is wordy and, frankly, GRUESOME (didn't need to know the exact details of decay of anything that ever possessed a soul, thanks), but I might've borne it for the awesomeness of Death (wow weird sentence out of context) except then it switched perspectives one chapter in. To first person. Of someone who may or may not be suffering from some kind of breakdown. And it's just as wordy. So my level of annoyance rapidly reached saturation and so eeeeeehhhh. It seems like the perspective goes back to Death every other chapter, so had I more time and fewer books I may check this out of a library at some point and read every other chapter just to see Death being sarcastic and awesome.

[Adelaide Metzger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished 4/1/25 - This was extremely close to a 5 star for me, but I will get to that. I have a question: Am I the only woman who loves Darksiders as much as the guys? Death is sexy as hell and the top notch voice acting behind every character in the game was just the gateway into my appreciation for the franchise. But the subreddit and Steam forums are primarily male-led as that is the target demographic for the games. Where my ladies who unironically love the gameplay, characters, worldbuilding, and mythos at?





Yikes. Way to Ruin the Mood

First, the not-so-good.

It is simply the fact that more than 50% of this book is the descriptions of battle that act as “gameplay on paper.” Fantasy author Ari Marmell is a very skilled writer, making great use of similes and analogy to paint a pretty vivid picture of the dark and fantastical environments that make up the worlds of Darksiders. His ability to really speak volumes of what the characters are feeling through their actions is excellent. But this is the first book of his I have read, and I’m curious to wonder if the publisher’s editor or the folks at THQ/Vigil Games required a specific amount of action on the page merely because the games themselves are action games.

I was amused at the first description of a battle in the first chapter, thinking, “Cool, it’s like the game!” But by the time I got to chapter seven I was very annoyed to realize, “Oh, it’s JUST like the game.” The entirety of Chapter 22 is just constant words describing fighting. And while I’m not against a good action scene in books–especially fantasy or video-game-based books–the amount of time used to try and make Death and War’s journey an imaginative simulation of playing their role in the game and mowing down hundreds of enemies, could have been shaved in half and had more pages dedicated to building character growth. Just because it’s based on a video game does not mean it actually has to be like the game on paper. The Star Wars: Republic Commando book series by Karen Traviss or even the Mass Effect or Halo book series’ are all great examples of video game tie-in books that build captivating stories and shape emotional character arcs while maintaining a good balance of action in their as well. Heck! And those are military-sci-fi books where the story and characters surround the environment of wars and tactical fighting.

I don’t know. I got very bored very fast when a long stretch of the book would go into “game mode” and felt it hurt the experience enough to eliminate a star.



Death: Lover of Animals and a Nice Piece of Ass

Let’s be real: We’re all here for Death and his extremely well-written character. He is Death. No one–not even his siblings who nearly match his strength–dare to question that strength and take his word and abilities very seriously. But he is also a lover of animals, respects the beauty and life of creation, and can wield sarcasm just as skillfully as he wields his scythes. He also carries a lot of toxic guilt for the pain he has caused his kin in the past, and that gives him a lot of fear that he may not be able to keep his current siblings safe. And, yes, despite not actually confessing his true feelings to anyone, Death very much cares for his siblings because of the trauma he holds close. He committed genocide for a people and culture he very much believed in and he never wants that to happen again.

Death’s storyline in this book really shines when he begins to develop a closer bond with War, his youngest sibling. It’s not made clear if Death naturally feels like he needs to keep War safe because War is the youngest of the four horsemen and Death’s trauma makes him automatically protective, but that bond starts to form regardless because War shows a loyalty Death possibly wasn’t expecting as he was determined to be the lone wolf. After some very amusing back and forth between the two–and War standing his ground even if it gave him a split lip and bruised ribs–the two brothers compromise because of War’s logic: As self-righteous as Death is, he needs help. And it really is beautiful to see their bond strengthen as Death slowly shares bits and pieces of his past with War, growing slightly more open with his little brother as their trust gets stronger, easing War’s previously pretentious image of his older brother to that of gentle understanding after hearing why Death takes the mission very seriously.

Major kudos to Marmell for his brilliant mastery for showing and not telling when it comes to the characters’ emotions. No spoilers, but there is an exquisitely written chapter (the last 40% of Chapter 26, I don’t know the pages because I listened to the audiobook version) where Death’s fear is manifested and as he is given the chance to tell War the truth of his actions after a particularly close call, Marmell really grasps the feeling of despair and panic as Death has an internal conflict with himself on whether to tell War the truth. It’s a really beautiful and heart-breaking scene that solidifies Death’s motives for his actions in clearing War’s name in the second game, and despite War knowing Death still isn’t telling him everything, he trusts his older brother to make the right decisions–but this only makes Death feel more guilt and shame for not being honest (among other things), making that the complete driving force for Death’s journey in Darksiders II.





Conclusion

When you subtract the unnecessarily and extremely stretched out “fight scenes” (which would actually cut the book’s page count in half), the mystery of the story about a mysterious revenge plot paired with the intrigue of Death’s relationship dynamic with his siblings is very enjoyable.

The audiobook narrated by Bob Walter is also a great listen. His voice and cadence when reading the prose is almost nostalgic as it reminded me of when my dad would listen to Bible-talk radio growing up–which is appropriate for a book about angels and demons, especially when Bob Walter also narrated a version of the Bible. If you can get through the slog of overly long fight scenes, I recommend this book if you love the Darksiders franchise as much as I do.

[Lee Broderick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hadn't read any licensed fiction since some of the Drangonlance books in the early nineties, so this was a bit of a leap of faith for me. In truth, what I found was better than I feared and no worse than I expected. The story blazes along at a fair lick, with action sequence after action sequence - somewhat revealing of the IP's origins - and this kept my interest. The characters (or, at least, some of the characters) I already knew before reading this - that's why I picked it up, afterall - and nothing is done here to alter them. The author perhaps misses some of the subtleties of Death's humour, as he becomes more sarcastic and less sardonic, and he's also occasionally prone to 'action hero one-liners' but these are minor quibbles.

Overall, the quality of the prose is predictably poor and that gives me real hesitation in rating it as highly as three stars. I did like it - but only for the fact that I was already vested in the characters; it has done nothing to change my opinions on licensed fiction and it will, in all likelihood, be many years before I venture to read one again.

[Rocki S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently started playing Darksiders the game which compelled me to buy this Kindle book when I discovered it on Amazon. The game is quite thrilling and hope the book would be too. It met my expectations fantastically and without spoiling my game.

If you're familiar with the game, then this novel will please you. Death, the leader of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, is quite the snarky fellow you don't want to mess around with. His lines are the best in the book and makes reading this novel totally worth it.

It's interesting to read a fantasy story that doesn't involve humans and is not about animals. This are angels, demons, nephilim and otherworldy preternatural beings battling it out with each other.

Great book, even if you haven't played the game.

(PS: I am saddened that Vigil Games got dissolved and the intellectual property that is the Darksider series has not yet found a new home. Hoping for the best, as these are amazing games and I would love to see more books written.)

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really didn't think I would like this but I've been using Overdrive to listen to audiobooks and the list is kinda sparse so I decided to give it a try. The narrator's voice was strange, too dramatic and it made it seem even cheaper than the fact that this was a book written about a video game. Also there was a LOT of fighting.

BUT I ended up really liking it. I really enjoy the whole "politics of Heaven and Hell" thing. I enjoyed it more in God's Demon but this was still a lot of fun, just lighter overall. The humor seemed misplaced at first but then as I got further in I liked it more.

So I would say, make sure you give this some extra time to settle in before you make a final judgement.

[Qudduws Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a bad story and it adds to the lore of the games, especially the 2nd in a nice way. There were a few wording issues that i had while reading but it was not enough to turn me away from completing it. Death is by far the most bad arse character in the Darksiders universe. He's flawed and he knows it. That adds a sense of reliability that i didn't find during the games. Then there's war who during the story seemed so much like a kid than I'd ever imaging possible. When around Death he's so casual and boyish that I could help but picture a child version of the horseman.

IF you like the Darksiders Games then you owe it to yourself to read this novel and the comics. they add dept and contrast to the characters of the universe that the games have not quite achieved.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a novel based on a video game that I have never played, I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. There were moments when I could tell that playing the game would have given me a clearer picture of what was going on, but I don't think playing the game was really necessary. I consider that a pretty good thing for this kind of book. It was dark and full of demons and other creepy things that I enjoy, and yet it also had bad-ass angels fighting alongside the Horsemen of the Apocalypse and somehow the author made it all work. It helped that the plot was actually pretty clever. I would probably read another in this series if I find one, but I do know that I have already added the game itself to my wishlist so it seems fair to say that I liked this.

[Shawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disclosure: At about 80% I started skimming as I was at the point where I just had to move on.

This one is hard for me to review. Darksiders is one of my all-time favorite game franchises, so I picked this one up without question, thinking it'd be as cool as the games. Now, it has its moments, and there's some cool characters (but already created by someone else) but for the most part I just fought my way through trying to finish so I could move onto something else. Now, there may be people who love it, this is just how it affected me -- I found it hard to connect with anything really. The weapons were cool though...

[Xeraphym · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's be honest here, this book has no write to be nearly as good as it is. It's based on frigin Darksiders, an extremely niche audience even within the video game world. It's portrayal of Death and War is perfect, while Strife and Fury are... a bit less. It was their first time being anything above mentioned, and as such, their character's were changed (See Darksiders 3 and Genesis).
As a whole, the story of this book is extremely basic, like the games. It goes very straight to the point, "we need to do X" with extra blood. It's fun and enjoyable, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who likes the series.