As one of the few people who has watched the anime Attack on Titan and does not really love it, I must admit that I enjoyed this novel more than I expected I would. What most surprised me about the novel is that it's different. Attack on Titan often feels like a string of battles that replicate previous battles, but Before the Fall volume 1 gives new information about the world of AoT as well as less annoying main characters. Before you kill me, let me say that not all AoT characters are annoying--Mikasa's cool and I am a big Levi fan. But I don't like Eren or Jean and I can hardly distinguish the minor characters, for the simple reason that the creators sacrifice character development for intense screaming and violent character deaths that are supposedly intended to make us cry in despair and horror, but which get old very quickly.
In contrast to the anime, which is so consistently intense that it's not intense anymore at all, Before the Fall displays a society of fairly content people. There is corruption and poverty a-plenty, and yet it doesn't pretend that people are incapable of summoning a shred of happiness even in desperate situations like the anime does. The main character is a weaponry craftsman named Angel, and it's nice to get the perspective of someone who is not a soldier. He doesn't initially care about the Titans. He doesn't have a reason to worry about them as they have never gotten within Wall Maria, and his image of them is hazy due to a lack of information. The situation changes when radical Titan Lovers take the gate by force and let in a Titan, causing thousands of casualties. Angel pledges to use his skill as a craftsman to find a way to defeat the Titans.
The novel is, in summary, the origin story of the 3-D Maneuver Gear. It was quite interesting to learn the circumstances under which the indispensable weapon was created and tested and eventually turned the tides of the war between humans and Titans. It was also great that there wasn't an unnecessary amount of screaming in the book, though that is probably due in part to the fact that reading "Aaah" in a book is not as effective as hearing an actual scream. It is also great to have a character whose loved one dies but is not reduced to a crying, screaming mess. That is how most people would react if a loved one is killed by a monster, but it still gets old quickly. Instead, this character retains a quiet dignity, continuing her job of protecting people. Angel also shows a remarkable sense of duty, and is less bland and annoyingly intense than Eren. Though Angel's personality is somewhat that of a generic anime hero, at least I find myself rooting for him instead of being annoyed by him. And it's a pretty nice underdog story, considering that he is a craftsman and fighting people and Titans is not part of his job description, yet he works hard and does remarkably well.
Unfortunately, the novel does follow the AoT tradition of being very predictable. Obviously, we already know the Titans' weakness as well as what Angel's invention turns out to be, so that isn't a problem. The real problem is that it is, as always, completely obvious who is going to die.
Despite some minor problems, the novel is a pretty interesting read and is a nice break from the constant, repetitive Titan battles offered by the anime. Would definitely recommend for fans of the series.