Deus Ex: Hard Line

Deus Ex Universe #4

by James Swallow

Deus Ex: Hard Line is a science fiction novella set in the Deus Ex universe and written by James Swallow. It covers the background story of Alex Vega.

The novella is available in the digital format as part of the Collector's Edition and Day One Edition of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

(Taken from the Deus Ex wiki: http://deusex.wikia.com/wiki/Deus_Ex:... )

Genres: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Video Games, Action

44 pages, ebook

First published August 23, 2016

About the author

James Swallow is a New York Times, Sunday Times and Amazon #1 bestselling author and scriptwriter, a BAFTA nominee, a former journalist and the award-winning writer of over sixty-five books, along with scripts for video games, comics, radio and television.

DARK HORIZON, his latest stand-alone thriller, is out now from Mountain Leopard Press, and OUTLAW, the 6th action-packed Marc Dane novel, is published by Bonnier.

Along with the Marc Dane thrillers, his writing includes, the Sundowners steampunk Westerns and fiction from the worlds of Star Trek, Tom Clancy, 24, Warhammer 40000, Doctor Who, Deus Ex, Stargate, 2000AD and many more.

For information on new releases & more, sign up to the Readers’ Club here: www.bit.ly/JamesSwallow

Visit James's website at http://www.jswallow.com/ for more, including ROUGH AIR, a free eBook novella in the Marc Dane series.

You can also follow James on Bluesky at @jmswallow.bsky.social, Twitter at @jmswallow, Mastodon at @jmswallow@mstdn.social and jmswallow.tumblr.com at Tumblr.

Reviews

[Igor Veloso · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked Alex Vega and would enjoy seeing her more fleshed out during Mankind Divided. I get her role was kind of as a proxy to someone – this is is established right in the beginning of the game mind you-, but this woman has both style and swag, and what is cyberpunk without it?

For a short story it made much more sense and I liked it much better than Fallen Angel. We learn more from her past as a military contractor and her motivations leading to becoming a professional partner and asset to Adam Jensen, while we play him in Prague. It jumps back and forth between present events and past events and even connects to events from previous books and games, which is nice enough in her case. I always admit it’s kind of a turn off when everything is connected, because it takes away some agency from characters and forms some kind of heliocentrism around the main character and not the world, but this one does it well, and again, makes sense.

Not obligatory to read but warms you up nice enough to Alex. I dig it.

[Dave Walsh · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are super passionate about Deus Ex and want a little extra back story for the latest game this might be okay. Just not particularly interesting.

[João Jorge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a surprisingly well written tale and very enjoyable if you've played or are planning to play “Deus Ex: Mankind Divided”. It works as a standalone story in the DX universe and you get some cool “appearances”, like Quinn from the first game's DLC and even a small cameo by Adam Jensen. Also present is Ivan Berk, a character almost absent in the game but that plays a pivotal role in starting the events you will be playing through. This story allows to somewhat alleviate what I considered a flaw in the game as here you can get to know the character, his background and most importantly his motivations for what happens at the start of the game. Ultimately though, the story is focused on Vega and is somewhat wasted because her role in the game is so insignificant. Fortunately we get some interactions of her and Janus. Janus is a mystery and also only slightly explored in the game as a character, so it was especially enjoyable to see “it” come to life in these pages. A nice treat for the fans. Now give us the end of the story, Square Enix! DONT KILL DEUS EX!!!!!

[Tahsin Faruque · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, this is a good bit of story for anyone who has played or wants to play the recent Deus Ex games (HR and MD). It's not a story that you have to know to play the game, but if you do, you can get some good insight behind the characterization of Alex Vega, the protagonist of this story and one of the main secondary characters of the game.
If you are not into playing the game and just want to read a short Cyberpunk themed story, it's still a good one. The story is easy to get into, and does not contain any cyberpunk jargon that you can find in some other futuristic sci-fi story that are hard to understand at times.
In short, good time-pass short story.

[Joulez · Rating 3 out of 5]

This came with my Deus Ex game (which I am currently only half way through) and was worried that it would actually spoil the game. It didn't, in fact there is very little of the game storyline (of what I've played so far) in this book and am very glad for that. It meant I got to enjoy the book, without worrying about any spoilers.

It was also nice to have a bit of background on a character that isn't the main one in the game, it was a nice easy and quick read. I quite enjoyed the book and I will be trying some more of the Deus Ex books in the future.

[Jousef W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alex Vega was an interesting character in the game Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, who unfortunately didn't get enough time to flesh out her story.

With this book I hoped to get exactly that, a more fleshed-out version of Vega, her origins and what she had been up to all those years since "The Incident" and even before. And again, unfortunately, we only get a glimpse of her. It felt a bit rushed, her getting from leaving the organization she was working for to meeting Janus to meeting Adam Jensen.

I believe she is a strong character that deserves much more content. This was a start at least.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly just flashbacks told from the POV of Alex Vega with the "main" story told as a build-up to the events of Mankind Divided. It was... okay. Interesting, if not terribly coherent as a story.

[Eduardo Santiago · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the cast of characters we got. This seriously deserved to be a film. I’m so glad we got more from Alex and Ben Saxon. I would love to see more of Shadowchild and what becomes of her.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent little story to preface Mankind Divided. Introduces some of the characters we meet in the new game. I found myself wanting more though. More description and more information about these characters. I wish this bit was part of a full novel rather than just a short standalone. I think this author writes better when he's given more pages to describe a scene.

[Neon Snake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, if a little confusing. James Swallow is a very good writer; based on the few books of his I've read, they're good stories in their own right, not just as videogame tie-ins. My only issue with this short novella was that it's difficult to follow, taking place in two different time-lines, and didn't quite explain how Vega first meets Jensen, at least to my satisfaction.