Assassin's Creed: The Official Movie Novelization

by Christie Golden

The official movie novelization of the "Assassin's Creed" motion picture starring Michael Fassbender. 

This premium hardcover edition features exclusive behind the scenes details on the creation of the Assassin`s Creed movie, as well as stills from the film and a special code to unlock Assassin's Creed rewards through Ubisoft Club's loyalty program.

We work in the dark to serve the light. We are assassins.

Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Historical, Action, Adventure

304 pages, Hardcover

First published December 21, 2016

About the author

Award-winning author Christie Golden has written over thirty novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror. She has over a million books in print.

2009 will see no fewer than three novels published. First out in late April will be a World of Warcraft novel, Athas: Rise of the Lich King. This is the first Warcraft novel to appear in hardcover. Fans of the young paladin who fell so far from grace will get to read his definitive story.

In June, Golden’s first Star Wars novel, also a hardcover, sees print. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi—Omen is the second in a nine-book series she is co-authoring with Aaron Allston and Troy Denning. Also in June comes the conclusion of Golden’s StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga with the release of Twlight, the third book in the series. The first two are Firstborn and Shadow Hunters.

2004 saw the launch of an original fantasy series called The Final Dance, from LUNA Books. The first novel in the series, On Fire's Wings, was published in July of that year. The second, In Stone’s Clasp , came out in September of 2005. With In Stone’s Clasp, Golden won the Colorado Author’s League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel for the second time. The third book, Under Sea’s Shadow, is available only as an e-book

Golden is also the author of two original fantasy novels from Ace Books, King's Man and Thief and Instrument of Fate, which made the 1996 Nebula Preliminary Ballot. Under the pen name of Jadrien Bell, she wrote a historical fantasy thriller entitled A.D. 999, which won the Colorado Author's League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel of 1999.

Golden launched the TSR Ravenloft line in 1991 with her first novel, the highly successful Vampire of the Mists , which introduced elven vampire Jander Sunstar. Golden followed up Vampire with Dance of the Dead and The Enemy Within . In September of 2006, fifteen years to the month, The Ravenloft Covenant: Vampire of the Mists enabled Jander Sunstar to reach a whole new audience.

Other projects include a slew of Star Trek novels, among them The Murdered Sun , Marooned , and Seven of Nine , and "The Dark Matters Trilogy," Cloak and Dagger , Ghost Dance and Shadow of Heaven .

The Voyager novel relaunch, which includes Homecoming and The Farther Shore , were bestsellers and were the fastest-selling Trek novels of 2003. Golden continued writing VOYAGER novels even though the show went off the air, and enjoyed exploring the creative freedom that gave her in the two-parter called Spirit Walk, which includes Old Wounds and Enemy of my Enemy .

Golden has also written the novelization of Steven Spielberg's Invasion America and an original "prequel," On The Run , both of which received high praise from producer Harve Bennett. On The Run, a combination medical thriller and science fiction adventure, even prompted Bennett to invite Golden to assist in crafting the second season of the show, if it was renewed.

Golden lives in Loveland, Colorado, with her artist husband and their two cats.

Reviews

[Alex ☣ Deranged KittyCat ☣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We work in the dark to serve the Light."
Cal took a breath.
"We are... Assassins."

No matter what the critics say, I really liked both the movie and the book. I have no clue about the Assassin's Creed game. Never played it and probably never will. That said, I'm a huge Michael Fassbender fan and I liked all his movies.

Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day.

This is another case of if-you-liked-the-movie-you'll-like-the-book. As with other novelizations I read, this one brings depth to the characters and helps you better understand them. There were nuances of Sofia I didn't get from the film, especially her ancestry. I really hope there will be another movie/novelization to explore on that and on her relationship with Cal.



And talking about their relationship, funny thing is that even if nothing really happens between them, they have an amazing chemistry. I would love to see them act on it, consumed by it. Don't get me wrong. The book doesn't really need romance. I liked it just as it is. I only hope there's a future for them as I see them both as good people.



I was also touched by Maria and Aguilar's relationship. They loved each other deeply and they still followed the Creed. And yes, Maria was the strongest of will in the end.

[AMEERA · Rating 2 out of 5]

bad story but excited for the next one

[Hayat · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF@ page 118

I've never read anything about Assassin's Creed, played the games or watched the movie but the official film tie-in book looked interesting and I was intrigued after reading the blurb.

Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day.

I love books that have futuristic/thriller and mystery elements just as well as action packed books, and this book promised to deliver all of that. But it didn't live up to expectations.

The writing was bland, stark stripped of emotion even during tragic or emotionally charged moments. It made it difficult to get immersed or connect with the characters. The plot and timeline forces the reader to skim the surface of the story. As soon as you read an important scene or follow a particular side character's POV, the scene changes. Just when you are about to find out something important or meet the head of the secret society or a fight scene in 15th century Spain between the Assassins and the Templars...suddenly everything fades to black leaving the reader in a cliff-hanger without explanation. For example, it's 1988 and teenager Callum Lynch gets home and sees his beloved mother's still-warm bloody corps and his dad holding the knife dripping with her blood. He's hit by shock, disbelieve and horror and before he can process any of it, his father tells him "your blood is not your own, Cal," before adding, "they found us." Dozens of black SUVs flood the streets and suddenly his dad tells him, "they want what's inside you, Cal. Live in the shadows...Go! Now!" and Cal quickly gets away without an idea of what just happened. Next scene it's 2018 and Cal is in prison about to be executed in the next moment by legal injection, on his birthday, for killing a pimp. But he doesn't die, instead some nefarious company/secret agency switches the lethal injection with something mimicking death and whisks him off to their secret layer to experiment on him without consent. All the time jumps and action is done with somewhat clinical detachment and very little explanation.

Characters come out of nowhere, like the police/detective and the priest, and then quickly disappear without a rhyme or reason. And others are equally new and uninteresting since the author didn't explore their history, thoughts or emotions. I found it hard to care or engage with any of the characters. It was frustrating. Perhaps this book relies on prior knowledge of Assassin's Creed 'the game' to establish the plot, characters and history of the world it's based on.

The concept of the Assassin's Creed was intriguing but the writing style, plot and pacing made it difficult to enjoy. I think the Assassin's Creed works better as a game or a movie and I'll probably watch the movie just to see if it is better than the official film tie-in book.

This is my first DNF of 2018 and I'm okay with it. I've been inspired by another reader to stop reading books I'm not enjoying in the slightest after 100 pages. It's a great way to get a fair idea about a book and a good way to save my time and energy for another book I'm going to enjoy reading. This strategy might also keep the dreaded book slump to a minimum by getting rid of mind-numbing books.

[WayneM0 · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

I'm a huge fan of Assassins creed.
Love the games.
Love the books by Oliver Bowden
Love the new YA series

Movie not so much. It was OK but not as good as it could have been (I've still seen it twice though)

This book though was so much better.
The movie suffered because it didn't explain enough of what was happening and what had been. The book expanded on that and it was brilliant.

Christie Golden is also a very good writer and proved it with this book.

The world building was brilliant and not just the flashbacks. The modern world was very vivid abd very well constructed.

The characters were so much more alive and fleshed out in this. Callum was great as was Sofia but so many others had more substantial roles. It also made a few things make sense from the movie that didn't seem to match.

It also had plenty of Easter eggs from the games and what fan doesn't like clever nods to what has come before.

The plot was well paced and full of action. There was suspense as well even though I knew exactly what was coming.

I'm a pretty harsh judge of series/subjects I really like but this actually exceeded my expectations.

Probably one for the fan's but so so much better than the movie and a very good read.

[Tilly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was SO much better than I was expecting! There was more depth to the story than just a simple retelling of the film and the side characters who we see but barely meet in the film - Moussa, Emir, Lin, Nathan - are introduced and developed.
Perhaps the best part was how it didn't feel like a novel based on a film; Christie Golden is a talented writer and it was a pleasure to read.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘’Assassin’s Creed is getting its own movie.’’
I remember how thrilled I was when I first heard the news. For over a year or perhaps longer, I checked every bit of new information about the movie as soon as it was released.
Moreover, it would mean a new installment in the book series would be released. As a loyal reader of the Assassin’s Creed books, I was tempted to pick it up before the premiere. However, since the story would follow that of the movie, I did not buy it when it came out and ruin the surprise. Furthermore, it was written by Christie Golden and not Oliver Bowden, to whom’s writing I had become accustomed and came to love. This new writer caused a sense of scepticism and I decided to wait with the purchase.
When the film finally hit the screens, I immediately went to see it in the cinema. Friends and family were surprised and found it quite odd I was going alone, but I simply love going to the movies by myself.
Do not get me wrong, it was amazing to see the games being turned into this motion picture, but it lacked in some aspects. Especially when it came to the motivations of the characters. Although content with the result, I have played every AC except for the first one and Rogue and am a big fan of the series, I left the theatre feeling a bit disappointed.
My friend and I have this new tradition with which we give each other a book, that we requested, for our birthdays. I asked her to give me the movie tie-in of ‘Assassin’s Creed the movie’ and happily received a copy of it a week after the celebration (the delivery was very slow).
People often say that the book is better than the film. In this case I could not agree more with them, but even this book has it flaws.
Sometimes games are better left untouched.

Writer: Christie Golden
Pages: 319 pages
Published by: Penguin Books, 2016
Rating: 3 / 5

Story:
The story is about Callum Lynch, a delinquent who is about to be executed, but saved from death for unknown reasons and brought to the Abstergo Research Facility in Madrid.
It is here that he discovers his Assassin heritage via his ancestor Aguilar de Nerha who lived in Spain during the fifteenth century, and the ancient war between Templars and the members of the Brotherhood.
Doctor Sofia Rikkin makes use of the Animus in order to access Lynch’s memories to find the Apple of Eden, which contains the seed of mankind’s disobedience.
Nevertheless, as Callum discovers his roots, he himself changes as well. With the gathered knowledge and skills, he will continue the Assassin fight in the present day.

My take:
The main story was quite short, about 255 pages, but a pleasant read notwithstanding. The pace overall was good and never hastened.
Where the movie had its faults, the book made up for them by portraying the motivations each character had for certain actions and especially the relations between them. This, in turn, made the ending of the film more understandable and explained why Sofia is feeling what she does for Cal. I am sorry if that does sound very vague, but I want to keep this spoiler-free.
Besides Callum’s tale, there are also the ‘Regressions’. These short narratives tell you more about the side characters Moussa, Emir, Nathan and Lin, who are also subjects at the research facility.
Each tale couples back to the games, connecting the movie with the original franchise.
First off we have Nathan, whose ancestor is Duncan Walpole. If you have played ‘Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag’, you might remember that he is the man you chased right at the beginning of Edward Kenway’s story. We get to see why Walpole turned against the Creed, joined the Templars and came to the Caribbean.
Next there is Emir, who descended from Yusuf Tazim from ‘Assassin’s Creed: Revelations’. His account is about his youth in Constantinople, long before he met Ezio, and how he became a part of the Brotherhood.
The third story is about Moussa’s ancestor, Baptiste. He was a voodoo poisoner that took over the Brotherhood in ‘Assassin’s Creed: Liberation’ after his friend and old mentor died.
Last but not least, Lin and her ancestor Shao Jun, whom we have seen before in the short movie ‘Assassin’s Creed: Embers’ in which she trained under old Ezio Auditore and in ‘Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China’.
You get more information about her life at court as Zhengde’s concubine before his death. After his passing she joined the Chinese Brotherhood, from which its Assassins saved her.

Characters:
The characters do take some getting to know, which is a good thing when it comes to books, because there is room to form them.

The Assassins:
Callum Lynch:
Callum Lynch transforms from a vengeful delinquent that is haunted by his past into an Assassin who is at peace with his history and brings the Brotherhood back in the modern era.
Moussa:
Moussa is one of the subjects at the research facility. At first he is very suspicious of Callum, but helps him nonetheless when they take over the Abstergo Research Facility and slowly begins to see him as an ally.
Nathan:
Nathan does not like Lynch at all and tries to kill him when the mutiny happens, in spite of the plan to get Callum to join the Assassins.
Emir:
Emir is a very neutral person and not much is known about him. He bonds with Nathan, Moussa and Lin to help Callum and escape Abstergo.
Lin:
Lin is distrustful of anyone and has a love for dancing with ribbons, which stems from her ancestor, Shao Jun. Apart from her feelings, she joins the others in the escape and joins Lynch’s side in his Templar hunt.



The Templars:
Sofia Rikkin:
Sofia Rikkin starts out on the side of the Templars, but she is a scientist first before truly one of them.
Throughout the story, as she gradually gets to know Callum and comes to care for him, despite her job forbidding her from doing so, you see her change her morals and lean more towards the Assassin’s philosophy.
Yet, after the death of her father, she has lost both parents to the Assassins. This leads her to fully join the Templars and continue her father’s work.
Alan Rikkin:
Alan Rikkin is the director of the Abstergo Industries, a member of the inner sanctum of the Templar Order and Sofia’s father.
He is manipulative, even towards his daughter, whom he wants to stand with him in everything he does, and an advocate of genocide on the Assassins.
The only thing he wants, is to acquire the Apple of Eden and bring glory to the Templars once more and he will not let anything get in the way of this.

Style and spelling:
This is the aspect where this work of fiction has the most flaws.
More than once things are misspelled. Take for example ‘warming to the idea’ instead of the correct form ‘warming up to the idea’ on page 317, ‘cooats’ instead of ‘coats’ on page 316 and writing ‘Third Watch’ when it should say ‘the Third Watch’ on page 314.
It is not only missing words that cause an issue, the name ‘Aguilar’ is often spelled as ‘Agular’. Sloppy, is all I can say about it.
Aside from this and already given above as an example, grammar and tenses are sometimes faultily used.
I do not know who edited the manuscript, but that person should have paid more attention to detail. The writer herself should also have been more aware of the mistakes that were made.

Conclusion:
The saying that the book is better than the movie certainly applies once again in this scenario. However, in my opinion, the games remain better than this big production, simply because the story is often better told than they were able to do in the motion picture.
Also, I like Oliver Bowden’s writing more than Golden’s. It contains way less mistakes and the tale is being told more properly and does the franchise more justice.
If you are looking for a fun and easy read that teaches you a bit of history at the same time, I highly suggest picking up one of the Assassin’s Creed books. You do not even have to have played the games to immerse yourself in the universe.
Just be mindful of the storytelling and only pick the ones up by mentor Bowden, because the novice Golden still has a long way to go before she can perfectly describe the leap of faith.

[Fatima Hojeij · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
I picked this up after I watched the movie which was pretty much shortly after it was released. Saw it at the bookshop next to uni and immediately bought it.

I'm one of those who've actually played the games and loved the movie at the same time. What an infidel, I know.
*picture a gaurd shouting infidel from AC1*

It's a movie, you can't expect it to cover all what the games and books covered before. How long exactly do you want it to be?

Plus it had to appeal to a wider audience and not just satisfy a few fans of the franchise with details and characters that might bore other people who are not as interested. So I'm sorry if the Animus angered you but a more dynamic Animus looks better on the big screen. And its true the story does not really fit quite well with the games with a few contradictions here and there. This did not stop me from enjoying it to the last minute. Enjoying it for what it is: A Movie.
Moving on, the only other AC book that I have read is Renaissance so I can't really compare this book to the others in the series. Which is well and good, I guess.
Its a good thing that they explained a few things here and there that confused me in the movie, mainly the Animus and why it is like that. Not that I was convinced or anything but hey they tried.
The book pretty much follows the movie with no deviation whatsoever except with extra bit of details and explanations and maybe a bit more sympathizing with the female Templar, which is something that I did not like in the movie and liked even less in the books. I just didn't buy it. She's smart she's brilliant actually and she knew her father very well. She should know better than to think that this is actually for the greater good and in peaceful means. Laughable, to be honest.
Surely at times the book felt a bit boring, but probably because I already knew every little detail that was going to happen. Unlike AC Renaissance which read like a video game with missions and all, this did not read like a movie. I truly believe that if someone did not watch the movie he would wholeheartedly enjoy this book.

Final note, I liked the extras at the end with the stories of each 'subject' and their ancestors. They were really interesting and entertaining. Loved Nathan's story the most out of them.

[Femke · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars!

Let me start off by saying that by no means did I hate the movie, unlike most people. I thought it was quite enjoyable, which may also be due to the fact that I actually never played the games. I do have to admit that there were definitely some things in the movie that didn't add up, or were weird etc. I decided to read the movie tie-in to see if some of those things were clearer in the book than in the movie, and I do have to say that all in all, I prefer the book over the movie. Don't get me wrong: most of the weird things in the movie are also in the book, but I feel like things are just explained a lot better in the books. I also liked that the book added another layer of depth to the film. The movie felt quite flat to me in terms of emotions, there just weren't a whole lot, and I do think that those come forward a lot better in the book.

All in all, I prefer the book over the movie, but I recommend watching the movie and reading the book, because another layer will be added and I think things are put into perspective a lot better in the book. Combined with the visuals of the movie, I think that's what will do this (arguably not so good) movie the most justice!

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The past is behind us but the choices we make live with us forever.
Where other men blindly follow the truth, remember nothing is true.
Where other men are limited by morality or law, remember everything is permitted.

We work in the Dark to serve the Light.

We are Assassins."

This is the Creed's oath that I pledged to serve the first time I had the chance to see Altaïr stories with my own eyes.

I've been a huge fan of the Assassin's Creed franchise for a long time. I can tell you that I own every single game that was released and obviously I was excited to see one of my favourite games on the big screen.

I'm glad that they decided to introduce a new Assassin to the stories; it was nice to meet Aguilar and I can say that that was the most interesting part of the story. However, the regressions where the only thing that made me read this book; the past was interesting, rich, entertaining and that was the only thing I really enjoyed in the whole book.

Once again, a movie/book based on a game wasn't even close to being as good as the game itself.

[ضحى الحداد · Rating 2 out of 5]

And with this book I'm officially out of the AC universe ..
This book is the novelization of the movie which I liked so much and I was so excited to read it .. alas from my rating you can tell that I was not pleased, I liked the movie way better than the book, it didn't add anything to the story and it was boring most of the time .. I wanted to see more of how Cal was thinking but there was only Dr.Sophia, yeah .. not very pleased

now I can say good bye to this series .. it was a nice ride, not the best but good for a fun time :)

[Pinkerton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vidi il film quando uscì al cinema e non ne rimasi troppo colpito, lo stesso è accaduto con questa trasposizione cartacea. Lo stile è anche piacevole però è davvero troppo movimentato, non gliene faccio una colpa dopotutto è il libro ufficiale della pellicola, ma i continui parapiglia e il ripetersi di situazioni pressoché identiche annichiliscono quel minimo di narrazione che preso singolarmente non è neanche male.
È passato qualche annetto da quando l’ho visto, quindi non è che ricordi granché, ma sembra proprio che la storia sia stata seguita passo passo, senza prendersi la licenza di soffermarsi qui e là per approfondire certi aspetti o anche soltanto arricchire con dei dettagli le scene che si susseguono. Giusto nel finale abbiamo una retrospettiva, di discrete dimensioni aggiungerei in proporzione alle pagine del libro, sui membri del nostro team di Assassini; carina ma da sola non basta a fargli fare il salto di qualità.
Mi ispirano i volumi del brand, quelli della saga però non questo, letto per una sfida si è rivelato senza infamia né lode. Il voto sarebbe un 2 e mezzo ma devo ammettere che il marchio Assassin’s Creed è molto fico, quindi l’ho elevato a 3 ^^

[Between The Pages (Gemma M) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I must start by saying I am a big fan of anything Assassin Creed and was delighted it was being turned into a film, so I just had to read the book before I watched the film. However, I didn’t find this one as good as the series of Assassin Creed I have previously read. It is a brilliant story line but I wasn’t as hooked as I was with the series and I think that’s because they’ve turned it into a more 21st century story rather than the old series. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this one even though it took me a while to finish which is why I awarded four stars. This book is written well and contains short chapters but i wouldn’t class it as similar to the whole series. I can’t wait to watch the film now and compare the two. I must admit I do love the cover though showing the two personalities of an assassin. This is written by a different author than those written in the series which is also why it felt a bit different. Enjoy!

[Sona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Krásné doplnění myšlenek hlavních postav Calla a Sophie. Nutně potřebuji další díl.

[Rodrigo Henriques · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um dos casos em que o livro é melhor que o filme. Embora ambos sejam altamente criticados, na minha experiência, enquanto leitor e espectador, ler a história de Callum Lynch é mais interessante do que vê-la. A escrita é ligeiramente confusa na parte final do livro, mas como "suspeito" fã da saga de jogos, consegui ignorar esse facto e dar s avaliação de 4 estrelas.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up

I have not seen the movie that this book is based on, so I went into the story completely blind. It was interesting, but I didn’t think the regressions from the other Assassins at the end added much to the plot.

[Fantasy Svet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hneď na začiatok musím povedať, že som pomerne veľkou fanúšičkou Assassin’s Creed (AC) hier. „Objavila“ som ich síce len dva-tri roky dozadu, ale už teraz mám na svojom Steam a Ubisoft konte takmer všetky hry s nálepkou AC a prečítaných prvých päť kníh zo série od Olivera Bowdena. A rovnako ako každý fanúšik aj ja som bola z jednej strany natešená a z druhej v obavách, aký bude film... Ako teda dopadol film, je už mnohým známe, ale ako teda skončila kniha?

Rýchly úvod do tematiky pre neznalých mimo herných sérií:

Už od prvých náznakov existencie ľudstva bojujú dve frakcie proti sebe. Síce s podobným cieľom, ale s odlišnými prostriedkami sa snažia zabezpečiť mier na zemi. Týmito frakciami sú Asasínske bratstvo a Templársky rád. Zatiaľ čo asasíni chcú dosiahnuť mier pomocou voľnej ľudskej vôle, slobody slova a práv, templári na druhú stranu tvrdia, že ľudstvo sa musí podvoliť jednému vodcovi bez otázok a okolkov a len potom nastane mier. V tom im majú pomôcť záhadné artefakty prvej civilizácie – niekoho pred nami. A jedným z týchto záhadných výtvorov je aj Rajské jablko. Na prvý pohľad guľatý kus zvláštne rytého kovu má moc si podvoliť vôľu človeka a ovládať ho. A obe strany – templári aj asasíni – sa ho snažia získať skôr ako ten druhý...

Knižný a filmový dej:

Callum Lynch videl ako malý chlapec vlastného otca stáť nad mŕtvolou jeho milovanej matky. Jeho vlastný otec, zahalený kapucňou so zvláštnou čepeľou trčiacou spod jeho zápästia, stál priamo vedľa nej, kým jej životodarná červená tekutina pomaly kvapkala na zem. Obraz, na ktorý Cal nikdy nezabudne. Ako tridsaťsedemročný, problematický Callum čaká na svoju popravu v Texase za vraždu pasáka. Smrtiaca injekcia mu pomaly prúdi do žíl, keď pochopí, že toto je koniec a on zomiera. Tmu ale vystrieda svetlo so záhadnou ženou po jeho boku. Nezomrel. Z väzenia sa však dostal do druhého väzenia – Abstergo Industries – organizácie, ktorá sa snaží eliminovať násilie. Tu je náš hrdina strčený do veľkej paže nazývanej Animus a vrhnutý do simulácie, ktorá ukazuje minulosť jeho vlastného predka Aquila de Nehra, člena španielskeho asasínskeho bratstva v pätnástom storočí. Aquilar bol posledný známy člen držiaci to záhadné „Jablko“ a templári nechcú nič iné, ako nájsť jeho úkryt...

Callum Lynch je sympatický anti-hero charakter. V novelizácii ho spoznávame o niečo viac, vidíme lepšie aj detailnejšiu jeho minulosť. Vedľajšie postavy taktiež dostali priestor, ich vývoj je podstatne viditeľnejší a pôsobia menej do počtu. Kniha je lepšie zorganizovaná ako film, a aj podstatne lepšie napísaná ako scenár. Prišlo mi, že opisy prostredia boli zvládnuté lepšie ako opisy súbojov, ktoré na mňa pôsobili na začiatku o niečo viac kostrbato, ale postupne sa dostali na dobrú úroveň. A samozrejme, rovnako ako vo filme aj tu sú dve dejové línie postupne sa prepletajúce, dotvárajúce celý celok „Aquilarova minulosť - Callumova prítomnosť“. Kým v hrách chcú ľudia podstatne viac prítomného času, film ľudí sklamal len menšou porciou minulosti. Tá zas nie je taká malá a bez prítomnosti by celá adaptácia bola veľmi nesúmerná a svojím spôsobom aj bez hlavy a päty. Christie Goldenová je však veľmi dobrá spisovateľka a našla si svoju cestičku ako misky váh vyrovná bez problémov.

To, na čo nedostal priestor film, sa zhmotnilo v knihe. Ako som už spomenula, dozvedáme sa tak viac o minulosti Calluma Lyncha, o trochu viac sa tu rysuje aj samotný konflikt medzi templármi a asasínmi, ktorý bol pre neznalých kľúčovým prvkom, a na ktorý scenáristi Michael Lesslie, Adam Cooper a Bill Collage úplne zabudli. A navyše sa knihe podarilo spraviť niečo, čo filmu nie: naozaj vytvoriť puto medzi pôvodnými hrami a filmom, kde film sklamal na plnej čiare, keď sa mu nepodarilo ani trochu priblížiť k epickosti pôvodných asasínov (o kvalite novších hier sa dá, samozrejme, diskutovať). Vďaka tomu celý dej nepôsobí tak vytrhnuto z kontextu a pôsobí viac ako Assassin’s Creed. Nájdu sa tu známe mená ako Warren Widick či Robert de Sablé z prvej hry.

Dúfala som, že autorka mierne pozmení koniec, kde mi rozhodnutia istej postavy prišli mierne nelogické. Ale dosť o tom, aby som náhodou neodhalila zápletku. Hlavným dejom sa kniha nekončí, na konci nájdeme ešte bonusových približne štyridsať strán obsahujúcich samostatné informácie o ostatných subjektoch/postavách. Vďaka tomu sa dozvieme viac o ich predkoch a znovu tu padnú mená, ktoré poznáme aj z hernej série.

Celý film, a teda aj kniha sú stavané na pokračovanie. Bohužiaľ, film mal veľmi zmiešané reakcie, ktoré jeho pokračovanie určite ohrozili. Preto tu nastáva otázka: Ak sa ďalší film nenatočí, dostane Christie Goldenová možnosť pokračovať v tomto alternatívnom univerze? Ja som si film pozrela len kvôli tejto knihe, a pretože som očakávala katastrofu, tak ma vlastne ani nesklamal. Na druhú stranu ho hodnotím len na 40%, aj keď mal pár dobrých aspektov. Preto si myslím, že kniha je podstatne, podstatne lepšia, ale filmový scenár už tak úplne nezachráni. Ťahá však z filmu to najlepšie a dopĺňa to o vlastné zaujímavé poznatky a údaje. A preto, ak by jedného dňa to pokračovanie naozaj vyšlo, určite si ho zaobstarám.

Kolízie s originálnym univerzom Assassin’s Creed:

Na používanie asasínskej čepele sa musel amputovať prst. To ale nie je podľa hier pravda, pretože Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad tento mechanizmus upravil storočia predtým, aby amputácia nebola potrebná. Aquilar je taktiež zobrazovaný s dvoma čepeľami na oboch rukách, my ale vieme o amputácii prsta iba jednej ruky. Možno to iba znamená, že španielske bratstvo sa rozhodlo zachovať zvyk amputácie, aj keď to nebolo potrebné. To by ich ale veľmi ľahko identifikovalo v dave. Hľadajte muža bez prsta, to je náš cieľ... potvrdí nám to film aj kniha, pretože keď Abstergo donúti Calluma tieto Aquilarove čepele nosiť počas doby v Animuse, očividne na ich používanie nepotrebuje amputovať prsty. Nikde ale nie je spomenuté, že by čepele boli upravené po Aquilarovej smrti.

Aquilar žije v rovnakej dobe ako Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Fanúšikovia vedia, že Ezio sa snažil za každú cenu získať Jablko od Borgiovcov a ako je možné, že veľký Mentor talianskeho bratstva nevedel o ďalšom Jablku v rukách sultána z Granady v Španielsku? Vzhľadom na to, že Ezio v istej dobe v Španielsku naozaj bol a spojil sa aj s lokálnymi asasínmi, bolo by pravdepodobnejšie, že by im istý čas aj pomáhal či už priamo, alebo nepriamo. Samozrejme, z historického hľadiska nebolo Španielsko ešte Španielskom. V tej dobe to boli tri odlišné kráľovstvá. Som si istá, že ľudia so záľubou histórie vedia viac.

Mária (Aquilarova „asasínska sestra“) stále omieľa, že láska v bratstve je zakázaná. Životy asasínov sú ovládané Jablkom, pre ktoré sa musia aj obetovať, ak je to nutné. To je vyvrátené aj samotným Altairom, Eziom a aj Arnom. Slogan: „Nič nie je pravda, všetko je dovolené“ by potom predsa nebol pravdivý vôbec.

Vo filme a novelizácii to navyše vyzerá, že existuje len jedno Jablko. V pôvodnej hre ale boli ukázané lokácie viacerých artefaktov, takže aby templári museli nájsť práve potomka Aquilara, ktorý jeden z artefaktov istú dobu vlastnil, nie je úplne opodstatnené. V hernom vesmíre majú templári momentálne tri Jablká (a jedno ďalšie bolo zničené) a niekoľko iných artefaktov. V celom deji ste ale dostali pocit, že bez Caluma by templári nemali žiadnu stopu a celé ich plány by boli zničené.

Efekt presakovania (bleeding effect) je v tejto verzii podstatne silnejší. Možno, že nový Animus 4.3 v podobe veľkej mechanickej paže zosilňuje vedľajšie účinky?

Fantasy-svet.sk

[JJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Assassin's Creed movie was a disappointment. It felt disconnected from the lore, didn't spend much time in the historical story, and was an overall mess. Christie Golden's novelization fixes some of these issues, but ultimately can't change the issues with the underlying story.

The best parts of this novel are where Golden manages to tie the events of the movie back into the wider lore in a away that may have been confusing to viewers who were just being introduced to Assassin's Creed for the first time. There are allusions to the events of Assassin's Creed: Heresy, a tie-in novel to that Golden also wrote. The main character knows of Abstergo as a videogame developer, much like people in the wider Assassin's Creed universe would. And most specially, the novel contains vignettes after the story concludes from the past lives of some of the other Abstergo inmates. These are short and not particularly consequential, but it's another look at Shao Jun, Yusuf Tazim, Duncan Walpole, and Baptiste that ties them more into the movie and the movie more into the various games.

Unfortunately, the novel is (unsurprisingly) paced like a movie. It moves too quickly with people making decisions for plot convenience, no time for deep character arcs, new additions to the lore that are rarely used again, and the inevitable opening for a sequel that's probably never coming. The story just isn't all that interesting, which is a shame since it's some of the most consequential modern-day content Assassin's Creed fans have gotten in awhile.

Overall, this is a better version of the movie's story. If you were picking one or another to get the story content, I would recommend this novel over the movie. Just beware that if you watched the movie and didn't like the story, it's only slightly better here. There's only so much Christie Golden can do to save the disappointing Assassin's Creed movie.

[Julia Leseritter · Rating 4 out of 5]

In dem Buch geht es weniger um die Erlebnisse im Animus sondern mehr um die Zustände bei Abstergo, was mich aber in keiner Weise gestört hat. Eher fand ich es interessant, wie mit den "Patienten" umgegangen wird, eine neue Technologie des Animus und es geht vorallem auch um den Abstergo Geschäftsführer Alan Rikkin - der ja in den Spielen nur ein Name ist - und seine Beziehung zu seiner Tochter Sophia.
Die Assassinen kamen aber keinesfalls zu kurz. Cal fand ich als Charakter sehr interessant und auch die anderen "Subjekte" waren mir sehr sympathisch. Jeder einzelne von ihnen hatte einen Vorfahren, den man aus diversen AC Games kennt, worauf besonders zum Schluss eingegangen wurde (Duncan Walpole, Yusuf Tazim, Shao Jun, etc.)
Nicht zu vergessen ist natürlich der Edenapfel, der (wie immer) im Zentrum des Geschehens steht.
Ich habe das Buch als Hörbuch gehört und kann nur sagen, dass der Sprecher Matthias Lühn seine Arbeit sehr gut gemacht hat, manchmal waren allerdings die Kapitelübergänge sehr schnell.
Ich bin jetzt jedenfalls gespannt auf den Film, den ich mir bald anschauen werde.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a novice to the Assassins Creed franchise (only recently becoming addicted to gaming) I had little prior knowledge of Abstergo industries. Assassins Creed Syndicate offers little backstory and due to this I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Cal was a charming character, a true anti-hero. His dark nature made him endearing. All this surrounding by an intriguing storyline and epic battles. Yes, it isn't the best written book, but the plot and characters mean it didn't really matter.

A charming book. Well worth the buy. Albeit, Assassins Creed is all about the bigger picture, the Templars verses Assassins, and although this ends it's not the end of the story.

[Nicholas Finch · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of the Assassin Creed Game Series, I was looking forward to the movie. This isn't a review of the movie (that is a whole different set of reviews!) instead I'm focusing on the Movie Novelization.

It flowed very much like an Assassin Creed story, though it didn't truly fit into the Timeline that the Gaming Series and subsequent Book Series built.

Over all the book was decent, it flowed easily and was entertaining. It gave you some more insight into the other characters where the movie failed.

If you liked the movie, the book is recommended.

If you didn't like the movie, try the book it has more information that a fan of the series would enjoy.

[poesielos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hundertmal besser als der Film!

[༶ Laura ༶ · Rating 3 out of 5]

War ok, ein paar Sachen haben mich aber gestört. Will dennoch mehr in die Welt der Assassinen eintauchen und mein Vorwissen aus den Games erweitern 😅

[Brian Wilkerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched the Assassin's Creed film shortly after it came out last year. Amazed, I bought other Assassin's Creed media, such as the first game and the first movie's novelization. After reading the latter, I'm off the opinion that the movie is an adaptation of the book instead of the other way around because it provides the kind of context and character information that is typically excluded from movies that are made from books by nature of the medium. Whether this is a good point on the book or a bad point on the movie I'm not sure. Perhaps it's both. In any case, this is a great book.

It provides a great deal of backstory to the characters that would have been difficult to put in the movie for reasons of pacing and length. Sofia Rikkin, for instance, is apparently a Friend To All Living Things as she has flashbacks to how she adopted an utterly filthy and flea-ridden stray dog and takes great care of it and also tried to befriend a squirrel by sitting outside with nuts in her hand for a prolonged period of time. This feds into and validates the compassion she shows to the "patients" at the Abstergo Rehabilitation Facility; she sincerely believes that they are patients and not "prisoners". She is not the only one to get this treatment and this adds a good deal of emotional heft to the storyline.
　
There are a number of viewpoints in this novelization, rather than focusing on Cal/Aguilar's point of view like the movie does. I typically don't like this technique because it leads to a bloated narrative and less development, but in this case it works. Why? Because everyone is in the same location and everyone is viewing the same events. This has a concentrating effect. It also helps to flesh out other characters because they get the sympathetic POV and internal narration. Moussa, for instance, has this scene where he messes with a guard using a shell game that provides info on him and the state of the proto-Assassin Cell inside the Abstergo Facility, and what he intends to do about the new "pioneer".

Another thing that I like about this novelization is that it fills a vexing narrative hole that the film doesn't address. While it doesn't provide many details, it confirms how many allies and resources Cal has going into the final scene which implies why he took the action he does.

Also, there are bonus chapters at the end of the book. Each one focuses on one of the other Assassins and their ancestor, framed as one of their Animus regressions that took place before Cal arrived. All of them fill in information from characters that were introduced in the games. For instance, Nathan's ancestor is Ducan Wapole, an Assassin turncoat from "Black Flag" and it shows the moment where he decided to become a turncoat. It is a nice treat.

Trickster Eric Novels gives "Assassin's Creed (novelization" an A+

[Amber Bloom · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of the Assassin’s Creed games but I’ve never read the books. I saw this one in the charity shop and figured it was worth a read. I can’t believe how let down I am by it!

I rarely find a book that I can’t find anything positive to say about but this one I honestly can’t. There was just no depth to anything. I feel like the author skimmed the surface on every single detail from character building to overall plot. It was so bland and lacking in any sort of substance or emotion. I like to get to know the characters in a book - this one gives you the tiniest bit of character building and background and then barely touches on it again, unless you count occasionally repeating the same brief things you’ve been told in mildly different wording (this is a theme for everything throughout the entire book in my opinion).

It’s so poorly written - from grammatical errors, to literal missing key words in sentences and even misspelling one of the main characters name twice. I understand that books have errors, but I find it hard to believe that this book went through any kind of proof reading or checking over at all.

I found it impossible to get stuck into this book, in fact I found it difficult to even pick it up at all at times as I found it so frustratingly boring. I should have stopped reading it but a part of me was almost mesmerised by just how awful it was. I’ve never been so relieved to finish a book!

I feel like it was just churned out super-fast because it was obviously going to make money out of the franchise, which is such a shame. I was hoping to love this book as much as the games and thought I’d be excited to read the rest of them, but for now this one has put me off the Assassins Creed books.

[Bunny Huynh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still on the quest to conquer all of the old books that were bought two years ago, I finally “almost” finished the Assassin’ Creed Novelization Adaption written by Christie Golden. The only reason that made me spent money on the book of the uncharted lore is the author name. I became Christie’s fan since her Warcraft Tide of War a couple of years ago. Sometimes I simply get any book with her name printed on the cover; it explains how much I adore her beautiful writing style.

However, with this book, though her writing is still as enchanting as always, I am still curious about her decision of novelizing this particular movie.

The story is dull—no memorable characters, no plot twist, no highlight, and uninterested side stories!

After finishing the book, which very disappointed with the disrupted ending, I was still in concern of Sofia’ emotion change and Cal’s sudden enlightenment. “What is going on?” – I asked myself after the last page of the main plot which I believe other readers would share this feeling.

This kind of plain story gives Christie so little room to develop the characters and give away the story’s ultimate meaning as she always did beautifully with other works.

An excellent writer can't save an awful original plot!

[Elfeeza Ehsan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the movie but felt that it was too short for the audience who have no prerequisites of the Assassin’s Creed games and concept to understand. A lot of the emotions and cognitive aspects of Callum Lynch’s experience with the Animus were not captured in the movie but was clearly explained in the book. I wished that the movie had included all of those scenes from the book in the movie.

That being said, I obviously think that the book is better than the movie. I don’t really have any problems with the book. I like the writing style and the story. I do wish that Ubisoft would continue with this book series as the book, like the movie, is definitely set up for a sequel. Even if Ubisoft doesn’t want to make a movie sequel, I would still like a sequel in book form. I want to know what happened to the characters and I definitely need to know who that one Assassin was and how her story plays out.

I gave this book 4.5 stars and rounded it off to 5 stars for Goodreads.

[DebLoveBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

English-Italiano

I literally loved this book! This is the first book about this serie that I read and I'm looking forward to reading the next one!
The writing style is easy and not too hard. I really like how the author use the right combination between description and dialogue.
This is one of those stories that you can't stop to reading until you are at the end of the book.
So, for these reasons, I gave him five stars.

Ho letteralmente amato questo libro! Questo è il primo libro di questa serie che leggo e non vedo l'ora di leggere quello successivo!
Lo stile di scrittura è semplice e non molto pesante. Mi è piaciuto molto il modo in cui l'autrice utilizza la giusta combinazione tra descrizione e dialogo.
Questa è una di quelle storie che non puoi smettere di leggere finché non sei alla fine del libro.
Quindi, per queste ragioni, gli ho dato cinque stelline.

[Nkandu Mukabe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted so much to like this book. I loved the games. They were thrilling, interesting, exciting, sometimes scary (cos I'm such a noob). This book was none of that.
The characters had zero depth to them, and the book only had a few moments when I could really feel engaged and empathetic.
But the worst part, the WORST PART was all the grammatical errors in this book. It was like it was barely edited at all. I could maybe forgive everything else, but not the punctuation and spelling mistakes (I started to believe his name really was Agular and not Aguilar from all the times it was misspelt).
Still, the book was better than I thought it would be, and I rate it higher knowing it was based off a movie (which I haven't watched, but am predisposed to believing was terrible).

[Ginger Vampyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really am a fan of novelizations, I like getting just a bit more to the story. As I am also an Assassin's Creed fan, this was just delightful. It does follow the movie closely: Cal, after his death is faked, is taken by Abstergo to a secret facility. Once there they put him into the Animus to force him to relive his ancestor Aguliar's life to find the Apple of Eden. And here we have the basic background of the games. Unlike the game more of the story is in modern time rather than in the past. One of the things I liked was getting Cal's perspective on the process of learning where he comes from and how he reconciles the Brotherhood. Also, for those who have enjoyed the various games there are nods to secondary characters. Ultimately not modern masterpiece, but quite a bit of fun.

[Biro Pannika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know a lot of gamers my boyfriend is gamer as well.

And while I do not play trough my friends I know many many games. Once I set more than an hour watching game trailers. I have to admit there are some interesting stories there.

One that caught my attention was Assassins creed, so when the movie came out I had to see it.
I remember I was fascinated by the trailer. I am a lover of words of sentences and for me this movie was worth watching for the following sentence.
Call asked Sofia: What do you want from me?? And she answers: Your past. And that was that I was hooked.

And I loved both the movie and the book as well.

When I cam across it in the bookshop I knew I had to have it and finished it in like 2 days. And it is still next to me on the table while I work and I go back time and now again for my favourite parts when work gets tiresome.

So in a nutshell Call is sentenced to death and it is executed, he wakes up in an institution where a female doctor tells him that he is here because trough him trough his genetics with the help of a machine they can access the memories of one of his ancestors who lived 500 years ago.
They need this to find an artifact that will cure humans of aggression.

And so he is transported back 500 years and live trough the experiences what his ancestor Agular had in Spain.

Trough this journey he gets to know a bit more about his past who he is in realty who his parents were. And as always he will have to choose a part in the end.

I do not want to spoil it. So that is that.

I always love a journey how he trough the connection to someone who lived 500 years ago whom he carries in his genes in his genetic code realizes who he is.

I love the magical part of it a bit of a secret society. And the beauty of the creed the principles that they live by both parts not just the good one.

And these are amazingly written down by the mantras that both par say every time that important stuff goes down.

Visually the book and the movie are just everything.

And for me just the idea that I would be able to access the memoirs of my ancestors is thrilling and magical.

I can see how this book can be a no no for some, both for this dreamer this idealist here is one worth the time.