What do you think?
Rate this book
小説 ファイナルファンタジーXIII [Shōsetsu Final Fantasy XIII] #0
Final Fantasy XIII: Episode Zero: Promise
Before destiny was decided...
In the futuristic society of Cocoon, all the needs of the people are taken care of by the godlike fal'Cie. The only threat to their comfortable lives is the world of Pulse below, ruled by its own fal'Cie with their own intentions. And should trouble ever arise, the fal'Cie sometimes choose humans to do their bidding-and life will never be the same for these people marked by fate.
Before the unlikely heroes of FINAL FANTASY XIII banded together, each had their own story to tell. This series of short stories chronicles the last few days before their encounter with a fal'Cie, providing a deeper look at the characters of the hit game!
In the futuristic society of Cocoon, all the needs of the people are taken care of by the godlike fal'Cie. The only threat to their comfortable lives is the world of Pulse below, ruled by its own fal'Cie with their own intentions. And should trouble ever arise, the fal'Cie sometimes choose humans to do their bidding-and life will never be the same for these people marked by fate.
Before the unlikely heroes of FINAL FANTASY XIII banded together, each had their own story to tell. This series of short stories chronicles the last few days before their encounter with a fal'Cie, providing a deeper look at the characters of the hit game!
216 pages, Paperback
First published December 24, 2009
18 people are currently reading
278 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
August 16, 2015
Would I recommend this book?
Don’t get me wrong, I love the game Final Fantasy 13 and the whole Final Fantasy universe. That’s why I bought this book - I wanted to know more about the characters, their background and their life before the events in the game.
But this book is just so boring and poorly written, I had to force myself over and over again to keep reading it. I thought about quitting several times. Maybe this book is better in it's original language or in English – I don’t know… I read the German version and it was really terrible. The book translator often repeated words and the dialogues seemed totally out of character.
Lightning is called “Hauptmann Haudegen” (which means something like captain swashbuckler) – seriously, when did somebody call her that in the game? The dialogues felt forced and awkward. I’m just happy that it’s over and hope the next one has a different translator and / or writer… I wouldn’t recommend this book, not even to a big Final Fantasy fan.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the game Final Fantasy 13 and the whole Final Fantasy universe. That’s why I bought this book - I wanted to know more about the characters, their background and their life before the events in the game.
But this book is just so boring and poorly written, I had to force myself over and over again to keep reading it. I thought about quitting several times. Maybe this book is better in it's original language or in English – I don’t know… I read the German version and it was really terrible. The book translator often repeated words and the dialogues seemed totally out of character.
Lightning is called “Hauptmann Haudegen” (which means something like captain swashbuckler) – seriously, when did somebody call her that in the game? The dialogues felt forced and awkward. I’m just happy that it’s over and hope the next one has a different translator and / or writer… I wouldn’t recommend this book, not even to a big Final Fantasy fan.
January 15, 2021
Much needed backstories for the seven main characters in FFXIII. All but two (Hope's and Snow's) greatly aided in my understanding of the complex world and plot of the game. This is both a good and a bad thing. I appreciated it because it made aspects of the game more clear to me, but it's unfortunate that the book was required for a complete experience. I also got annoyed by the constant description of Sazh's Afro as "hair a bird could nest in." Yes, we get that he has a chocobo chick living there. Moving on. Also 40 is not "middle-aged" in my book. but it was a teenager's POV, so I'll let it slide.
September 29, 2012
I really love Final Fantasy 13 and 13-2 so it was obviouse to read the book. =D
I really liked the book. I especially enjoyed the story of Vanille and Fang because you don't know much about their lifes from Grand Pulse and in the book you get to know a lot more about them: How they ended up on Coocon and how they were made L'Cie, how Fang ended up with Cid Raines and Rygdea =)
But also the story of Sazh(and Dajih), Hope, Snow, Serah and my favorite Charactere Lightning where pretty amazing!!!
I really liked the book. I especially enjoyed the story of Vanille and Fang because you don't know much about their lifes from Grand Pulse and in the book you get to know a lot more about them: How they ended up on Coocon and how they were made L'Cie, how Fang ended up with Cid Raines and Rygdea =)
But also the story of Sazh(and Dajih), Hope, Snow, Serah and my favorite Charactere Lightning where pretty amazing!!!
August 7, 2020
this is a book for fans of the game. There is absolutely 0 reason for anyone else to pick it up. Its not well written –it’s not well translated (I’m thankful that the fans have taken it upon themselves to translate it but it is what it is. ) but I strongly suspect it wasn’t very well written either. So you know, from a non-ff13 fans perspective this is 0 out of 5 no literary or other merit and definitely not the right place to get started.
But if you already played and loved the game, and the characters. Well it’s more of the same...sort of. There are some fun interactions, some “oh so that’s what happened” moments, a bit of background info and simply more content. But what I said before still applies – it’s just not well written. But does it need to be well written – is it not enough to listen to lightning criticize peoples fashion for a whole chapter? Maybe. I don’t know. I wish there was more of lightning actually, whether shes criticizing people or not. This girl continues to elude the spotlight despite being the poster girl.
Basically, this isn’t essential info but if you love the game you’ll find it at least moderately interesting.
But if you already played and loved the game, and the characters. Well it’s more of the same...sort of. There are some fun interactions, some “oh so that’s what happened” moments, a bit of background info and simply more content. But what I said before still applies – it’s just not well written. But does it need to be well written – is it not enough to listen to lightning criticize peoples fashion for a whole chapter? Maybe. I don’t know. I wish there was more of lightning actually, whether shes criticizing people or not. This girl continues to elude the spotlight despite being the poster girl.
Basically, this isn’t essential info but if you love the game you’ll find it at least moderately interesting.
May 10, 2019
I wish this book had been available in English back in 2009. The game would have made so much more sense!
If you’ve ever been confused, frustrated, or annoyed by Final Fantasy XIII, it’s probably at least in part because you haven’t read this book. The game throws you into an unfamiliar world, bombards you with foreign words like “l’Cie” and “fal’Cie,” and has you recruit an array of characters without properly introducing them. Why? Because all the world building and character backstories and relationships are explained in Episode Zero: Promise.
It’s like how Final Fantasy XV gave us a movie and an anime (and, in Japan, a drama CD), and watching those first helped the game make a lot more sense. Except, unlike Final Fantasy XIII’s prequel content, those were available in English from the get-go. Here we are a decade after this book was published in Japan, just now getting it in the West. *shakes fist at Square-Enix*
Even if you hated FFXIII (and, until now, I did), I recommend this book because it will make the confusing scenes of the game connect like puzzle pieces for you. I’m replaying the game now and everything makes so much more sense, it’s incredible. I feel like in the past I had skipped the first disc, and only now do I have the complete game.
Here’s a spoiler-free breakdown of the chapters:
First there are 8 full-color, glossy pages containing screen shots from the game with captions which provide biographies for allies and foes and geographical information about various locations in the game.
Chapter 1, Encounter. Lightning is on patrol and meets NORA—and Snow—for the first time. It does not go well, so Snow offers to help Serah choose a birthday gift for Lightning to reconcile. In this chapter, we discover information about Light and Serah’s parents, and why Lightning changed her name to “Lightning.” And we see how Serah became a l’Cie.
Chapter 2, Strangers. This chapter is all about Vanille and Fang, and how they woke up and survived on Cocoon. This was one of the best chapters, because you see how the people of Cocoon live day-to-day, discovering it at the same time as Fang and Vanille, who are essentially two foreigners.
Chapter 3, Treasure. Here we see how Sazh got his chocobo and how Dajh became a l’Cie. You learn a lot about the Public Security and Intelligence Command (PSICOM) and the villain characters, Jihl Nabaat and Yaag Rosch, and discover how Sazh lost his wife. Probably the most important chapter in the book, for all the information it provides.
Chapter 4, Search. This entire chapter is about how Fang came to be aboard the Lindblum and their lengthy, failed search for Vanille. While she is involved with the Guardian Corps Wide-Area Response Brigade (GC-WARB)/The Cavalry, we learn about Cid Raines’s motivations for helping her, and parts of the chapter are written from the perspective of Captain Rygdea. I really loved his character so it was awesome to spend time getting to know him!
Chapter 5, Friends. This chapter explores Hope’s relationship (or lack thereof) with each of his parents. The majority of it is a flashback to Hope’s childhood and an adventure he shared in the Sunleth Waterscape with his school friends while on a field trip. (If you don’t remember Sunleth Waterscape, that’s the random rainforest-looking place that Sazh and Vanille appear in during the game. The book explains that it is a nature preserve where monsters are studied. And those floating bubbles that change the weather from sunshine to rain are explained in the book, as well.)
Chapter 6, Present. Serah searches for the perfect birthday gift for Lightning; meanwhile, although he accompanies her, Snow is actually looking for an engagement gift for Serah. A lot of cute, silly fluff. I love Serah and Snow so it was nice to see them together in scenes like this.
Chapter 7, Tomorrow. A far-off flashback to how Vanille and Fang first became l’Cie on Pulse. Then it jumps to the present and explains how Vanille ended up on a Purge train with Hope, Nora, Lightning, and Sazh. And we know the rest, because this is where the game begins.
So there’s a LOT of information about the people, history, world, and main characters in this book that you absolutely do not want to miss, whether you’re a fan of the game or didn’t like it so much. It really made me appreciate it more, now that I understand where the characters are coming from and the world they’re in.
If you’ve ever been confused, frustrated, or annoyed by Final Fantasy XIII, it’s probably at least in part because you haven’t read this book. The game throws you into an unfamiliar world, bombards you with foreign words like “l’Cie” and “fal’Cie,” and has you recruit an array of characters without properly introducing them. Why? Because all the world building and character backstories and relationships are explained in Episode Zero: Promise.
It’s like how Final Fantasy XV gave us a movie and an anime (and, in Japan, a drama CD), and watching those first helped the game make a lot more sense. Except, unlike Final Fantasy XIII’s prequel content, those were available in English from the get-go. Here we are a decade after this book was published in Japan, just now getting it in the West. *shakes fist at Square-Enix*
Even if you hated FFXIII (and, until now, I did), I recommend this book because it will make the confusing scenes of the game connect like puzzle pieces for you. I’m replaying the game now and everything makes so much more sense, it’s incredible. I feel like in the past I had skipped the first disc, and only now do I have the complete game.
Here’s a spoiler-free breakdown of the chapters:
First there are 8 full-color, glossy pages containing screen shots from the game with captions which provide biographies for allies and foes and geographical information about various locations in the game.
Chapter 1, Encounter. Lightning is on patrol and meets NORA—and Snow—for the first time. It does not go well, so Snow offers to help Serah choose a birthday gift for Lightning to reconcile. In this chapter, we discover information about Light and Serah’s parents, and why Lightning changed her name to “Lightning.” And we see how Serah became a l’Cie.
Chapter 2, Strangers. This chapter is all about Vanille and Fang, and how they woke up and survived on Cocoon. This was one of the best chapters, because you see how the people of Cocoon live day-to-day, discovering it at the same time as Fang and Vanille, who are essentially two foreigners.
Chapter 3, Treasure. Here we see how Sazh got his chocobo and how Dajh became a l’Cie. You learn a lot about the Public Security and Intelligence Command (PSICOM) and the villain characters, Jihl Nabaat and Yaag Rosch, and discover how Sazh lost his wife. Probably the most important chapter in the book, for all the information it provides.
Chapter 4, Search. This entire chapter is about how Fang came to be aboard the Lindblum and their lengthy, failed search for Vanille. While she is involved with the Guardian Corps Wide-Area Response Brigade (GC-WARB)/The Cavalry, we learn about Cid Raines’s motivations for helping her, and parts of the chapter are written from the perspective of Captain Rygdea. I really loved his character so it was awesome to spend time getting to know him!
Chapter 5, Friends. This chapter explores Hope’s relationship (or lack thereof) with each of his parents. The majority of it is a flashback to Hope’s childhood and an adventure he shared in the Sunleth Waterscape with his school friends while on a field trip. (If you don’t remember Sunleth Waterscape, that’s the random rainforest-looking place that Sazh and Vanille appear in during the game. The book explains that it is a nature preserve where monsters are studied. And those floating bubbles that change the weather from sunshine to rain are explained in the book, as well.)
Chapter 6, Present. Serah searches for the perfect birthday gift for Lightning; meanwhile, although he accompanies her, Snow is actually looking for an engagement gift for Serah. A lot of cute, silly fluff. I love Serah and Snow so it was nice to see them together in scenes like this.
Chapter 7, Tomorrow. A far-off flashback to how Vanille and Fang first became l’Cie on Pulse. Then it jumps to the present and explains how Vanille ended up on a Purge train with Hope, Nora, Lightning, and Sazh. And we know the rest, because this is where the game begins.
So there’s a LOT of information about the people, history, world, and main characters in this book that you absolutely do not want to miss, whether you’re a fan of the game or didn’t like it so much. It really made me appreciate it more, now that I understand where the characters are coming from and the world they’re in.
September 19, 2024
3.5
Honestly I'm fairly surprised by how much i enjoyed this book, however it falls into the classic problem I always have with short story collections in that its always filled with some great stories, some mediocre ones and some straight up bad ones, overall averaging out to a somewhat decent to fun read.
I will say what makes me give this the slight edge over FFVII On the way to a smile is the fact that Jun Eishima's prose is far superior to Nojima's no shade since she is more geared towards the novelist side compared to Nojima's gaming background.
Final Fantasy XIII is an interesting title, controversially i actually really like the game and i actually have a certain reverence towards it since the trilogy was basically my introduction to a franchise i would end up playing almost very game in (And there is a LOT of them) and later on dubbing my faviroute media franchise of all time. So there is some leeway here but not as much as my previous Final Fantasy book reviews since I'd put VII (1997) over XIII any day despite the fact that 2/3 of the VII books i wasn't too overly fond of.
Encounter
The first short is told from Lightning and Serah's POV which makes sense since they are our protagonists of the trilogy and very vital characters for this story. Making a prequel novel for a story that pretty much covers the basics of what happens before our story via flashbacks is a tough task and i do get the impression Eishima struggled with half the POV's but also flourished with the other halves. Which is why the very first short being a dual perspective story is funny since this short reflects essentially my thoughts on this book. Lightning doesn't have much to say or do in this book her encounter with Snow was a fun story beat but i was far more invested in her backstory as a child losing her mother and having to step up to look after Serah. I just wished the novel wasn't restricted to the 13 days before the purge because there are so much great characterisation and potential in telling the story of a young Lightning abandoning Claire Farron and having to create a new persona to help cope with her trauma and new found parental position. Serah's POV is definitely the more interesting parts as we finally experience the scene where Serah turns into a l'cie and Eishima's prose was so damn good in this scene. The atmosphere and beautiful art direction of XIII came across so well in Eishima's prose. I could read a whole book about Serah walking around vestiges and meeting different Fal'cie. The moment where Serah discovers the brand was so well written it made me forget I was ready a videogame tie in novel. In just under a page we see Serah go through five stages of grief when discovering her fate, it was really well done.
Stranger
The second short and potentially my faviroute. Here we find out what exactly happens right after Vanille and Fang wake up from crystal stasis and how they adjusted to their newfound focus and cocoon. Told from Vanille's perspective which i found a great creative decision. What i lve most about this short is the fish out of water elements of it. This is surprisingly a really funny short, Fang the Dragoon warrior who lives in Gran Pulse a land filled with a myriad of wildlife and monsters is obviously gonna have a tough time adjusting to the very sheltered and soft cocoon especially Bhodum a tourist beachside town. Fang not processing the fact that you can pass by strangers and not feel the need to have a standoff was hilarious and very on brand for the character. I also liked the slice of life aspects of this novel, its quiet and pensive and really all about two strangers trying to find purpose in a new foreign world. I also love how the end presents itself as a hopeful transition as the pair feel they have a chance for things to get better when we as the reader with prerequisite knowledge know their visit to the cocoon fal'cie will cause even more strife.
Treasure
A Sazh Story! I love Sazh and think he's underrate and i wish the trilogy gave him more to do. But i am glad to see his short was also a really great read. He reads exactly like his character does and i love reading about positive father and child relationships. It does a great job of investing in his relationship with Dajh right before itting us with Dajh's fate as a l'cie. Reading about all this fantasy jargon from the perspective of a worried and confused middle aged man actually makes for a really interesting perspective. This book also does the amazing job of making Jill Nabaat an actually interesting villain which the game failed to do. I finally understand Sazh personal beef with her and I'm upset the game never gave us their encounter!
Search
A Fang centred short about the events after Fang and Vanille's separation. In full honesty Oerba Yun Fang is my all time favourite Final Fantasy character so I was really looking forward to this. Glad to say this is arguably the most important short to exist since the game gives us no real context to how and why Cid Raines and the Cavalry would ally themselves with Fang. This short is so important for explicitly detailing how Fang and Serah are literally a parallel of Lightning and Vaniile. One a headstrong warrior who mistrusts everyone and solely works to protect their younger more naïve sibling esque figure. I also loved reading in Rydgea POV, a character i had zero interest in before is actually a really interesting character and seeing Fang slowly warm up to him gave us an actual character arc in this book. I also finally understand Raine's motivation and it's actually really compelling, i just wished the game made him a bigger deal cause he's so damn interesting.
Friends
Unfortunately this is where the book begins to get stale for me. We get Hope's story and there is pretty much nothing to tell of Hope before the purge aside from the relationship with his father however the story does a bizarre thing and instead gives us a story about Hope and his friends ins school when they visited the sunleth waterscape and it provides absolutely nothing for the story, hope as a character or his storyline in the game which was mostly about forgiveness and understanding with his father and snow. Just a real waste of a short story.
Present
We get a Snow perspective and it's just bout him shopping with Serah for Lightnings birthday gift, there's some good character moments as it's set after Serah admitting she's a L'cie to him so it works as some falling action however the setting of a shopping storyline doesn't work with the thematic undertones it's trying to achieve. I feel like Eishima really tired but inevitably struggled with this one.
Tomorrow
Really amazing opening that made me so upset about what this book could have been. We see the moment where Fang and Vanille become a pulse l'cie during the war of transgression and how Fang did it out of spite to call out the Fal'cie and essentially declare war on them just for Vanille to save her from the priests for blasphemy. SUCH an interesting character moment that makes me love Fang even more and it made me realise how much i want a whole novel set during the war of transgression. Fabula nova chrystallis has such a rich and extensive lore that could fill a whole series of books.
The rest of the short is about the moment right before the purge all in Vanille's perspective and it was a pretty good conclusion. Having it in Vanille's perspective was the right call as she s the instigating character and so there is a lot of strife and introspective turmoil to discover there just moments before she and bhodum are taken away. I've always said XIII was really Vanille's story all along with the trilogy about Serah and Lightning.
Overall a good read that actually does enrich the original game and I'm glad to have read it.
Ranking
1: Strangers 9/10
2: Search 9/10
3: Treasure 8/10
4: Encounter 8/10
5: Tomorrow 7/10
6: Present 5/10
7: Friends 3/10
Honestly I'm fairly surprised by how much i enjoyed this book, however it falls into the classic problem I always have with short story collections in that its always filled with some great stories, some mediocre ones and some straight up bad ones, overall averaging out to a somewhat decent to fun read.
I will say what makes me give this the slight edge over FFVII On the way to a smile is the fact that Jun Eishima's prose is far superior to Nojima's no shade since she is more geared towards the novelist side compared to Nojima's gaming background.
Final Fantasy XIII is an interesting title, controversially i actually really like the game and i actually have a certain reverence towards it since the trilogy was basically my introduction to a franchise i would end up playing almost very game in (And there is a LOT of them) and later on dubbing my faviroute media franchise of all time. So there is some leeway here but not as much as my previous Final Fantasy book reviews since I'd put VII (1997) over XIII any day despite the fact that 2/3 of the VII books i wasn't too overly fond of.
Encounter
The first short is told from Lightning and Serah's POV which makes sense since they are our protagonists of the trilogy and very vital characters for this story. Making a prequel novel for a story that pretty much covers the basics of what happens before our story via flashbacks is a tough task and i do get the impression Eishima struggled with half the POV's but also flourished with the other halves. Which is why the very first short being a dual perspective story is funny since this short reflects essentially my thoughts on this book. Lightning doesn't have much to say or do in this book her encounter with Snow was a fun story beat but i was far more invested in her backstory as a child losing her mother and having to step up to look after Serah. I just wished the novel wasn't restricted to the 13 days before the purge because there are so much great characterisation and potential in telling the story of a young Lightning abandoning Claire Farron and having to create a new persona to help cope with her trauma and new found parental position. Serah's POV is definitely the more interesting parts as we finally experience the scene where Serah turns into a l'cie and Eishima's prose was so damn good in this scene. The atmosphere and beautiful art direction of XIII came across so well in Eishima's prose. I could read a whole book about Serah walking around vestiges and meeting different Fal'cie. The moment where Serah discovers the brand was so well written it made me forget I was ready a videogame tie in novel. In just under a page we see Serah go through five stages of grief when discovering her fate, it was really well done.
Stranger
The second short and potentially my faviroute. Here we find out what exactly happens right after Vanille and Fang wake up from crystal stasis and how they adjusted to their newfound focus and cocoon. Told from Vanille's perspective which i found a great creative decision. What i lve most about this short is the fish out of water elements of it. This is surprisingly a really funny short, Fang the Dragoon warrior who lives in Gran Pulse a land filled with a myriad of wildlife and monsters is obviously gonna have a tough time adjusting to the very sheltered and soft cocoon especially Bhodum a tourist beachside town. Fang not processing the fact that you can pass by strangers and not feel the need to have a standoff was hilarious and very on brand for the character. I also liked the slice of life aspects of this novel, its quiet and pensive and really all about two strangers trying to find purpose in a new foreign world. I also love how the end presents itself as a hopeful transition as the pair feel they have a chance for things to get better when we as the reader with prerequisite knowledge know their visit to the cocoon fal'cie will cause even more strife.
Treasure
A Sazh Story! I love Sazh and think he's underrate and i wish the trilogy gave him more to do. But i am glad to see his short was also a really great read. He reads exactly like his character does and i love reading about positive father and child relationships. It does a great job of investing in his relationship with Dajh right before itting us with Dajh's fate as a l'cie. Reading about all this fantasy jargon from the perspective of a worried and confused middle aged man actually makes for a really interesting perspective. This book also does the amazing job of making Jill Nabaat an actually interesting villain which the game failed to do. I finally understand Sazh personal beef with her and I'm upset the game never gave us their encounter!
Search
A Fang centred short about the events after Fang and Vanille's separation. In full honesty Oerba Yun Fang is my all time favourite Final Fantasy character so I was really looking forward to this. Glad to say this is arguably the most important short to exist since the game gives us no real context to how and why Cid Raines and the Cavalry would ally themselves with Fang. This short is so important for explicitly detailing how Fang and Serah are literally a parallel of Lightning and Vaniile. One a headstrong warrior who mistrusts everyone and solely works to protect their younger more naïve sibling esque figure. I also loved reading in Rydgea POV, a character i had zero interest in before is actually a really interesting character and seeing Fang slowly warm up to him gave us an actual character arc in this book. I also finally understand Raine's motivation and it's actually really compelling, i just wished the game made him a bigger deal cause he's so damn interesting.
Friends
Unfortunately this is where the book begins to get stale for me. We get Hope's story and there is pretty much nothing to tell of Hope before the purge aside from the relationship with his father however the story does a bizarre thing and instead gives us a story about Hope and his friends ins school when they visited the sunleth waterscape and it provides absolutely nothing for the story, hope as a character or his storyline in the game which was mostly about forgiveness and understanding with his father and snow. Just a real waste of a short story.
Present
We get a Snow perspective and it's just bout him shopping with Serah for Lightnings birthday gift, there's some good character moments as it's set after Serah admitting she's a L'cie to him so it works as some falling action however the setting of a shopping storyline doesn't work with the thematic undertones it's trying to achieve. I feel like Eishima really tired but inevitably struggled with this one.
Tomorrow
Really amazing opening that made me so upset about what this book could have been. We see the moment where Fang and Vanille become a pulse l'cie during the war of transgression and how Fang did it out of spite to call out the Fal'cie and essentially declare war on them just for Vanille to save her from the priests for blasphemy. SUCH an interesting character moment that makes me love Fang even more and it made me realise how much i want a whole novel set during the war of transgression. Fabula nova chrystallis has such a rich and extensive lore that could fill a whole series of books.
The rest of the short is about the moment right before the purge all in Vanille's perspective and it was a pretty good conclusion. Having it in Vanille's perspective was the right call as she s the instigating character and so there is a lot of strife and introspective turmoil to discover there just moments before she and bhodum are taken away. I've always said XIII was really Vanille's story all along with the trilogy about Serah and Lightning.
Overall a good read that actually does enrich the original game and I'm glad to have read it.
Ranking
1: Strangers 9/10
2: Search 9/10
3: Treasure 8/10
4: Encounter 8/10
5: Tomorrow 7/10
6: Present 5/10
7: Friends 3/10
July 23, 2019
This was a nice read. Originally this and the original game came out in 2009.
This was originally published bit by bit online in Japan and then was released as a physical book.
The first game, Final Fantasy 13 released in the US in 2010 and I played it then.
This book wasn't released until April 2019 in the US though it was released in a few countries in Europe earlier. Why? I don't know.
It helps fill in some blanks, give extra information, extra moments, and helps inform about the game's universe and characters. It all leads up to the original game.
Some of the moments also are presented in flashbacks in the first game.
I had missed the characters and found this to be relaxing and nice to read. There are two others coming out shortly that I will likely read later too. I always liked the story and characters of this series which is three main games and looks like there will be three side novels in total by the end of the year.
This was originally published bit by bit online in Japan and then was released as a physical book.
The first game, Final Fantasy 13 released in the US in 2010 and I played it then.
This book wasn't released until April 2019 in the US though it was released in a few countries in Europe earlier. Why? I don't know.
It helps fill in some blanks, give extra information, extra moments, and helps inform about the game's universe and characters. It all leads up to the original game.
Some of the moments also are presented in flashbacks in the first game.
I had missed the characters and found this to be relaxing and nice to read. There are two others coming out shortly that I will likely read later too. I always liked the story and characters of this series which is three main games and looks like there will be three side novels in total by the end of the year.
February 20, 2021
NOTE: Yen On released an official English translation in 2019 which is rather well written and much more enjoyable than fan translations. Take reviews that were posted before May 2019 with a grain of salt.
The main story/plot itself is nothing major or new for someone who has played the game but it contains little events and stories that happened before the game which are not shown in the game. These help to add another layer of depth to the characters and makes them feel like they are real people with real thoughts and personalities. I'd say it adds a lot of value to the game's story if you have played or plan to play the game.
The main story/plot itself is nothing major or new for someone who has played the game but it contains little events and stories that happened before the game which are not shown in the game. These help to add another layer of depth to the characters and makes them feel like they are real people with real thoughts and personalities. I'd say it adds a lot of value to the game's story if you have played or plan to play the game.
March 28, 2010
Memperjelas kisah pembuka Final Fantasy XIII, sekaligus makin meyakinkan saya bahwa Fang dan Vanille memang Hero dan Heroine untuk kisah ini. Tokoh utama memang tetap Lightning, tapi sorotan perkembangan hubungan, mengarah ke mereka. Mungkin, kalau diumpamakan dengan Tales series, Fang itu seperti Yuri Lowell yang sejak awal memang sudah 'fix', sedangkan Lightning itu seperti tokoh lainnya macam Luke atau Shing, yang berkembang.
March 22, 2021
Honestly, I would have given this book four stars if it weren’t for two of the short stories. One of them more so than the other. The short story entitled “Friends” is long, boring, pointless, and it drags on forever. It seriously has no place in this book at all and I feel it was only written so that Hope could been the main character of at least one of the short stories. But seriously, it is complete garbage.
The short story that takes place directly after “Friends” entitled “Present” is also pretty dull. Thankfully, it is the shortest out of all of them so it can be read if you really want to read it. But in the flow of the book and the cohesiveness of the rest of the stories, it just feels a bit off.
Personally, this book to me felt like a Final Fantasy XIII miniseries that was seven episodes long. I mean, in a lot of ways that’s what it is just in book form. There were so many instances where I felt I was watching a miniseries on Netflix and binge-watching the episodes. In a lot of ways, I kinda wish this actually was a mini-series. I mean, Final Fantasy XV got an entire feature-length movie that played in theaters along with an anime and a book all to complement that game. But Final Fantasy XIII did not get any of that (at least to my knowledge).
This book would have worked a lot better as an anime or cgi miniseries.
But still would I recommend the book? Yes. Just not “Friends.”
The short story that takes place directly after “Friends” entitled “Present” is also pretty dull. Thankfully, it is the shortest out of all of them so it can be read if you really want to read it. But in the flow of the book and the cohesiveness of the rest of the stories, it just feels a bit off.
Personally, this book to me felt like a Final Fantasy XIII miniseries that was seven episodes long. I mean, in a lot of ways that’s what it is just in book form. There were so many instances where I felt I was watching a miniseries on Netflix and binge-watching the episodes. In a lot of ways, I kinda wish this actually was a mini-series. I mean, Final Fantasy XV got an entire feature-length movie that played in theaters along with an anime and a book all to complement that game. But Final Fantasy XIII did not get any of that (at least to my knowledge).
This book would have worked a lot better as an anime or cgi miniseries.
But still would I recommend the book? Yes. Just not “Friends.”
July 20, 2022
Honestly, I would have given this book four stars if it weren’t for two of the short stories. One of them more so than the other. The short story entitled “Friends” is long, boring, pointless, and it drags on forever. It seriously has no place in this book at all and I feel it was only written so that Hope could been the main character of at least one of the short stories. But seriously, it is complete garbage.
The short story that takes place directly after “Friends” entitled “Present” is also pretty dull. Thankfully, it is the shortest out of all of them so it can be read if you really want to read it. But in the flow of the book and the cohesiveness of the rest of the stories, it just feels a bit off.
Personally, this book to me felt like a Final Fantasy XIII miniseries that was seven episodes long. I mean, in a lot of ways that’s what it is just in book form. There were so many instances where I felt I was watching a miniseries on Netflix and binge-watching the episodes. In a lot of ways, I kinda wish this actually was a mini-series. I mean, Final Fantasy XV got an entire feature-length movie that played in theaters along with an anime and a book all to complement that game. But Final Fantasy XIII did not get any of that (at least to my knowledge).
This book would have worked a lot better as an anime or cgi miniseries.
But still would I recommend the book? Yes. Just not “Friends.”
The short story that takes place directly after “Friends” entitled “Present” is also pretty dull. Thankfully, it is the shortest out of all of them so it can be read if you really want to read it. But in the flow of the book and the cohesiveness of the rest of the stories, it just feels a bit off.
Personally, this book to me felt like a Final Fantasy XIII miniseries that was seven episodes long. I mean, in a lot of ways that’s what it is just in book form. There were so many instances where I felt I was watching a miniseries on Netflix and binge-watching the episodes. In a lot of ways, I kinda wish this actually was a mini-series. I mean, Final Fantasy XV got an entire feature-length movie that played in theaters along with an anime and a book all to complement that game. But Final Fantasy XIII did not get any of that (at least to my knowledge).
This book would have worked a lot better as an anime or cgi miniseries.
But still would I recommend the book? Yes. Just not “Friends.”
April 18, 2020
3.5 Stars, rounded up. I knew of these stories when they were released in Japan and really wish they'd been released here sooner. If nothing else, I want to restart the saga all over. The stories brought back nice memories and prompted various soundtracks from the game to play in my mind, and filled in some backstory. Vanille and Fang's is the most interesting (to me) and I enjoyed the extra detail into Lightning, Serah, and Snow — although most of it could be gleaned from the game (much the same for Sahz & Dajh). I skimmed Hope's chapter. It glimpsed the reason for for his attitude, but added the least to the story, especially given its place in the book's progression, and I truly hate to admit that it was a little boring. I remember disliking Hope at the beginning of the game and maybe if I'd read this back then I'd feel differently. I'm not a fan of this style of YA writing with everything explained to the Nth degree and a lot of repetition, but it's Final Fantasy and I'm a die-hard, so it's a must have for me. Hopefully the next two books are better, but even if they aren't, I look forward to reengaging with Noel & Serah. I suppose a pandemic is the perfect time to log another 400 hours into a game (or 3), too. ;)
April 10, 2021
This book is mainly aimed for Final Fantasy XIII fans and doesn't make quite the sense nor adds a journey for people who haven't played the game. If you're planning on playing it, then this book might be what you're looking for to get a whole grasp of what the game truly is about.
I'm aware Jun Eishima is a recurrent pen in most of Final Fantasy's novels, probably because of their popularity (I've seen their name quite often), but I wouldn't say their writting is my favorite. I liked the whole book, but not precisely by the narration but the events.
What I loved the most was Hope, Vanille and Sazh's stories. I loved how you can see how truly important Nora is in Hope's life and how he's a more patient, loving character that what you can see in the first half of the game. We shall always be reminded that there were valid motives for this kid to be angry at his father and at the world. Vanille's journey just described how cold she can be and the dark nature that followed their own culture in Pulse. And Sazh in his parental role, which very much explains why he's so versed in the l'Cie topic, because he had to deal with the Sanctum using his own child as a l'Cie. If you're a XIII fan, this book is definitely a must.
I'm aware Jun Eishima is a recurrent pen in most of Final Fantasy's novels, probably because of their popularity (I've seen their name quite often), but I wouldn't say their writting is my favorite. I liked the whole book, but not precisely by the narration but the events.
What I loved the most was Hope, Vanille and Sazh's stories. I loved how you can see how truly important Nora is in Hope's life and how he's a more patient, loving character that what you can see in the first half of the game. We shall always be reminded that there were valid motives for this kid to be angry at his father and at the world. Vanille's journey just described how cold she can be and the dark nature that followed their own culture in Pulse. And Sazh in his parental role, which very much explains why he's so versed in the l'Cie topic, because he had to deal with the Sanctum using his own child as a l'Cie. If you're a XIII fan, this book is definitely a must.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2021
Final Fantasy XIII – Episode Zero – Promise – is actually a good introduction to Final Fantasy XIII. Even if I regret that the story does actually only narrate the thirteen first days of the heroes of the game, I had a blast. This book helps us to see characters from another perspective. My favorite chapter was the one about Sazh and Dajh, but also the one about Fang and Vanille’s awakening inside the Pulse Vestige. I didn’t like Vanille in the game but she was very interesting in the book at least. The book doesn’t drag along unnecessary details, it only explains important stuff and what’s the most interesting – and intriguing – thing here is that when you read the book you realize that the characters’ fates were actually tied from the very beginning. The game itself was just a continuation.
Anyway, it’s a good book, though I was curious about how Snow and Serah met, and I also wanted to know more about Hope and his two childhood friends but oh well, I guess we can’t have it all, now can we?
Anyway, it’s a good book, though I was curious about how Snow and Serah met, and I also wanted to know more about Hope and his two childhood friends but oh well, I guess we can’t have it all, now can we?
April 24, 2022
This book is written for those who have already played the game. It provides a background story for each of the characters, helping the reader to get to know them better. However, unfortunately for me, it has been ages since I last played the game and many of the characters, events and locations were unfamiliar to me. Though there was a brief introduction about the world of FF13 at the very start of the book, it was not enough to help me get familliarized with everyrhing that was happening in the story.
I was also hoping that there would be more action but I felt that it focused more on the individual concerns that the characters faced. Because of this, I was disappointed and there was a time when I stopped reading because I got bored.
Sadly, though I am a fan of the series, I did not enjoy reading this book and I had to push myself to finish reading the book. However, fans of FF 13 may like this novel as it provides an insight on how the characters and their world was like before the events in the game started.
I was also hoping that there would be more action but I felt that it focused more on the individual concerns that the characters faced. Because of this, I was disappointed and there was a time when I stopped reading because I got bored.
Sadly, though I am a fan of the series, I did not enjoy reading this book and I had to push myself to finish reading the book. However, fans of FF 13 may like this novel as it provides an insight on how the characters and their world was like before the events in the game started.
July 27, 2023
this book reads like a fanfiction in a… I don’t want to say BAD way - I think I would be impressed with the writing if I came across it for free on ao3, but because it’s official, it’s a bit jarring how awkwardly, redundantly, and cheesily written this book is. but then, FFXIII *IS* cheesy, and I love that about it, so I’m going to let that slide a little.
there’s a lot of really interesting context given here, especially in the serah, lightning, vanille, and fang chapters. the sazh chapters are alright. snow’s is a bit useless but it’s short at least. you can absolutely just straight up skip hope’s chapters. they’ve got nothing at all to do with the plot. (i guess they felt impelled to include him, but there’s really no purpose to it at all.)
3 stars because if you love FFXIII it’s fun to learn more about the characters, get a bit of extra context on Pulse, etc etc. - but the writing is very lukewarm and some of it is so needless. I like having it in my collection though :)
there’s a lot of really interesting context given here, especially in the serah, lightning, vanille, and fang chapters. the sazh chapters are alright. snow’s is a bit useless but it’s short at least. you can absolutely just straight up skip hope’s chapters. they’ve got nothing at all to do with the plot. (i guess they felt impelled to include him, but there’s really no purpose to it at all.)
3 stars because if you love FFXIII it’s fun to learn more about the characters, get a bit of extra context on Pulse, etc etc. - but the writing is very lukewarm and some of it is so needless. I like having it in my collection though :)
January 1, 2025
If you're a fan of FFXIII, it's a must read. I expected it to be lots of exposition, a novelization of the flashback cutscenes at most, but it honestly provides plenty of exposition and clarification to things from the original game. Particularly, Sazh's chapter and Vanille and Fang's first chapters provide context that I loved. Lightning and Snow's chapters give good insight into their characters, while as a Hope stan I was maybe disappointed in his chapter, but recognize my bias. Anyway, it's great for someone who enjoyed the first game, and as someone who played the trilogy, it reminded me of how special the first game was (I enjoyed playing the sequels but don't consider their lore quite canon... Discuss this with me please, FFXIII is my favorite FF and I'll not withstand pure slander but can dissect the sequels)
April 30, 2020
A good 4/5 stars.
As a disclaimer, I haven't been able to dig out my copy of FF13 in a while, nor the original console it plays on, so my game knowledge is rusty.
That being said, as a sort-of new-comer, I didn't find it all that hard to pick the story up. This book actually helped me understand the background and world-building a lot better than I thought I did. There's not too much action going on. It's simply the week of events leading up to the beginning of the game. So, besides some little grammatical/spelling errors I came across, I thoroughly enjoyed this.
I'd definitely recommend for those who want to relive the game, those who want that background info on the characters and world of Pulse and Cocoon, or those who want to start from the very beginning in the story.
As a disclaimer, I haven't been able to dig out my copy of FF13 in a while, nor the original console it plays on, so my game knowledge is rusty.
That being said, as a sort-of new-comer, I didn't find it all that hard to pick the story up. This book actually helped me understand the background and world-building a lot better than I thought I did. There's not too much action going on. It's simply the week of events leading up to the beginning of the game. So, besides some little grammatical/spelling errors I came across, I thoroughly enjoyed this.
I'd definitely recommend for those who want to relive the game, those who want that background info on the characters and world of Pulse and Cocoon, or those who want to start from the very beginning in the story.
October 9, 2022
A fun and helpful prequel to FF13 that makes a lot more things in the game make sense. It’s also very well-written! Excellent for diving deeper into the world of this game, though if you have absolutely no experience with the game itself it will be difficult to keep up with what’s going on. Still worth the read, though.
November 14, 2022
I debated for a while on what I wanted to rate this novel, but I settled on a honest 3 star. The novel is enjoyable, but it does not provide any new information to the story of Final Fantasy XIII. It honestly is just the first videogame verbatim. Nonetheless, it was a good refresher as I prepare to delve back into the world.
April 18, 2021
A wonderful edition to FFXIII's universe and story. Seeing what everyone was up to and how their lives intersected before the beginning of the game was fascinating. Plus, this was a really good translation - some repetition but everything else was amazingly well done.
January 3, 2022
Good book if you are a huge FFXIII fan like myself. Definitely fave each character a bit more depth and I really loved seeing all their interactions before the game starts, especially Vanille and Serah.
Overall it did still feel a bit pointless, Writing style is very simplistic but that also made it a very easy read to get through. As a FFXIII fan I highly recommend it but as a book, it was nothing amazing.
Overall it did still feel a bit pointless, Writing style is very simplistic but that also made it a very easy read to get through. As a FFXIII fan I highly recommend it but as a book, it was nothing amazing.
December 22, 2022
Yes, I enjoyed this book. I did enjoy the game(s) as well. There were some spots I felt there could have been more added, I don't know what exactly, just more. All-in-all, I thought this added well to the story of the characters.
July 16, 2021
Needs a movie
August 24, 2022
The illustrations and captions were the best part.
September 6, 2022
Not bad. It'll come in handy as a reference for tiny details, or individual characters' points of view, if I write any more fanfiction in this fandom in future. Rated 3.5*.
Read
February 28, 2023Love it
September 15, 2024
Kind of makes me want to replay Final Fantasy XIII.
March 24, 2025
Cutest book ever. I'm still waiting for a ff13 remaster 👀
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews