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デス・ストランディング [Death Stranding] #2
Death Stranding - Death Stranding: The Official Novelization - Volume 2
The second volume of the official novelization of the best-selling and award-winning videogame Death Stranding, created by legendary game-creator Hideo Kojima.
Mysterious explosions have rocked the planet, setting off a series of supernatural phenomena known as the Death Stranding. Spectral creatures that devour the living have pushed humanity to the brink of extinction, causing countries to fall and survivors to scatter and live in pockets of isolation. Sam Porter Bridges, the legendary porter with the ability to return from the world of the dead, has been entrusted to save mankind from the brink of destruction. Plagued by haunting visions, and tracked by Higgs, a man who longs to see humanity extinct, Sam must finally discover the truth behind the Death Stranding and fate of this world.
Mysterious explosions have rocked the planet, setting off a series of supernatural phenomena known as the Death Stranding. Spectral creatures that devour the living have pushed humanity to the brink of extinction, causing countries to fall and survivors to scatter and live in pockets of isolation. Sam Porter Bridges, the legendary porter with the ability to return from the world of the dead, has been entrusted to save mankind from the brink of destruction. Plagued by haunting visions, and tracked by Higgs, a man who longs to see humanity extinct, Sam must finally discover the truth behind the Death Stranding and fate of this world.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 16, 2021
46 people are currently reading
550 people want to read
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March 7, 2022
Death Stranding - Death Stranding: The Official Novelization
- Volume 2
(Death Stranding #2)
by Hitori Nojima
Terrific follow up! Great ending! Lots of twists and turns! I am not a gamer so I am glad this was made into a novel! Very original and unique! This would be a good graphic novel for those that don't like novels. That way more could enjoy this series!
- Volume 2
(Death Stranding #2)
by Hitori Nojima
Terrific follow up! Great ending! Lots of twists and turns! I am not a gamer so I am glad this was made into a novel! Very original and unique! This would be a good graphic novel for those that don't like novels. That way more could enjoy this series!
April 3, 2024
I played the game (quite a while ago) and it was a masterpiece of a story-based game, incorporating mechanics into the main themes. I had strong opinions on book one (the first tome of the novelisation, Death Stranding - Death Stranding: The Official Novelization – Volume 1. You can read my review here. But this volume (part two) was a clear improvement.
First, it maintains the same narrative style, mostly focused on Sam Porter, the game protagonist. However, in this volume we have a lot of scenes that were not part of the game, and that add a lot of meaning and context. For example, there are discussions between Deadman and Heartman, an entire scene from Die-Hardman/John perspective, and some changes to the big reveal of the Combat Veteran/Cliff Unger.
Although the book matches the game's dialogue bit by bit, the "big reveal" of Cliff Unger is split in two in the book, and obscured a bit. Nevertheless, this scene, as well as many others, are somewhat different here, mostly because the narrative ends up revealing things that you have no way of knowing through the cinematics.
I'll give an example of the above in a spoiler. Here is another example, also spoilery.
Nuances like this are not very easy to pick up within the game, and the books are rather explicit or far more direct in terms of conveying the underlying meaning within the game.
Something that I need to say, is that the translation is just so much better!! It was a completely different, far more refined and pleasant translation! Granted, the prose remains dry and simplistic... but at least the horrid sentences, and the chopped up text is not here. You can read my review of the first volume, but I honestly think it's a matter of the edition; this one was even 5mm taller and far floppier than book one, even though both books were from the same publisher.
Regarding the prose, I do need to say that although it had improved greatly compared to the first book, it is still unable to convey the uniqueness of the game's imagery, instead relying on more descriptive approaches. This is a shame, because Death Stranding (the game) excelled in visuals and weirdness (like the entire tar belt, which was odd to say the least), and the prose doesn't really explain it.
Following that example, while book one gave roughly the same importance to scenes as in the game, this volume changed that. So some scenes, which seemed important (e.g., the tar belt) were rushed up here in the book, others were expanded and divided (e.g., Cliff's revelation).
This volume, more than volume one, provides a lot of information and details about the imagery or intention behind the game's plots. The theme of human connection remains at the forefront and is heavily expanded, but there are also some very interesting reflections regarding the "concept" of "what is America" as an idea, what it means for history and the future, and the people there. I will not dive into that since I'm not American, but the book does make some overt references that were not in the game and were very interesting to read.
There are two epilogues, which basically close off the game with roughly the same scenes. Don't skip it, it provides a lot of closure.
Now, what about the characters? This volume in particular adds a lot of depth to the secondary characters, including their backstories, and interactions between them that were not seen in the game. However, Death Stranding is not character driven but plot driven, and many characters have questionable morals.
TL;DR: If you played the game, this is a great read and it actually adds so much value to the entire experience, explaining imagery, meaning, and even tying up the gameplay (albeit the latter is not really well explained); you may want to review a cinematic or two just to have it fresh as you read. If you haven't played the game... don't bother. The book is not enough, on its own, to capture everything within the game. It was, however, and incredibly enjoyable read.
First, it maintains the same narrative style, mostly focused on Sam Porter, the game protagonist. However, in this volume we have a lot of scenes that were not part of the game, and that add a lot of meaning and context. For example, there are discussions between Deadman and Heartman, an entire scene from Die-Hardman/John perspective, and some changes to the big reveal of the Combat Veteran/Cliff Unger.
Although the book matches the game's dialogue bit by bit, the "big reveal" of Cliff Unger is split in two in the book, and obscured a bit. Nevertheless, this scene, as well as many others, are somewhat different here, mostly because the narrative ends up revealing things that you have no way of knowing through the cinematics.
I'll give an example of the above in a spoiler. Here is another example, also spoilery.
Nuances like this are not very easy to pick up within the game, and the books are rather explicit or far more direct in terms of conveying the underlying meaning within the game.
Something that I need to say, is that the translation is just so much better!! It was a completely different, far more refined and pleasant translation! Granted, the prose remains dry and simplistic... but at least the horrid sentences, and the chopped up text is not here. You can read my review of the first volume, but I honestly think it's a matter of the edition; this one was even 5mm taller and far floppier than book one, even though both books were from the same publisher.
Regarding the prose, I do need to say that although it had improved greatly compared to the first book, it is still unable to convey the uniqueness of the game's imagery, instead relying on more descriptive approaches. This is a shame, because Death Stranding (the game) excelled in visuals and weirdness (like the entire tar belt, which was odd to say the least), and the prose doesn't really explain it.
Following that example, while book one gave roughly the same importance to scenes as in the game, this volume changed that. So some scenes, which seemed important (e.g., the tar belt) were rushed up here in the book, others were expanded and divided (e.g., Cliff's revelation).
This volume, more than volume one, provides a lot of information and details about the imagery or intention behind the game's plots. The theme of human connection remains at the forefront and is heavily expanded, but there are also some very interesting reflections regarding the "concept" of "what is America" as an idea, what it means for history and the future, and the people there. I will not dive into that since I'm not American, but the book does make some overt references that were not in the game and were very interesting to read.
There are two epilogues, which basically close off the game with roughly the same scenes. Don't skip it, it provides a lot of closure.
Now, what about the characters? This volume in particular adds a lot of depth to the secondary characters, including their backstories, and interactions between them that were not seen in the game. However, Death Stranding is not character driven but plot driven, and many characters have questionable morals.
TL;DR: If you played the game, this is a great read and it actually adds so much value to the entire experience, explaining imagery, meaning, and even tying up the gameplay (albeit the latter is not really well explained); you may want to review a cinematic or two just to have it fresh as you read. If you haven't played the game... don't bother. The book is not enough, on its own, to capture everything within the game. It was, however, and incredibly enjoyable read.
October 1, 2021
Death Stranding: Vol. 02 by Hitori Nojima & translated by Carley Redford is the second novella in the two-part novelization based on the video game “Death Stranding.”
In case you're unfamiliar with the Death Stranding game. Death Stranding takes place in a near post-apocalyptic future, and follows the footsteps of a courier named Sam Porter Bridges, who's tasked with rebuilding a kind of country-wide quasi-internet structure known as the Chiral Network, after a series of apocalyptic events have forced the remaining pockets of human civilization in the United States underground.
Death Stranding: Vol. 02, continues the story where Vol. 01 left off. As Sam Bridges continues his journey across post apocalyptic America. Reuniting various bunkers and settlements to UCA’s Chiral Network. While also finding himself in a conspiracy involving his dead Mother and sister that could bring about the extinction of mankind.
If I have to be honest, it is my least favourite novelization/companion novel so far quality wise. It was heavily carried by the already well written and well established story and worldbuilding created for the video game, as without that this book would simply not hold up.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book as the story and world are just so unique and even though it wasn’t perfect, or perhaps because of it, reading this novella made me even more excited to play the game some time as I just want to experience the story in full with visuals and gameplay. I consider this a huge plus, because even though this novelization was flawed, it didn’t ruin my experience with the story (which is really good), rather it has me wanting more of it.
An important thing I want to touch upon is
the writing, which felt a bit dry and unengaging to me. It felt like the book was somewhere halfway between a script written in prose and a rather condensed summary of the game. Most of the book was a bit ”he did this, he said that, she did that, she said this.”; describing what is happening without actually making a story out of all of it. There were certain scenes that were written beautifully, where the emotions, thoughts and experiences of the characters were leading instead of just actions, which shows that the author is quite capable of writing something good, but it seems struggle appeared when the characters just did something without much else to it and having to translate that to prose.
One thing I kept in mind is that this novelization was originally written in Japanese by Hitori Nojima, also known as Kenji Yano, and then translated to English by Carley Radford. With translations there is always something that gets lost in the process from the original prose as not all languages flow the same way or have the same phrases and words to properly express everything when writing a translation. Japanese and English are completely different languages and it’s incredibly hard to properly phrase the beauty and poetry of certain Japanese words and phrases in English, which is a rather forward language. The roughness of the writing could have been caused by the translation finding a middle ground between proper translation and proper English flow.
The next I want to address is the characters and their development. The majority of the main cast aside from Sam Porter Bridges aren’t very well introduced and remain a little vague throughout the book. There was a glossary at the start with a short description of certain notable characters, but that description remained kind of vague and having to put it into context yourself when reading about the characters didn’t always work. It would have been nice to have some more introduction and background woven in the story itself together with more explanation as to who they are in the story and what they mean in it. In video games, you can leave characters rather vague as there are visual cues such as general design, body language and visual context that explain the characters and build them up, so I understand the word-for-word character introduction might not exist in the game. But with a book, the reader only knows what is written, so unless the author literally writes the context, there is none.
I kept finding myself scrolling back to the start of the book to read the character glossary another time, because I was just confused by the characters and often certain characters didn’t feel like different characters, just ones with different names, until much later into the story. It was really apparent the novelization is missing a lot of context to these characters that might otherwise have been presented visually or through gameplay that is simply not present in the translation to prose.
Regardless of the flaws I presented, I enjoyed reading this second volume of the Death Stranding novelization. It works and it isn’t a bad novelization by any means, just not the best and not my favourite. If you are by any means intrigued by the premise or interested in the game, but can’t play (yet), this is an excellent way of consuming the story and the way it’s told might very well be the perfect recap for those who have played the game and want to revisit the story without a full replay.
In case you're unfamiliar with the Death Stranding game. Death Stranding takes place in a near post-apocalyptic future, and follows the footsteps of a courier named Sam Porter Bridges, who's tasked with rebuilding a kind of country-wide quasi-internet structure known as the Chiral Network, after a series of apocalyptic events have forced the remaining pockets of human civilization in the United States underground.
Death Stranding: Vol. 02, continues the story where Vol. 01 left off. As Sam Bridges continues his journey across post apocalyptic America. Reuniting various bunkers and settlements to UCA’s Chiral Network. While also finding himself in a conspiracy involving his dead Mother and sister that could bring about the extinction of mankind.
If I have to be honest, it is my least favourite novelization/companion novel so far quality wise. It was heavily carried by the already well written and well established story and worldbuilding created for the video game, as without that this book would simply not hold up.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book as the story and world are just so unique and even though it wasn’t perfect, or perhaps because of it, reading this novella made me even more excited to play the game some time as I just want to experience the story in full with visuals and gameplay. I consider this a huge plus, because even though this novelization was flawed, it didn’t ruin my experience with the story (which is really good), rather it has me wanting more of it.
An important thing I want to touch upon is
the writing, which felt a bit dry and unengaging to me. It felt like the book was somewhere halfway between a script written in prose and a rather condensed summary of the game. Most of the book was a bit ”he did this, he said that, she did that, she said this.”; describing what is happening without actually making a story out of all of it. There were certain scenes that were written beautifully, where the emotions, thoughts and experiences of the characters were leading instead of just actions, which shows that the author is quite capable of writing something good, but it seems struggle appeared when the characters just did something without much else to it and having to translate that to prose.
One thing I kept in mind is that this novelization was originally written in Japanese by Hitori Nojima, also known as Kenji Yano, and then translated to English by Carley Radford. With translations there is always something that gets lost in the process from the original prose as not all languages flow the same way or have the same phrases and words to properly express everything when writing a translation. Japanese and English are completely different languages and it’s incredibly hard to properly phrase the beauty and poetry of certain Japanese words and phrases in English, which is a rather forward language. The roughness of the writing could have been caused by the translation finding a middle ground between proper translation and proper English flow.
The next I want to address is the characters and their development. The majority of the main cast aside from Sam Porter Bridges aren’t very well introduced and remain a little vague throughout the book. There was a glossary at the start with a short description of certain notable characters, but that description remained kind of vague and having to put it into context yourself when reading about the characters didn’t always work. It would have been nice to have some more introduction and background woven in the story itself together with more explanation as to who they are in the story and what they mean in it. In video games, you can leave characters rather vague as there are visual cues such as general design, body language and visual context that explain the characters and build them up, so I understand the word-for-word character introduction might not exist in the game. But with a book, the reader only knows what is written, so unless the author literally writes the context, there is none.
I kept finding myself scrolling back to the start of the book to read the character glossary another time, because I was just confused by the characters and often certain characters didn’t feel like different characters, just ones with different names, until much later into the story. It was really apparent the novelization is missing a lot of context to these characters that might otherwise have been presented visually or through gameplay that is simply not present in the translation to prose.
Regardless of the flaws I presented, I enjoyed reading this second volume of the Death Stranding novelization. It works and it isn’t a bad novelization by any means, just not the best and not my favourite. If you are by any means intrigued by the premise or interested in the game, but can’t play (yet), this is an excellent way of consuming the story and the way it’s told might very well be the perfect recap for those who have played the game and want to revisit the story without a full replay.
October 31, 2021
Обе книги полностью пересказывают сюжет игры, лишь немного переложенный в художественный вариант. И если в игре за ним было интересно следить за счёт красивых роликов и игры актеров, то читать это на бумаге довольно тоскливо. В отрыве от игры наверное вообще бессмысленно, потому что понять что-либо будет ещё сложнее. Было занятно прокрутить в голове все прохождение Death Stranding по ходу чтения, но не более. Честно говоря, не понимаю, зачем это вообще надо было печатать
July 11, 2025
⚠️BIASED REVIEW⚠️
What uncanny creativity.
There isn't much to say, I already said everything in my Volume 1 review, but I shall ramble and see where my keyboard takes me here.
I can only describe this second volume as a gift for those who gave the first volume a chance, or those who played the video game for more than 15 hours. It is like waiting for the guests to leave before attacking the surplus of food and sweets that was initially meant for them, but its yours now because you waited. A lot of people didn't give the video game the chance, leaving at the 10 hour mark or earlier because of how cruel it is, and I was one of them.
I initially played the game when it first came out on the PS4 but stopped at the 5th Chapter or so because I lost the dedication and felt like the gameplay required too much focus. I still loved the game, and didn't understand the hate/general dislike it got in the media, labelling it a "walking simulator" so I knew I had to play it again and actually finish it. So I promised myself that I'll play it when I got my hands on the PS5 and that was 6 years later. I finished the game, and did everything there is to do, and am currently playing the sequel that just got released. (I can write an essay about the graphics of the sequel alone.)
The most intriguing thing about this game/story apart from the phenomenal plot is the symbolism of it all. There are so many bizarre details, details hidden in plain sight, and a lot of things that don't make sense at first. Don't even get me started on the quotes in this book, the philosophy, the boat load of life lessons, character development, immeasurable character depth and more. I still don't feel like these books do all of that justice like the game does, but it's still there.
Let's talk about character development. The narrative/plot is simply a masterclass in character development, everything is here. The characters learn, mature, overcome, empathize, connect, talk it out, and it all develops ever so naturally. Growth in this plot is given the right significance, it is not rushed, it is aided by character history, events, monologue, dialogue, and is presented so well. Each character has such a detailed history, I'm talking autobiography-level history. This allows the reader to appreciate each character's actions/dialogue as they can infer what motive it stems from. Of course, not everything is revealed in a straightforward manner, and how the plot unfolds always keeps you wondering about one thing or another.
Something that altered my reading experience is the fact that I already knew everything that was going to happen, so I couldn't fully appreciate the literature as intended for first-time readers. This isn't to say it wasn't portrayed well, it did do the game justice in some parts, but other parts were removed or not given much significance like the game did. That being said, it doesn't ruin or alter the story one bit, the narrative is still there.
I always compared what I was reading to what I experienced playing the game, and experiencing the plot interactively in the form of a video game just can't compare to reading words on paper even if your imagination is limitless. A good example I like to give is watching someone playing a horror game vs actually playing that horror game yourself, it doesn't even come close. (I always thought YouTubers were exaggerating the jump scares - until I played Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 and screamed like a little girl who's afraid of clowns.) So I definitely recommend the video game over these two books, it's just more immersive in my opinion. That is to say that the video game takes 40 hours for the story alone, not including the side quests and whatever else you decide to do in the open world. As I said, it took me 103 hours (spanning December 2024 to March 2025) to get the platinum trophy, there are a lot of secondary things you can do in the game.
Like I said in the other volume's review, I recommend these books for those who already played Death Stranding and want to experience it in novel form, or to those who don't want to bother with the game and only experience the story. I highly recommend the video game though, absolute masterpiece.
"A society that cries out for a savior is a society that’s fundamentally broken."
"No matter how far I walk, the view never changes."
"But dreams are just dreams. Once you wake up, the same reality from before you closed your eyes is still waiting for you."
What uncanny creativity.
There isn't much to say, I already said everything in my Volume 1 review, but I shall ramble and see where my keyboard takes me here.
I can only describe this second volume as a gift for those who gave the first volume a chance, or those who played the video game for more than 15 hours. It is like waiting for the guests to leave before attacking the surplus of food and sweets that was initially meant for them, but its yours now because you waited. A lot of people didn't give the video game the chance, leaving at the 10 hour mark or earlier because of how cruel it is, and I was one of them.
I initially played the game when it first came out on the PS4 but stopped at the 5th Chapter or so because I lost the dedication and felt like the gameplay required too much focus. I still loved the game, and didn't understand the hate/general dislike it got in the media, labelling it a "walking simulator" so I knew I had to play it again and actually finish it. So I promised myself that I'll play it when I got my hands on the PS5 and that was 6 years later. I finished the game, and did everything there is to do, and am currently playing the sequel that just got released. (I can write an essay about the graphics of the sequel alone.)
The most intriguing thing about this game/story apart from the phenomenal plot is the symbolism of it all. There are so many bizarre details, details hidden in plain sight, and a lot of things that don't make sense at first. Don't even get me started on the quotes in this book, the philosophy, the boat load of life lessons, character development, immeasurable character depth and more. I still don't feel like these books do all of that justice like the game does, but it's still there.
Let's talk about character development. The narrative/plot is simply a masterclass in character development, everything is here. The characters learn, mature, overcome, empathize, connect, talk it out, and it all develops ever so naturally. Growth in this plot is given the right significance, it is not rushed, it is aided by character history, events, monologue, dialogue, and is presented so well. Each character has such a detailed history, I'm talking autobiography-level history. This allows the reader to appreciate each character's actions/dialogue as they can infer what motive it stems from. Of course, not everything is revealed in a straightforward manner, and how the plot unfolds always keeps you wondering about one thing or another.
Something that altered my reading experience is the fact that I already knew everything that was going to happen, so I couldn't fully appreciate the literature as intended for first-time readers. This isn't to say it wasn't portrayed well, it did do the game justice in some parts, but other parts were removed or not given much significance like the game did. That being said, it doesn't ruin or alter the story one bit, the narrative is still there.
I always compared what I was reading to what I experienced playing the game, and experiencing the plot interactively in the form of a video game just can't compare to reading words on paper even if your imagination is limitless. A good example I like to give is watching someone playing a horror game vs actually playing that horror game yourself, it doesn't even come close. (I always thought YouTubers were exaggerating the jump scares - until I played Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 and screamed like a little girl who's afraid of clowns.) So I definitely recommend the video game over these two books, it's just more immersive in my opinion. That is to say that the video game takes 40 hours for the story alone, not including the side quests and whatever else you decide to do in the open world. As I said, it took me 103 hours (spanning December 2024 to March 2025) to get the platinum trophy, there are a lot of secondary things you can do in the game.
Like I said in the other volume's review, I recommend these books for those who already played Death Stranding and want to experience it in novel form, or to those who don't want to bother with the game and only experience the story. I highly recommend the video game though, absolute masterpiece.
"A society that cries out for a savior is a society that’s fundamentally broken."
"No matter how far I walk, the view never changes."
"But dreams are just dreams. Once you wake up, the same reality from before you closed your eyes is still waiting for you."
August 11, 2021
Якщо перша частина ще чіпляла незвичністю та оригінальністю світобудови, то друга, не маючи принципово нового, щоб додати, продемонструвала відверту слабкість сюжету. Персонажі пласкі та нецікаві, їхні мотивації одновекторні та примітивні, конфлікти - надумані. В кийсь момент попри кульмінаційні сюжетні події, доводилося змушувати себе бартися до читання.
April 11, 2022
Volume 2 carries on from the first and the bizarre and confusing story of death stranding is concluded. The writing is still great and the story captivating if a bit bewildering!
February 1, 2023
He never chugged a Monster Energy Drink and did the #1 on a ghost.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2024
If you enjoyed the first part of the Death Stranding novel, you'll like this. It focuses in the second half of the game, coincidentally the more story heavy part of it. The writing gives a new light and understanding of how everything all ties together. If you don't like the gameplay of the game but think the story sounds good I'd recommend this, as well as to any players of the game itself.
May 9, 2023
god damn.
i loved the first one and i love the game and this book made me cry A LOT.
it was a look slower than the first one but all of the "fight" scenes an especially the ending made up for that.
sam and lou continued to make me super emotional and that ending. wow. my heart hurts.
i loved the first one and i love the game and this book made me cry A LOT.
it was a look slower than the first one but all of the "fight" scenes an especially the ending made up for that.
sam and lou continued to make me super emotional and that ending. wow. my heart hurts.
October 3, 2025
3.5
Same as the first part. It's definitely interesting to get more points of view and information about the characters. But this book definitely doesn't work on its own. But a good companion work for fans of the game.
Same as the first part. It's definitely interesting to get more points of view and information about the characters. But this book definitely doesn't work on its own. But a good companion work for fans of the game.
April 26, 2023
Ako dodatok k hre dobre. Nepaci sa mi len, ze tie knihy nie su realne take dlhe, aby nemohli byt nahrane ako jedno audio.
July 16, 2023
*Read my review for Volume 1
April 6, 2025
I found it really intense and so amazing
February 12, 2025
Game is still better.
July 15, 2021
I've never played the game, and I probably never will (games don't excite me that much to play), but I thoroughly enjoyed both novelizations of the game. I have seen some people say that they would be hard to understand if you haven't played the game and, while there are some things that you simply have to learn/accept, I don't think they're too hard to understand. Of course, it's going to help if you're a sci fi person and, therefore, more ready to simply accept the new laws of this world. All in all, I really liked these two books, and I would read further adventures with Sam.
January 11, 2022
Readers looking for a jarring world of chaos to explore will find their peace in this book. The set of novels called Death Stranding is based on the production by Hideo Kojima, novelized by Hitori Nojima and translated by Carley Radford. Based on the hit 2019 PlayStation game, Death Stranding follows a delivery man who attempts to reconnect America through traversing a post-apocalyptic landscape. Whether you’ve explored this world before, or this is your first time, the novel tells new stories for everyone.
New readers will be immediately thrust into this new world. While confusion sets in, Nojima and Radford concisely find ways to explain the ongoing events. The story is kindly organized into character sections. Each chapter explores and develops its dedicated character. Exploring their emotions, backstory, and motivations, these individualized chapters gives several characters opportunities to flourish as fulfilled round characters. The downside that comes with game-to-book adaptations, is storytelling style.
When exploring internal dialogue, the writing loses much of its nuance and seems to speak directly to the reader. It’s almost as if in places, the writing goes from a mature reading level down to a 10th or 11th-grade level. Despite these changes, the writers interpreted and presented the themes very accurately to the game. The main character, Sam Porter Bridges, has aphephobia. Not only are the writers able to subtly call attention to this, but they manage to tie it into the themes and express character development through this anxiety disorder.
For readers who have played the game, they will discover a sharp tone shift between these tellings of the story. While the game focuses on overcoming struggle and building and releasing tensions, the book instead heavily focuses on connections. It doesn’t value the journey, it values the destination. This change affects the book positively, but it may surprise some readers. I will do my best to avoid spoilers, but throughout this story, many of the character dialogue builds a red herring. In many stories, this brings up shock factor. But to my dismay, they present these red herrings as fact. As a result, as the twist is revealed, the reader confuses reality with rumor. However, despite this possible confusion, the novel successfully completes its intention of adaptation.
The ending is shocking and not only hits close to home (due to the events of our pandemic) but is emotional and loving. In relation to reading level, this book is fitting for many high school and mature middle school readers. Although not incredibly outstanding, if you need something to read, I recommend Death Stranding the novelization.
New readers will be immediately thrust into this new world. While confusion sets in, Nojima and Radford concisely find ways to explain the ongoing events. The story is kindly organized into character sections. Each chapter explores and develops its dedicated character. Exploring their emotions, backstory, and motivations, these individualized chapters gives several characters opportunities to flourish as fulfilled round characters. The downside that comes with game-to-book adaptations, is storytelling style.
When exploring internal dialogue, the writing loses much of its nuance and seems to speak directly to the reader. It’s almost as if in places, the writing goes from a mature reading level down to a 10th or 11th-grade level. Despite these changes, the writers interpreted and presented the themes very accurately to the game. The main character, Sam Porter Bridges, has aphephobia. Not only are the writers able to subtly call attention to this, but they manage to tie it into the themes and express character development through this anxiety disorder.
For readers who have played the game, they will discover a sharp tone shift between these tellings of the story. While the game focuses on overcoming struggle and building and releasing tensions, the book instead heavily focuses on connections. It doesn’t value the journey, it values the destination. This change affects the book positively, but it may surprise some readers. I will do my best to avoid spoilers, but throughout this story, many of the character dialogue builds a red herring. In many stories, this brings up shock factor. But to my dismay, they present these red herrings as fact. As a result, as the twist is revealed, the reader confuses reality with rumor. However, despite this possible confusion, the novel successfully completes its intention of adaptation.
The ending is shocking and not only hits close to home (due to the events of our pandemic) but is emotional and loving. In relation to reading level, this book is fitting for many high school and mature middle school readers. Although not incredibly outstanding, if you need something to read, I recommend Death Stranding the novelization.
May 25, 2023
Este está mejor que el primero y la verdad es que no me esperaba menos. Siendo la segunda parte ya no tienes que presentar el mundo ni a los personajes, solo tienes que solidificar las cinemáticas del videojuego con un poco de contexto. Todo está mucho más contenido, lo que favorece a la historia, y aunque los diálogos siguen siendo atroces en el peor de los casos y graciosos en el mejor está segunda parte (innecesaria porque tendría que haber sido un solo libro) conecta muy bien aquello planteado en la primera parte.
March 24, 2021
Like the first, offers some great vignettes as to the origins to the characters (and more central characters in this volume that have a greater effect on the overall story), but is mostly a clunky, clumsy summary of the game that most likely makes little to no sense in its own.
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February 7, 2024Death Stranding is hard to write a review of regardless of if it’s the game or the book. It’s even harder when I personally feel like the two formats truly need to go hand in hand in order for someone to truly get the full range of the story. It is complicated - sometimes overly so - and can be considered incredibly boring in the in-between moments. But there is a comfort in this story that is so incredibly unique. The visuals of the game combined with the complexities of both volumes of the novel compliment each other but that’s a serious time commitment. In the end, I appreciated the narrative and the thesis that connections are vital to survival, but they need to be formed for the right reasons. It also questions if bringing back the past is what is actually better than improving the moment. To me the answer is no, but it is far more than that complicated.
As the bridges are built to re-build America, more and more terrible things happen and interference gets in the way of the signals Sam has risked his life to install. There is a huge American-centric focus to the story that really speaks to certain political views and (inadvertently) lockdown protocols that happened around the time of the game’s initial release. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but I found myself repeatedly getting worked up over the “go back to normal” and “return to the way things should be” instead of having people pay more attention to working together to make like better.
Not a single prepper or porter or engineer wants things to “go back to normal”. Things are hard and could be better but the main want for everyone seems to be access to survival tools and information. No one wants the return of government organizations or capitalism. There’s a selfishness in the mandate of Bridges that really rubs me the wrong way (but I think that’s the point). But again, this is a story that is really hard to describe since so much of it is an experience combined with heavy theoretical science and theology.
Regardless of the hard parts, I adore the characters deeply so in all of their stand-offish loneliness and flaws. Sam and Fragile deserve hugs (well, air hugs for Sam unless he explicitly says he wants one) and love and peace. They deserve honesty and the space to admit their vulnerabilities and mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s so hard to talk about this game and/or the novelization.
I would not be quick to recommend this story to those not willing to put in the work to follow along, but for anyone curious (or otherwise unable to play it themselves) I highly recommend watching the 34-hour let’s play that Jackspeticeye posted when he was given an early copy of Kojima’s masterpiece. And this is a masterpiece. It’s not for everyone, but it’s gorgeous to me.
As the bridges are built to re-build America, more and more terrible things happen and interference gets in the way of the signals Sam has risked his life to install. There is a huge American-centric focus to the story that really speaks to certain political views and (inadvertently) lockdown protocols that happened around the time of the game’s initial release. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but I found myself repeatedly getting worked up over the “go back to normal” and “return to the way things should be” instead of having people pay more attention to working together to make like better.
Not a single prepper or porter or engineer wants things to “go back to normal”. Things are hard and could be better but the main want for everyone seems to be access to survival tools and information. No one wants the return of government organizations or capitalism. There’s a selfishness in the mandate of Bridges that really rubs me the wrong way (but I think that’s the point). But again, this is a story that is really hard to describe since so much of it is an experience combined with heavy theoretical science and theology.
Regardless of the hard parts, I adore the characters deeply so in all of their stand-offish loneliness and flaws. Sam and Fragile deserve hugs (well, air hugs for Sam unless he explicitly says he wants one) and love and peace. They deserve honesty and the space to admit their vulnerabilities and mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s so hard to talk about this game and/or the novelization.
I would not be quick to recommend this story to those not willing to put in the work to follow along, but for anyone curious (or otherwise unable to play it themselves) I highly recommend watching the 34-hour let’s play that Jackspeticeye posted when he was given an early copy of Kojima’s masterpiece. And this is a masterpiece. It’s not for everyone, but it’s gorgeous to me.
July 1, 2025
5 Stars. I ate this book UP.
This book is the stronger out of the duology. Absolutely stunning! The moments that hit hard in the game, hit harder in this novelization. The narration adds a whole other level of emotions and motivations with all the characters. We get a deeper understanding of what drives each character to their actions as well as deeper backstories, more detailed lore, and deeper psychology that was not present in the original base game (I'm not sure if they are in the directors cut either). To dive deeper int Higgs' overall plan and what motivated him was fascinating as well as to see into the minds of Deadman and Heartman, to feel their own inner turmoils made me love the characters more than I did from the game.
The moments in the game where scenes felt a little too non-linear were easier to grasp in the book. Special note on Cliff Unger's whole timeline. It felt more solid and emotional with his book portrayal and overall incredibly heartbreaking.
Also there's a whole chunk of Sam's past that I DO NOT remember in the OG game. Seriously why was that cut out???
Sam's character arc hit harder by the end of this duology. This is not a dig at Norman Reedus' preference of the character in the game, but there is just something about being inside of a characters' head that feels more emotionally intimate that any on-screen portrayal. He is an incredibly aloof character that needs to be observed at all angles to really get to know.
There was also some pretty visceral imagery in the third act war zone scenes that felt gnarly as well as some of Sam's lucid dreams/nightmares that made more of an impact than what I was expecting. I loved it!
Death Stranding is not an easy story to digest. If you enjoy Weird Sci-Fi, surrealistic thrillers, and original story telling, play this game and then read the books. This duology just adds even MORE dept to a story that is already deeper than the Marina's Trench.
Favorite Quotes:
"But there were not children who weren't special. Each and every child mattered. Had a right to exist"(pg234)
"If you're not scared of death, how can you value life?" (pg268)
This book is the stronger out of the duology. Absolutely stunning! The moments that hit hard in the game, hit harder in this novelization. The narration adds a whole other level of emotions and motivations with all the characters. We get a deeper understanding of what drives each character to their actions as well as deeper backstories, more detailed lore, and deeper psychology that was not present in the original base game (I'm not sure if they are in the directors cut either). To dive deeper int Higgs' overall plan and what motivated him was fascinating as well as to see into the minds of Deadman and Heartman, to feel their own inner turmoils made me love the characters more than I did from the game.
The moments in the game where scenes felt a little too non-linear were easier to grasp in the book. Special note on Cliff Unger's whole timeline. It felt more solid and emotional with his book portrayal and overall incredibly heartbreaking.
Also there's a whole chunk of Sam's past that I DO NOT remember in the OG game. Seriously why was that cut out???
Sam's character arc hit harder by the end of this duology. This is not a dig at Norman Reedus' preference of the character in the game, but there is just something about being inside of a characters' head that feels more emotionally intimate that any on-screen portrayal. He is an incredibly aloof character that needs to be observed at all angles to really get to know.
There was also some pretty visceral imagery in the third act war zone scenes that felt gnarly as well as some of Sam's lucid dreams/nightmares that made more of an impact than what I was expecting. I loved it!
Death Stranding is not an easy story to digest. If you enjoy Weird Sci-Fi, surrealistic thrillers, and original story telling, play this game and then read the books. This duology just adds even MORE dept to a story that is already deeper than the Marina's Trench.
Favorite Quotes:
"But there were not children who weren't special. Each and every child mattered. Had a right to exist"(pg234)
"If you're not scared of death, how can you value life?" (pg268)
April 11, 2023
"Death Stranding: The Official Novelisation Volume 2" is an absolutely stunning piece of writing that immerses the reader in the hauntingly beautiful world of Death Stranding. The novelization follows the character of Sam Bridges as he navigates a post-apocalyptic America, carrying out his mission to reconnect the isolated cities and bring hope to a world that has lost all sense of connection and community.
This second volume of the novelization continues the gripping story that was introduced in the first volume, taking the reader on a journey filled with action, suspense, and unexpected twists and turns. The author does an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere and mood of the video game, transporting the reader to a world that is both eerie and mesmerizing.
The characters in this book are complex and multifaceted, and the relationships that develop between them are both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Sam is a protagonist who is easy to root for, as he struggles to come to terms with his own past and the weight of the responsibility he has been given. The supporting characters are equally well-written, and each one brings something unique and essential to the story.
What I loved most about this book was the attention to detail that the author put into describing the world of Death Stranding. The landscapes are vividly described, and the descriptions of the flora and fauna that have evolved in this post-apocalyptic world are both fascinating and haunting. The author also does an excellent job of exploring the themes of connection and isolation that are central to the story, making the reader reflect on the importance of human connection and community.
Overall, "Death Stranding: The Official Novelisation Volume 2" is a must-read for fans of the video game and for anyone who enjoys post-apocalyptic fiction. The writing is exceptional, the characters are well-developed, and the world-building is top-notch. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a thought-provoking and immersive reading experience.
This second volume of the novelization continues the gripping story that was introduced in the first volume, taking the reader on a journey filled with action, suspense, and unexpected twists and turns. The author does an excellent job of capturing the atmosphere and mood of the video game, transporting the reader to a world that is both eerie and mesmerizing.
The characters in this book are complex and multifaceted, and the relationships that develop between them are both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Sam is a protagonist who is easy to root for, as he struggles to come to terms with his own past and the weight of the responsibility he has been given. The supporting characters are equally well-written, and each one brings something unique and essential to the story.
What I loved most about this book was the attention to detail that the author put into describing the world of Death Stranding. The landscapes are vividly described, and the descriptions of the flora and fauna that have evolved in this post-apocalyptic world are both fascinating and haunting. The author also does an excellent job of exploring the themes of connection and isolation that are central to the story, making the reader reflect on the importance of human connection and community.
Overall, "Death Stranding: The Official Novelisation Volume 2" is a must-read for fans of the video game and for anyone who enjoys post-apocalyptic fiction. The writing is exceptional, the characters are well-developed, and the world-building is top-notch. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a thought-provoking and immersive reading experience.
March 24, 2023
I am not sure how many stars to give this and I will tell you in this rant.
This book is a complete opposite of the game objectively. Like for example, the game does an amazing job of arousing emotions within you through its often complicated but an intricate and touching story and story telling through its environment too but does a bad job at giving more depth to the characters through which the story is being told especially one of the antagonists, but the book does a good job of giving depth to the characters, even the main character we are supposed to be playing but does an extremely atrocious job of environmental story telling. Like okay you touch on some specific past things before the apocalypse but the present environment isn't explained at all at some sections and skipped at times too (Edge Knot City for example).
This time, the second part finally gives us some story beats during the Fedex journey the main character has to pickup and I found that sorely sorely missing in the first part and even though its not much and sometimes feels inconsequential, I'll still take it lol.
There are so many instances like this in the book where you feel like the game did better at some parts and in a completely disjoint manner this book does some other parts better while sucking what made this game so sensational!
Maybe I am roasting the fuck out of this book because of my prior experience with the game (which is an absolute masterpiece) but man, if you give this to someone who hasn't experienced the game at all, it will still be regarded as just a fine book and nothing amazing.
This book is a complete opposite of the game objectively. Like for example, the game does an amazing job of arousing emotions within you through its often complicated but an intricate and touching story and story telling through its environment too but does a bad job at giving more depth to the characters through which the story is being told especially one of the antagonists, but the book does a good job of giving depth to the characters, even the main character we are supposed to be playing but does an extremely atrocious job of environmental story telling. Like okay you touch on some specific past things before the apocalypse but the present environment isn't explained at all at some sections and skipped at times too (Edge Knot City for example).
This time, the second part finally gives us some story beats during the Fedex journey the main character has to pickup and I found that sorely sorely missing in the first part and even though its not much and sometimes feels inconsequential, I'll still take it lol.
There are so many instances like this in the book where you feel like the game did better at some parts and in a completely disjoint manner this book does some other parts better while sucking what made this game so sensational!
Maybe I am roasting the fuck out of this book because of my prior experience with the game (which is an absolute masterpiece) but man, if you give this to someone who hasn't experienced the game at all, it will still be regarded as just a fine book and nothing amazing.
February 5, 2024
CVD è scritto esattamente come il primo volume, non che mi aspettassi diversamente, ma c'avevo un pochino sperato. È tutto così piatto, le parti di monologo interiore così ripetitive e poco emotive che ho iniziato a saltarle TUTTE, tanto a parte rari casi ripetono solo quello che viene detto nelle sltre parti. Nonostante sia il secondo volume, l'autore continua ad avere a cuore il ripeterci cosa solo i BB, cos'è il Death Stranding, il pippotto sui ponti e l'America, il ruolo di Sam... TUTTO, DEVE RIPETERE TUTTO 300 VOLTE. Arrivata ad un terzo, ero già pronta a mettere una stella. Alla fine ne ho messe 2 perché almeno gli epioghi mi hanno commossa un minimo.
Mamma mia, questo libro è la dimostrazione che riportare una cosa paripari da un media all'altro senza un minimo di intervento è una scelta letterlamente di m*rda. È veramente brutto, l'autore e pure la traduzione, ne sono certa, sono riusciti a rendere piatta e noiosa una storia che basa tutto sulle emozioni. Fantastico, un bel lavoro di m*rda.
Giocatevi il videogioco, meglio pupparsi i video finali di un'ora l'uno, che non finiscono più, in quello che 10 pagine di questo aborto.
Mamma mia, questo libro è la dimostrazione che riportare una cosa paripari da un media all'altro senza un minimo di intervento è una scelta letterlamente di m*rda. È veramente brutto, l'autore e pure la traduzione, ne sono certa, sono riusciti a rendere piatta e noiosa una storia che basa tutto sulle emozioni. Fantastico, un bel lavoro di m*rda.
Giocatevi il videogioco, meglio pupparsi i video finali di un'ora l'uno, che non finiscono più, in quello che 10 pagine di questo aborto.
July 25, 2025
The game that this is based on is so good. While this is a faithful adaptation, I think anyone who hasn’t played the game would be completely lost. There are so many bonkers ideas and concepts thrown at you so fast. The world-building is absolutely wild. It works in the game, but everything just feels overwhelmingly rushed in novelized form. I don’t know if it’s a translation issue, an editorial issue, or if the authors really only wrote this for the fans and no one else.
All that being said, I do appreciate the fact that they expanded on the minor characters and their backstories. The story itself is still really great, it’s just that this particular version doesn’t really work. There is one big writing improvement over the game: the dialogue is no longer overwritten and filled with countless lines of redundant exposition. I love Hideo Kojima, but the man needs a dialogue editor for real.
Look, just play Death Stranding Director’s Cut. Read this after you’ve rolled credits if you’re desperate for more.
All that being said, I do appreciate the fact that they expanded on the minor characters and their backstories. The story itself is still really great, it’s just that this particular version doesn’t really work. There is one big writing improvement over the game: the dialogue is no longer overwritten and filled with countless lines of redundant exposition. I love Hideo Kojima, but the man needs a dialogue editor for real.
Look, just play Death Stranding Director’s Cut. Read this after you’ve rolled credits if you’re desperate for more.
July 24, 2025
La segunda parte de Death Stranding 1 arroja mucha más luz tanto sobre algunos de los personajes (como, por ejemplo, Higgs) como la trama en si, aportando información que en el juego o se omite, no se entiende del todo, o aparece en el códice.
Aunque esta segunda mitad sigue siendo muy fiel al juego, se omiten algunas partes que en el juego sí aparecen (como, por ejemplo, la boss fight contra la Amelie Titan).
A pesar de que no impide disfrutar de la lectura, es una pena que el apartado ortográfico no esté al nivel de esta obra maestra. Con lo perfeccionista que es Kojima, si supiera que Planeta Cómic no le prestó la atención necesaria a la traducción ni a la revisión, le daría algo.
Si estás entre el juego o el libro, la respuesta es el juego + el libro, ya que se complementan bien.
Que ganas de jugar al Death Stranding 2 🥵
Aunque esta segunda mitad sigue siendo muy fiel al juego, se omiten algunas partes que en el juego sí aparecen (como, por ejemplo, la boss fight contra la Amelie Titan).
A pesar de que no impide disfrutar de la lectura, es una pena que el apartado ortográfico no esté al nivel de esta obra maestra. Con lo perfeccionista que es Kojima, si supiera que Planeta Cómic no le prestó la atención necesaria a la traducción ni a la revisión, le daría algo.
Si estás entre el juego o el libro, la respuesta es el juego + el libro, ya que se complementan bien.
Que ganas de jugar al Death Stranding 2 🥵
September 5, 2021
Got me thinking about a lot of things differently. What it means for people to go together (lack of villains and saviors). How our flaws connect. How extinction is also an opportunity. Some of this was explored in the game too. I would have loved exploring the connection emotionally between Cliff and Sam better in the book like the game did. I took awhile with this, but I'm glad I finally finished.
September 18, 2021
Più emotivamente coinvolgente del primo volume ma comunque sotto tono rispetto alla sceneggiatura del gioco stesso. Uno o due scene di combattimento contro le CA avrebbe reso il prodotto più armonico e meno piatto.
Una nota positiva per il finale, seppur frettoloso come a voler chiudere il cerchio prima di un'improvvisa riapertura del ciclo.
Nel complesso, primo e secondo volume, sono una lettura per gli amanti del genere che NON hanno giocato il titolo.
Una nota positiva per il finale, seppur frettoloso come a voler chiudere il cerchio prima di un'improvvisa riapertura del ciclo.
Nel complesso, primo e secondo volume, sono una lettura per gli amanti del genere che NON hanno giocato il titolo.
October 3, 2022
Kojima can be too on the nose with things – in his games, an allegory is a thing that one explains through a megaphone – but it actually kind of worked here (with the ridiculousness still being ridiculous). The additional backstory in the books helped pad out motivations and the world.
Really, the best thing about these books is that they reminded me of what a strange and wonderful experience Death Stranding was.
Really, the best thing about these books is that they reminded me of what a strange and wonderful experience Death Stranding was.
August 1, 2024
"—Those were the dreams of extinction I had. Even as I grew older, they wouldn’t set me free. In my dreams I watched the world end. So many times. Countless past extinctions that decimated life on this planet again and again and again. I even dreamt of the destruction to come. Human corpses used to wash up on my Beach. They all seemed to look like me somehow. All of them had the same umbilical cord."
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