Savvy Gaming Network Book Club read the novelization of Dead Island. Its loosely based on the plot on the game, there are some changes to characters and locations. The ending is different then the game, so if you have played Dead Island then the novel will be a different experience. The descriptive imagery is gross, which I guess is good for a zombie novel. However, the jokes are extremely distasteful and the author made the characters unlikeable. In all honesty you are better off playing the game then reading the book. Everything about the game is better, the writing, the characters, the gameplay all of it. The only reason you might want to read this is if you don’t want to play the game but even then you might as well watch a lets play.
Host of the VGBC, Elise had this to say about the novel
I loved playing this game but I didn’t like reading this book. Reading this book made me think of how underappreciated the art of story telling in video games is. There is so much character development that happens within the hours of playtime that you cannot duplicate in 300 pages. That was one of the many issues with this novelization of the game Dead Island. I do have to give Mark Morris credit that he was able to put so many events and places within his novelization but only being in those places for a few short pages left me confused and uninterested in the characters we were supposed to be rooting for. Also, what was lost was the juxtaposition of humanity with those in the church and those in the police station. Morris was extremely descriptive of the zombies our 4 protagonist face but the constant use of simile, metaphor, and analogy in those descriptions needed an editor’s hand to finesse the descriptions of what we were surrounded by. Finally, can we please stop using rape in video game books? Two characters in this book are raped and the topic is brought up several times and even joked about by other characters, it was so not necessary with everything else that happens in story.
Elise (VGBC)
Listen to full discussion of the novel on the VGBC Youtube Channel or on Spotify
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