Gears of War prequel novel gets new name, author, release date
by Christopher Grant 
{ Jul 21st 2008 at 10:51AM }
We hope you used pencil when you marked up the August 26 quadrant of your Burly Men of Sera calendar with the following info: "Gears of War: The Pendulum Wars by Steven L. Kent today!" Turns out the preorder info on Amazon.ca – even the cover image! – was a tad premature; Epic and Del Ray Books announced that the Gears of War prequel trilogy of books will be written by sci-fi veteran Karen Traviss, and the first installment will be called Gears of War: The Battle of Aspho Fields (there's a joke here ... what's an Aspho?). No word on why Kent's out – an Epic representative tols us, "While we think very highly of Steven L. Kent's work, we are not working with him at this time."Here's a snippet from the presser: "Marcus and Dom can take anything the Locust Horde throws at them – but will their friendship survive the truth about Dom's brother Carlos?" Well, will it? We just don't know, but you can find out when it roadie runs into your neighborhood bookstore on October 28, just in time for the sequel's November 7 Re-mergence Day.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mr mobius @ Jul 21st 2008 10:58AM
Sounds like a cheesy novel about brotherly love between two friends. Considering it's a prequel you already know the outcome anyway.
J.Goodwin @ Jul 21st 2008 11:00AM
Looks like she has experience with squad based game franchise to squad based book conversions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Traviss
Marty @ Jul 21st 2008 11:06AM
Hey now, don't hate on prequels - the Mass Effect prequel was awesome, and even though you can ultimately guess how things will go, it's cool to read the backstory of the characters from the games you like (if you're into that sort of thing).
Emophia @ Jul 21st 2008 11:06AM
lol
Misfit Toy @ Jul 21st 2008 11:06AM
It's what they call an open field before they make a parking lot and cover it with Aspholt...ahahahahahaaaah.
Yeah, it was lame. But it had to be said.
Erluti @ Jul 21st 2008 11:11AM
I think the joke is you respond to the question with, "To poop with, silly."
Burritoclock @ Jul 21st 2008 11:14AM
I liked his better.
Burritoclock @ Jul 21st 2008 11:15AM
and by his I meant Misfit Toy's....
mr mobius @ Jul 21st 2008 12:15PM
Mr T: I pity the Aspho.
xFenixKnightx @ Jul 21st 2008 11:07AM
Oh Lord, here come the Gears haters...
The_Punisher @ Jul 21st 2008 11:18AM
GEARS SUCKS
jk, but this novel prob. will suck, considering its story.....
Emophia @ Jul 21st 2008 11:26AM
Gear's gameplay was good.
It';s story was not.
xGeneral DEATHx @ Jul 21st 2008 12:28PM
EYE H8 GEARZ0RZ!!!1!!!one!!
Okay, you know I'm kidding...but seriously, they should throw in side stories that follow more current events (i.e., intersect with Gears 1 or 2 stories) and skip the prequel garbage. If Dom cared enough about Marcus to get his ass out of an abandoned prison, then yes, their friendship DID survive.
Tiptup300 @ Jul 21st 2008 12:41PM
The story of gears wasn't very good, but I'll be quiet for now since the story of halo 2/3 wasn't very good (or developed.) The halo books, AAAA!
Vcize @ Jul 21st 2008 2:36PM
OMG TEH RESONATOR DIDN'T WORK!!!!!11
ben @ Jul 21st 2008 3:27PM
EY YO im da urban character n shit
Kizzle @ Jul 21st 2008 11:14AM
"Marcus and Dom can take anything the Locust Horde throws at them – but will their friendship survive the truth about Dom's brother Carlos?"
GAY JOKES AHOY
Jess Q. @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:36AM
Hahahaha.
Rick @ Jul 21st 2008 11:24AM
What's even lower on the awesome ladder than a video game movie? That's right, a video game novel. And we're talking bottom two rungs of a 30 foot extension ladder here, fyi.
Ben King @ Jul 21st 2008 11:30AM
"Marcus and Dom can take anything the Locust Horde throws at them – but will their friendship survive the truth about Dom's brother Carlos?"
This seriously sounds like some sort of soap opera.
Misfit Toy @ Jul 21st 2008 1:05PM
I agree.
Jerkfish @ Jul 21st 2008 4:10PM
I'm not that big into GoW but I really enjoyed all of Karen Traviss' Republic Commando and Legacy of the Force books so I'll probably pick up the first one and give it a try.
horngreen @ Jul 21st 2008 11:50AM
Like the game but this sounds lame. A bromance novel between these guys could get creepy. I can't imagine how they will write the characters dialog. All the ever say is "nice" and "that's what I'm talking bout!" oh I forgot "They're fixin us a BIG ASS dinna!".
xGeneral DEATHx @ Jul 21st 2008 12:25PM
I give your term "bromance" the LoL of the Day award.
Corbo @ Jul 21st 2008 12:19PM
I didn't really play much of Gears of War but I'm pretty sure Marcus and Dom were friends, so, yeah, I'm guessing their friendship will survive whatever the PREQUEL can throw at it.
That's like a teaser trailer for Revenge of the Sith asking "Can Obi-Wan save Anakin from the Dark Side?".
Vcize @ Jul 21st 2008 2:37PM
Well, can he? Don't leave us hanging here.
Poddie @ Jul 21st 2008 12:32PM
I don't know why so many people say the Gears story is BAD. In fact, I think it's really interesting.
It's just not fleshed out very much in the first game.
Creepy lizard guys that come up out of the ground and wreak havoc on a world full of people that have already torn themselves apart fighting amongst themselves? That's pretty cool... and there's a great motivator behind the locust uprising with the discovery of "juice". It's just not spelled out in the game to the point where people understand it. You have to pick up bits and pieces of story here and there and put them together.
So any opportunity for them to correct that gets a chance in my book.
theturtle363 @ Jul 21st 2008 2:18PM
Karen Traviss is a good writer, she did cool stuff with the Republic Commando Star Wars series. But I'm not sure that kinda stuff would fit with Gears. The squad mates dont seem to have so much a "brotherhood" sorta deal and more of a dude " Dude you suck lol "
Matt_M @ Jul 21st 2008 3:11PM
Carmine: "Are you THE Marcus Fenix? The one who fought at Aspho Fields?"
Marcus: "Yeah."
Carmine: "Cool!"
Marcus: "Not really."
Cole: "Look at all dat juice!"
MarMar @ Jul 21st 2008 4:19PM
Gears of War: The Musical
Dom: Will-my-friend-ship-with-you-sur-vive????
Marcus: You-will-always-have-in-me-to-confide!
Dom: on!
Marcus: our!
Dom: loss!
Marcus: of!
Dom: our!
Marcus: fathers!
Dom: and mothers!
Marcus: and sisters!
Dom: and brothers!
Marcus: and............
Dom & Marcus: MA-RIA! MA-RIA! MA-RIA! MA-RIA! MAAAAAAAAA...... RIA!
Dom: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Dom & Marcus: MARIA!!!
*applause*
Josh @ Jul 21st 2008 9:32PM
A new name, author, and release date?
Doesn't that make it a new book?
Deprincer @ Jul 21st 2008 10:10PM
i like gears' story
turkeybaster @ Jul 22nd 2008 12:29AM
I feel like the only way I could read this book is if I was snowboarding on a dead man's rigor mortis-stiffened body while benchpressing naked chicks and shotgunning Mountain Dew and Bud heavy with a pack of wild dogs chasing me down the mountain, with the sun exploding and Slayer playing in the background.