It has just been announced that Michael Stackpole is writing a Dark Souls novel. Who is he? back in the 80's, he was a video game designer for games such as Bard's Tale III, Wasteland, Neuromancer, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgment Rites. He's also a well-known author who's written books for World of Warcraft, BattleTech, Star Wars, and other individual works. Basically, Stackpole has some serious street cred, so it shouldn't be too big of a surprise that he's writing Dark Souls: Masque of Vindication, a Dark Souls novel set in From Software's famous universe.
What's the Dark Souls novel about?
It honestly sounds like a Dark Souls story, which is what you'd expect but still nice to see. It has a man who should have been dead who also doesn't know his name, and a mysterious world that begs to be explored. Check out the description below:
In an underground tomb, a man who should have been dead awakens in the dark, gradually regaining his senses—
He has forgotten his past, including his name. Given the great pains taken to insure his confinement, his revival may have been anticipated, but the remains of the grave robber that is his sole companion may give a clue as to his reawakening. When the corpse of the thief rises against him, a sorcerer's instincts emerge, and he puts it down with a flash of light from his palm. With this gesture, the memories of the cadaver flicker through him, rekindling a sense of himself…
The desert night stretches out beyond the graveyard, and the starry sky tells the sorcerer that a long time has passed since his death. Naming himself Ferranos after the meaningless word graven outside his tomb and armed with a dagger of a failed grave robber, he embarks on an epic adventure guided by fate.
Video game novels have historically received a bad rap, but Stackpole is a good writer and this looks pretty decent. I'll probably end up picking Stackpole's Dark Souls novel up and give it a whirl.
Dark Souls: Masque of Vindication will be globally published in English and Japanese. The Kadokawa Corporation will release the Japanese version and Yen Press is releasing the English version, which is apparently the "the first simultaneous print release between the two companies." The novel will release on October 25, 2022 in print and digital editions.
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