Asmodee Entertainment, the entertainment group behind games including Fantasy Flight hits Arkham Horror and KeyForge, Z-Man Games' Carcassonne, and CMON's Zombicide, have just announced that they're launching Aconyte Press, a publishing house dedicated to putting out adventure novels set in the worlds of some of their most popular IP's.
According to their press release, their starting slate of novels will include novels set in the world of Arkham Horror, Legend of the Five Rings, Pandemic, KeyForge, and Descent–Journeys in the Dark. While there's not a ton of info available yet on each of the releases, they've just posted the following lineup and little blurbs to whet your appetite.
MAY 2020
Arkham Horror: Wrath of N’Kai – Josh Reynolds There’s an ancient artefact on display in Arkham, and everyone wants to get their hands on it... big mistake.
Legend of the Five Rings: Curse of Honor – David Annandale A band of samurai from the Crab clan discover an abandoned city on the edge of the Shadowlands, and what they find there changes them forever.
JUNE 2020
Pandemic: Patient Zero – Amanda Bridgeman First week in the new job at the Global Health Agency for talented epidemiologist Bodhi Patel, and there’s an outbreak in Brazil that needs expert attention.
KeyForge: Tales from the Crucible – ed. Charlotte Llewelyn-Wells Introducing the Crucible, the extraordinary artificial world at the centre of the universe where a myriad species have been assembled by unknown forces.
JULY 2020
Descent–Journeys in the Dark: The Doom of Fallowhearth – Robbie MacNiven The Baroness of Forthyn’s daughter has gone missing, and the trail seems to lead to the deepest, darkest part of Blind Muir Forest.
AUGUST 2020
Arkham Horror: The Last Ritual – S A Sidor Infamous European surrealist Juan Hugo Balthazarr is being feted by the great and good of Arkham high society, but his art is darker than anyone can imagine.
Legend of the Five Rings: Poison River – Josh Reynolds Introducing Daidoji Shinn, wastrel son of a Crane clan, who has discovered he has a passion for investigating mysteries.
While these details still leave a lot of questions in the air, it's exciting to see the company expanding its range of storytelling beyond board games, and really diving into IPs that are ripe for exploration. As the company's previously stated, they've partnered with publishers Simon & Schuster to handle all sales and distribution throughout North America.
Quick Take
Of all the titles on this list, I think I'm most eager to see what they do with Pandemic. While we've all read plenty of adventure stories in fantastical or macabre worlds, it'll be a great change of pace to read a novel about the (panic-inducing and all-too-real) breakneck speed at which global disease can spread in our world. I'm getting a sore throat just thinking about it.
What do you think of these literary adaptations of Asmodee games? Will you be adding them to your shelf? Let us know in the comments below.
