trivard676I normally steer clear of novelizations of video games. There’s something about them that just make them out to be glorified fanfiction, and it generally keeps me away. However, Alan Wake by Rick Burroughs came up as a suggestion on Amazon.com, and for a few bucks I decided I’d give it a shot. And seeing as how I get to spend long periods of time at work doing nothing, Alan Wake certainly made the last few nights interesting.
Seeing as how the story of Alan Wake is ripe for novelization, it works out to be a pretty good read. Granted, if you’ve played the game to completion and just want to have a read-at it again, then the novel is a good deal. But seeing as how there’s nothing really there ‘except’ for the story, if you didn’t care for the story, then I really couldn’t recommend it. But that’s just common sense, right?
Rick Burroughs does an amazing job of making Alan Wake out to be a total prick. Bitter fights between Alan and Alice, Alan’s arrogance and pure distaste for even his own fame, all of them are present and in full force in the novelization. Burroughs adds in more interactions between characters to make the story seem more like a novel and less like a video game. As such, the past and motives of other individuals are explored, even though the narration is based around Wake’s actions and motives.
Burroughs acknowledges Sam Lake and Mikko Rautalahti for their feedback on the manuscript, so it can be said that what’s in the book could be taken as cannon. That have to make this novel a little better off than your general fanfiction fare.
The only bad thing, is that there’s very little different in the story. There are a few instances however, such as where Nightingale briefly reminiscences about a time when he wasn’t a total lush, or some kind interaction between Rusty and Rose, but little else. Some of the speech might be different, but in essence, it’s the same story.
If you’re interested, you can pick up Alan Wake by Rick Burroughs on Amazon.com. The novel is great for people who are already fans of the Alan Wake series, or even folks who wanted to pick up the game, but felt like $60 was just a bit too steep.
