I was looking for a book by Dianne Wynne Jones when what did I spy upon the shelf? The Web of Arachnos... "Surely the name's a coincidence," I thought to myself. But when I picked it up for a closer look it was indeed a City of Heroes novel (which many of you are probably already aware of, but I didn't keep up with their published fiction all that closely). I don't know if it's good or not, but I felt compelled to pick it up. Nostalgia for the game still lingers apparently.
Personally speaking? I love Web of Arachnos. It's a great prequel to the game and it's obvious the author had a lot of love for the story and setting. It's so decompressed at the beginning though that it seems like it has too fast a climax and resolution, but it is still a wonderful look at the setting. It's also fun to play "Spot the Archtype" with the characters in the book.
Quote from: Rust on May 29, 2013, 10:39:05 PM
It's also fun to play "Spot the Archtype" with the characters in the book.
I read it sometime ago and thought it was worthwhile. I also enjoyed the mini-game you can play while reading it but I was playing "Spot the powerset".
The only time it kinda falls apart is when he's describing the defensive secondaries. He does a good enough job, but the idea that Super Reflexes or Invulnerability actually does produce a "glowing" effect around the character is a bit much.
Also, I enjoyed seeing the Prototypes of classic Nemesis foes. The Jaegers especially. The book managed to make them legitimately terrifying.
Somehow didn't think about the novels. Consider that one on order as of now... ;)
I knew about it, but somehow slipped my mind. Now when the only CoH injection I can get is thanks to Codewalker I believe I be hunting Web of Arachnos down!
I finished it this morning and I gotta say I enjoyed it more than any of the comics for CoH I've read. And I prefer Statesman's "Golden Age" costume shown on the cover.
Has anyone read the second CoH novel Freedom Phalanx (http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Phalanx-City-Heroes-Books/dp/1593152213/ref=pd_sim_b_1)?
Eyup. It's several shades below The Web of Arachnos. It's clearly not written by a player of the game, as several of the villains appear nowhere else and several existing villains are portrayed differently (Giovanna Scaldi/Vanessa DeVore are not named but are pretty obviously supposed to be them, and Doctor Vhaztok is replaced by some zombie monster).
The heroes aren't much better. Positron and Synapse are basically pure lifts of Booster Gold and Blue Beetle. Sister Psyche is mostly a crazy lady the entire book (Thanks to "The Shadow Queen" aka Scaldi/DeVore), Manticore is Batman, and Statesman spends 75% of the book in a depressed funk (To be fair, he has every reason to be as he's just lost his wife to old age while he's still in the prime of his life).
I really don't like it, but now-a-days? It may be easier to swallow now that the game is gone.
Quote from: Rust on May 31, 2013, 05:06:16 PM
Eyup. It's several shades below The Web of Arachnos. It's clearly not written by a player of the game, as several of the villains appear nowhere else and several existing villains are portrayed differently (Giovanna Scaldi/Vanessa DeVore are not named but are pretty obviously supposed to be them, and Doctor Vhaztok is replaced by some zombie monster).
Definitely gotta agree with you there.
I've actually started reading it several times until I finally managed to stick with it and finish it, it was something I wanted to do while CoH was still there.