Ancient Greece - a unique atmosphere of the world, from which we are separated for centuries, a completely different reality and customs. The game Assassin's Creed: Odyssey charmed many admirers of antiquity, so how on her presents the book by Gordon Doherty?
A perverse fate
Kassandra’s life wasn’t all roses from the very beginning. Being born in Sparta meant a constant improvement of physical fitness and restraint in showing emotions. There was no time for her childhood when she had to exude adult strength and energy at the age of just a few. But it was all nothing compared to what she had to face after the prophecy of the Delphic oracle. On one rainy day, she lost everything – her brother, mother, and father, who pushed her off the brink of Mount Tajget with his own hand, when she dared to show sorrow for the cruel will of the gods … But are they sure that they predicted such a cruel fate for her? What if all Greece is ruled by a force hidden in the shadows waiting for the right moment, to attack the ancient world of Hellas weakened by the Peloponnesian war? Abandoned and left on her own, Kassandra will have to face an enormous challenge, set off on her own odyssey to find the truth about herself. During his journey he will visit many places, meet famous historical figures (Herodotus, Socrates, Hippocrates, Alcybiades and many others) and fight many battles.
Seemingly the same, but not
The plot of the book is entirely based on the game. Of course, due to completely different narrative methods, the book is devoid of “side quests”, the author focused only on the main plot. Some situations are presented differently, an example, served at the very beginning, may be, for example, that in the novel our heroine fights Cyclops thugs only after meeting Markos in the vineyard, while in the game this fight appears almost immediately, right next to the house Cassandry, acting as a tutorial. These are rather small differences that do not adversely affect the reception of the book, on the contrary – everything is constructed in such a way as to present itself as coherently and logically as possible. After all, in the game we can perform a lot of different activities between main tasks (someone will ask you to kill a politician,
In Cassandra’s head
The mighty misthios, fearless warrior, granddaughter of Leonidas of Sparta himself – Kassandra – is outlined in thick lines. In the game, she appears to us as a woman of steel, she is not afraid of anything, and we take her skills in combat and stealth for granted. She is the main character, seasoned heroin, must be amazing, endowed with supernatural qualities! Are you sure? Ubisoft’s production can show us the appearance and history of this young woman, but what happens in her mind when she goes on another mission? Of course, we run it with a pad or a mouse and keyboard like professionals – self-confident, focused on using the right buttons, having great fun of wiping out enemy units. Growa Kassandra is not afraid of anything under our care, she always wins, while this book seemed to me a completely different character. You can feel the pain in her caused by the unpleasant past, regret, anger, tension, fear for your own life. As a result, it is incredibly human, and therefore closer to us, the recipients who follow its fate with bated breath.
I can see the game in this book
Do you know this feeling when you first saw a movie based on a book, and then when you read, your head automatically shows images previously invented by someone else? It’s exactly the same with games and novels based on them. While reading, I did not think up a new look of characters or locations, my mind automatically reached for previously coded views and features of individual characters, as well as stories related to them. On the one hand, this is a convenience, and on the other hand, I was very tired of some changes that just did not fit (precisely because I had a look at the game before). Here I will use an example that at the beginning of my reading knocked me off the beat – Barnabas was renamed Barnabas, in addition, his gray hair suddenly turned brown (and only here and there with grayish wisps). Nothing, the details, yet they did not match my original vision, imposed by the game designers.
Pleasant reading
I read the book quickly and with pleasure. The author seamlessly connects individual events from the game, additionally weaving Greek words describing elements of clothing, weapons or just everyday items, which in my opinion is a very interesting procedure. His descriptions are very readable, but not extended over a few pages – a big plus, which made me not feel as if the author was trying to artificially extend the book. The position is very consistent in its plot, there are also no objections to translation and proofreading. In conclusion – if you count on Kassandra’s new adventures, unfortunately you will be very disappointed, but if you want to recall the game or look at certain events from a different perspective, I definitely recommend this book.
