Audiobook: Assassins Creed: Odyssey

I'm not sure whether or not to count this in my total, as I've not physically read the book myself... rather listened to someone else read it. But I'm going to review it anyway.

This was an odd one for me, Another step into the unknown, Assassins Creed is of course a video game franchise, and Odyssey is the 290th edition of the game (I exaggerate, but there are many, many games!). I have played the first two games on the PC (set in the crusades and then in renaissance Italy), so knew roughly what to expect... there's the main hero, and they have quest against the baddies... pretty standard fare right!

When it comes to Historical Fiction, I am firmly set in my Napoleonic/Roman genre, and Assassins Creed: Odyssey takes a step further back, into the realms of Ancient Greece, a period I didn't really care much for... mainly because I'd done it to death at Primary School. But why the hell not, I thought to myself, If I don't like it, I just stop listening.

So the plot... it follows a young woman, named Kassandra, a Spartan by birth, but cast away by what she thought was her family. The story starts with this event, happening around 15 years prior to the main plot. 15 years later, Kassandra is now a misthios or mercenary, with very little money to her name, but things (as they always do in a book) change, and she is given the option to change her fortunes, but first, she must become an assassin and assassinate one of her Kinsmen, a Spartan General named "The Wolf". This she does, and what follows is a quest to find out who she truly is, as she also tries to rid the world of an evil cult.

I've looked at other people's reviews for this book as I write, and what strikes me most, is the number of people who say that having played the game, the book doesn't flow as well. Those who haven't played the game enjoyed it immensely. I fall into the second category.

So what of the book did I like? Pretty much everything if I'm honest. The writing paints and brings the world to life, with vivid descriptions of the ancient world. I really felt as though I was in Ancient Sparta, Athens and the various locations. The pace of the book was brilliant, I never felt it was lagging. in fact, at times I felt it was too fast. I suppose trying to novelise such a big game is impossible without writing a novel longer than War and Peace!

The characters were well created. I really felt connections with them, as their personalities came out. A particular favourite of mine was Barnabas, the captain of Kassandra's boat. I really got a sense of the inner struggles of some of the antagonists, as they fought between what was right, and what they were told was right. There are some very familiar names that appear in the books, as in the first two games that I played. Names such as Socrates, Pythagoras, Hippocrates and the like appear in the book and play crucial roles.

Would I recommend this book? Yes I would, but go into it with an open mind, don't think of it as the novelisation of a video game, think of it as a standalone historical fiction novel and you'll be fine.

As I've written this, I've made the decision that yes, I am going to include this in my task. I've dedicated 11 hours of my life to it, therefore it should be counted towards my goal!

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey: 2.5cm (according to amazon)

Total books read: 12 - 30.5cm

162.5cm to go! (5 foot 3 in old money)