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[SmoothRunningGun]

The Mass Effect books (except the last one).

 

[Zakalwe]

This is it. Man, I used to think this story was great. It's actually a novelisation of the exact route thought the first Golden Axe game. You meet each boss, each enemy, it even has an explanation for the barbarian's overhead spin attack that I thought was incredibly clever at the time (I was very young).

It's hilarious how the writer literally follows the "plot" of the game, and it's quite terrible really. However it's very short, if you can find a cheap copy it's worth reading if you ever really enjoyed the game for the sake of nostalgia alone.

 

[Jay Shadow]

I've read the 3 currenty localized Witcher Books and they're good.

If you ever wanna read the rest without waiting who knows how long for the official localization, there are fan translations on the Witcher game forums, including the other short stories that were skipped over.

 

[sqwarlock]

If you care about the series at all, read every Warcraft novel written by Christie Golden.

 

[Arcayne]

Mm.. I recommend the Infinity Blade (iOS game series) novels. The genre is a cross between sci-fi and medieval swords-n-magic, with some colorful characters. They're quite good, even if you've never played the games. I bought the first novel after playing the first Infinity Blade (which is essentially absent of a story) and read all 360+ pages in one sitting.

Alternatively, why not just read other fantasy/sci-fi books? I'm sure the Game of Thrones book series will satisfy your specifications AND keep you reading for a long, long time.

 

[Zakalwe]

Ready Player One is awful. It's just a by the numbers plot mixed with tons of video game references. I will never understand what people see in this.

My point was that it's one of the better books about video games or based on video game characters/stories as they tend to be pretty sub-standard.

It's not a great book by any means, but it's hardly awful. It's highly disposable, not amazingly well written, but for a quick read (I finished it in a day when I was home sick) it's like the novel equivalent of a dumb but fun popcorn flick which is exactly what my brain needs every now and then.

 

[Xater]

My point was that it's one of the better books about video games or based on video game characters/stories as they tend to be pretty sub-standard.

It's not a great book by any means, but it's hardly awful. It's highly disposable, not amazingly well written, but for a quick read (I finished it in a day when I was home sick) it's like the novel equivalent of a dumb but fun popcorn flick which is exactly what my brain needs every now and then.

I did think it was pretty bad. I actually had to force myself to finish it because people I usually respect a lot were raving about it. I had to see why. I still don't get it. I can see your point, but I would probably rather read a Dan Brown novel than Ready Player One for some brainless reading.

 

[jon bones]

Ready Player One isn't amazing, and it's not based on a series, but it's definitely one of the best video game centric books I've read. That's not saying a lot though.

My point was that it's one of the better books about video games or based on video game characters/stories as they tend to be pretty sub-standard.

It's not a great book by any means, but it's hardly awful. It's highly disposable, not amazingly well written, but for a quick read (I finished it in a day when I was home sick) it's like the novel equivalent of a dumb but fun popcorn flick which is exactly what my brain needs every now and then.

it really is awful, though

and anyone who relates to the protagonist even a little needs to be punched in the dick

I did think it was pretty bad. I actually had to force myself to finish it because people I usually respect a lot were raving about it. I had to see why. I still don't get it. I can see your point, but I would probably rather read a Dan Brown novel than Ready Player One for some brainless reading.

easily one of the shittiest books ever written

 

[Majestad]

Has anyone read that Uncharted book? How is it?

 

[DiscoJer]

I really liked the various Infocom novels

 

[Jawmuncher]

If you ever wanna read the rest without waiting who knows how long for the official localization, there are fan translations on the Witcher game forums, including the other short stories that were skipped over.

thanks for the heads up.
I'll be reading the book that was skipped over.

 

[PixelJunkie]

Great account on the early history of id software until the fall of Romero's Ion storm. Highly recommended if you like DOOM.

Exactly what I was going to recommend.

I read mostly nonfiction, and this is one of the best.

 

[Hikari_Ryu]

The first Metal Gear Solid book is so bad it's good.

 

[Vice]

"You" by Austin Grossman is supposed to be good. It's not based on a game but centers on a froup of fictional game designers. I read the first couple chapters before I got distracted by "League of Denial." They were good.

 

[HarkenSlash]

ICO: Castle in the Mist
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1421540630/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[elementalsin]

The first Metal Gear Solid book is so bad it's good.

Felt this way about the second one as well... haha.

If you liked Splinter Cell, the above is also true about most of those books.

I agree with the poster somewhere above about the Warcraft novels by Christie Golden, and also the War of the Ancients trilogy. Arthas and Stormrage were enjoyable as well.

While its debatable they are 'video game related', highly recommend the warhammer novels, especially many of the books from the Horus Heresy. Some great ones in there, some iffy ones.

The Gears of War novels were 'ok'... I think a lot of your enjoyment from those may depend on how much you enjoyed the games.

I read the Elder Scrolls: Infernal City novel, but never got around to the followup. Again, it was 'ok' and pretty short.

Again, debatable video game related here... if you enjoy Star Wars, I highly recommend the Bane trilogy (Path of Destruction, Rule of Two, and Dynasty of Evil). Probably not the best written, but I got a huge kick out of reading about the origins of Bane, the rule of two and such (but, I'm also one of 'those' star wars fans who goes a bit too far sometimes).

I never did get around to finishing it, but I did start to really get into the Bioshock Rapture novel. I won't comment on how good or bad it is since I didn't finish it. But like I said, I really started to get into it before something sidetracked me.

I've heard decent things about the Mass Effect and Dragon Age novels but have not as of yet gotten around to reading them.

And I've heard mostly negative about the AC novels, but haven't read them myself either.

Anyone read the Deus Ex: Icarus Effect novel yet? I'm curious if they did that any justice or if it was just a cash-in attempt.

And finally... I'm the farthest thing from a Halo fan, but I've heard mostly positive things about the novels from fans of the series, so that may be an idea if you're a fan.

As someone else has said though, there are so many great novels that aren't video game based, you may take a moment to browse some reviews around the web. I'm not saying anything negative against video game novels, as I've obviously read many myself, but I read a lot in general so there is that I suppose.

 

[Wensih]

Bioshock : Rapture is great, I read it and immediately started playing through 1 + 2 again afterwards.

Or he could read Atlas Shrugged if he wants to read an incredibly painful book filled with what could be considered propaganda for Rand's ridiculous ideas which eventually inspired BioShock.

My suggestion: While not pertaining to a videogame, Blood Meridian is an amazingly good and violent western which sort of reminds me of Red Dead Redemption if only for the genre. It was actually one of the influences of RDR.

 

[Birathen]

I found the first EVE online book to be good. Im not sure you would need to have played the game to be able to Enjoy it or not, thou. Been a while since I read it.

 

[dstarMDA]

If you have even the slightest interest in the Halo series, Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund and the Forerunner trilogy by Greg Bear are must-reads. The former to have a better appreciation of the universe pre-Halo3, the latter to understand the gigantic clusterfuck that is Halo 4.

But if FoR is a great book for a fan, the 3 others are very solid books on their own. A very good space opera in three acts.

 

[Donos]

Some Warhammer 40.000K books are pretty good. They now also made some P&P games out of the PC/console games i think.

 

[ISOM]

Read some original books insteda.

You read some more too.

 

[phrizek]

A while back I compiled a list of science fiction that fans of Mass Effect might enjoy. It's mostly hard sci-fi. I hope you find value in it.

List of Science Fiction That Might Appeal To Mass Effect Fans

Alastair Reynolds

• Revelation Space
• Chasm City
• Redemption Ark
• Absolution Gap
• The Prefect
• Diamond Dogs

Ian M. Banks

• Culture novels

Vernor Vinge

• A Fire Upon The Deep
• A Deepness in the Sky

John Scalzi

• Old Man's War series

Peter Watts

• Blindsight

David Weber

• Honor Harrington Series
• Bolo series

Larry Niven

• The Mote In God's Eye
• The Draco Tavern
• Ringworld

Peter F. Hamilton

• The Commonwealth Saga
• Void Trilogy
• Nights Dawn Trilogy

Dan Simmons

• Hyperion
• The Fall of Hyperion
• Endymion
• The Rise of Endymion

David Brin

• Sundiver
• Startide Rising
• The Uplift War
• Brightness Reef
• Infinity's Shore
• Heaven's Reach

Isaac Asimov

• Foundation Trilogy

Fred Saberhagen

• Berserker series

M. John Harrison

• Light
• Nova Swing

Scott Westerfeld

• Risen Empire
• Killing of Worlds

Michael Flynn

• The January Dancer
• Up Jim River

Neal Asher

• Gridlinked

Michael Swanwick

• Vacuum Flowers
• Stations of the Tide

Frederick Pohl

• The Heechee Series

Nancy Kress

• The Probability Trilogy

C.J. Cherryh

• Downbelow Station
• Cyteen

Stephen R. Donaldson

• The Gap cycle

Stephen Baxter

• The Xeelee sequence
• The Manifold trilogy

Robert A. Heinlein

• Starship Troopers
• Stranger in a Strange Land
• The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

Joe Haldeman

• The Forever War

John Steakley

• Armor

Kim Stanley Robinson

• Mars Trilogy

Mike Resnick

• Starship Series

Mike Shepherd

• Kris Longknife series

Orson Scott Card

• Ender's Game
• Speaker for the Dead

 

[SpartanN92]

There really isn't a BAD Halo book. They are all quite good, however Fall of Reach, First Strike and Ghosts of Onyx are arguably the best. The Forerunner trilogy was great too.

The order of publication:
Fall of Reach by Eric Nylund
The Flood by William C Dietz
First Strike by Eric Nylund
Ghosts of Onyx by Eric Nylund (my personal favorite.)
Contact Harvest by Joe Staten (Formerly of Bungie)
The Cole Protocol by Tobias Buckell
Halo: Evolutions by Various Authors (Anthology of short stories)
Cryptum by Greg Bear (Forerunner Book One)
Glasslands by Karen Traviss (Kilo 5 Book One. Post Halo 3)
Primordium by Greg Bear (Forerunner Book Two)
Tuesday War by Karen Traviss (Kilo 5 Book Two)
Silentium (Final Forerunner Book)

Coming early 2014

Mortal Dictata by Karen Traviss (Final Kilo 5 book)


These are not in chronological order. Only the first 3 books follow Master Chief as a main character. He is briefly mentioned in Ghosts of Onyx and has a small short story in Evolutions but other than that he is rarely mentioned.

Every book before Cryptum is a self contained story that can be read on its own.

I recommend reading them in order.

The Kilo 5 Trilogy is sort of the sequel to Ghosts of Onyx. It so far covers the events Post Halo 3. It explains why the covenant are the bad guys again in Halo 4.