Renaissance

Assassin's Creed, Book 1

By: Oliver Bowden

Narrated by: Gildart Jackson

Length: 12 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Betrayed by the ruling families of Italy, Ezio Auditore embarks upon an epic quest for vengeance. To eradicate corruption and restore his family's honor, he will learn the art of the Assassins.

Along the way, Ezio will call upon the wisdom of such great minds as Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli, knowing that survival is bound to the skills by which he must live. To his allies, he will become a force for change in his fight for freedom and justice. To his enemies, he will become a threat dedicated to the destruction of the tyrants abusing the people of Italy. So begins an epic story of power, revenge, and conspiracy.

©2010 Ubisoft Entertainment (P)2012 Tantor

Action packed and very close to the game.

Very exciting and action packed. Very close to the game. A must read for everyone.

Pretty Good Listen

Not at all what I thought it would be but still a very good book. I enjoyed a book written at a different POV from Templar heroes.

Enthralling

The AC series is a fascinating and enthralling work of which this book is a fine example. Very deep. Very exciting. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

Makes me want to play the games again

The game captured my imagination nearly a decade ago and it was nice to be transported back to it. I just wish I had the time to play the series all over again but this is a close substitute I can listen to on my commute.

Plot is like a game

The narrator was excellent. The problem here is the plot is meh. Kill, kill, armor upgrade, kill, kill. weapon upgrade. Move to a new city and do it all again. Train a little to get more skills before the next challenge. It feels like a video game converted to a book. The author really spends little time developing the world and characters. After the obscure ending I was just thankful to have the book over.

awesome

awesome story line. loved every moment. love the way the narrator pulled me into the story

Wwwwwwooooooowwwwwwwww

Only special ones get it! Where is the line between fiction and truth? maybe DISCERNMENT?

Played the game, loved the book

Judging from the sample I knew I would not enjoy the narrator. I could not have been more wrong.
The story was gripping even though I knew exactly what was going to happen and how it was going to end. The dialog and detail create such wonderful images in the readers mind, complete with smells, in color and in 3D, that far exceed anything you can experience in a typical movie.
Wonderful read and I would gladly read it again except I am going to read Brotherhood next.

A lot left on the table

This is a story that left a lot on the table. It's a really cool story that unfortunately reads to much like the lines you get if you were reading the lines in the game. So much wasn't covered that could have made the story so much richer and so much better. Granted you would have had a much larger book, but I think the author missed an opportunity to take a good story and make it into a great story. So if you're a fan of the game and don't mind reading the same basic lines from the game in this book, I think you'll enjoy it. If, however, you like books with a richer content, I think you'll be a little disappointed.

For Fans of the Game

Would you listen to Renaissance again? Why?

I would probably listen to Renaissance again. I am a huge fan of the Assassin's Creed games so I am definitely biased.

What does Gildart Jackson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I have to say I was very impressed with Gildart Jackson's narration of the book. The narration was a big concern of mine as I already had many of the character's voices in my head from the game. While he obviously does not try to mimic those voices he does an excellent job of keeping each character's voice unique and truly brings it all together.

Any additional comments?

If you are a fan of the games you will likely enjoy this book. I recalled most of it from when I played the game and it was a fun refresher of the storyline without having to sit down in front and play through the game again.