Homefront: The Voice of Freedom
(by John Milius & Raymond Benson; Del Rey; 2011)
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WINNER OF THE "LOVEY" (READER'S CHOICE) AWARD FOR BEST PARANORMAL / SCI FI / HORROR NOVEL OF 2011 AT THE LOVE IS MURDER WRITERS CONFERENCE, CHICAGO
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"...you’d expect an exciting, intriguing and perfectly structured novel, one of those books that is almost impossible to put down and makes you think about it even when you’re not reading it. And you know what? That’s exactly what we’ve got... the story builds up to the conflict outlined at the beginning and then moves past it to a finale that makes it physically impossible to stop reading until the end... There are some key moments throughout the novel, when several storylines click together and give you those “light bulb” moments. Without going into detail (the story is too good for me to ruin) Walker’s arrival at Las Vegas is one of the major turning points of the invasion, and the events we read about at the beginning start to fall into place. On top of that, the narrative switches seamlessly between the story of Walker’s life, sections from his journal and a parallel story following Salmusa, the Korean General in charge of operations in the States. Seeing the involvements of the two main characters merging together as the novel progresses, as well as first hand entries from the journal, gives a much wider view of the conflict despite the focus mainly being on the two main characters. It works beautifully – you see the success of one man causing grief for the other, and despite the power of the Koreans they don’t always have the upper hand, to the point that up until the final page you have no idea who will eventually come out on top... Any book that has you so engrossed that you think about it during your normal day to day life, and makes you start to believe that the events unfolding could actually happen one day, deserves a place in your collection whether you’re a gamer or not. Brilliant!"
(TheGamingReview.com)
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"I would say it's almost impossible to read this without asking yourself, "how would I cope in similar circumstances?" The story is told using a mix of first person point of view via the pages of central character Ben Walker's personal journal; along with a traditional omniscient narrator third person narrative. The two combine to propel the story along at a brisk pace, while covering logical compressions and jumps in the timeline... So for this book forget the video game tag, just enjoy it as a well written political thriller set in an all too possible near future."
(Alan J. Porter, RevolutionSF.com)
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"There are many reasons to love Homefront: The Voice of Freedom whether you’re intending to invest in the videogame when it launches or not. For those who are however, Homefront: The Voice of Freedom presents a significant expansion to the fiction within which the game takes place than could possibly be imagined. Simply one of the most intelligently handled expositions of a videogame franchise ever, be it a television series, comic book or novel, Homefront: The Voice of Freedom is essential reading for anyone who intends to look beyond Homefront’s shooting mechanics."
(ElectronicTheatre.co.uk)
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"Raymond Benson is the author for this one and I have to say I love his writing style. He’s done a ton of work previously from James Bond, Metal Gear Solid, to Splinter Cell. I’ve read his Splinter Cell novels and one thing I loved about them is his first person writing styles. Switching off between a traditional 3rd person writing style to a first person style, Homefront continues this trait with 'Walker’s Journal' chapters. Here we get an inside look at what the main character is thinking, feeling, and events around the US all in a “diary” sort of format. It’s a fantastic aspect and really provides the reader a good look into the character. The novel moves at a quick pace... the action is tense and more than once I found myself not wanting to stop reading. The book manages to paint a futuristic world that is extremely plausible, that I found myself thinking how I’d react in some of these situations. It’s a bit chilling to be honest. You honestly don’t have to be someone chomping at the bit to play Homefront or be an avid gamer to enjoy this book. With Benson’s writing style and the subject matter of the novel, you’ll be hooked and won’t want to put it down. You can tell great care and research went into this book as the history the book presents, while fictional, presents itself in a logical sort of way. If you’re into Homefront this is a must buy easily. If you’re also someone who likes action thrillers or militaristic novels, you’ll also enjoy this book."
(GamerCrash.wordpress.com)
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"In all this is a spine breaker of a good quick read. It took me maybe five sittings to blast through its 300 pages which in all honestly shouldn't have exceeded half that with a smaller font. At $10 this isn't a bad deal and a great prep for the game. Call me a sucker for hype, but I'm sold and hungry for more. And isn't that the mark of a good story teller?"
(GameTrailers.com)
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"Bang!, right off the start it’s one of those concepts you might have thought about due to current events that makes your mind explode and this is only the background story. It might sound a tad too far fetched at first thought but honestly, the way in which John Milius and Raymond Benson piece this all together makes this distant possibility a sudden, close reality...With a such sharp contrast of characters, it really helps to build tension and show you both sides of the coin...Overall, Voice of Freedom could become a forerunner for bridging the gap between video game literature and upcoming releases and help people count down to the release better then any old preview ever could. Its mix of possible reality and extreme believability make Voice of Freedom one heck of a good book."
(Square-go.com)
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