Full disclosure: Dishonored is my favorite video game series of all time, so I went into this fully loaded with lore and backstory from the games-not to mention excitement at the prospect of new content to devour. In particular, I was more than ready to get more one-on-one time with Emily Kaldwin, my favorite playable character in any video game I have ever played. Now on to my reaction to the book itself:
My first reaction was that the writing took me a while to get accustomed to-I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but the pace and wording made it hard for me to get into the story right away. Secondly, my main criticism was the amount of POV's the book provided: Corvo, Emily, Galia, and Zhukov. I think even Rinaldo gets a short POV section. I don't have anything against using multiple POV's in itself-however, I feel that in novels like this one, which rely on the theme of mystery and intrigue to drive the plot forward, having so many sources of information on all sides of the conflict takes away from the momentum of the story. One of my favorite parts of the games was unraveling the story and world as the plot proceeded, and using the clues around me to surmise what was happening was incredibly satisfying. The games fed the player just enough to allow them to navigate the world and plot without handing them too much information. The novel, in my opinion, fails in this. If Emily and Corvo had been the only sources of information for the reader, it would have allowed for a more "edge-of-your-seat" read. By supplying a direct view into the plans and preparations from Galia and Zhukov's side, the author took away all of the tension and trepidation, resulting in a slightly boring read. I wish the reader would have been allowed more room for speculation.
Other than that, the story was interesting and I thought the pacing was good. I was more than happy to spend some time with Corvo and Emily, and I enjoyed the return of many plot points and characters from the games (especially Slackjaw). Overall, I would recommend this novel to any fan of the Dishonored series-but I advise anyone who is not familiar with the games to play them (or a watch a playthrough) first.
