Gears of War Novel - Book Report style

Alright guys, so today I just finished reading the gears of war novel that got released a week before the game came out. To start off with, let me just say it was a fantastic book written by Karen Traviss (who wrote a bunch of Star Wars novels before writing this one) and i thoroughly enjoyed it. The Book is titled "Gears of War: Aspho Fields"

If you have any interest in reading the story, go pick it up. It's 12.99 and well worth it.

***SPOILER ALERT*** Now I know that most of you probably have absolutely no plans at all in reading the book so I will tell the storyline and all the juicy information right after this. If you do not wish to know the storyline, do not read the rest. ***SPOILER ALERT***

So the book works as both a bridge for the first and second game, and a prequel for the first game as well. It's well written because it ends right where the 2nd game begins, while telling the all the prequel information for the first game. The book does a great job at fleshing out the storyline for both games, and answers quite a lot of questions.


-The book starts off 17 years before the first game, and 3 years before the locusts first emerged on Sera. The story is told in a flashback sense between Dom and Marcus as they relive the days of their youth.

The book starts off in a peaceful setting, back before the boys had headed off to war. The story is told through Carlos Santiago, Doms older brother. Carlos went to public school, and one day a rich kid transfered into his class by the name of Marcus Fenix. Fenix had a posh accent and everyone made fun of him. One day a bully started in with Fenix and Carlos defended him, only to see Fenix pop the bully in the face. From that point on Carlos and Fenix were inseparable.

Fenix had a terrible relationship with his father. His mother ran away when he was 16, leaving he and his father in a distant relaionship with one another. His father was a genius scientist, and wanted Marcus to follow in his footsteps. Marcus wanted to be a gear, and when Carlos enlisted, so did Marcus. Dom was a few years younger than Carlos and Marcus, but was still close to both of them. Dom got his next door neighbor, Maria, pregnant at 16. He would later marry her.

When they enlisted, Marcus and Carlos were in the same squad. When Dom enlisted, he became a commando. Dom did top secret missions, Marcus and Carlos worked the frontlines.
A war was currently being fought between humans over immulsion. (this was 3 years before the locusts came up, remember) The climax of the story comes when they are all sent on a mission to acquire enemy technology called project: Hammer of dawn.

Dom and his squad are sent in to the base, kill people, get the information. Everything goes wrong of course, and Marcus and Carlos are sent to protect Doms squad while they get out.
Eventually Dom gets out, but Carlos gets shot. Marcus is a hundred yards away when it happens. Marcus, who would die to save Carlos sprinted after him. Carlos, making sure Marcus doesn't get himself killed trying to save him, blows himself up with a grenade.
Carlos' last words over the intercomm were "take care of Dom". Marcus never told Dom the truth about how his brother died, and no one else knew except another sergeant who was there. That sergeant eventually tells dom at the end of the book.

The book ends with a climax of revelations. With so many emotions brought up, Marcus is forced to come clean with a lot of things.
- Marcus was court martialed and thrown in Jail because his father told him that they found his mothers body in the locusts tunnels. Marcus left his post, which led to many gears dieing under his command, in an attempt to retrieve his mothers body.
- This is why Hoffman hates Marcus so much. Marcus was a fantastic soldier whose stupid decision cost the COG a large amount of gears.
- The book takes Doms poor situation and makes it even worse by knowing he had a brother that he loved, who was killed helping save his life.
- Adam Fenix clearly knew about the locusts before the rest of the world. They don't go into how or why. (If you've beaten gears 2 already, you know that this is pivotal to the series.)

If you have any other questions about the book, i'll do my best to answer them.

 

haha, I warned you that it was all spoilers though! Don't make me out to be a bad guy.

 

Well, i know its there energy source. Its their version of gas. Its what the war was being fought over in the beginning between the humans before the locusts arrived.

As to like what kind of substance and whether or not its radiation i have no idea.