I (like Vinny) have read my fair share of videogame fiction in my time, most of it being utter trash... which is why so far (only 3 chapters in) I've been kinda dumbfounded by how well written Deus Ex: The Icarus Effect is.

Its pacing can be a little off at times as it jumps between the two main characters every couple of pages, but the story, the characters and all the words in between have super impressed me.

Sure, it's no War & Peace... but if you like videogames, Sci-Fi or most importantly Deus Ex... you should definitely pick this up!

Especially if you've played the first Deus Ex, there's a few interesting name drops and cameo's thus far that have really scratched that nostalgic itch.

So, anyone else been reading this? Any differing opinions? Granted, I'm only a few chapters in... but it has a real strong start, that's for sure.

Nah.
I just read the rundown on the wiki
But might give it a try at some point.

How good is it for someone who has never played much of the Deus Ex games. I played about an hour of the first game a year or so ago and basically thought thought "yeah, this seems cool, would have been amazing it it's day, but the mechanics are really dated" and then never went back to it. The fiction seems really cool though, would the book be good for me, or is it only really good for someone who already knows the fiction of the games in detail?

@MattyFTM: Again, I'm only speaking for the first three chapters. I'd say you could come in cold to this. I mean, playing the games and knowing the fiction would help... but I wouldn't say that it's essential. As long as you can get to grips with what augmentations are pretty quickly, you should be fine. There's some characters that turn up from the first game, but the author introduces them as if you didn't know them... it's just a nice bonus if you do.

I guess it all comes down to whether you are going to play Human Revolution or not, because I can only assume that it will lead directly into that... and who knows, characters from the book may turn up in the game. If you're planning on playing HR then I'd definitely recommend that you give it a shot, it's super cheap too.

If you want to read Deus Ex the book, you should read William Gibson's Neuromancer. Seriously, there's so much Deus Ex took from that book, including a large part of it's plot.

I read it, and it was a decent book. It was nothing special in terms of literature, but it did make me excited to play Human Revolution by setting up a cool setting. Also I never played the first Deus Ex, I am apart of the group who said, "fuck this game" during the Ellis Island sequence. I have talked about the book to those who read and played the first game and I guess there are a few connections and nods to characters and other things from the first game.

My biggest gripe with the book was the climax at the end was pretty boring. So while most good books will have a good build up, with a nice climax followed by everything finishing off, this book was really steady if that makes any sense. I still enjoyed it, I just didn't get as much enjoyment from it as I do from normal books.

Also it isn't that long, so if you are interested in it then go for it! Read the sample off amazon, that is what convinced me to buy it.

The book is fine for total newbies.  In fact it will help you appreciate the game itself more as many characters in the book are in the game too and it does a great job setting up the world.  The story follows two separate characters (who may be in HR but not Deus Ex)  and is basically a prequel that sets the stage for Human Revolution and he series as a whole.  Personally I enjoyed it, it isn't going to win any awards but it did what it was supposed to do.  IE: Introduces you to the world, many of the important characters, and sets things in motion for the game itself.  In fact though it does start before HR does it ends ever so slightly after HR starts.

Is that like a proper book or just something being thrown together for the sake of having a "book"?

@valrog said:

Is that like a proper book or just something being thrown together for the sake of having a "book"?

I'm sure it was made as a promotional piece, but it's a decent fully fledged book.

@valrog said:

Is that like a proper book or just something being thrown together for the sake of having a "book"?

I'm sure it was made as a promotional piece, but it's a decent fully fledged book.

@valrog said:

@Creamypies said:

@valrog said:

Is that like a proper book or just something being thrown together for the sake of having a "book"?

I'm sure it was made as a promotional piece, but it's a decent fully fledged book.

I am interested but I am sure it will be pretty hard to acquire it here.

Where do you live? Try Amazon?

@valrog said:

@Creamypies said:

@valrog said:

Is that like a proper book or just something being thrown together for the sake of having a "book"?

I'm sure it was made as a promotional piece, but it's a decent fully fledged book.

I am interested but I am sure it will be pretty hard to acquire it here.

Where do you live? Try Amazon?

Hey guys, let's try to stay on topic here OK?

I played that leaked version of the new Deus Ex and it sucked balls and ass and ass-balls all at the same time. Poor voice acting, everythings all fuckin gold all the time and shit. So if I were you dudes, I'd wait to play the game to see if you dig it first, before investing heavily into the fiction.

I played that leaked version of the new Deus Ex and it sucked balls and ass and ass-balls all at the same time. Poor voice acting, everythings all fuckin gold all the time and shit.

@Duckbutter said:

Hey guys, let's try to stay on topic here OK?

I played that leaked version of the new Deus Ex and it sucked balls and ass and ass-balls all at the same time. Poor voice acting, everythings all fuckin gold all the time and shit. So if I were you dudes, I'd wait to play the game to see if you dig it first, before investing heavily into the fiction.

Human Revolution could literally be a steaming pile of dog shit in a box... and I'd still get it.

@Fudge91 said:

@Duckbutter said:

I played that leaked version of the new Deus Ex and it sucked balls and ass and ass-balls all at the same time. Poor voice acting, everythings all fuckin gold all the time and shit.

Well..... Pre-order cancelled!

Well I played the leaked version and liked it a lot and I have the best taste in video games, so you can trust my word!

@Creamypies said:

@Duckbutter said:

Hey guys, let's try to stay on topic here OK?

I played that leaked version of the new Deus Ex and it sucked balls and ass and ass-balls all at the same time. Poor voice acting, everythings all fuckin gold all the time and shit. So if I were you dudes, I'd wait to play the game to see if you dig it first, before investing heavily into the fiction.

Human Revolution could literally be a steaming pile of dog shit in a box... and I'd still get it.

Wait but how would you play it? I've never seen shit steam. What color is the steam? How come you're so intent on that game? Because of the storyline? I'm not trying to judge you, just curious.

@Duckbutter said:

Hey guys, let's try to stay on topic here OK?

I played that leaked version of the new Deus Ex and it sucked balls and ass and ass-balls all at the same time. Poor voice acting, everythings all fuckin gold all the time and shit. So if I were you dudes, I'd wait to play the game to see if you dig it first, before investing heavily into the fiction.

I played the Pre-Alpha and loved it. I would suggest that you dont put balls, ass and ass-balls on your computer screen so you can see that Deus Ex is a really good game

@Duckbutter said:

@Creamypies said:

@Duckbutter said:

Hey guys, let's try to stay on topic here OK?

I played that leaked version of the new Deus Ex and it sucked balls and ass and ass-balls all at the same time. Poor voice acting, everythings all fuckin gold all the time and shit. So if I were you dudes, I'd wait to play the game to see if you dig it first, before investing heavily into the fiction.

Human Revolution could literally be a steaming pile of dog shit in a box... and I'd still get it.

Wait but how would you play it? I've never seen shit steam. What color is the steam? How come you're so intent on that game? Because of the storyline? I'm not trying to judge you, just curious.

Same colour as regular steam. But on a serious note, the original Deus Ex is my all time favourite. So I'm a sucker for anything with that name on it. Plus, the game looks pretty decent from what I've seen of it.

@Duckbutter said:

Hey guys, let's try to stay on topic here OK?

I played that leaked version of the new Deus Ex and it sucked balls and ass and ass-balls all at the same time. Poor voice acting, everythings all fuckin gold all the time and shit. So if I were you dudes, I'd wait to play the game to see if you dig it first, before investing heavily into the fiction.

They're on-topic, considering they're talking about the book or how to get it. You're the one who's off-topic

I also played the leaked version and thought it immediately was a contender for my GOTY 2011, it was that good. Ofcourse, have to wait for the full game to get the full experience, but if a leaked half-finished game can impress me that much they certainly did something right.

Flag the obvious troll and move on.

@Tennmuerti said:

Flag the obvious troll and move on.

I'm not a troll. I genuinely didn't like it. I'm gonna try to play it again though. maybe I missed something.

@Duckbutter: I never pirate a game that i can buy. I have already bought for Deus Ex:HR CE and will be picking it up. After im done with it, the product will be resting my hundreds of games that i have neither pirated or bought used. I will also stop responding to your obvious trolling questions and statements...

The savages that bailed on Deus Ex must be wrong in the head and probably can't even read anyway, which means they can't read this either, so fuck those guys.

I just finished the book a few minutes ago and I really found it quite good...at the very least, a lot better than most other video game novels out there. There are a lot of references to both HR and the original in here that I can appreciate as a huge fan of the series. The story and characters are more fleshed out than I had expected, and the way it ties right into the game is pretty awesome. Of course, with HR coming out tomorrow, going into it with this knowledge fresh in my mind can only serve to enhance the experience, and that's really what I wanted out of it. I've had the book sitting around since it came out and purposely waited until now to read it, and I'm glad I did.

I read it and then returned it. Not a very good read imo.