Book Review Jones: Aspho Fields
Posted by Joe Roche on 11.04.2008
With the release of Gears of War 2 right around the corner one of 411's resident Gears of War fanboys Joe Roche of The Full Circle decided to sit down with the new Gears of War novel "Aspho Fields" and give his first book report since middle school. Karen Traviss shines a light on the history of some of your favorite Gears of War characters and takes you across time as we learn about a secret that might just stretch two longtime friends to their breaking point. Is this novel just a way to capitalize on the release of Gears 2, or should you spend time reading about the battle of Aspho Fields? Find out inside.
Gears of War: Aspho Fields
Author: Karen Traviss
Publisher: DelRey Books/Ballantine Books
Released: October 28th, 2008
Pages: 385
Warning: I am going to do my best to write this review without giving away ANY spoilers. However, what I consider spoilers and what you consider spoilers might differ. With that in mind I just warn you that I will not give away anything that I consider major, but you still might want to tread lightly.
I've searched high and low across those tabs on the top of your browser for the 411Books section and I still can't find it (probably been merged with Movies/TV), so with that in mind I will tread forward without much guidance to shine some light on a book that all Gears of War fans should absolutely pick up. Without further ado allow me to welcome you all the first (and potentially last) episode of the Book Review Jones.
With a scant few days/hours/minutes until Gears of War 2 becomes available for everyone not named Rod Oracheski the folks at Ballantine and Del Rey books finally got around to releasing that Gears of War novel that we've been hearing so much about. Originally rumored to be called "The Pendulum Wars" to be written by Stephen Kent this book went through some growing pains until everyone universally agreed on "Aspho Fields" authored by Karen Traviss. For those who don't know (and I didn't) Karen Traviss is a New York Times Bestselling author (although so is Mick Foley), who has written many books in the Star War franchise. She was an interesting choice to pen the first Gears novel and some people questioned whether or not she was the right person for the job. I can say affirmatively that she absolutely was.
The cover of the book proclaims it to be "the official prequel to the award winning video game" and in a sense it is. Although the story does cover a period of time prior to Marcus being sprung from prison by Dom, it does so much more then that. The book starts with C Company post Lightmass bomb, and dances back and forth between Marcus and Dom's childhood, the early stages of their respective COG careers and the present day post Lightmass bomb Sera. I'm sure that you can already see this book covers a lot of ground, but it does so in a manageable way that allows you to really understand the intersection of these characters lives.
I guess this is as good a time as any to explain who the characters in this particular story are. Obviously it'd be difficult at this early stage of the Gears world to have a story without Marcus and Dom, so they're clearly two of the major players. During the period of time where we pick up after the game ended you'll get a little more in depth with the other C Company members Cole and Baird. With them you'll also meet a few new faces including a returning figure from the Marcus and Dom's past, Sergeant Bernie Mataki as well Victor Hoffman (from the first game, and the man responsible for Marcus being in prison) and Tai Kaliso.
I should explain before getting into the review much deeper that none of the story is told through the eyes of Marcus. Apparently one of the rules that Epic had in dealing with the Gears novel was that the story could not be told through the first person account of Marcus. It makes sense when you read the book, because he is the main character and to really appreciate him it makes more sense to do so through second hand knowledge instead of just having his entire psyche flood onto the page. Marcus is gruff yet sympathetic and we learn that through other people's first hand account of him, instead of his own thoughts. If this was a first person tale, he'd only be sympathetic and that would ruin some of the character development that Epic has spent time cultivating.
The segments that take place post Lightmass bomb are really interesting because it sees the world after you left the game. I won't talk about exactly what is happening and what C Company is doing but there is a lot revealed about Cole, Baird, and Hoffman during these periods that you didn't get from the game – and it adds a lot to their characters. After you finish reading this book you will love Cole even more, although you'll understand that his exterior might not be exactly as happy-go-lucky as you thought. You'll also hate Baird for being a mouthy brat, but respect his abilities and understand why Marcus puts up with him, and finally you'll see some depth to the relationship between Hoffman and Marcus, and even feel a bit of sympathy for Hoffman which didn't seem possible during the early stages of the Gears video game. The other interesting development that you see is Mataki who had been gone for fourteen years as she tries to readjust to life as a Gear. There is a scene where she uses the Lancer chainsaw blade for the first time, and believe me when I say that Karen Traviss probably spent more time then was necessary researching how a chainsaw effects a chest cavity.
"Bernie thought of the chainsaw bayonette, and realized that stripping down and cleaning a rifle was a whole new game these days. Marcus was using an old toothbrush on the blades. He'd disassembled the whole chainsaw feed and was digging out connective tissue that had wound itself around the chain."
The bulk of this story though takes place in the past. Early on you get a glimpse into the childhood of our favorite characters including how Marcus wound up befriending the Santiago family. The friendship really centers on Marcus and his classmate Carlos Santiago, Dom's older brother who stood up for a scrawny Marcus Fenix on his first day at their new school (although it turns out scrawny Marcus could handle himself). Carlos is really the central figure of this novel, and his relationship with Marcus is not just one of friendship – Marcus is an honorary Santiago brother (this is important). We get some light shed on the upperclass life of the Fenix family, and some understanding of the relationship, or lack thereof between Marcus and his father Adam. We also get a passing mention of a young girl who moves in next door to the Santiago's, a girl who likes to climb trees and who the youngest Santiago – eight year old Dominic has a curiosity about. Her name is Maria, and if you know anything about Gears of War 2 she becomes a relatively important character down the road.
Traviss does a really solid job of making us see these characters as children. To see how they form a friendship and how Marcus really slides right into the Santiago family becoming brothers with Dom and Carlos, and a surrogate son to their parents. He spends an inordinate amount of time at the Santiago home hearing about how great Dom and Carlos' fathers time as a Gear was. Carlos has made up his mind that when he turns 18 he will join the Gears, and fight in the Pendulum Wars which have been going on for something like 70 years. Marcus, the son of Adam Fenix is wealthy – extremely wealthy, and intelligent but he won't join the officer corps as his father hopes. Instead we learn about the scene of Marcus telling his father that he was enlisting to join the Gears with Carlos.
The other Santiago brother isn't really interested in the Gears, he is smart and his parents want him to excel in school. Things change though when as a sixteen year old he gets Maria pregnant, and asks her to marry him. Instead of school, Dom enlists but doesn't head off with Marcus and Carlos. Instead Dom is a Commando under Hoffman (surprise!). So the story forks into two different tales, that of Dom Santiago the young Commando with the wife and son (Benedicto, also his brother Carlos' middle name), and the pregnant wife with their second child on the way, and Marcus and Carlos – the front line fighting Gears.
In an interesting twist one of the people drilling the Commando's in survival in the wild is Bernie Mataki. This leads to one of the more interesting parts of the story where Mataki teaches the Commandos to kill a live chicken, something they all have a difficult time doing. This leads to some introspection from Dom who wonders why a chicken is so hard to kill, but he won't flinch when in battle with another person ("the chicken isn't fighting back").
Much of the story is spent on Marcus and Carlos, mainly showing how they really do treat one another like brothers, there is a deep "love" between the two of them and Traviss does a good job of highlighting that. We see how Marcus tries to protect Carlos, and make up for the mistakes in judgment that he makes when he becomes restless or irrational. It's clear through the middle portion of this novel that Carlos is a hothead. Meanwhile, we do see Dom and his training, how he continues to keep in constant contact with Marcus and Carlos but how he is a deeply devoted family man with his son, and wife. The Dom portion of the story does two things that I like – first it shows how much Maria and his family meant to Dom, but it also shows how much he kept Marcus and Carlos in his thought as all times a dichotomy that I believe will be even further developed in Gears 2 as Dom continues his search for Maria.
The central focus of this novel revolves around Aspho Fields (hence the title) which is a strategic scientific outpost of the UIR. This place becomes important because of what is being developed at this facility, a weapon that many believe is so powerful that it will not only change the face of war but it will end the Pendulum Wars almost immediately. Adam Fenix is integral in piecing together exactly how powerful this weapon could potentially be, and his involvement even in the face of knowing that his son will be one of the ground troops used in the siege of Aspho Fields (and never divulging his knowledge to Marcus) helps to develop the distance between Marcus and his father. The moment that this all powerful weapon's name is revealed was a mark out moment for me because it brought out how important this book was to the canon of the universe which I fell in love with in the original Gears of War. For those of you still reading who can't figure it out – Aspho Fields is the research facility where the Hammer of Dawn was developed.
So the story follows Marcus and Carlos as they participate in their portion of the raid mission. Their job is to remain on the perimeter to act as a barrier to the actual facility which will be raided by Commando's. The intel that is available (which is sketchy at best) shows little military support for the Aspho facility so Marcus and Carlos believe it'll be quick landing followed by a quick extraction without anyone knowing they were there. Obviously if you've played the original Gears (Carmine: "you were at Aspho Fields? Awesome", Marcus: "Not really") you already know things don't exactly go according to plan. The battle that rages at Aspho Fields is described in great detail, and Traviss really does a good job of creating suspense and the feeling that a massive battle is taking place. Marcus establishes himself as the alpha dog by doing something so awesome that even his fellow comrades couldn't believe it was possible.
Meanwhile as I'm sure you guessed Dom is part of the Commando team with Hoffman and a group of Pesanga troops who will perform the invasion to steal the intel. First and foremost the Pesanga's are new to the universe and they are awesome, just trust me on that. The raid does not go according to plan both which I am sure is to be expected, and Dom must prove himself as a great solider by saving just about everyone. This is something he can't wait to relay to his brothers Marcus and Carlos when they are scheduled to arrive on the Pomeroy (the boat that brought the Commando's to the battle). Of course this is where the story takes on a much heavier tone, because if you know anything about this book you know that Carlos Santiago dies at the Battle of Aspho Fields. I don't consider this to be a spoiler of much magnitude because it's on the cover of the novel, but if I just ruined the whole book for you I apologize.
The death of Carlos Santiago is important and I won't ruin things for you because it remains shrouded in mystery (a mystery that is stirred up when Bernie Mataki who was there at his death shows up in the post Lightmass world). What I will reveal is that the death of Carlos shows how fragile Marcus really is, and brings the normally emotionless lead character back to the human level. Marcus and Dom are brothers, and they both lost a brother – so to see them deal with it really adds a new level of depth to both of their characters.
"If finding Maria for him cost my life, it's a price I'd pay. Do you understand that?"
Trust me when I say that there is so much depth in this story that it'd be criminal for a true Gears of War fan to skip out on the book. I realize that 385 pages might seem like a lot, but I read the entire thing in two days. You simply cannot put this book down. I will finish my review of the book with the epilogue because you really should read it before you sit down on Friday with Gears of War 2. The entire post Lightmass bomb portion of the book focuses on how the Gears really aren't sure if the Locust are gone. Their numbers have been down when they have shown up, and it's generally the same type of Locust when they do arrive. So there is some hope that they've disappeared – a fact that Baird tries to dissuade people from believing in. Well the epilogue establishes pretty severely that they're still around, and they might be more dangerous now then ever before.
Final Word: I can not recommend this book more strongly for any fan of the Gears of War universe. My major complaint from the original game was the lack of depth in the story which I know has been addressed in the second game, but this is almost 400 pages of nothing but character development and back story. I am certain that this book will do for the Gears of War franchise what the Halo books have been able to do for that world, and I remain hopeful that this book is successful enough to warrant many more to come down the line. I would be willing to bet that there isn't a single Gears of War fan who will pick up this book and not like it when they finish the final page, I'd bet my reputation (which of course isn't worth much) on it.
