Customer Reviews

Nova (StarCraft Ghost) (Starcraft (Unnumbered))

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

First and foremost, the criticisms that people are listing here that the novel ended strangely are (unfortunately) spot on. The reason for this is that this novel was originally intended to be a prequel to the video game StarCraft: Ghost, which was also set to follow the protagonist, Nova. If anyone is to blame for the awkward ending, it is Blizzard rather than DeCandido -- if you read the beginning of the book, you will even notice that there is an apology included from Blizzard that was pasted in at the last minute.

I have always imagined that Ghosts would be tragic characters. They are overwhelmed at a young age by external emotions and thoughts that they cannot control or understand, typically to such a point that they must drug themselves with "inhibitors" that render them as little more than pharmeceutical slaves to the highest military bidder. This is a depressing existence, and I feel that the mood is perfectly captured in this novel. Nova is a great character, and I deeply enjoyed reading about her genesis. The protagonist is very well developed in this story, and I did feel a distinct and emotional attachment to her. I cared about what happened, which is more than I can say for the characters in most other StarCraft novels.

With the exception of Hickman's Speed of Darkness, Grubb's Liberty's Crusade, and DeCandido's Nova, I would be amazed to find that any of the other StarCraft authors even went so far as to pass an introductory-level Creative Writing course. Stick to the three I just mentioned and you'll be okay ... fans of the series looking forward to StarCraft 2 should also read the Dark Templar series that begins with Firstborn.

I'm a huge Starcraft fan. This book doesn't really have anything to do with the games other than a insight into Novas life who is in Starcraft 2 for one mission. Still was a pretty good book

Overall a good read and even better for anyone familiar with the Starcraft universe. The story wasn't what I expected, but it was engaging and kept me reading all the way through. DeCandido made the characters interesting enough for me to care about what happened. From a literary perspective however, it was a little disappointing with some distracting typos and moments of awkward dialogue. It doesn't have the storytelling power of official Blizzard lore, but overall, it's a fun quick read.

In short: great for Starcraft fans or scifi fans looking for something simple

The book is very well written and is an decent read. However, as a stand-alone product it leaves you wanting.

Blizzard intended this novel to be a "prequel" of sorts to the now canceled game Starcraft: Nova. Because of the circumstances, there's no real ending and the book really doesn't revolve around Nova as much as you'd like but, that being said, it's still an entertaining read. Reading it won't feel like a chore or a waste of time for those fans who feel they have to read every novel, but I will say that you don't necessarily gain much out of this book either. I would not necessarily suggest this book unless you were already familiar with the Starcraft universe or are fans.

I really liked this book. It presented a great backstory to the character nova.

The entire book was about her surrviving in the shaddy part of a big city. There were no epic battles, no intruige, and none of the classic wit of the starcraft franchize. This book seems too much a prequel; the entire book seemed like an introduction. I reached the end and was quite dissapointed that I suffered through the enire plot in search of something good, that couldn't be found. If the game were ever released, then this book would be more bearable, but as it is I would not recomend it to anyone.

This has got to be the worst sci-fi book I've ever read. Reading the symbiosis on the back and seeing the Ghost logo on the front lead me to believe that this would be about the program itself and about one ghost's story of how she became a Ghost operative.

Totally wrong folks. The book is about the character, a young teen named Nova, and her time trying to escape a drug lord in the city. It goes on about her physic abilities and how she doesn't know shes a prime candidate for the ghost program and the cops who are trying to find her but are completely useless in this book. Actually EVERY organization in the book is completely useless. The last chapter deals with Nova on her first mission, which happens to kill the people who hatched the ideal to kidnap her. Also, I know that it is stereotypical for Marines in science fiction to be "KILL KILL KILL, grr, destroy everything in my path, eat babes!!," but geeeez this guy takes it to a whole new level with the Marine mentality which further turns me off.

Boring, terribly written and a totally waste of money. It does absolutely nothing to further add value or tell the reader a whole lot of anything about the Starcraft universe. The only reason I finished it was because it was the only reading material I had while I was on a 24 hour guard shift.

This book wasn't as bad as the critics make it seem. Yes it isn't very "deep" but it was still intriguing to me. Its ashame that the game this was prequel to got cancelled, then the ending would have been a lot better. Overall it was worth the read in my opinion.

This book was more of a 3 and a half stars. It had plenty of good portions but dragged near the end. In the end, I thought more would have ended up happening. Instead, it feels like just as her life starts the book ends. If, and its entirely possible, the game never comes out, I don't suggest you read it because its got too many loose strings at the end.

I played the game and now have read all the books. They are truly a great series and I was suprisingly refreshed since I don't normally read books like this. Now I am replaying the Starcraft 2 campaign with new insight to the "world around me" :-)