Instead, Evenson wisely writes the book as a self-contained narrative, one that ties into the larger story whilst remaining entertaining and self-contained in its own right. Over 400 pages long, Dead Space: Martyr seemingly has no interest in offering mere fan service. Although most of the supporting characters are underdeveloped (a trio of goons known as Tim, Tom and Terry feel particularly out of place) Altman himself is an engaging protagonist, likeable and resourceful, slowly working his way towards a bleak destiny and cursed legacy.Īlthough the action is set firmly on Earth, Evenson manages to evoke the terror of the ‘USG Ishimura’ and the ‘Sprawl’ from the games by setting the latter parts of the novel onboard a floating compound that extends deep beneath the water, offering enough claustrophobia and isolation to make the inevitable last-act Necromorph outbreak sufficiently horrifying. Instead of staying religiously close to the source material and offering plasma-cutting monster combat as its main ingredient, it chooses instead to delve deep into the character of Michael Altman, a figure who was largely shrouded in mystery throughout the games. This is a somewhat surprising book because it doesn’t simply regurgitate what happened in the games. Geophysicist Michael Altman begins to investigate the signal and soon becomes involved in a complex web of government cover-ups, secret military operations and a dangerous alien artefact that could change the face of humanity forever… Deep beneath the Yucatán Peninsula, a signal has started to emit from a mysterious Black Marker, causing headaches, nightmares and even death. The novel tells the origin story of the Black Marker, the Church of Unitology and the legendary Michael AltmanĪlthough the exact time and place is kept purposely vague, Dead Space: Martyr is set a couple of hundred years from now, in and around the Chicxulub crater in Mexico. Others, well, they tend not to represent the franchise and are little more than a cash cow for the publishers.ĭead Space : Martyr I am happy to say is the former, a chilling novel which builds convincing atmosphere slowly with memorable characters. Bringing out new nuances and situations, broadening the game world and characters for the players – or introducing them to potential new fans. There’s some fantastic examples of authors taking the established and sometimes unique themes of a game and running with them.

Books based on videogames have a somewhat ‘dodgy’ reputation.

Dead space martyr book