"Alan Wake" novelization (2010) by Rick Burroughs REVIEW

As a fan of the video game Alan Wake and also an avid reader, when I had learned a novelization of the game was made, I couldn't resist buying a copy and reading it.

Best-selling novelist Alan Wake has been suffering from writer's block for the past two years. In hopes to cure it, Alan and his wife, Alice, go on a vacation to a small remote town called Bright Falls. Shortly after arriving in their cabin, a force of darkness kidnaps Alice and Alan wakes up in a car crash almost two weeks later. Trying to wrap his head around the scenario, Alan soon finds himself a target to the force of darkness, possessing the people of Bright Falls to stop him from saving his wife. It's a horror story Alan is unsure he could overcome and a mystery he seems to have written in a manuscript he has no memory of.

I was ecstatic to start the book, but, unfortunately, I am a bit disappointed. For a book that praises creative storytelling, the writing of the book falls a little above basic quality. There is a lack of detail in the narrative, not really describing the setting or the characters too well. This is also a problem when it comes to the action sequences written in the book; they lack the thrill and the tension the game had created so well. Thankfully, the last third of the book gets better, where the story becomes more complex and nearing its conclusion (which is a bit anti-climatic for fans of the game). Also, there are a few similes that I found weird (furniture floating around the room like cotton candy?).

The writing is the only problem with the novelization, whereas everything else is a plus. The book contains deleted scenes and an extended ending that are not in the game and clears up mysteries that were left to the players to solve, albeit those answers come off as anti-climatic. Even if you have not played the game (which I highly recommend doing so), you may still find enjoyment in this book because of the plot.

Much like Flashforward by Robert J. Sawyer, the writing makes it feel like a paperback you could buy at the grocery store for a few bucks, but that doesn't mean you won't enjoy it.

3/5 Stars

You can purchase your copy from Amazon here!

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