The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The purpose of any fiction based within a game world should be to illustrate the core setting such that it entices the potential reader into becoming player of said game. For the player who already does play, then it should evoke what they have found to enjoy in their game so far. One final use for game fiction is to actually drive a game’s universe, of which the Battletech novels are perhaps the leading example.

The problem for Richard E. Dansky’s Chosen of the Sun, the first part of the ‘Trilogy of the Second Age’ and the first fiction released to support White Wolf’s Exalted RPG, is that it does none of these. The series will continue with Beloved of the Dead and Children of the Dragon. After reading the first book, I have no real idea about the setting for Exalted; I gain sense of its flavour, but most definitely not the setting or even much of the background…

The focus for Chosen of the Sun is not the world, but a number of characters. The first is Eliezer Wren, priest and ex-Guildsman, whose curiosity leads him into killing a favoured servant of the Prince of Shadows. This sets a less favoured servant upon his tail, Ratcatcher, who may be anathema. Along the way, Ratcatcher comes across a young tomb raider within the bowls of Qut Toloc, the catacombs below the isolated village of Boneford. Although Ratcatcher spares Yushuv’s life in return for showing him the way out of the tombs, by the time the young boy has also got out, Ratcatcher has put the village to the sword and the flame.

Prior to this, Yushev had taken a weapon from Qut Toloc and sold it to a travelling Guild factor, thinking it to be gold. It is not, but is made of Orichalum, as is the matching sword also hidden in Qut Toloc. This set belonged to something or someone buried deep in the tombs and is the reason for the name of the village. Both the Church and the Prince of Shadows are interested in these weapons.

The problem with Chosen of the Sun is that after reading it, I have visited several places, but have no idea how far they are from each other -- a map could have helped, but there is none. I have no idea how the current nature of the world came to be. Essentially, there is no exposition bar a paragraph or two throughout the whole of the book. The book reads almost like a prequel, and considering that this is not a Robert Jordan or L. Ron Hubbard leviathan-like train of books, but a trilogy in three parts, it feels as if the trilogy has barely started…

As an aside, this book does need editing in places. The typographical errors are not enough to disrupt the reading of the book, but they are obvious and they are the type that could have been picked with a simple spell check.

The sense of Exalted I get from this book is sort of a cross between FASA’s Earthdawn RPG and M. A. R. Barker’s Empire of the Petal Throne, but put through a filter of anime and the Final Fantasy CRPG series. It is intriguing, as I like this kind of setting, but the author fails to bring it all together. At the end of the first part, we should be asking what’s going to happen next, not what’s going on…

Having read this book the reader should be going, “Wow! This sounds like a great setting, I must rush out and buy this game” and not, “This could be interesting, but do I really have to buy the RPG to work out where this is happening?” This clearly is not a book for the potential purchaser of the Exalted RPG. If it is, well, oh dear… If you happen to have Exalted, this might just give an indication of how the game is played, but do you need that?

In the author’s defence, the characters are all well drawn and described, it is just that I dislike the feeling of being in Yushev’s shoes and not have any idea of what’s going on, and that is with the advantage of reading the rest of Chosen of the Sun.

Will I be back to read the next part?

Possibly, but not probably…

Chosen of the Sun
Chosen of the Sun Playtest Review by Matthew Pook on 19/04/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 2 (Sparse) Imparts a flavor of the world, but none of the sense or setting. Product: Chosen of the Sun Author: Richard E. Dansky Category: Novel Company/Publisher: White Wolf Publishing Line: Exalted Cost: $6.50 Page count: 286 Year published: 2001 ISBN: 1-58846-800-3 SKU: WW10080 Comp copy?: yes Playtest Review by Matthew Pook on 19/04/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	The purpose of any fiction based within a game world should be to illustrate the core setting such that it entices the potential reader into becoming player of said game. For the player who already does play, then it should evoke what they have found to enjoy in their game so far. One final use for game fiction is to actually drive a game’s universe, of which the *Battletech* novels are perhaps the leading example. The problem for Richard E. Dansky’s *Chosen of the Sun, the first part of the ‘Trilogy of the Second Age’ and the first fiction released to support White Wolf’s Exalted RPG, is that it does none of these. The series will continue with Beloved of the Dead* and *Children of the Dragon. After reading the first book, I have no real idea about the setting for Exalted; I gain sense of its flavour, but most definitely not the setting or even much of the background… The focus for Chosen of the Sun is not the world, but a number of characters. The first is Eliezer Wren, priest and ex-Guildsman, whose curiosity leads him into killing a favoured servant of the Prince of Shadows. This sets a less favoured servant upon his tail, Ratcatcher, who may be anathema. Along the way, Ratcatcher comes across a young tomb raider within the bowls of Qut Toloc, the catacombs below the isolated village of Boneford. Although Ratcatcher spares Yushuv’s life in return for showing him the way out of the tombs, by the time the young boy has also got out, Ratcatcher has put the village to the sword and the flame. Prior to this, Yushev had taken a weapon from Qut Toloc and sold it to a travelling Guild factor, thinking it to be gold. It is not, but is made of Orichalum, as is the matching sword also hidden in Qut Toloc. This set belonged to something or someone buried deep in the tombs and is the reason for the name of the village. Both the Church and the Prince of Shadows are interested in these weapons. The problem with Chosen of the Sun* is that after reading it, I have visited several places, but have no idea how far they are from each other -- a map could have helped, but there is none. I have no idea how the current nature of the world came to be. Essentially, there is no exposition bar a paragraph or two throughout the whole of the book. The book reads almost like a prequel, and considering that this is not a Robert Jordan or L. Ron Hubbard leviathan-like train of books, but a trilogy in three parts, it feels as if the trilogy has barely started… As an aside, this book does need editing in places. The typographical errors are not enough to disrupt the reading of the book, but they are obvious and they are the type that could have been picked with a simple spell check. The sense of *Exalted* I get from this book is sort of a cross between FASA’s *Earthdawn RPG* and M. A. R. Barker’s *Empire of the Petal Throne, but put through a filter of anime and the Final Fantasy* CRPG series. It is intriguing, as I like this kind of setting, but the author fails to bring it all together. At the end of the first part, we should be asking what’s going to happen next, not what’s going on… Having read this book the reader should be going, “Wow! This sounds like a great setting, I must rush out and buy this game” and not, “This could be interesting, but do I really have to buy the RPG to work out where this is happening?” This clearly is not a book for the potential purchaser of the Exalted RPG. If it is, well, oh dear… If you happen to have *Exalted, this might just give an indication of how the game is played, but do you need that? In the author’s defence, the characters are all well drawn and described, it is just that I dislike the feeling of being in Yushev’s shoes and not have any idea of what’s going on, and that is with the advantage of reading the rest of Chosen of the Sun*. Will I be back to read the next part? Possibly, but not probably…