Far Cry: Absolution

By: Urban Waite

Narrated by: Mark Bramhall

The official prequel to the latest instalment of the Far Cry video game series.

Hope County, Montana. Land of the free and the brave, but also home to a fanatical doomsday cult known as The Church of Eden’s Gate that has slowly been infiltrating the residents’ daily lives in the past years.

Mary May Fairgrave, a local barkeep, has lost almost everything to the Church: her parents died in suspicious conditions and her brother, entranced by the cult leader’s charismatic words, has vanished. When the authorities refuse to investigate further, she decides to take matters in to her own hands.

Local hunter William Boyd was saved by Eden’s Gate years ago, during the darkest moments of his life. When his duties lead him to cross paths with Mary May, the daughter of one of his old friends, he soon discovers that what is happening in the county is far from what he believed.

Up against an omniscient and dangerous adversary, Mary May stands little chance. But the unexpected intervention of William Boyd will change her journey - as well as his.

©2018 Ubisoft Entertainment (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

great story. had some lore issues. but good

it was really really good. sadly the author and narrator clearly hadn't played the game or researched the characters. the ages of the family were way off and they had redneck accents for some odd reason. Very good story if you can get past those issues.

rating

It is a perfect book and the narrator does an excellent job for the tone of the story.

If your a fan of Far Cry 5

The story is good but the reader is so mono-toned it almost makes it unbearable to listen to.

Insightful!

I grabbed this book to add some depth to the upcoming game Far Cry 5. Little did I know I was purchasing one of the best stories I've read in a LONG time. Truly adds another level to the story of the game, but it's not just something to accompany the game. This book has everything that should allow it to stand alone as a good read regardless of playing the game.

very good listening voice

very good voice for this type of genre. I hope more books come from this series

Good story but generic for gameplay story

From the Litrpg audiobook podcast:


Awright, awright, awright. This is the first official Game Worlds segment, where I look at actual books that are connected in some way to games, be they board or video. So, I’m not sure, but I think Ramon played the clip of me playing some Farcry 5. You can tell it was me because of my massive amount of suckage. I asked my son to record me playing, and he just focused on the game, but it was me. Anyway, it is a fun game, although I do have a hard time driving.
The book, if I can focus on that is a prequel to FC5, and it does a good job of setting things up for you as to what is exactly going on, and what your character in the game will be facing, I actually suggest that you read this before you play, rather than after. That was NOT how I did it, and you can look at it one of two ways. One, I pretty much knew who was and wasn’t going to make it, since dead people tend to not pop up during gameplay in a non-supernatural shooter. So, you won’t wonder who makes it and who doesn’t. Or you can just look at it as a bit of fluff and fun to help flesh out the game world.
I myself feel like the book had much more menace than the game, and it was really dark. The book held no joy. This felt like Deliverance cranked up to 11 with some backwards bumpkins using religion to Ned Beatty the town they lived in. If you know the reference you know what Imma talkin about. If not, look it up. It’ll make this even more creepy.
The book focuses on a fella who is on the fringe of the cult, and has never really become a part of it. He’s ex-military, an expert tracker, and a decent shot. His name is Will, and the story centers on his struggle to come to term with how he maintains a relationship with the insane cult in spite of his self denial of what they do. He knows they aren’t right in their heads, but can’t quite seem to step away from them either. Now, you can look at the book one of two ways. First is that it is just fluff meant to build up some stuff to flesh out your understanding of what the goes on in the game, or you can look at it as a nice stand alone novel. See, the book really doesn’t fill you in on what you’d expect, which would maybe be the rise of John Seed and how he garnered so much power. That is only tangently explained at best, and centers on how the cult began to exert its power.
The book, to me, is pretty powerful and well written. I enjoyed many aspects, when I really just expected fluff. I think Urban Waite is a great writer, who knows how to channel perspective filled with emotion. The only downside to the novel is that it doesn’t really have much to do with the gameplay. No big reveals or revelations, no impact at all. A few name changes and it could have been a novel unto itself. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the book, but it did have a generic feel to it. It wasn’t exactly specific to Far Cry, unlike a book about 5 nights at freddy’s would have to be.
The narration fits the storyline. It sounds like it is being told from the perspective of a grizzled old Vietnam vet who pretty much just wants to live alone and forget the world outside of him. The problem is that while it completely fits the character of Will, it can also come across as more than a little monotone to some people. While I enjoyed it, I have to admit that the direction to use Will’s voice for the entire novel might have been a bad idea.
Overall, I do believe the story is worthwhile, especially if you want to get a better idea of events that transpire just prior to you starting out as a nameless deputy. As a tie in though, I have to say that the tale, while really well written, is fairly generic in the manner that it could have been a novel unto itself with a few changes here and there and just told great story about an average everyday doomsday cult.
I’d say that if you like Far Cry then give it a listen and enjoy. If not then the book probably won’t provide much interest because it really had no game play elements to it at all. You’d never know that it was set in a Game World.

A nice tie-in with well-written characters

About 70% finished with the game, I decided to take a break to listen to the book. It definitely kept my interest throughout, though there were certain elements it didn't have that I wish it had contained (there's little or no mention of Faith, or the Angels). I'd also echo what I saw others say that I wish it had had more history of Hope County and the cult itself. But even so, a good read and good tie-in - just the other day I stumbled onto the protagonist Will Boyd's cabin in the game, which was a cool way to make it all feel connected.

I Was Expecting Guy Ritchie and Got Harlan Coben

This was a very different experience than I expected. Going into a Far Cry Novel I was expecting dark humor and graphic violence. It was quite the opposite. While occasionally violent it never seamed graphic. And I don't believe there was much if any humor to be found. Instead I found surprisingly deep prose and a western feeling adventure novel that felt more like a gritty noir than a novel based an a video game. It wasn't a bad novel it just wasn't what I was hoping for going in. I'm sure many will enjoy it.

Mark Bramhall did an excellent job narrating and had the perfect voice for these characters.

Well written

A nice intro to Hope Co. Anxious to load my rifle and head out to help Mary May.

Wasted Opportunity

This could have done a deep dive into the origins of the Seed family, but chose to keep it super small scale. I fell asleep multiple times. :)

Love how they do this for games, but I was looking for more history. Thanks!