Reviews

The Fallen by John Shirley

kilcannon's review

2.0

It didn't make me actively angry, for the most part.

fandom4ever's review

adventurous dark funny informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I first read this book a few years ago while in the midst of Borderlands 2. I decided to come back for a second read (and to continue with the other two books) now that I’ve also played Tales from the Borderlands, the Pre-Sequel, and the first game. I enjoyed it a lot more this time because I got a lot more from it. This is a book series that requires you to know about the games and the world established in them: the corporations, the creatures, the people, etc.; otherwise you’ll just be lost. It doesn’t too much explain what you’d already know from a playthrough but rather expands upon your knowledge. This book came out after the first game but before the second released, so the author surely had his work cut out for him with adding story because that first game didn’t do the series any favors. But I’d say he succeeded.

Borderlands: The Fallen takes place before the first game, with Roland having established himself on Pandora but not having met the other three main characters in the first game. A family gets separated and stranded on the planet Pandora. They are the main characters of this story. I found it interesting to read the three different journeys across Pandora to the same location. They each meet different people; who help, hinder, or try to kill them, sometimes all three! But it was cool to see them, just regular people, all try to make their way back to each other on a planet that is made to kill you. The reason they’re on Pandora, the promise of alien artifacts that aren’t Eridian, is enough to keep the plot going as others discover about the site and everyone wants it for themselves. 

While I truly believe that after they got an actual writer, Borderlands is a story of Handsome Jack and without him it’s just not the same, I do recognize that there are interesting things in this world that I wish to know more of such as the back story of the psychos, the history of Pandora, more of the other worlds in this galaxy, and the corporations when they were all big and powerful. This book contained some of all of that and I would definitely recommend this to a fan of the Borderlands series. 

ddeenik's review

adventurous funny tense

3.0

momoxshi's review

adventurous dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

arielkirst's review

A gift from my best friend. Not a bad read! Got into the nitty gritty of Pandora. Lots of animal attacks. Lots of desolation. I wasn't that into the plot, but then one doesn't play Borderlands for the plot, so...