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blackbird9805's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
heikieesmaa's review against another edition
3.0
It is illogical, somewhat poorly written and cliched. Then again, I love Dunwall, and the standard for PC game tie-ins is really low. What the short and cheap book gives is a few more enjoyable escapist hours in the city I've already spent close to 100 hours in.
fandom4ever's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I discovered Dishonored had a couple books and comics near the end of playing the first game, but as these all take place about a year before the second game I decided to wait until I played through that game as well. I have now learned that you don’t need the second game at all as it contains no story and was clearly a cash-grab, creating a sequel for a game that never needed one. Instead you should just read this book after playing the first game.
Dishonored: The Corroded Man suffers from the ‘don’t share important information with each other to extend the drama’ trope. Emily especially irritated me early on in this regard as the only reason she was hiding info was so no one would know she was sneaking out at night. You’re the freaking Empress try just going out in the daytime to visit the other cities and islands! Then perhaps you’d know what was going on in your Empire! I can understand Corvo’s withholding of information a little more with being the Royal Protector and Spymaster. However, I know he would have shared this same information with Jessamine if she were still alive, so it’s just him being overprotective. And really in fifteen years, he never told Emily that he received the Mark of the Outsider? Why not? I know that the Outsider is considered heresy but it’s his daughter! Instead of having two characters not sharing information amongst each other, why not have them work together to try and solve the mystery? Especially when they both have such different approaches and backgrounds that could play off each other. Indeed if Corvo had shared with Emily that he had been Marked by the Outsider they could have really gotten into good discussions and sleuthing as it was based in that realm.
Despite this, I did enjoy this story. The author succeeded with establishing more character and world-building than the games. Here we learn that the canon playthrough of the first game is indeed the low chaos ending, which is never mentioned in the second game. In these pages we even have mentions of the secondary characters from the first game whereas the second game just pretended they didn’t exist. Hearing about these characters and familiar locations made me connect with the story on a far greater level. Like the fact that Corvo had to attend another Boyle Masquerade but this time as a guest, while remembering his previous visit, had me smiling. I loved the chapters with Corvo and seeing him use the Mark. They were excellently described and really helped elaborate more on the feeling of calling on the power of the Void. It was something that can’t come across in a game mechanic. I also thought the antagonist’s corrupted bone charms were an interesting addition, someone using them against the main characters.
If you liked the first Dishonored game but wished the world had received more depth, then I would recommend you read The Corroded Man. You get to return to the city of Dunwall and the Isles and learn a bit more of that world. It was a fun read.
honeybones's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
laursors's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
alixvk's review
5.0
L'esprit du livre est fidèle au jeu. Le lien entre Corvo et Emily est attachant. Sublime ! Je recommande pour tous les fans de ce merveilleux jeu.
sauce_interstellaire's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
jennbookish's review against another edition
3.0
If you've played the game already then I fully recommend this book. Its mostly the mystery of whoever's behind everything but there is some action and a lot of references to the game if that's what you're looking for.
stonestrewn's review against another edition
1.0
I wanted to enjoy this, I really did, but this was a tedious and annoying read, I'm sorry to say. The Dishonored universe is one I love and I would have been happy if it was just that the writing was clumsy and the plot predictable, but then the author couldn't get the most basic facts right (your chest expands when you breathe in, not out, how do you get this confused?) and wrote Emily in the most paternalistic, pat-on-the-head way possible, and I didn't have a good, or even interesting time. Shame.
shahar_amar's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
good:
-interesting stories and lore about the characters and their backgrounds, but half of them are already deeply explored in the games.
-I liked the usage
of the quotes from documents originally from the game.
bad:
-very predictable plot
-Emily's character is very much written from a male perspective, as in, The emphasis on her
needing to be an empress and a stereotypical feminine ruler,
but also a fighter and assassin, like you can't do both without an emphasis
-the writing in the book explains too much, like I'm a child.
and the metaphors are not very smart or deep as you might expect so that was disappointing. like it felt like there's only predictable action scenes or obvious speculations about the
main antagonist which was boring all throughout the book.
-interesting stories and lore about the characters and their backgrounds, but half of them are already deeply explored in the games.
-I liked the usage
of the quotes from documents originally from the game.
bad:
-very predictable plot
-Emily's character is very much written from a male perspective, as in, The emphasis on her
needing to be an empress and a stereotypical feminine ruler,
but also a fighter and assassin, like you can't do both without an emphasis
-the writing in the book explains too much, like I'm a child.
and the metaphors are not very smart or deep as you might expect so that was disappointing. like it felt like there's only predictable action scenes or obvious speculations about the
main antagonist which was boring all throughout the book.