Deus Ex: Icarus Effect is a book that has been haunting my reading dreams for years. But finally, I found it for a reasonable price in a second-hand store. It’s a prequel to the excellent game Deus Ex: Human Revolution, that takes place before, and during the events of the game. So, was it worth the wait? Yes, absolutely, seeing as the story from a stand-alone viewpoint is already good with interesting characters and plot. However, the main pull is the world-building and additional lore to the Deus Ex franchise. On that note, it’s excellent, and I would almost consider it a mandatory read, if you, like me, love the mythos of the series and want to know more about the mysterious men and women in it.
The author
Before we dive into the story, I just have to point out something I found fascinating about the author of this book. Usually, gaming related books are given to a third-party writer, but in the case of Deus Ex, James Swallow has been involved in every part of the modern Deus Ex games, and the additional reading material, like this book. He is listed as an external game writer for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the Missing Link DLC and Deus Ex: The Fall. When it comes to the sequel game Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, he is listed as the game writer. I assume he was the main writer on that one with the change of title.
Then we have all the books, and novellas, in which he has also written:
- Deus Ex: Icarus Effect [prequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution & Deus Ex: The Fall]
- Deus Ex: Fallen Angel [novella – prequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution]
- Deus Ex: Black Light [prequel to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided]
- Deus Ex: Hard Line [novella – prequel to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided]
Very impressive work, and it would explain why the games, and the books (the one I have read so far) feels so consistent throughout. This should be applauded because it shows dedication to the story, which is something more developers and publishers should strive for. How many times have we played a sequel, or a prequel for a game, where the characters feel like nothing like how they are portrayed in the earlier titles? If that is not enough, retcons are also unfortunately very common. It makes the whole process of seeking out supplementary knowledge pointless, since stuff changes willy-nilly going from game, or book to the next. Thankfully, care went into this franchise, and from what I can tell, nothing feels out of place.
Icarus
In the story of Deus Ex: Icarus Effect, we get to follow the two protagonists Anna Kelso and Ben Saxon. Kelso is an agent working for the Secret Service when her squad gets wiped out by the shadowy murder hit-squad, The Tyrants. Being a lone-survivor she is racked with guilt, and starts to dive deeper into the supposed hit, and what she finds is not pleasant, nor good for her health. This leads her down a path where everything she knows must be questioned, even the agency she works for.
Saxon has a similar fate as Kelso, by being the lone-survivor of a disastrous mission that ends with everyone dead, except for him. Instead of seeking out what happened to him and his squad, like Kelso, he is contacted and recruited by The Tyrants. Primed by his disappointment with the mercenary life and its failures, he sees this as an opportunity to do something good with his life, and a chance to change the world towards something positive. However, this new life as an elite soldier in The Tyrants is not what it seemed to be initially, which makes Saxon question their motives. His deep-rooted feelings of honor and duty as a soldier quickly catches up to him, and something must be done…
And wouldn’t you know it. The veil of destiny has written that these two poor souls must rendezvous, and together be thrown into the deep-end of a pool filled with conspiracies and murders.
Plot of the future
While I found the general plot, and fate of Kelso and Saxon a fun action packed conspiracy riddled deep-dive read, it’s the extra tidbits from knowing the games that really captivated me. Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a great title that I rated an incredibly rare five out of five here on site, but it has a few complications. For example, it does very little to explain the universal theme of the games, or exactly what the bad guys want, or who they are. This could be deliberate, which I think it is to be fair, but it leaves big chunks of the mystery just floating around, making it hard to see the bigger picture. This is probably also part of the prequel curse, considering what happens after the two modern Deus Ex games; the bad guys win. However, Deus Ex: Icarus Effect explains the puppeteers and their agenda, with the Majestic 12 even being mentioned by name several times.
That’s not all, the novel also has you following The Tyrants, and with that making actual characters out of some of these agents of destruction, namely Namir. Very little is told about these dudes in the game, while also being the main antagonists for the most part of it. It’s a bit of a miss, to be honest, but the book rectify this problem. There is even a bone thrown, character-wise, here for the real Deus Ex veterans in the form of Gunther Hermann, with him being directly involved in some of the action. If you compare the book to the game, it truly feels like you’re playing catch-up, putting out random fires caused by the Illuminati. Instead of ever getting the chance to do something solid about them, or even knowing much about them to begin with. Once again, it’s not a bad thing, but it has me curious. And there is even more to this aspect, since the book brings up the enigmatic hacker Janus, and the Juggernaut Collective – pivotal characters/groups in the struggle that you never interact with until the Missing Link DLC and the sequel, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.
I find it entirely fascinating in how the main character you play as in the games are for the most part kept in the shadows about the activities of the bad guys. While the characters you follow in the first book know how things are laid out. Also, it’s intriguing how the novel is not shying away from just telling you what Illuminati has planned for all of mankind. The whole augmentation problem is also clearly stated from the perspective of the Majestic 12, which from what I remember was not that clear in the game. This is all gold, if you enjoy the lore, and want to know more of the specific characters involved in the battle for the future.
Direct sequel
Deus Ex: Icarus Effect is a prequel to Deus Ex: Human Revolution, as has been stated. Yet, that is not everything, as the book surprisingly enough got a direct sequel in the form of the game Deus Ex: The Fall. Now, the rating over at Steam is horrible, resting at “mostly negative”. Regardless, I’m ready to give it a go, seeing as I think most of the negative reviews comes from it being a mobile-port initially. And a poor one at that, but apparently stuff has improved somewhat since then. Anyway, I bought it for one buck, thinking more of the wonderful world of Deus Ex can’t be a bad thing, right? So you can look forward to that review some time in future!
Conclusion
Deus Ex: Icarus Effect is a superb book that I think should be a required read if you care about the franchise. Not because it’s necessary to understand Deus Ex: Human Revolution, no, because it adds so much to the universe, and explains plot lines and characters that remain hidden in the games. It essentially works as an enchantment of it. You can argue that this should not have been be left out of the games, that are the so-called “main event” of the franchise. However, Deus Ex: Human Revolution goes around this problem by having its story not involve the grand conspiracy in the same capacity. You can say it’s more of a personal story about Adam Jensen, with him seeking revenge for what happened to him and Megan Reed. The book, and the game share parts of the major plot points, but it never reaches the same level of knowledge about the major events and players as the novel. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided goes deeper into this aspect, but I feel that the modern Deus Ex games never fully embraces the tinfoil-hat conspiracy rabbit hole like the original title Deus Ex.
You can view that how you want, of course. I think the games and now (the one) book works well together and creates an entertaining complete work of art. It’s a hell of a romp that will eventually lead up to the dystopian future of the original and its sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War. It’s just a shame that the prequel era tale of Deus Ex games is not yet entirely finished story-wise, since we don’t have a definitive end to the Adam Jensen saga. But that’s for another time!
Thanks for reading.
/Thomas
Tom's Gaming Vault 