In March 2010, Oliver Bowden published the first novel in the Assassin's Creed set of novels. It's a tie-in to the events of the game Assassin's Creed II, stars Ezio Auditore da Firenze as he takes up the responsibilities of being an Assassin in Renaissance Italy, taking us from Firenze (Florence) to Monteriggioni to San Gimignano to Venice to Forli as Ezio hunts down those responsible for killing his family. Synopsis: "I will seek vengeance upon those who betrayed my family. I am Ezio Auditore da Firenze. I am an Assassin . . ." Betrayed by the ruling families of Italy, a young man embarks upon an epic quest for vengeance. To eradicate corruption and restore his family's honor, he will learn the art of the Assassins. Along the way, Ezio will call upon the wisdom of such great minds as Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolò Machiavelli--knowing that survival is bound to the skills by which he must live. To his allies, he will become a force for change--fighting for freedom and justice. To his enemies, he will become a threat dedicated to the destruction of the tyrants abusing the people of Italy. So begins an epic story of power, revenge, and conspiracy. Truth Will Be Written In Blood.
First, let it be noted that Bowden has taken extreme liberties with the game. Unlike the game, certain things don't happen at all, such as Ezio sending money back to rebuild Monteriggioni, taking away Ezio's eagle vision to spot targets, rewriting the ending. But he does include the down-load content such as the Battle of Forli and the Bonfire of the Vanities, as well as adding in the Cristina flashbacks. Note: he does change Cristina's last name from Vespucci to Calfucci, changes Dante Moro's ex-wife's name from Carlotta to Gloria, got rid of the Sword and Armor of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, and had all the codex pages limited to being found on the Templars. No mention is made of Minerva's message to Desmond Miles--instead, Bowden treats it as if it doesn't happen.
The novel opens in Firenze (Florence) with Ezio, preparing his men for a fight with Vieri de' Pazzi and his men, is hit in the forehead with a rock by Vieri (note: in the game, Ezio got hit in the upper lip). After a very brief fight, Ezio's brother, Federico, appears and has Ezio loot the bodies of Vieri's men, then takes him to a doctor to heal his wound; it's during this that Ezio recalls the first time he met Cristina and how he fought Vieri because the young Pazzi was harassing her. Ezio sneaks into the "Calfucci" house and sleeps with Cristina. In the morning, after being chased off by her father, Ezio returns to the Auditore house, where he's sent on a number of quests--beating up Duccio, Claudia's cheating fiance; collecting feathers for Petruccio, the youngest Auditore; and delivering letters to Lorenzo de' Medici, warning him of a conspiracy against the Duke of Milan (note: the game has it as a plot against Lorenzo)--before helping his mother bring over a painting done by Leonardo da Vinci. Later, Ezio delivers letter to three people--a mercenary, a thief and his courtesan companion--then retrieve a letter warning Giovanni--Ezio's father--about the Pazzi family moving that night. Ezio returns home to send Claudia and Maria to the housemaid's sister. Once that's done, he goes and sees his father, but is warned off and told to find a chest in Giovanni's office. Ezio finds the Italian Assassin robes and a broken hidden blade. He runs to Uberto Alberti for help, but the man betrays him and has his father and brothers hanged, while Rodrigo Borgia watches on; Ezio attempts to fight, but ends up running for his life. He finds Cristina and tells her what's happened; she agrees to help Ezio burn his father and brothers bodies, then asks her to go with him, but she refuses. Returning to find Anneta, she takes him to her sister Paola who teaches him how to blend in with the crowd. Then, she sends him to Leonardo to have the gifted man repair the broken blade. Once that's done, and the Codex page inside it deciphered, Ezio hunts down Uberto and slits his throat, then declares that the Auditore family isn't dead. He's promptly chased off and goes back to Paola's courtesan house where they make their escape to Monteriggioni.
Vieri's waiting for them and tries to attack, but Mario Auditore--Ezio's uncle--drives him off. Ezio sends Claudia and Maria to a nunnery (in the game, Mario welcomes them into Monteriggioni), then trains with Mario. Ezio wants to travel farther, but ends up helping Mario invade San Gimignano to kill Vieri, who's a Templar working for Rodrigo Borgia; Ezio kills Vieri and retrieves another Codex. He learns about the history of the Templars and Assassins from Mario, then takes the Codex pages to Leonardo, who tells Ezio that there are new ways to assassinate people. Ezio then tracks down La Volpe (in the book, he's called Gilberto) and finds out where the Pazzi are hiding, then learns that there's a conspiracy to take over the Republic of Florence by the Pazzi, supplied by the Barbarigo family in Venice, and supported by others, and led by Rodrigo. They plan on killing Lorenzo de' Medici during church, but Ezio foils their plans. Ezio helps Lorenzo get to his safehouse, then find and kills Vieri's father, Francesco, and hangs him as a warning to the elder Pazzi, Jacopo. Jacopo and his allies (Bernardo Baroncelli, Stefano da Bagnone, Francesco Salviati, and Antonio Maffei) flee to San Gimignano where Ezio spends a few years hunting and killing them all, except for Jacopo. Jacopo meets with Rodrigo and Emilio Barbarigo and both promptly severely wound Jacopo. Ezio delivers the killing blow after kissing Jacopo on the forehead. Ezio then goes back to Florence and finds out that Cristina's engaged to a man who gambles, but Ezio sets him straight. Then, he tells Lorenzo that the Pazzi are dead, then goes to see Leonardo, but finds that he's leaving for Venice. Ezio rides with Leonardo's convoy (in the game, it was just the two of them), and then fights guards who are after Ezio. Ezio meets Leonardo in Forli, and rescues Caterina Sforza, who ensures that Ezio has proper passage to travel to Venice; Ezio is struck with how beautiful she is. Once in Venice, Ezio helps a wounded Rosa get back to the thieves hideout, where he meets Antonio de Magianis. Antonio and Rosa help Ezio find and kill Emilio, then spends more time tracking the rest of the Templars. He learns that Carlo Grimaldi, a government official and member of the Council of Ten, was close to Giovanni Mocenigo, the Doge of Venice, and hoped to turn him to the Templar cause.
But this proved too much and instead Rodrigo ordered his death. Ezio fails to stop the assassination attempt, but does kill Carlo. Days later, Marco Barbarigo is named the new Doge and hosts a party during Carnevale, but Ezio--with Sister Teodora, another courtesan and ally of the Assassins'--plan to kill Marco. Ezio runs into Cristina and kisses her, but she gets angered when she finds out it was Ezio and tells him to leave her alone. Ezio then competes in several competitions and wins, only for a bribed judge to declare Dante Moro the winner. Ezio steals the grand prize, a golden mask which will allow the wearer to enter Marco's party undetected, and enters the party. He kills Marco with his hidden gun undercover of the fireworks, then flees back to Teodora's brothel. With his quest nearly complete, Ezio learns that Silvio Barbarigo and Dante are fleeing to Cyprus, for unknown reasons. Ezio enlists the help of Bartolomeo d'Alviano, who leads the Venetian mercenaries, and they storm the Venetian Arsenal. Ezio kills both Dante and Silvio, again retrieving more Codex pages. Two years later, and involved in a large love life with Rosa, Ezio finally learns that the Templar ship has arrived and is carrying a Piece of Eden. It's being delivered to the "prophet", but when Ezio arrives, he finds Rodrigo and they attempt to fight over who gets the Apple. La Volpe, Mario, Paola, Antonio, Teodora, and Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli arrive and help Ezio force Rodrigo into fleeing. They then induct him into the Assassin Brotherhood. Mario, Ezio, and Machiavelli take the Appel to Leonardo for examination, but they end up sending Ezio and Machiavelli to Forli to hide it with Caterina, another member of the Brotherhood. When they arrive, however, Forli comes under attack by the Orsi brothers, Checco and Ludovico. They've taken Caterina's two of her kids hostage, but Ezio frees them and kills Ludovico. He returns them to Caterina who informs him that she and Machiavelli were ambushed by Checco who stole the Apple. Ezio hunts Checco down and kills him, then succumbs to his wounds and the Mad Monk Girolamo Savonarola takes the Apple. Ezio heals and has a short but fun relationship with Caterina before he departs for Florence.
Ezio kills Savonarola and his allies in the Bonfire of the Vanities, and finds Manfredo--Cristina's husband--dying. Ezio asks him where Cristina is and Ezio chases after her, killing the men on her tail, but she dies in Ezio's arms, saying that she wished they'd had a second chance. Ezio, grieving, takes the Apple back to Monteriggioni where every Assassin met in the game is there. Ezio discovers that Lorenzo is dead and that Rodrigo is now Pope Alexander VI. The Codex pages contain a map that leads Ezio and company to Roma (Rome) where the Vault is hidden. Rodrigo plans to open it with the Staff of Eden, but Ezio interrupts. They fight and Ezio looses to Rodrigo, but Ezio, unwilling to give up, chases him down and defeats Rodrigo. Rodrigo declares that it was his destiny to open the Vault, but Ezio denies this to the old man and enters himself. He meets Minerva, who claims to be one of "Those Who Came Before, and she tells him that he's a cipher for someone else (though Bowden refuses to use Desmond's name). Ezio leaves and Rodrigo, having poisoned himself, asks to know what Ezio found, to which Ezio replies "Nothing." He leaves and rejoins his friends to rebuild the world. (Note: this never happened in either ACII or Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the game.)
All in all, a decent novel that barely fleshes things out. Good enough for a non-gamer, but not good enough for fans of the series.
Up next: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood by Oliver Bowden.
First, let it be noted that Bowden has taken extreme liberties with the game. Unlike the game, certain things don't happen at all, such as Ezio sending money back to rebuild Monteriggioni, taking away Ezio's eagle vision to spot targets, rewriting the ending. But he does include the down-load content such as the Battle of Forli and the Bonfire of the Vanities, as well as adding in the Cristina flashbacks. Note: he does change Cristina's last name from Vespucci to Calfucci, changes Dante Moro's ex-wife's name from Carlotta to Gloria, got rid of the Sword and Armor of Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, and had all the codex pages limited to being found on the Templars. No mention is made of Minerva's message to Desmond Miles--instead, Bowden treats it as if it doesn't happen.
The novel opens in Firenze (Florence) with Ezio, preparing his men for a fight with Vieri de' Pazzi and his men, is hit in the forehead with a rock by Vieri (note: in the game, Ezio got hit in the upper lip). After a very brief fight, Ezio's brother, Federico, appears and has Ezio loot the bodies of Vieri's men, then takes him to a doctor to heal his wound; it's during this that Ezio recalls the first time he met Cristina and how he fought Vieri because the young Pazzi was harassing her. Ezio sneaks into the "Calfucci" house and sleeps with Cristina. In the morning, after being chased off by her father, Ezio returns to the Auditore house, where he's sent on a number of quests--beating up Duccio, Claudia's cheating fiance; collecting feathers for Petruccio, the youngest Auditore; and delivering letters to Lorenzo de' Medici, warning him of a conspiracy against the Duke of Milan (note: the game has it as a plot against Lorenzo)--before helping his mother bring over a painting done by Leonardo da Vinci. Later, Ezio delivers letter to three people--a mercenary, a thief and his courtesan companion--then retrieve a letter warning Giovanni--Ezio's father--about the Pazzi family moving that night. Ezio returns home to send Claudia and Maria to the housemaid's sister. Once that's done, he goes and sees his father, but is warned off and told to find a chest in Giovanni's office. Ezio finds the Italian Assassin robes and a broken hidden blade. He runs to Uberto Alberti for help, but the man betrays him and has his father and brothers hanged, while Rodrigo Borgia watches on; Ezio attempts to fight, but ends up running for his life. He finds Cristina and tells her what's happened; she agrees to help Ezio burn his father and brothers bodies, then asks her to go with him, but she refuses. Returning to find Anneta, she takes him to her sister Paola who teaches him how to blend in with the crowd. Then, she sends him to Leonardo to have the gifted man repair the broken blade. Once that's done, and the Codex page inside it deciphered, Ezio hunts down Uberto and slits his throat, then declares that the Auditore family isn't dead. He's promptly chased off and goes back to Paola's courtesan house where they make their escape to Monteriggioni.
Vieri's waiting for them and tries to attack, but Mario Auditore--Ezio's uncle--drives him off. Ezio sends Claudia and Maria to a nunnery (in the game, Mario welcomes them into Monteriggioni), then trains with Mario. Ezio wants to travel farther, but ends up helping Mario invade San Gimignano to kill Vieri, who's a Templar working for Rodrigo Borgia; Ezio kills Vieri and retrieves another Codex. He learns about the history of the Templars and Assassins from Mario, then takes the Codex pages to Leonardo, who tells Ezio that there are new ways to assassinate people. Ezio then tracks down La Volpe (in the book, he's called Gilberto) and finds out where the Pazzi are hiding, then learns that there's a conspiracy to take over the Republic of Florence by the Pazzi, supplied by the Barbarigo family in Venice, and supported by others, and led by Rodrigo. They plan on killing Lorenzo de' Medici during church, but Ezio foils their plans. Ezio helps Lorenzo get to his safehouse, then find and kills Vieri's father, Francesco, and hangs him as a warning to the elder Pazzi, Jacopo. Jacopo and his allies (Bernardo Baroncelli, Stefano da Bagnone, Francesco Salviati, and Antonio Maffei) flee to San Gimignano where Ezio spends a few years hunting and killing them all, except for Jacopo. Jacopo meets with Rodrigo and Emilio Barbarigo and both promptly severely wound Jacopo. Ezio delivers the killing blow after kissing Jacopo on the forehead. Ezio then goes back to Florence and finds out that Cristina's engaged to a man who gambles, but Ezio sets him straight. Then, he tells Lorenzo that the Pazzi are dead, then goes to see Leonardo, but finds that he's leaving for Venice. Ezio rides with Leonardo's convoy (in the game, it was just the two of them), and then fights guards who are after Ezio. Ezio meets Leonardo in Forli, and rescues Caterina Sforza, who ensures that Ezio has proper passage to travel to Venice; Ezio is struck with how beautiful she is. Once in Venice, Ezio helps a wounded Rosa get back to the thieves hideout, where he meets Antonio de Magianis. Antonio and Rosa help Ezio find and kill Emilio, then spends more time tracking the rest of the Templars. He learns that Carlo Grimaldi, a government official and member of the Council of Ten, was close to Giovanni Mocenigo, the Doge of Venice, and hoped to turn him to the Templar cause.
But this proved too much and instead Rodrigo ordered his death. Ezio fails to stop the assassination attempt, but does kill Carlo. Days later, Marco Barbarigo is named the new Doge and hosts a party during Carnevale, but Ezio--with Sister Teodora, another courtesan and ally of the Assassins'--plan to kill Marco. Ezio runs into Cristina and kisses her, but she gets angered when she finds out it was Ezio and tells him to leave her alone. Ezio then competes in several competitions and wins, only for a bribed judge to declare Dante Moro the winner. Ezio steals the grand prize, a golden mask which will allow the wearer to enter Marco's party undetected, and enters the party. He kills Marco with his hidden gun undercover of the fireworks, then flees back to Teodora's brothel. With his quest nearly complete, Ezio learns that Silvio Barbarigo and Dante are fleeing to Cyprus, for unknown reasons. Ezio enlists the help of Bartolomeo d'Alviano, who leads the Venetian mercenaries, and they storm the Venetian Arsenal. Ezio kills both Dante and Silvio, again retrieving more Codex pages. Two years later, and involved in a large love life with Rosa, Ezio finally learns that the Templar ship has arrived and is carrying a Piece of Eden. It's being delivered to the "prophet", but when Ezio arrives, he finds Rodrigo and they attempt to fight over who gets the Apple. La Volpe, Mario, Paola, Antonio, Teodora, and Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli arrive and help Ezio force Rodrigo into fleeing. They then induct him into the Assassin Brotherhood. Mario, Ezio, and Machiavelli take the Appel to Leonardo for examination, but they end up sending Ezio and Machiavelli to Forli to hide it with Caterina, another member of the Brotherhood. When they arrive, however, Forli comes under attack by the Orsi brothers, Checco and Ludovico. They've taken Caterina's two of her kids hostage, but Ezio frees them and kills Ludovico. He returns them to Caterina who informs him that she and Machiavelli were ambushed by Checco who stole the Apple. Ezio hunts Checco down and kills him, then succumbs to his wounds and the Mad Monk Girolamo Savonarola takes the Apple. Ezio heals and has a short but fun relationship with Caterina before he departs for Florence.
Ezio kills Savonarola and his allies in the Bonfire of the Vanities, and finds Manfredo--Cristina's husband--dying. Ezio asks him where Cristina is and Ezio chases after her, killing the men on her tail, but she dies in Ezio's arms, saying that she wished they'd had a second chance. Ezio, grieving, takes the Apple back to Monteriggioni where every Assassin met in the game is there. Ezio discovers that Lorenzo is dead and that Rodrigo is now Pope Alexander VI. The Codex pages contain a map that leads Ezio and company to Roma (Rome) where the Vault is hidden. Rodrigo plans to open it with the Staff of Eden, but Ezio interrupts. They fight and Ezio looses to Rodrigo, but Ezio, unwilling to give up, chases him down and defeats Rodrigo. Rodrigo declares that it was his destiny to open the Vault, but Ezio denies this to the old man and enters himself. He meets Minerva, who claims to be one of "Those Who Came Before, and she tells him that he's a cipher for someone else (though Bowden refuses to use Desmond's name). Ezio leaves and Rodrigo, having poisoned himself, asks to know what Ezio found, to which Ezio replies "Nothing." He leaves and rejoins his friends to rebuild the world. (Note: this never happened in either ACII or Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the game.)
All in all, a decent novel that barely fleshes things out. Good enough for a non-gamer, but not good enough for fans of the series.
Up next: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood by Oliver Bowden.
