Deus Ex: The Icarus Effect Announced by Del Rey and Square Enix

Del Rey, an imprint linked with Ballantine Books at the Random House group, has announced that it is partnering with video game publisher Square Enix in order to publish a novel called Deus Ex: The Icarus Effect, set to arrive at some point in 2011. The book will be written by James Swallow and will serve as a companion piece to the new Deus Ex: Human Revolution video game.

Deus Ex: The Icarus Effect will share the cyberpunk sensibilities of the video game universe. Even as the world is gripped by technological developments which push the limits of humanity chaos and violence erupt all over the globe, with dark and secret organizations coming together in order to control the present and shape the future. The main characters of The Icarus Effect are Anna Kelso, an agent working for the Secret Service, and Ben Saxon, a soldier working with Special Forces troops. They are thrown into a newtork of conspiracies they need to uncover and their actions are said to change the world in a number of ways.

James Swallow is a well known science fiction writer who came to prominence in 2001 when he began publishing the Sundowners series. He has already worked on popular intellectual properties, like Stargate, Warhammer 40,000, Star Trek and Doctor Who. He has also worked on video games like Killzone 2, Melstrom and Star Trek Invasion.

Andre Vu, who is the marketing game manager working on Deus Ex, stated when the new book was announced, “We’re really pleased to be able to announce this new DEUS EX novel with Del Rey books. The novel is set in the DEUS EX universe and there will be characters and story elements in it, that will overlap with our next videogame DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION, which we hope fans will be very excited about.”