14 DAY TRIAL // Epic Games has announced that it plans to put out a Gears of War novel trilogy, in partnership with Del Rey Books. The first book in the series seems to be set before the time frame of Gears of War 2 while the other two novels will probably tackle events that happen after the game, with the possibility of one of them being created as a prequel to the first game.
The first edition will be called Gears of War: The Battle of Aspho Fields and the author will be Karen Traviss, who has previously created novels set in the Star Wars universe and whose work includes the Star Wars Republic Commando books and an original series called Wess'Har. The story will focus on the relationship between the central characters of the game universe and will offer fans interesting information on them.
Michael Capps, president of Epic Games, stated that "After finishing the first Gears of War game, players were left wanting to know more about Delta Squad and the events leading up to Emergence Day. This trilogy of novels opens up whole new worlds of storytelling opportunities, and will add even more context to the upcoming comic book series, game sequel and motion picture. We loved Karen Traviss' work on the Republic Commando series, and we can't wait to get her Gears book to our fans".
Keith Clayton, from Del Rey Books, has said that the novels will try to stay very close to the universe of the games, being set to flesh out the background rather than to create a new storyline and new elements within the universe.
The first novel in the trilogy will be launched shortly before Gears of War 2, which is set to arrive sometime around November 7. The new game is set to be one of the biggest 2008 releases for the Xbox 360.