foreword
FINAL FANTASY VIII UNOFFICIAL NOVELIZATION
UPDATE 3/30/19
Editing on "Volume I: Fithos" is (tentatively) complete. Barring any lingering typos I might have missed, the book as it stands is officially finalized.
Alterations to the previously written draft are largely minimal, mostly coming by way of fixing errors, editing the general prose of earlier chapters to stylistically compliment the later ones, and some slight re-arranging of certain scenes between chapters to better serve the overall flow of the narrative. The most obvious change in this regard is the creation of an entirely new Chapter 4, comprised of segments which were originally written as the ending of "Dereliction of Duty" and the opening of "Waltz Beneath the Stars". I believe that the overall pacing of these chapters has been greatly benefited by this, but in doing so however, has naturally thrown off all of the user reviews posted for every chapter after 3 by one. I apologize for this, but I ask that you please understand that my only other option was to completely delete this novelization and re-upload it all again, losing every single review, favorite and follow thus far. Hopefully I won't need to resort to this again going forward, but of course, that's something I'll only be able to judge once Volume II starts making serious headway.
Speaking of which, as of this writing, "Volume II: Lusec" can be considered officially in production. As mentioned in my previous update, I intend to have the prologue out sometime within the next month. I'm going to try to aim for regular weekly updates, but at the same time, I'm not prepared to make any outright promises. The last thing I want is to rush out sub-par material just to meet a deadline. What I will say however, is that if all goes according to plan, this second book will be a significant step up from the first one in every respect. Some of the scenes I have outlined, both original and derived from the game, legitimately give me chills, and I cannot wait to share them with you all.
As usual, if you enjoy my work, please feel free to leave a review telling me what you think. I really appreciate all the support thus far, and want to say thank you for coming along with me on this journey. Onward and upward we go!
UPDATE 2/13/19
As of this writing, the novelization's first volume (of four), entitled "Fithos" has been fully uploaded in its first completed draft. It covers the entirety of disc 1 of the original game.
Up until now, I had strived to release a chapter roughly every week or so, and with the exception of two significantly longer than usual gaps for the holidays and sickness respectively, I have mostly managed to abide by this set parameter. However, from this point forward, following a brief sabbatical to give myself a much needed rest, I intend on spending the next 2-3 months refining my existing writing. More than simply correcting typos (of which I am aware there are quite a few), or otherwise adding more detail to certain portions which may have been somewhat rushed, my general style has already begun to change the more I have written, to the point where as the chapters go on, it starts to read like the work of a different author. And so, before going any further with the story, I believe the time is right to do some polishing and fine tuning.
Once Volume I is in a place that I am content with, work on Volume II, "Lusec" will begin (and I'm sure you can guess what Volumes III and IV will be called). Fortunately, the working outline for the next volume is largely complete, being even more fleshed out with detail than that of Volume I, and so once work eventually begins, it should be back to mostly consistent chapter uploads. I expect to have the prologue of Volume II up sometime around late April or early May. I promise it will be worth the wait. Some of the things I have planned for this novelization going forward will blow your mind.
In the meantime, if you have read my work and enjoy what you see, please do feel free to leave a review telling me what you think. I thoroughly appreciate all the kind words so far. To have reached double digit counts for reviews, favorites and followers, and be just shy of 2.5K views in a mere 5 months is truly more than I could have expected. Frankly, I'm just happy anyone cares at all. Likewise, if you have any questions, please feel free to PM me. I promise I will try to keep any responses spoiler-free outside of what is already common knowledge in the original game. With the things I have in store, there's no way I'm about to let slip the big guns. And as mentioned in my original blurb below, I welcome any and all constructive criticism. My ultimate goal is to make this the FFVIII novelization by which all others are judged, and with the encouragement you've all given me, I really do think it's feasible. We're already a quarter of the way there.
Legal Disclaimer
All material in this novelization is without exception based upon a pre-existing story by Kazushige Nojima, Yoshinori Kitase, Shinji Hashimoto and Square Enix Co., Ltd.
Foreword
Final Fantasy VIII, while not my favorite entry in the long tenured video game series, nor perhaps even the most well-beloved in many circles of the fandom, remains a very important and nostalgic game for me, personally. Moreso than the plentiful number of memorable moments such as the opening cutscene (my pick for one of, if not the best opening to any game ever), the Dollet Field Exam, Squall and Rinoa's waltz, the train kidnapping, the assassination attempt, missile base mission, battle of the Gardens and so much more, it is the underlying themes of overcoming childhood trauma and self imposed isolation that have left their mark on me more than anything else, and inspired me to make changes in my own life. It is a story that, despite its at times stumbling execution, I have come to appreciate even more with the passage of time, especially since I first started drafting this novelization.
That all being said however, I would like to take a moment to set some guidelines under which I have gone about undertaking this arduous task. Namely, those concerning what any readers should and should not expect from this fan work, and how it might differ from other works of its kind.
To sum it all up, those expecting a one-for-one recreation of the video game in written form that slavishly adheres to every little minor detail and nuance will be in for quite the disappointment. I initially set out with this exact goal in mind when I made my first attempt to write this novelization back in 2013, swearing to myself that I would only take liberties with the source material when absolutely necessary. It was to the point where I found myself attempting to describe every single environment exactly as it appears in the game, trying to shoehorn in as much descriptive language as possible to get every detail down precisely. This as you may imagine was an absolute chore, sucking almost all enjoyment out of what was meant to be a labor of love. What's more, in approaching the story with such a tight creative window to operate within, I felt the writing itself lacked a unique voice, and was at times just boring to read. I got about as far as the group setting out for Timber before I scrapped everything and put the project on ice indefinitely.
Five years later, with experience working as an editor on a similar (and highly acclaimed) fan novelization under my belt, I feel far better equipped to approach this task with a new mindset. That being to create a "re-imagining" of a classic video game, rather than a simple re-telling. Rest assured, the vast majority of major plot points are all intact, and the characters themselves remain the same in terms of their personalities and actions. You're not going to be getting some cheery, happy-go-lucky bastardization of Squall, or a gloomy, emo Zell. However, certain details and minor plot points surrounding the story at large, or even those touching on the motivations and backstories of specific characters may be altered, embellished or even outright removed. Likewise, some plot threads will be entirely created from scratch and inserted into the story to compliment the already existing script.
Rather than putting too much focus on making sure every last hair of the original work is in its proper position, my objective is to create a novelization that puts the narrative flow and character interactions above all else to create an enthralling experience for the reader. As such, before even typing up the first draft of the prologue, I sat down over the course of many months, outlining the story from the beginning, scene-by-scene, shot-by-shot. The goal is for every single scene included to either progress the overarching narrative forward, or to further develop and build off the characters' relationships with one another (and ideally both at once). Suffice to say I'm not a fan of "shit happening" for the sake of it.
At the end of the day however, this is merely my own unique interpretation of events adapted for a different medium, and I thank anyone who decides to give it a read for doing so, and welcome any and all constructive criticism. I would also like to thank M.J. Gallagher, for having given me the honor of assisting him as an editor on his own Final Fantasy VII Unofficial Novelization, as well as inspiring me to give this a shot in the first place. And of course, a big thank you to the folks at Square/Squaresoft/Square Enix, past and present who had a hand in creating this game. Every time I go back and play it, it always gets me thinking about the good old days… and the time 9 year-old me had to ask my dad for help because I couldn't understand what the hell the junction tutorial was telling me to do. And neither could he.