Dedication & Thanks
This book is dedicated to M.J. Gallagher, who has taken my modest project under his wing and given it a new life, and without whom I would not be where I am today.
I would also like to offer a special thanks to the following:
Alan Kenny, Alex Maine and the crew at KupoCon for everything they do for the fans of Final Fantasy.
Xander Williams, without whom I would never have begun writing this book.
Einahpets Noslo, Lucretia Zimmerman, Chantelle Gousseau and Mike Ficklin for volunteering their time as beta readers.
And finally, to all those who have read my work over the years.
Introduction: With Apologies to Purists
I have a storied history of novelization attempts. I have completed a novelization of Final Fantasy VII, which took me seven years to write (appropriately enough). It is complete and utter garbage which absolutely pales in comparison to even my more recent short story attempts. I have attempted to novelize The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It is decent but remains incomplete and I can't imagine at this point that I shall ever finish it. I have attempted to novelize Lightning Returns. It is dreadful, and I had the good sense to cancel it.
Suffice it to say my own faith in my ability to complete the task of novelizing a game was more than a bit rocky. Thus, I vowed that I would break the game up into sensible portions and complete each portion before making it public. In the case of Final Fantasy VIII, we are given convenient end-points, and thus this novelization shall be broken into four books.
But an author must do more than simply write a game script. We must inject ourselves into the story. Our heart goes into the work and the subject is open to our interpretation. In this novelization I resolved to not change any major plot points, but to allow myself the opportunity to offer my own insight into the way the events played out, and to make minor changes here and there which can offer more context to the character's actions. However, my primary goal was to tell an enjoyable story that remains mostly faithful to the original work, and I believe I have done that.
The name of the first book, Seeds, references both the obvious use of the term SeeD for the elite military arm of Balamb Garden, as well as the main theme of the first book – growth. We see our main heroes, each of them their own manner of prodigy, become more complete through the events of the book. When we first meet them, each seems like they have such incredible gifts, Quistis's nearly eidetic memory, Irvine's gift with firearms, Zell's mechanical knowledge – they all seem to have such obvious gifts which make them seem superhuman even before they receive the true source of their power. But gifts do not a complete person make. It is what we see them do with these talents that will decide who they are. They will stumble, they will fall, but it is not the way we fall, but how we get up that determines who we are as people. This is the first step in a long journey.
