updates page/foreword

THE LIONHEART SAGA (FINAL FANTASY VIII NOVELIZATION)

UPDATE 6/16/24 – Final Stretch

Hey there, everyone. It's been a while, hasn't it? For all those who've been patiently waiting to see an update for the last year and a half, I can only say I'm sorry. I just really needed to take a break from this for a while. The good news is, I've gotten back on the horse as of late. And the even better news: Volume IV is officially halfway finished.

My plan was to write and edit the whole final volume before uploading new chapters again. However, after giving it some thought, I've decided to go ahead and start posting what I've got so far. There are a couple of reasons for this. For one thing, I'd like to give my readers some assurance that the story is indeed making progress. I've received a good number of messages and comments already, and I'd rather not keep those people waiting any longer. Plus, I figure actually putting some new work out there and getting some feedback should give me the push I need to get the rest of this story done.

So, here's the new plan: I'll be posting the first half of Volume IV, at a rate of one chapter per week over the next couple of months. After that, there will be another break as I continue to work on the second half, and once I'm convinced it's all up to snuff, it'll be back to weekly uploads until the end. Hopefully that will be a decent compromise. And with any luck, this will be the last of these updates I'll need to post here.

To everyone who's stuck by me through this, for however long, I thank you for your continued support. Please favorite/follow if you haven't already, and if you feel like leaving a review, by all means, feel free to do so. It's time to finish this.

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 perhaps not the most highly esteemed entry in the long-running series, 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.

Years later, with experience working as an editor on a similar (and highly acclaimed) fan novelization under my belt, I now 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. 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.

As a side note, this novelization is officially divided into 4 volumes:

Volume 1 – Fithos (Chapters 2 – 21)

Volume 2 – Lusec (Chapters 22 – 42)

Volume 3 – Wecos (Chapters 43 – 61)

Volume 4 – Vinosec (Chapters 62 – End)