updates page/foreword

THE LIONHEART SAGA (FINAL FANTASY VIII NOVELIZATION)

UPDATE 3/7/25 - The End is Nigh

With only the final chapter and epilogue left to finish up as of this writing, I figure it's time to start posting again. As promised in my previous update, you'll be getting one new chapter per week every Friday until the end. This means that the novelization will officially be complete on April 25th. Mark it down.

Needless to say, I have a great many feelings about finally making it to the top of the mountain, but I'll save all that for the afterword I'll be posting along with the epilogue on the final day. For now, I just want to say thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy the finale. It's been a long time coming.

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 something more akin to an unofficial remake of the game in written form. 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 complement 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)