Product Description

Four years after the end of the Brood War, Emperor Arcturus Mengsk has rebuilt much of the Terran Dominion and consolidated a new military force despite an ever-present alien threat. Within this boiling cauldron of strife and subversion, a young woman known only as Nova shows the potential to become Mengsk's most lethal and promising "Ghost" operative. Utilizing a combination of pure physical aptitude, innate psychic power, and advanced technology, Nova can strike anywhere with the utmost stealth. Like a phantom in the shadows, she exists only as a myth to the enemies of the Terran Dominion.

Yet Nova wasn't born a killer. She was once a privileged child of one of the Old Families of the Terran Confederacy, but her life changed forever when a rebel militia murdered her family. In her grief, Nova unleashed her devastating psychic powers, killing hundreds in a single, terrible moment. Now, on the run through the slums of Tarsonis, she is unable to trust anyone. Pursued by a special agent tasked with hunting down rogue telepaths, Nova must come to terms with both her burgeoning powers and her guilt -- before they consume her and destroy everything in her path....

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #196666 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780743471343
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

Alas, poor Nova, if only they hadn't killed your game ...
First and foremost, the criticisms that people are listing here that the novel ended strangely are (unfortunately) spot on. The reason for this is that this novel was originally intended to be a prequel to the video game StarCraft: Ghost, which was also set to follow the protagonist, Nova. If anyone is to blame for the awkward ending, it is Blizzard rather than DeCandido -- if you read the beginning of the book, you will even notice that there is an apology included from Blizzard that was pasted in at the last minute.

I have always imagined that Ghosts would be tragic characters. They are overwhelmed at a young age by external emotions and thoughts that they cannot control or understand, typically to such a point that they must drug themselves with "inhibitors" that render them as little more than pharmeceutical slaves to the highest military bidder. This is a depressing existence, and I feel that the mood is perfectly captured in this novel. Nova is a great character, and I deeply enjoyed reading about her genesis. The protagonist is very well developed in this story, and I did feel a distinct and emotional attachment to her. I cared about what happened, which is more than I can say for the characters in most other StarCraft novels.

With the exception of Hickman's Speed of Darkness, Grubb's Liberty's Crusade, and DeCandido's Nova, I would be amazed to find that any of the other StarCraft authors even went so far as to pass an introductory-level Creative Writing course. Stick to the three I just mentioned and you'll be okay ... fans of the series looking forward to StarCraft 2 should also read the Dark Templar series that begins with Firstborn.

Well worth the buy
I went through the book very fast but I still enjoyed it. It gives you a good feel for the characters and I only hope that the future game storyline covers this as the history...I just wish it was longer.

A cliche, boring, and utterly immature thrashing of the Starcraft uviverse
Both my friend and I read this book, and we came to the same conclusion: it is childish, boring, and is better avoided all together. This book is what a child would write, if he could, the only concern being how "cool" he could make the different characters act. The problem arises when most of this "cool" comes off as cheesy. Apparently, humanity's future consists of all dialogue being written by the writers of Robocop, and the cliche future he imagines comes off as unimaginative, and the sooner I could leave this senseless world, the better.
I dont recommend this book. It barely focuses on the Ghost, instead choosing to focus on Nova before she becomes a ghost. Nova.... a character about as deep as a kiddie pool. Everything she says is so stock, that you can skip entire chapters and still know what is going on, she is just that predicatble.
The rest of it is all the same, with the focus being on events not characters. The problem is, when your events are boring, you need to balance it out with good characterization. Something the author does not do. The result is a book that falls flat on itself, and fails to deliver that fanfiction high every Starcraft fan craves.