Kratos é um guerreiro grego a serviço dos deuses Gregos do Olimpo. Enganado por Ares, o Deus da Guerra, que queria transformá-lo num guerreiro perfeito, Kratos acidentalmente mata sua esposa e sua filha, mas, depois disso, Kratos decide não servir mais a Ares e é amaldiçoado com as cinzas de sua família morta pelo Oráculo da cidade que foi destruída. Kratos é atormentado com memórias de seus atos e faz um trato de servir aos outros deuses do Olimpo por dez anos. Cansado de servir, convoca Atena e, ela afirma que o perdoará por seus atos se ele realizar uma última tarefa: matar Ares. Para isso ele deve encontrar e usar a Caixa de Pandora. Ao recuperar a Caixa de Pandora de Ares, Kratos a abre e usa o seu poder para tomar os poderes de um deus. Apesar dos esforços de Ares para acabar com Kratos, tanto física quanto mentalmente, incluindo ser despojado das Lâminas do Caos, perder os Poderes Divinos, e lutar contra uma Horda de Clones e perder sua família novamente, Kratos sobrevive e mata seu inimigo com a lendária Lâmina dos Deuses. Atenas é salva, e apesar de Atena dizer que seus pecados foram perdoados, seus pesadelos não poderão ser parados. Kratos, então, tenta cometer suicídio lançando-se no Mar Egeu, mas Atena intervém dizendo que não cabe a ele tirar sua própria vida, pois teria matado um deus, e leva-o de volta para o Monte Olimpo. Como recompensa por seus serviços aos deuses, Atena lhe concede as Lâminas de Atena e Kratos se torna o novo Deus da Guerra.

I'm a huge fan of Matthew Woodring Stover and that basically sums up why I took on this book.

I mean, I played GoW one and two back in the day and I have very fond memories, but it's not particularly DEEP, you know? Oversexed, overviolent goodies. If you love slaughter, you'll love those games. It doesn't hurt that the Greek Pantheon is being its usual nasty self.

So what about this book? Is it something different than the games?

Nope. It's pretty much all the fights and pathos from the game but done in novelization form. That means I can enjoy the nutty craziness in another format and have it all laid out for me in a single sitting.

Do you LOVE bloodshed? Do you love tons of monsters getting eviscerated and s**t stained talons rending flesh? Hello! Do you love climbing the backs of titans and taking on Ares in a one-to-one combat? Hello! Do you love going completely Over-The-Top in violence and rage and regret and bloodlust?

HELLO! This book is for you. You don't even really need to know the games. Just enjoy a fun romp through the hellscape of Greek literature twisted into Pure Action Goodness. :) ( )

Oh, Kratos, what have they done to you? After all the hours I have spent playing your video games, and replaying your video games, and eagerly anticipating future video games, I feel as though I know you. While your methods were questionable, your pursuits were always honorable ones, your entreaty reasonable. Plus your blind fury, unquenchable blood thirst, uncontrollable rage, and your blatant disregard for anything barring your path made for very satisfying gameplay.

So what happened? What did they do? They created this haphazard novelization of your quest to slay the god of war, Ares; which stiffly recounts the events of the first video game. The major events are there; the battle with the hydra, the ruin of Athens, the search for Cronos, the Temple of Pandora, all that. They even added some extra goings on, Athena's reasoning for favoring you, why various gods decide to bless you with their powers, and other explanations for the events in the game. That's all fine and good, but...but it's not YOU.

You do not whisper prayers to the gods before a battle, you defy them. You do not rescue Greek soldiers, you're a Spartan. You're a machine, an uncaring one with only one goal, one reason for existing. That is you, and the Kratos found in these pages is not the Kratos I know. Where is the anger? Where is the defiant, insolent, bullheaded Spartan I know and love? He is not here.

What purpose, then, does this book serve? It would be an atrocity for someone to experience the God of War story for the first time through it, and those who have played the game will surely be disappointed. So why? It is nothing but a ruse, a way to cash in on the name of our favorite tragic hero, and a poor one at that. I heartily recommend avoiding the book unless you are desperate for a fresh dose of Kratos...and even then, I'd encourage resisting the craving. ( )