Those who know me well are no doubt aware of my obsession with Final Fantasy VII. It was the first RPG I ever played in my life and it was one of the most incredible games I’ve ever experienced. I was fourteen when I first played it and I was hooked from the start.
I loved the world of Gaia and the story of this ragtag group who came together to defend the planet from the threat of Sephiroth and the Shinra Electric Power Company. I started an online role-playing group based on the game (and have even managed to stay in touch with some of the members) and I wrote stories based on those role-playing sessions.
Those stories became the first book I ever wrote, a sort of retelling of the story of FF7. And it was godawful. But it taught me a lot about writing and it was the start of my fanfiction career, where I met many authors that, like myself, have gone on to become published.
With the news of the remake of Final Fantasy VII, it gave me a desire to play through the game again. And as I was playing it, I started to think about my days writing those fanfic stories. And I thought, “maybe I should write a novelization of the game and give it away for free online.”
I won’t be doing that now, though. Because M.J. Gallagher has already beat me to it. He’s written two books based on the game—A New Threat and The Man in the Black Cloak. Not only is he planning to write a novelization of the game, but it seems like he’ll also write out the entire saga including material from The Compilation of Final Fantasy VII.
It’s an epic project to undertake and certainly far more expansive than I’d ever considered.
I just finished reading A New Threat and it’s pretty good. Gallagher does a great job of capturing the personalities of the characters in a way that rings true to the game (still fresh in my mind after my most-recent play-through). He also puts some little touches that answer questions I know I’ve certainly had—such as how does Cloud carry around that big sword on his back or how does Barret load ammunition into his gun-arm? Gallagher gives very quick and simple explanations for things like this that made me go, “ahh yeah, that makes sense.” Those little touches are some of the best things about the book.
A New Threat begins at the start of the game and focuses on the story of Midgar. The book ends after Cloud recounts his story about Sephiroth and Nibelheim. And for the most part, the story works very well.
While the characters and the story are great, it’s not without its flaws. I think Gallagher spends a bit too much time on unnecessary description and found myself skimming some of those longer passages. I found the decision to spend so much effort on description a bit curious, especially as several battles from the game are omitted altogether. For example, the Guard Scorpion and Airbuster battles from the mako reactor missions don’t happen at all and the first mission Cloud undertakes for AVALANCHE goes off pretty much without a hitch.
Another thing I found strange was the almost total exclusion of materia. Anyone who’s played the game knows what a big role materia played in the game. For those unaware, the materia system was a way of giving your characters special abilities, such as the power to use magic or summon monsters in battle. While Gallagher mentions materia, he says that most of it is manufactured by Shinra for military purposes and so it’s very tightly controlled. While I can understand that logic, the lack of magic does make it feel like the story is lacking something. Cloud at the very least should have access to some materia from his time with Shinra and maybe mention that AVALANCHE has connections to black market materia suppliers.
Overall, these complaints are pretty minor nitpicks. If you’re a fan of Final Fantasy VII, I highly recommend this book. I’ve already begun The Man in the Black Cloak and am enjoying it as well.
Since this is an unauthorized novelization, you obviously can’t buy it. It’s available for free at Gallagher’s site, Axtelera Ray. At the time I’m writing this review, the site is under construction, so if that link doesn’t work, you can also download it from Free-Ebooks.net. Gallagher also has a Facebook page for the series.
UPDATE: Shortly after posting the review, the author contacted me via Twitter to thank me. He also sent an additional tweet letting me know where people can get copies of the book directly while the site is under construction:
@perconstantine at the moment, fans can email me direct for copies at mogallagher86@hotmail.com. I'll be sure to share this on my FB page 😀
— M. J. Gallagher (@FFVIINovels) November 24, 2015
If you’re an FF7 fan, I recommend contacting him. It’s worth the time.