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Infinity Blade: Redemption Impressions
Chair Entertainment's new digital book with author Brandon Sanderson, Infinity Blade: Redemption, marks the second time the two have teamed up. The first project, Infinity Blade: Awakening, took place between the first two games and added new depth to the story and intriguing revelations. Sanderson, known for The Way of Kings, Mistborn, and The Wheel of Time (with Robert Jordan), up the ante with Redemption. It takes place after the ending of Infinity Blade II and leads into the just-announced third and final game releasing on September 18. After a brief exclusivity window on Apple's iBooks, it's now available where most digital books are sold. I'll be discussing ending plot points of the second game and some aspects from the book, so beware of spoilers.
Infinity Blade II ended with series protagonist Siris trying to free the Worker of Secrets from the Vault of Tears. Instead of receiving enlightenment, Siris is betrayed and forced to take the Worker's place in the eternal prison alongside his mortal enemy, the God King. Redemption opens with these two foes stuck in a constant cycle of murdering each other and resurrecting for years. These Deathless keep coming back and smashing each others' brains out.
If you stuck around after the credits you saw Siris' friend Isa approaching the Vault in what seemed like a rescue attempt. That pays off before long in the book when she springs Siris and the God King escapes via other means. These two Deathless go their own ways and discover that the Worker has been busy during their approximately two years of imprisonment, sowing chaos across the land and installing an impostor God King to rule. The story bounces back and forth between Siris and God King-narrated chapters, offering differing perspectives on the situation at hand.
I won't give too much more away from the main story, but another arc deserves mentioning. Some chapters focus on Uriel, a number crunching, white-collar worker in a futuristic tech company. A purposely jarring switch from the medieval/steampunk world of Infinity Blade, Uriel's tale initially seems to have nothing to do with anything. Over time it becomes clear how it all ties together, pulling back the curtain on what Infinity Blade has been about all along.
I thoroughly enjoyed jumping around among the three perspectives. While it's not meant to be a super complex Game of Thrones-style fantasy epic, Redemption shares the technique of dropping cliffhangers and making you wait to see what happens with the character. And the fact that it's so short (Amazon pegs it at 146 pages in standard font size) means it's easy to blast through in a sitting or two. The gripping ending offers both closure on certain elements and teases what's coming in the final game. I was already excited for Infinity Blade III's September 18 release, but Redemption does its job and amplifies that feeling even more. If you're looking for something to satisfy your Infinity Blade urges for the next week, download this book now. It's only $2.99 and is definitely worth the price of admission.
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