Brothers Istvan and Jensi grow up in the poorest dome on the planet Vinduaga. Istvan has never been like other people, and Jensi has spent his life keeping him out of trouble. When Istvan is sent off-world to a high-security prison, Jensi follows to find a way to keep him safe. Meanwhile EarthGov is tampering with technology from the Black Marker, found on Earth eighty years earlier, and the prison is hiding a secret.
What this adds if you've played the games
This fills in the decades after Martyr, when EarthGov tries to turn what the Black Marker taught it into something it can use, which is the thread that leads to the Markers in the games. Most of the book is about the two brothers, so the Marker history arrives slowly. It's less important than Martyr, and you won't miss anything in the games without it. Read it after Dead Space 2, when the second game has shown you what EarthGov's Marker research ends up doing.
Where it fits
- Read beforeDead Space
Set long before the Ishimura, during EarthGov's early Marker work. Like Martyr, it gives away something the first game keeps until late, so play Dead Space before reading it.
- Read afterDead Space: Martyr
Picks up the Marker's history eighty years after Martyr, with new characters. The link is loose and it gives nothing away about Altman's story, but publication order works best.
- Background forDead Space 2
Written after Dead Space 2, it fills in the history of EarthGov's Marker research that the second game builds on. It doesn't spoil the game, but it lands better once you've played it.
Editions
Titan Books paperback
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