BOOK REVIEW | Tom Clancy’s The Division: Broken Dawn by Alex Irvine

Before I get into reviewing Tom Clancy’s The Division: Broken Dawn by Alex Irvine, I wanted to take the time to both thank and apologize the good people at Berkley in Penguin Random House. A huge thank you for not only answering my pestering emails for a review copy of the book, but for actually sending it. With my love for gaming, excitement for The Division 2 which recently released, and appreciation for novels based on game worlds, I was VERY excited to get into Broken Dawn. And about a week before the book released, I got a hot of the press copy in the mail. It may not sound like much but even though I’ve been blogging and reviewing stuff for nearly ten years (!) I never get the time of day from anyone I request something from. But figures, I immediately follow up my thanks with a deep apology. I finally get my chance and it turns out to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad few weeks that left me on the receiving end of a few one-two punches that really took a toll. Somehow getting bronchitis, and following it up with something personal that I’m still wondering if I want to get into it or not here, it was just a bad few weeks to attempt any type of productivity. BUT here I am! Getting back up on that grind, brushing the dust off my scars, and staring down the days as they come at me. And with that, here’s what I thought of the book.

If you’re reading this, there’s a chance you know all about the world of The Division. But if you don’t, let’s try and sum this up: Tom Clancy’s The Division is a video game published by Ubisoft and developed by Massive Entertainment which was released in 2016. The first game took place in New York City, where a devastating outbreak began on Black Friday. The Division 2 takes place in Washington D.C., seven months after the events of the first game. A weaponized strain of smallpox caused an epidemic that quickly spread around the country, forcing the island of Manhattan to be quarantined. The disease was called “The Dollar Flu” and “Green Poison”, among other names, because it was spread using currency, which is why Black Friday was chosen as the day to begin the attack. The Division are the people who come in to help when chaos ensues. Strategic Homeland Division, or “The Division”, is a group of highly trained agents appointed by the President to save what remains. They are everyday people – commonly with backgrounds in the military, law enforcement, rescue services, etc. – but once activated in times of crisis, they are the protectors of the public when all other means of protection are gone.

Ok, seriously this time. Now that you’re all caught up, on with the book.

When it comes to video games, I have always been a sucker for an interesting story. Tom Clancy’s The Division doesn’t disappoint in that regard, giving you a living, breathing world that you feel for. And with the way the world we live in is today, it’s not far fetched that such tragedies can actually happen. One reason I love gaming is because I get to dive really deep into a universe that other mediums leave to the imagination. Reading about the events that take place in The Division paint a picture in your mind and work your imagination to let you see what’s going on. Games lay it out for you to see and explore, to interact and play with. Your senses are bombarded and you’re overloaded with actual visuals of destroyed monuments and places you’ve actually seen and touched. That said, with so much to experience and little left to the imagination, games can’t always fulfil everything you desire to know about the world. That’s where this book shines.

Tom Clancy’s The Division: Broken Dawn is a novel that goes side by side with The Division 2, which just released on March 15th (check out my unboxing on FutureMonkeys.com). I’ll be honest, it’s been out for a month but I’ve barely had time to dedicate to it (see my apology from earlier). So I can’t say for sure, but I’m fairly certain the events of the book take place around the same time as the game. You’re following the paths of 4 characters, where each chapter is dedicated to what is going on with them in the story. They’re all separate, with their own agendas and problems they have to face, but they intersect in more ways than one throughout the story. And satisfyingly, I might add. With every chapter that finished, I couldn’t wait to see the progression of the character and what was happening to them next. One of the characters, April Kelleher, made mention of a book in the story. A book that was given to her, and helped in guiding her down the path we find her in. The book sounded familiar, and sure enough, it turns out it’s an actual book written by the same author! Alex Irvine’s New York Collapse released alongside The Division back in March of 2016. It is basically a survival guide that predicted the epidemic and it has scribbles along the margins belonging to April, along with various papers like a city map that lend to the lore. I loved the aspect of the book being such a huge part of April’s story in Broken Dawn, that I went out and found a copy for myself which I also unboxed for The Future Monkeys. (Hint hint, nudge nudge, go check it out.)

I haven’t dived into New York Collapse yet, but I can say without a doubt that Broken Dawn does a spectacular job at expanding the world of The Division. Like I mentioned earlier, games are great at painting a picture for you and letting you roam around in it to your heart’s content. But Broken Dawn takes that world, and opens it up even more, giving you details that the game doesn’t fill in. It is great at telling you the high stakes every character faces. The struggle for survival and trying to move on in a bleak world is clear as day in the story. And the point of views are staggering, jumping from a Division agent trying to control the chaos, to a child living in a settlement in Washington D.C.. It’s heartbreaking at times, thinking about the world this takes place in. I’m not one to usually enjoy such settings, thanks to my fear of something like this actually happening. But the way Irvine goes into how the world is moving on from the epidemic. The way the story takes you to numerous locations where you are shown exactly how those parts of the country are fairing compared to NYC and D.C. where the games take place. It’s all… easing in a way. Like you’re playing the games and you’re seeing how terrible things are in these cities and how hard it is to survive after the outbreak. But then you’re brought through this story in Broken Dawn and you see things are bad, but they’re not as terrible as you thought. You come to these realizations the same time as a character in the book, which makes you connect with them so much that you feel emotionally invested without even realizing it.

Another aspect I loved was how it shows Division agents in another light. In the games, you play as a Division agent. But your character is silent, so there’s not too much room for attachment like other games. It’s fine, it works, letting you create your own narrative in the games, playing how you want, making your character more you. But in Broken Dawn, you are following the paths of Division agents, as well as having characters interact with various other agents. You’re shown exactly how human these superhero soldiers really are. The games portray them as highly trained, honorable protectors of the peace, but they don’t really shine a light on them as people. The book goes deep into certain agents, their thought processes, past lives, families they’re trying to get back to. It’s an eye opening look into the character type and something that gives so much more depth to the games after seeing exactly how human Division agents can be.

There’s not much more I can get into without touching on spoilers. The plot of Broken Dawn has enough excitement to keep you invested, and plenty of loose ends to tie when you get to the end. Sure, there’s some that are not tied that leave you wondering what happens next for those characters, but it’s nothing that will leave you disappointed. I’m hoping the game’s story has some sort of continuation to the book, filling in those few missing pieces. But overall I can’t complain about the ride Broken Dawn took me on. You feel deeply for certain characters, but feel even more for the country and the state it’s in. At the same time though, you also feel a sense of relief that through so much bad and death that world is going through, that people are still finding ways to survive.  It took a story that I am intrigued in and fascinated by and breathed a life into it that I couldn’t imagine. It also gave me more of The Division and its world when I couldn’t get on my Xbox to play it. If you’re a fan of the games and you’re looking for something to get into when you can’t play, you won’t be disappointed with Broken Dawn.

 

Heads up to gamers if you’re interested in the book: There is an exclusive weapon skin you can get if you buy Broken Dawn! Just FYI in case you love that sort of thing like I do.
If you’re curious about Tom Clancy’s The Division, and would like to support my blog, be sure to check out these various affiliate links where I’ll get a small percentage of whatever you buy:
Tom Clancy’s The Division: Broken Dawn by Alex Irvine –  New York Collapse by Alex Irvine  –  Tom Clancy’s The Division: Extremis Malis (Graphic Novel) by Christofer Emgard  –  The World of Tom Clancy’s The Division (lore and art book) by Dark Horse Books  (I need to get my hands on this! There’s also a gorgeous Limited Edition available)  –  Tom Clancy’s The Division on PS4, Xbox One, and PC  –  Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 on PS4, and Xbox One