StarCraft: Ghost–Spectres by Nate Kenyon is now available in Mass Market Paperback and eBook formats. Order it here.

StarCraft: Ghost–Spectres is the novelization of the postponed 2006 first-person shooter video game.

I was given a review copy last week. Expect a short article in upcoming days. So far so good. Eldorian is holding a live phone interview with the author, Nate Kenyon, any time in the next couple of days with questions forwarded by me — so feel free to submit a question to cram it in before the interview.

The Dominion Ghost Program wipes the Ghosts’ memories often after each mission, and their implants make them obey orders as mindless slave drones. In this novel, Nova’s past will come crashing down on her as she slowly regains her traumatic childhood and ghost academy memories.

If you have read StarCraft: Ghost Academy Vol. 1-4 (Tokyopop) and StarCraft: Ghost — Nova are up for a treat with all the continuity elements and characters from Nova’s past coming back to haunt or help her in this new Terrazine-centered mission.

Here’s a preliminary and incomplete view of some locations, characters, organizations mentioned in the novel. A more detailed list will be provided when the review is ready.

Book Description

What terror can haunt a ghost? Nova, an elite stealth operative with exceptional telepathic and telekinetic powers, embarks on a heart-stopping mission that pits her against her own kind and forces her to confront her tragic hidden past.

Ghosts epitomize the height of terran evolution and physical conditioning. Born with incredible psionic potential, these individuals are recruited and quarantined for government training from childhood. Like most ghosts, Nova Terra had all memories of her prior life buried when she became a member of this elite corps of covert operatives. Unlike most however, Nova actually wanted to erase her personal history and put all of her painful memories to rest. Now, one of the most powerful ghosts in the Terran Dominion is about to be haunted by her former life when a forgotten friend joins her mission to located missing members of the ghost program. The shocking secrets they discover will pit Nova against both the shadows of her past and the future of terran psionic warriors: spectres.

StarCraft: Ghost — Spectres explodes from the universe of StarCraft II, the eagerly anticipated sequel to Blizzard Entertainment’s top-selling science-fiction real-time strategy game.

Secondary Description

Dominion ghosts epitomize the height of terran evolution and physical conditioning. Augmented by technologies that harness their innate psionic potential, these lethal operatives use telepathy and other superhuman powers to isolate and destroy the enemies of the Dominion. But when the hunters become the hunted and ghosts start disappearing without a trace, even the most dangerous human soldiers in the Koprulu sector have something to fear…

Enter Nova Terra, a ghost of unparalleled ability. On orders from Emperor Arcturus Mengsk, Nova embarks on a secret mission to find her missing comrades. As her investigation leads down a maze of dark corridors, painful memories of her pre-ghost years begin to surface. Soon, Nova learns that there might be a connection between the missing agents and her past, a discovery that will pit her against both the shadows of her youth and a terrifying new breed of psionic warrior: spectres.

This is the story that StarCraft fans have been waiting for—a pulse-pounding adventure based on the never-released StarCraft: Ghost tactical-action console game. StarCraft: Ghost—Spectres unveils a tumultuous chapter in Nova’s life and the insidious origins of the spectres featured in StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, the record-breaking sequel to Blizzard Entertainment’s highly praised real-time strategy games StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War.

Product Details

Pocket Star, September 2011
Mass Market Paperback, 432 pages
ISBN-10: 1439109389
ISBN-13: 9781439109380

Locations

  • Atticus Minor
  • Oasis town
  • Planet Altara
  • Augustgrad city — center of Dominion power
  • Hudderstown colony
  • Planet Shi
  • Gehenna
  • Abaddon
  • Korhal

Terran Units

  • Battlecruiser Palatine
  • Grizzly Armed Carrier
  • CMC-400 powered combat suits
  • SCV
  • Goliath
  • Dropship
  • System Runner
  • Tanks
  • Firebats
  • Spectres
  • Ghosts

Zerg Units

  • Roaches
  • Lurkers
  • Zerglings
  • Banelings
  • Mutalisks
  • Hydralisks
  • Infestor

Characters

  • Kate Lockwell — UNN reporter
  • Agent X41822N — November Terra
  • Agent X52735N — Kath Toom
  • Private Godard
  • Coloner Jackson Hauler
  • Captain Rourke
  • Officer Harvey
  • Lieutenant Chet Ward
  • Gabriel Tosh
  • Dr. Shaw
  • Wrangler Mal Kelerchian
  • Karl Lee — Palatine Science team leader
  • Emperor Mengsk
  • Ghostmaster Celsus
  • Michael Liberty
  • Dylanna (Ghost Academy, Team Red)
  • Lio Travski
  • Delta Emblock
  • Agent X72341R
  • Lila – 12-age low-teep girl from Oasis town
  • Bones
  • Lethal
  • Rook
  • The Veteran
  • Rip
  • Guns
  • Major Spaulding
  • Captain Vincent – The Annihilators second-in-command. Fall of Tarsonis veteran.
  • Julius Antoine “Fagin” Dale
  • Markus Ralian — Fagin’s second-in-command

Organizations

  • Kel-Bryant Conglomerate
  • Kel-Morian Combine
  • UED terrorist Cell
  • 22nd Marine Division: The Annihilators
  • Dominion Psi-Ops Division
  • Umojan Protectorate

Chapters

  • Chapter 1: Altara
  • Chapter 2: The Zerg
  • Chapter 3: Kath Toom
  • Chapter 4: Mal Kelerchian
  • Chapter 5: Emperor Mengsk
  • Chapter 6: Gabriel Tosh
  • Chapter 7: Project: Shadowblade
  • Chapter 8: Oasis
  • Chapter 9: The Annihilators
  • Chapter 10: Gehenna