Michael Stackpole, author of the Star Wars: X-Wing novels, is teaming up with FromSoftware to write a new Dark Souls story called Dark Souls: Masque of Vindication, publisher Yen Press announced in a press release. Masque of Vindication releases in October 2022 and returns to the setting of the original Dark Souls and presents the action RPG through “fresh eyes,” Yen Press said. The key character is a nameless, hollowed sorcerer who awakens in a prison cell, surrounded by death and absorbing the flickers of life from the corpses around him to regain a sense of himself.
“The desert night stretches out beyond the graveyard, and the starry sky tells the sorcerer that a long time has passed since his death,” the book’s description reads. “Naming himself Ferranos after the meaningless word graven outside his tomb and armed with a dagger of a failed grave robber, he embarks on an epic adventure guided by fate.”
Stackpole is a prolific writer who penned over a dozen Star Wars novels during the late 1990s, including I, Jedi and Rogue Squadron. While he may be best known by some for his work in George Lucas’ universe, Stackpole has a broad range of books to his name, including the Battletech series, the Crown Colony fantasy series, and, later, World of Warcraft and Gears novelizations.
This is the first time FromSoft has commissioned new narratives for any of its franchises outside video games, and there’s certainly plenty of room not just to tell rich and varied stories, but to experiment with different narrative styles.
The publisher’s traditional hands-off method of storytelling and world building may work wonderfully in a game setting, where players can create meaning and stories of their own, but it’s likely not something a character-centered book can rely on – or if it does, we’re certainly interested in seeing how it plays out.
If you can’t wait until October to satisfy your FromSoft cravings, try fiddling with some of the best Dark Souls mods to shake up your adventure. Or if you’re keen to try something new, this Minecraft build is essentially Dark Souls in Mojang form.