Well there is sort of a 'need': money. That's not very fortunate from a standpoint that demands quality, but with publishing, we enter the world of the bottom line.
Agh. Probably so. I hate reality when it interferes with beauty of purpose.
And I do think the games are a poor choice to base novels off of (except perhaps commercially). They are fine for fanfic, however. The difference between the two formats is that fanfic assumes a familiarty with the game, where a novel can stand completely on its own. I'm trying to make Dreams of Blood 'novelish' but I can't really say that I know its working, and I'm assuming it ultimately won't until I get further into it (I'm assuming I'll never finish the damn thing if i stay at my current rate, anyhow).
Generally I try to write so that a person never played the game could read my stories and keep up. However, as my husband tells me, the parts about the game seems a bit rushed as I long for the parts where I can write my own stuff and let my imagination run free.
Well, at least Imoen and Jaheira probably had to stay somewhat true to Athans form, and that has nothing to do with the game. I evaluated the first book (only one I've read, thankfully) by this standard: It sucked because it was poorly written, not because it didn't follow the game. I disagree with the 'it sucked because it didn't follow the game' attitude from some amazon reviewers because of my novels-should-stand alone view.
Okay, I am biased here, but I was SO pissed off about Sarevok. He was a shady whiner, basically (not to mention that the things he did made absolutely no sense in psychology area).
Now, I wouldn't be surprised if the new author isn't any good, in fact I'd be surprised if he were above mediocre, but I'll say this: when I skimmed a few pages of ToB at the store with a mixture of morbid curiosity and dread, I saw one bit where the author basically seemed to be telling us how much Abduh sucked. It seemed to me that he was doing it very consciously, and I thought, At least this guy realizes it.
If he hates his job that much, he should get a better one.
