Uncharted: The Fourth Labyrinth Paperback – October 4, 2011

I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. Going in, I thought it would be nothing but mindless meaningless action. But, because I was such a fan of the video game, I had to give it a try. And, honestly, I haven't had this much fun reading a novel in a long time.There is something immensely compelling about going after treasure and figuring out puzzles, secrets and mysteries. And when you add to that a trip around the world, and bad guys trying to stop you at every turn, well, it's just irresistable. It creates an experience that is very enjoyable and exciting. That's this book in a nutshell.And what made it even better was the internal dialogue. You really got inside the heads of the main characters. You got to read what they were feeling and thinking, right down to their innermost fears and secret thoughts. It really brings the characters to life when you can do that, as long as it isn't overdone and long-winded, which it wasn't in this story.I should say, though, that the material, and the story itself, got complicated at times. And I ended up getting lost a few times. Fortunately, though, this difficult material was either simplified or explained better before long, so I was always able to get back on track.A story like this always leaves me wondering if there are such mysteries and treasures in real life. I am also left wondering how much of the material is real, and how much is simply made up or exaggerated.It must take a great deal of work to write such a complicated story as this, but the end result is just amazing. It's an amazing experience, for sure.

I've been a fan of the Uncharted series ever since the first game was announced, and I can tell you that this book is just as entertaining and fun as the games themselves. This is the first book that I've ever binge-read. Although it gets pretty dark in the last few chapters, this story would have made for a more superior movie than the one we got with Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg!

I've played both Uncharted games and seen the "Eye of Indra" motion comic, so naturally I was excited for a novel based on the series. It was a bit different from what I expected, but I wasn't disappointed. A couple of reviews here have said that it didn't feel like an Uncharted story, and while the tone was somewhat different from that of the games, I did enjoy seeing what the characters of Uncharted were like when they weren't having shootouts or climbing walls every two minutes.Basically, the plot is that Drake and Sully's old archaeologist friend gets mysteriously murdered, so they team up with his daughter to find the treasure he was looking for. There seemed to be a bit more of an Indiana Jones influence here than in the games, given that there was archaeology involved for purposes other than just grabbing loot. I did notice that while I was reading it, I noticed that the basic plot seemed familiar, which I first thought was because I'd read the product description a while ago, but then I realized that the upcoming "Uncharted: Golden Labyrinth" is about Drake and Sully helping the granddaughter of an archaeologist who's gone missing. So even though UGL isn't out yet, I'm hoping it's not going to have too much deja vu.The author expects you to know basically who Drake and Sully are, which isn't unusual for a licensed book, but there really wasn't much initial characterization. One minor thing that sort of bugged me was how frequently random pop-culture references were thrown in for the characters to say and think. I know Nate is supposed to be literate in pop culture, but it took me right out the story when a character says "It's a trap" and Drake is mentioned as wanting to make a Star Wars reference. I cringed a bit. I was also a little put off by how all of the female characters in the book seemed to have been created around "female character" archetypes rather than being unique and developed in their own right--the aforementioned archaeologist's daughter was motivated by trying to fulfill her father's work, she had a lot of spirit but Drake and Sully were trying to keep her safe, but then she could hold her own, but then one time she couldn't when required by the plot, and so on. I know Uncharted uses a lot of old pulp novel cliches, but usually it uses the elements in a way that isn't quite so predictable.One thing I really liked was the pacing. There was a sense of progression for the heroes toward their goal that also seemed similar to Indiana Jones, in a good way. Locations on five different continents are visited throughout the story, adding some variety and color. There are also numerous scenes where everyone sits around and manages to solve ancient puzzles which no one's been able to figure out for thousands of years with a bit of armchair history. I also liked these, although there are a lot of historical figures and legends that are casually name-dropped without any explanation for readers who might not be familiar with the details. There are also a couple of chapter cliffhangers that seem to set up an interesting situation to get out of, but then the next chapter starts with the situation having been resolved. This was probably the strangest part of the book for me, since it's 300 pages with largish print because of the book's size format; it's not like they needed to trim it down.As far as series continuity goes, they seem to be going with the "standalone adventure" approach they've been following for the various media. There is a single offhand reference that seems to place it sometime before the first game, but there's really not much external continuity you need to keep track of. There are a few references to events that happened X years ago, but the timing is mostly unimportant. The background information does drop a few hints as to Drake's origins and upbringing, but not much more than Naughty Dog has already explained in interviews.If you're a fan of the series and you're kind of on the fence about this one, what you'll want to take away is that this is its own story and doesn't have much to do with the main story of the games (probably, I can't say for sure since the third game isn't out yet), but it's still an entertaining read in its own right.

Fun book that manages to capture the best attributes of the video game series they're based on. However, it is not based on any pre-existing game & does not include the vast majority of the characters from the game, instead honing in specifically to drake & sully with a host of original characters. An archaeologist working on the possible location of the Minotaur's labyrinth of Minoan/ Greek legend is murdered by cult members & found mutilated on a subway platform. His daughter apparently has Sully as a Godfather & gets in touch with the two who discover that, not only is the Labyrinth real, but, for reasons explained in the book, there are more than one & whatever secrets they're guarding, the Minotaur worshipping cult will kill anyone who tries to obtain it.

At first I thought the story would be run of the mill story based on a video game. I truly like the characters in Uncharted. The games’ storylines kept me interested which is why I wanted to read this book. I’m happy to say that the characters act in the same way as the games. The story is a believable chapter in Uncharted.