Karen Traviss

GEARS OF WAR

RATING: frequent violence and very strong language.


Yes, games have stories - sometimes pretty complex ones, and Gears of War is gritty military horror with a thriller storyline and fascinating, believable characters. These books complete the storyline between (and before) the games trilogy, coming full circle with The Slab, my final novel for the Gearsiverse. See here for my work on the game and here for the comics. Gears was a once-in-a-lifetime experience – the perfect fictional universe, and I'm glad I got the chance to work on it.

STAR WARS

(See FAQS if you have questions about these series.)

RATING: no strong language, but adult books with adult themes – violence and harrowing topics.

Please note that I'm not writing any more Star Wars novels. Imperial Commando 501st was my last, so much as I appreciate the mail, please don't ask me to reconsider. I can't. (Nor is there some unpublished manuscript. There’s not even an outline.) The explanation is in the FAQs. It's endex. Over. I'm not going to be writing it again, and it's years in the past, so please let it rest in peace. I really do urge you to read the FAQs before contacting me. They will answer your questions, but if they don’t, then I almost certainly can’t either.

Parents: my Star Wars novels are aimed squarely at 18-plus, although there's no bad language in them. They contain adult themes that are harrowing and challenging, which can be good ways to introduce a child to moral and political debates, but they also contain a lot of violence dealt with honestly. I realise that kids read my books, so on balance I believe that showing violence and warfare for the ugly, terrible things that they are does children more good than feeding them sanitised and frankly dangerous notions that decapitating someone with a lightsaber doesn't hurt and is okay because the "good guys" do it. In fact, If I had kids that age, I'd rather they read my Gears of War books, because for all the violence and strong language, the themes are brotherhood and sacrifice – far healthier concepts to take away with them.

So please don't assume a book is okay for your kids unless you've checked it out yourself. Many parents mail me for guidance about what's actually in my books, and I'm always happy to answer those questions. But in the end, I'd ask you to exercise parental responsibility and maybe read them for yourselves first, because only you know what your child can handle.