Gears of War: Ephyra Rising

The Gears of War Series, Book 8

By: Michael A. Stackpole

Narrated by: Nan McNamara

The new original novel set in the untapped years following Gears of War 3, revealing for the first time what occurred in the aftermath of the Locust War, written by New York Times best-selling author Michael A. Stackpole.

The Locust War has ended with an energy weapon that pulsed across the land, destroying Locust and Lambent alike. The world is in shambles, and the few survivors are isolated from one another. Humanity must begin anew. This novel reveals the canonical, never-before-seen events set in the time immediately following the game Gears of War 3.

With most of Sera’s civilization destroyed, Sergeant Marcus Fenix and Lieutenant Anya Stroud must somehow rebuild on the ruins. For Marcus, his purpose is impossible to grasp. With no clear enemy to fight, there may be no place left for him in this postwar world. Some call him hero; others view him with resentment.

As Anya struggles to create alliances to re-form the Coalition of Ordered Governments, she quickly discovers how impossible it is to tell friend from foe. Then whispers of Locust still stalking the land begin to spread. Fearing the worst, Marcus forms a team to assess the potential threat. As he and the other Gears search for Locust survivors, however, they quickly discover that the new enemy may be all-too-human, and utterly ruthless.

©2021 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Gears of War, The Coalition, Marcus Fenix, and the Crimson Omen logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies (P)2021 Blackstone Publishing

just another amazing gears of war book!!!!

love the books adds so much information to the gears universe. can't wait for the next book. go delta squad!!!!

Deeper dive into the Gears universe

If you are a Gears lore nut like me, then you will love this. Having Anya back involved is a great touch. It's nice to find out some of what happened after the Locust war with her since she died "off screen"

Another good Gears entry

It was nice getting the back story of the days just after the end of the war and the start of reconstruction. Overall good book.

A lot of people are complaining about the way Marcus is presented in the book, saying he's to emotional, but you have to realize this book takes place immediately after the war, he's dealing with ptsd and finally being able to openly be with Anya. He doesn't have to compartmentalize in this book, and for once he's happy. Every other book and game out there has Marcus in full business mode either during one of the wars or after losing Anya. All things that would change hima and how he addresses the world. Arguably you could say this book is closer to the true Marcus, and the others are all on the job Marcus

Finally another good one

I absolutely love this franchise and the lore that it brings. The original books up to “The Slab” were 10/10. The newer ones were not up to par and the voice just did not do it for me. This book fills a gap that fans were interested in and the story is good. The voice actor returns from the newer books and just falls short for me but the story helps bring this book along

Marcus Fenix isn't Marcus Fenix

I was excited to see another gears of war book come out. this story was well thought out and did a great job of showing what life was like after Gears 3. the only problem I had with the story was that it completely ignored that Marcus Fenix was very quiet and emotionally unavailable for the original trilogy and the books by Karen Travis.

if the author had taken the time to show us a gradual shift in Marcus at the beginning of the book it would have fit better but jumping straight in with a Marcus that talks to others about Anya is insulting. it is not something he would done. The Slab illustrates that the best.

before this author writes any more Gears novels he should definitely educate himself with the Karen Travis books and maybe he can redeem himself by writing a short story on how Marcus went from silent to softy.