A Game Of Cathedrals: The Pillars Of The Earth
From page to screen
Ken "Don't Call Me Fallout" Follett is a bestselling author, perhaps best known for the Kingsbridge series, the third and final part of which is scheduled to release in 2017. Daedalic are working on a "game-adaption" of the first book in the series, The Pillars of the Earth [official site], which chronicles the development of Gothic architecture in the 12th century. If that sounds dry (it actually sounds great), fear not - there are plenty of killings and conspiracies.
Handsome. As to how it'll work, and whether it'll allow deviation from the events of the book or even introduce new characters in and around the fictional setting, I'm not entirely sure. The novels focus on the construction of a cathedral in a town called Kingsbridge but also take in the wider political and religious concerns of the time, including the life and death of Thomas Beckett. Daedalic promise this won't just be a companion piece to the novel:
"This game will be more than just complementary media to the book and will instead retell the story in a new, interactive way. A team of about 20 people works to create a multi-platform adaption of this bestseller. The writers are also in contact and co-operation with the Follett Office and Ken Follett himself. Daedalic is the only studio at the time adapting such an epic reading-experience into an interactive format."
I've read The Pillars of the Earth but never got round to the sequel. Maybe I should. If I could have digital adaptations of any historical fiction, right now I'd go for the Shardlake series, which are 16th century whodunnits, a bit like The Name of the Rose if it weren't written by the preposterously erudite Umberto Eco. Or maybe Sharon Kay Penman's somewhat overwrought Welsh Princes trilogy, which would probably just be Crusader Kings II.
The Pillars of the Earth is a long way off. Daedalic reckon it'll be out around the same time that the final book in Follett's trilogy is ready. 2017 then.