Planescape: Torment | 
 enlarge | Authors: Ray Vallese, Valerie Vallese
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Category: Book
Buy New: $22.95
New (3) Used (10) from $5.93
Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 780054
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 247
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7 x 4.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 0786915277
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780786915279
ASIN: 0786915277
Publication Date: November 15, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Book is brand new, and has never been opened.
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Product Description
An eternal war
The endless Blood War rages, a never-ending battle between the fiends of the planes. Amid this horrific conflict, a single hero with no memory of his past seeks to discover his true identity.
Of course, this being the planes, his companions on his quest are ... unusual. But if you can't trust a floating skull, an eccentric investor, and a succubus, who can you trust?
Practically no one.
Based on the best-selling computer game from Interplay.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 A Failed Attempt December 30, 2007
I wasn't expecting this book to be very good. I mean, how often is it the case that a novel is better than the video game it's based on? I can't think of a single one, but then this is the only book I know of that was inspired by a video game. What's next, movies based on video games? Oh wait, let's not go there...
I've played through Interplay's video game "Plane Scape: Torment" and it's a tough act to follow. In fact, the book doesn't really try to follow the game all that closely, which isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself except that the book has so little to offer on it's own. In fact, I couldn't help but think that the book was trying to say "I am not the video game" over and over again while I was reading it.
Only three out of the large stock of characters in the video game appear in the book: "Mort", "Dak'kon" and "Annah". "Fall-from-Grace" makes a short appearance, but in retrospect this spares the reader an even bigger disappointment. The most intriguing aspects of "Mort" and "Dak'kon" were ripped out and I could almost see the ragged gaping holes that were left behind.
I'm afraid I could go on. There's much more to say about what the book isn't than about what it is. I can only recommend that you play through the video game (if you can find it) and try to overlook the dated software; the dialog and plot are what make it worth while. Usually that's what one would say about a book, but not in this case.
A bigger f'ck up than Fight Club movie to Game June 6, 2006
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I honestly cannot believe how utterly terrible this book was.
Maybe it was the fact that two people wrote it. Maybe it was because the game had already told the story, and done it better. Maybe.
Spoilers
But I think it's because the writers were incompetent, and were picked out of desparation by a failing Black Isle. The story barely even covers a fraction of what the game even contained, and none of it is handled well. Fall-From-Grace may as well have been dropped in by a parachute, and extracted via Halo jump. Annah was a central character, but her brief romance with The Nameless One (for some god-only-knows-why reason, given the name "Thane", even though the game handles the name "Adahn") may as well have never happened.
Even her death in the book was yawn-worthy. The final plot-twist was so simply done that there was little 'surprise' in it, no action, no drama. The whole book screamed, "Oh." "I'm immortal, and I sold my soul. Oh. Okay." "There, Annah's dying. Oh."
Bad writing sent this book into a long one-way street of monotony. Hell, I could write better than this. I probably just did.
 insulting and degrading to a great legacy February 25, 2005
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Is it unfair to rate a book in the shadow of what it's based upon? In this case, I definetly think so. Even though my strong feelings for the original computer game might cloud my judgment, I still feel that this waste of paper, ink and time didn't deserve to see the light of day. Besides adulterating all the characters, both physically and psychologically, it also destroys the plot - in my opinion, the best to ever grace a computer game. It might have been saved through its own merits, maybe solid plotting, colourful characterization, smooth action or insightful writing, but it failed abysmally in all of those. An utter disgrace and a shameful blemish in the Planescape legacy, and the first book I've ever actually thrown into the garbage bin. Why did they even bother? A line-by-line transcription of the game's script would have been better than this, and better written, besides.
 "Based on the best-selling computer game from Interplay" January 8, 2005
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
It's a good thing this warning was placed on the FRONT COVER of the book, lest one gets the impression that the book should include everything found within Planescape: Torment, which by the way has to be one of the BEST computer RPG games of all time!
The book is set in Sigil-the City of Doors- primarily, as well as various other locations within the Planescape multiverse, as it deals with the nameless hero and his efforts to find out more about himself after realizing that he has lost both his memory and his mortality. His quest takes him and his companions from the City of Portals to the Outlands and the Gate-Town of Curst, to the Lower Planes of Baator and Carceri, and even to the Inner Plane of Negative Energy.
The plot as a whole is excellent! The book is so incredibly well written and presented that the reader feels that they have been transported to another plane of existence and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense. Moreover, Ray and Valerie Vallese do a great job of presenting the distinct cultures and civilizations of the inhabitants of Planescape.
This has, without a doubt, been achieved as a result of a great deal of research that has gone into learning and understanding the numerous and often complex characteristics of the Planescape multiverse. Subsequently, the authors have a firm grasp of vital factual knowledge, and in turn have succeeded in providing an accurate and lucid description of these peoples.
Tieflings, Baatezu, Tanar'ri, Devas, Bariaurs, Zombies, Shadows, Hags, Githzerai, and factions like the Sensates, the Harmonium, and the Doomguard have been very well presented.
The story, the dialogues, the details are all wonderful, and create a strong sense of mystery and anticipation.
Intrigue, betrayal, and swordfights are all about.
The cherry on the cake is the actual ending, which is totally unexpected!
In short, Torment is what a Planescape book SHOULD be like!
It is strongly recommended to both general Fantasy as well as Planescape enthusiasts along with the Blood Wars Trilogy-Blood Hostages, Abyssal Warriors, and Planar Powers, and the Lady of Pain novel.
Sadly these are all the Planescape novels that have been published so far.
Hopefully, a sequel will be written shedding light as to what comes next, since the demand for one is definitely there.
MORE PLANESCAPE BOOKS PLEASE!!!
PS One should seriously start thinking about turning this book into a movie...
Why? July 27, 2004
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
Why did they even bother to waste ink and paper on this? The game was awesome and with a story that would have taken about 3000 pages to do it justice. Not barely 200! The story was centred around the Nameless One, who they felt like giving a name, and as we remember from the game Names Are Dangerous! We see Morte, who, for the most part, stayed the same as the sarcastic little floating skull sidekick. Although he was waay hilarious in the game. Annah and Fall-from-Grace were in the book. But they were ALLL screwed up. From the game, Annah was a Tiefling theif. And Fall-from-Grace was a high society succubus. What happened? In the book, Grace was the tiefling and Annah was the sucubuss! Huh?! Plus Fall-from-Grace was only in it for like two pages!
Maybe the writers should have played the game and see what kind of story they needed to live up to. With a game drenching in personal torment, life, and philosphy...it was dripping with the need of a good novel (after all it WAS a novel in game form). Maybe the makers should have made the book.
Most of the important encounters were either summarized horrible or just plain taken out. Like the talk with Ravel, or the deva, Trias The Betrayer, and the FREAKING TRANCENDENT ONE, the MOST IMPOTANT NPC IN THE GAME VERSION WAS BARELY IN THIS ONE. He pretty much handed himself over to ADHSDHASDJHALSDJHS or whatever it was those idiot writers
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