Nathan Drake’s adventures as a professional treasure hunter and solver of ancient mysteries have thrilled gamers for several years now. With three main series games and plenty of additional material ranging from comics to web games, the Uncharted franchise has plenty of background to draw on. With all of this established, it’s unsurprising that we now see a novel expanding Drake’s adventures further.
The author of this book, Christopher Golden, has a sizable background in fantasy tie-in literature including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Hellboy novels amongst his impressive portfolio. He also co-wrote the animated online series Ghosts of Albion with Amber Benson, a series that has gone on to become a successful cross-media endeavour.
Golden’s new tie-in book, Uncharted: The Fourth Labyrinth, follows Nathan Drake as he takes on two dangerous groups bent on killing him while setting out to unravel mysteries both ancient and new. The story opens with the brutal murder of Luka Hzujak, an archaeologist and a friend of Victor Sullivan, Drake’s close friend and mentor. Sully is determined to find the killers and he introduces Drake to Jada, Luka’s daughter.
With this the two treasure hunters resolve themselves to help Jada continue the research her father was murdered for in the hopes of unmasking his killers. Naturally this puts the team in the firing line as well and they must struggle to evade assassins of varying sorts while they strive to learn more about the labyrinths of the ancient world and why Luka was killed to keep them a secret.
The intrigue is piled on early in the story as Jada targets her stepmother Olivia and her employer as possible parties to her father’s death. Beyond these more everyday enemies, Drake soon suspects that an older and more elusive threat is lurking in the shadows, one that could be a danger to everyone investigating the mysteries of the labyrinths.
The plot is well paced and the sense of mystery ensures that The Fourth Labyrinth is a page turner. The opening is high octane with Drake wrapping up the action packed end of his most recent undertaking. This opening almost feels superfluous as it only delays the beginning of the true narrative. It is also a tad clunky and uninviting as an opening; Drake’s internal monologue as he flees pursuing jeeps and gunfire borders on excessively cocky and it is a reasonably irritating introduction to the character. That said, once this less than exemplar opening has passed by, the novel takes a turn for the better as the real adventure is introduced.
The narrative hops between events taking place during Drake’s travels across the globe and the time he spends beneath the ground in the labyrinths, searching for a hint as to the location of the titular fourth labyrinth. This interchange works fairly well with the labyrinths serving as effective climaxes in the beats of the plot. Meanwhile the combination of research and action as the group move from country to country keeps things moving at a strong pace.
If there were a flaw in this formula it would be that of repetition; there are only so many dank caves a book can contain before any author would struggle to find an exciting way to describe them. Drake spends a lot of time exploring dark corridors and this can feel a little tired as the book rolls on. Thankfully there is some variation from labyrinth to labyrinth and the events that take place within them are certainly climactic.
The characters are something of an issue in The Fourth Labyrinth. The obvious tragedy of losing her father affects Jada as you would expect but beyond this the emotion within this book rarely intensifies. A subtle possibility for romance does develop but beyond this the characters are pretty much wrapped up in the adventure with little time for reflection or character development. The dialogue between Drake and his companions can be amusing at times but generally the characters lack any real depth.
The villains are less consistent, with some having more time given to their development than others. One faction remains largely faceless throughout the plot while another is given more complexity and depth. The chief antagonist, when revealed, is especially dislikeable and serves well as a villain for the book. Generally speaking, the characters function fine but they needed more time on the page to be expanded upon.
All in all The Fourth Labyrinth is a solid read that, despite its flaws, does compel the reader to keep going. The secrets of the fourth labyrinth unravel at a good pace and, while the characters don’t have enough time to develop their individual personalities, their desire to unravel the mysteries presented to them is palpable. The problems with The Fourth Labyrinth are noteworthy but ultimately this is a good read if you’re after a page turning mystery with a healthy dose of action to back it up. More of an action film on the page than a story to really get absorbed in; this will appeal to readers after a book with a bit of an adrenaline rush packed in.
