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One of the biggest creative challenges in adapting Anthem into a full novel is understanding that the story cannot rely solely on the main plot—it has to live and breathe through its world, its side characters, and the places that give that world meaning. That has led me back to the beginning. I have officially started rewriting the opening of the story. While the original opening still remains important, I realized there was an opportunity to strengthen the foundation of the novel by creating a new introduction—one that better captures both the scale of the world and the emotional stakes of the people living inside it. The goal is to begin with something familiar for longtime players of Anthem, while also making the story fully accessible for readers who may have never played the game at all. That balance matters. For readers who know the world of Bastion, there should be a sense of recognition—familiar faces, familiar dangers, familiar tension. But for new readers, the st...

Stepping into an already established world is one of the most unique creative challenges a writer can take on. Instead of building everything from nothing, you begin inside a living universe — one filled with history, characters, and stories that already matter to people. The challenge then becomes finding ways to add new ideas while respecting the legacy that already exists. That balance has become one of the most enjoyable parts of writing this story set within the world of Anthem. Writing Alongside Legacy Characters One of my main goals while writing is making sure that new characters feel naturally connected to the existing lore. When original characters interact with familiar figures from the game, the focus shifts toward capturing authentic voices — how they speak, how they react, and how their personalities shape each conversation. Writing dialogue for legacy characters means studying how they behaved in the game: their tone, humor, and emotional rhythm. The aim is to create mom...

There’s a strange feeling that comes when a game you’ve spent time in is preparing to disappear. Recently, I revisited trailers and lore videos for Anthem, a game known as much for its ambitious worldbuilding as for its complicated history. With the announcement that the servers would officially go offline on January 12, 2026, I realized something unexpected — soon, this world will no longer be playable. But stories don’t always end when servers shut down. Sometimes, that’s where new stories begin. Why Write Fan Fiction About Anthem? Like many players, I was drawn to Anthem because of its atmosphere: flying through storms, exploring Bastion, and uncovering fragments of lore hidden throughout the codex. Despite the challenges the game faced at launch, its universe always felt larger than what we experienced on screen. That realization sparked an idea. What if fan fiction could become a way to explore the stories that were never fully told? Fan fiction offers writers a unique creative sp...