Kadokawa and Yen Press Announce the Simultaneous Publication of an Original Dark Souls Novel

The greatest RPG of all time is back as an original novel, releasing simultaneously in Japanese and English!

Illustration by Jun Suemi
Dark Souls™& ©Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. / ©FromSoftware, Inc.

FromSoftware, creators of ELDEN RING and SEKIRO, returns to its epic roots with a new novel set in the world of DARK SOULS, widely considered one of the best video games ever made.  Penned by bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole, DARK SOULS: MASQUE OF VINDICATION expands the mythos of the game and gives the millions of devoted fans who made the franchise a phenomenon an opportunity to revisit the epic adventure and settings that captured their imagination through fresh eyes.

In an underground tomb, a man who should have been dead awakens in the dark, gradually regaining his senses—

He has forgotten his past, including his name. Given the great pains taken to insure his confinement, his revival may have been anticipated, but the remains of the grave robber that is his sole companion may give a clue as to his reawakening. When the corpse of the thief rises against him, a sorcerer’s instincts emerge, and he puts it down with a flash of light from his palm. With this gesture, the memories of the cadaver flicker through him, rekindling a sense of himself…

The desert night stretches out beyond the graveyard, and the starry sky tells the sorcerer that a long time has passed since his death. Naming himself Ferranos after the meaningless word graven outside his tomb and armed with a dagger of a failed grave robber, he embarks on an epic adventure guided by fate.

DARK SOULS: MASQUE OF VINDICATION will be published globally both in print and digitally on October 25, 2022 by Kadokawa Corporation in Japanese and by Yen Press in English, marking the first simultaneous print release between the two companies.

About the Author

Michael A. Stackpole is an award-winning novelist, game designer, graphic novelist, screenwriter, podcaster, computer game designer and editor. He’s best known for his New York Times bestselling novels I, Jedi and Rogue Squadron. He’s written in many franchise universes, including Star Wars, Gears of War, Conan, BattleTech, World of Warcraft, Pathfinder, andDark Conspiracy. He has an asteroid named after him (165612) out beyond the orbit of Mars. He resides in Arizona and in his spare time enjoys gaming, cooking and dancing.