We here at the TheGamerDrive have been given a great opportunity! Author Drew Karpyshyn, former writer for BioWare (retired February 2012), has granted us an interview. The author's video game work includes Mass Effect , Mass Effect 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and The Old Republic. He has also written many novels based on BioWare's properties and an original Star Wars story, the Darth Bane trilogy. Coming in the fall of 2013 is the beginning of his first original trilogy of novels, named Children of Fire. For more information, check out his website www.drewkarpyshyn.com.
P.S. Ben also HIGHLY recommends the Star Wars: Darth Bane trilogy. Phenomenal story!


                Check out his novels below!
         ***(All book purchases (excluding Temple Hill and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal) are through A Real Bookstore in Fairview, TX, due to the fact they are our local bookstore and we support local. They do offer shipping services)***

Children of Fire

        Long ago the gods chose a great hero to act as their agent in the mortal world and to stand against the demonic spawn of Chaos. The gods gifted their champion, Daemron, with three magical Talismans: a sword, a ring, and a crown. But the awesome power at his command corrupted Daemron, turning him from savior to destroyer. Filled with pride, he dared to challenge the gods themselves. Siding with the Chaos spawn, Daemron waged a titanic battle against the Immortals. In the end, Daemron was defeated, the Talismans were lost, and Chaos was sealed off behind the Legacy—a magical barrier the gods sacrificed themselves to create.
        Now the Legacy is fading. On the other side, the banished Daemron stirs. And across the scattered corners of the land, four children are born of suffering and strife, each touched by one aspect of Daemron himself—wizard, warrior, prophet, king.
        Bound by a connection deeper than blood, the Children of Fire will either restore the Legacy or bring it crashing down, freeing Daemron to wreak his vengeance upon the mortal world.

Mass Effect: Retribution

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Humanity has reached the stars, joining the vast galactic community of alien species. But beyond the fringes of explored space lurk the Reapers, a race of sentient starships bent on “harvesting” the galaxy’s organic species for their own dark purpose. The Illusive Man, leader of the pro-human black ops group Cerberus, is one of the few who know the truth about the Reapers. To ensure humanity’s survival, he launches a desperate plan to uncover the enemy’s strengths—and weaknesses—by studying someone implanted with modified Reaper technology. He knows the perfect subject for his horrific experiments: former Cerberus operative Paul Grayson, who wrested his daughter from the cabal’s control with the help of Ascension project director Kahlee Sanders. But when Kahlee learns that Grayson is missing, she turns to the only person she can  trust: Alliance war hero Captain David Anderson. Together they set out to find  the secret Cerberus facility where Grayson is being held. But they aren’t the  only ones after him. And time is running out. As the experiments continue, the sinister Reaper technology twists Grayson’s mind. The insidious whispers grow ever stronger in his head, threatening to take over his very identity and unleash the Reapers on an unsuspecting galaxy.

Mass Effect: Ascension

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When they vanished fifty thousand years ago, the Protheans left their advanced technology scattered throughout the galaxy. The chance discovery of a Prothean cache on Mars allows humanity to join those already reaping the rewards of the ancients’ high-tech wizardry. But for one rogue militia, the goal is not participation but domination. Scientist Kahlee Sanders has left the Systems Alliance for the Ascension Project, a program that helps gifted “biotic” children harness their extraordinary powers. The program’s most promising  student is twelve-year-old Gillian Grayson, who is borderline autistic. What  Kahlee doesn’t know is that Gillian is an unwitting pawn of the outlawed black  ops group Cerberus, which is sabotaging the program by conducting illegal  experiments on the students. When the Cerberus plot is exposed, Gillian’s  father takes her away from the Ascension Project and flees into the lawless  Terminus Systems. Determined to protect Gillian, Kahlee goes with them… unaware  that the elder Grayson is, in fact, a Cerberus operative. To rescue the young  girl Kahlee must travel to the farthest ends of the galaxy, battling fierce  enemies and impossible odds. But how will she be able to save a daughter from  her own father?

Mass Effect: Revelation

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Every advanced society in the galaxy relies on the technology of the Protheans, an ancient species that vanished fifty thousand years ago. After discovering a cache of Prothean technology on Mars in 2148, humanity is spreading to the stars; the newest interstellar species, struggling to carve out  its place in the greater galactic community.
On the edge of colonized space, ship commander and Alliance war hero David Anderson investigates the remains of a top secret military research station; smoking ruins littered with bodies and unanswered questions. Who attacked this post and for what purpose? And where is Kahlee Sanders, the young scientist who mysteriously vanished from the base–hours before her colleagues were slaughtered? Sanders is now the prime suspect, but finding her creates more problems for Anderson than it solves. Partnered with a rogue alien agent he  can’t trust and pursued by an assassin he can’t escape, Anderson battles impossible odds on uncharted worlds to uncover a sinister conspiracy . . . one he won’t live to tell about. Or so the enemy thinks.

Star Wars: The Old Republic - Annihilation

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The Sith Empire is in flux. The Emperor is missing, presumed dead, and an ambitious Sith lord’s attempt to seize the throne has ended fatally. Still, Darth Karrid, commander of the fearsome Imperial battle cruiser Ascendant Spear, continues her relentless efforts to achieve total Sith domination of the galaxy. But Karrid’s ruthless determination is more than matched inthe steely resolve of Theron Shan, whose unfinished business with the Empire could change the course of the war for good. Though the son of a Jedi master, Theron does not wield the Force—but like his renowned mother, the spirit of rebellion is in his blood. As a top covert agent for the Republic, he struck a crucial blow against the Empire by exposing and destroying a Sith superweapon arsenal—which makes him the ideal operative for a daring and dangerous mission to end Ascendant Spear’s reign of terror. Joined by hot-headed smuggler Teff’ith, with whom he has an inexplicable bond, and wise Jedi warrior Gnost-Dural, Darth Karrid’s former master, Theron must match wits and weapons with a battle-tested crew of the most cold-blooded dark side disciples. But time  is brutally short. And if they don’t seize their one chance to succeed, they  will surely have countless opportunities to die.

Star Wars: The Old Republic - Revan

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Hero, traitor, conqueror, villain, savior—the man called Revan has been all of these. He left Coruscant a Jedi, on a mission to defeat the Mandalorians. He returned a Sith disciple, bent on destroying the Republic. The Jedi Council gave  Revan his life back, but the price of redemption was the loss of his memories.  All that’s left are nightmares—and deep, abiding fear. What happened beyond the  Outer Rim that Revan can’t quite remember or entirely forget? One thing he’s  certain of: Something dark is plotting to destroy the very existence of the  Republic. With no idea how to identify the threat, let alone stop it, Revan may  be doomed to fail. For he’s never faced a more powerful and diabolic enemy. But  only death can stop him from trying.

Star Wars: Darth Bane - Dynasty of Evil

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Twenty years have passed since Darth Bane, reigning Dark Lord of the Sith, demolished the ancient order devoted to the dark side and reinvented it as a circle of two: one Master to wield the power and pass on the wisdom, and one apprentice to learn, challenge, and ultimately usurp the Dark Lord in a duel to the death. But Bane’s acolyte, Zannah, has yet to engage her Master in mortal combat and prove herself a worthy successor. Determined that the Sith dream of galactic domination will not die with him, Bane vows to learn the secret of a forgotten Dark Lord that will assure the Sith’s immortality–and his own. A perfect opportunity arises when a Jedi emissary is assassinated on  the troubled mining planet Doan, giving Bane an excuse to dispatch his apprentice on a fact-finding mission–while he himself sets out in secret to capture the ancient holocron of Darth Andeddu and its precious knowledge. But Zannah is no fool. She knows that her ruthless Master has begun to doubt her, and she senses that he is hiding something crucial to her future. If she is going to claim the power she craves, she must take action now. 
        While Bane storms the remote stronghold of a fanatical Sith cult, Zannah prepares for her Master’s downfall by choosing an apprentice of her own: a rogue Jedi cunning  and cold-blooded enough to embrace the Sith way and to stand beside her when she  at last wrests from Bane the mantle of Dark Lord of the Sith. 
         But Zannah  is not the only one with the desire and power to destroy Darth Bane. Princess  Serra of the Doan royal family is haunted by memories of the monstrous Sith  soldier who murdered her father and tortured her when she was a child. Bent on  retribution, she hires a merciless assassin to find her tormentor–and bring him  back alive to taste her wrath.
        Only a Sith who has taken down her own  Master can become Dark Lord of the Sith. So when Bane suddenly vanishes, Zannah  must find him–possibly even rescue him–before she can kill him. And so she  pursues her quarry from the grim depths of a ravaged world on the brink of  catastrophe to the barren reaches of a desert outpost, where the future of the  dark side’s most powerful disciples will be decided, once and for all, by the  final, fatal stroke of a lightsaber.

Star Wars: Darth Bane - Rule of Two

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In the New York Times bestseller Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, Drew Karpyshyn painted a gripping portrait of a young man’s journey from innocence to  evil. That man was Darth Bane, a twisted genius whose iron will, fierce ambition, and strength in the dark side of the Force made him a natural leader among the Sith–until his radical embrace of an all-but-forgotten wisdom drove him to destroy his own order . . . and create it anew from the ashes. As the last surviving Sith, Darth Bane promulgated a harsh new directive: the Rule of Two. Two there should be; no more, no less. One to embody the power, the other to crave it. Now Darth Bane is ready to put his policy into action, and he thinks he has found the key element that will make his triumph complete: a student to train in the ways of the dark side. Though she is young, Zannah possesses an instinctive link to the dark side that rivals his own. With his guidance, she will become essential in his quest to destroy the Jedi and dominate the galaxy. But there is one who is determined to stop Darth Bane: Johun Othone, Padawan to Jedi Master Lord Hoth, who died at Bane’s hands in the last great Sith War. Though the rest of the Jedi scoff at him, Joshua’s belief that there are surviving Sith on the loose is unshakeable.
        As Johun continues his dogged pursuit of the man who killed his master, Zannah, faced unexpectedly with a figure from her past, begins to question her embrace of the dark side. And Darth Bane is led by Force-induced visions to a moon where  he will acquire astonishing new knowledge and power–power that will alter
him in  ways he could never have imagined. . . .

Star Wars: Darth Bane - Path of Destruction

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On the run from vengeful Republic forces, Dessel, a cortosis miner, vanishes into the ranks of the Sith army and ships out to join the bloody war against the  Republic and its Jedi champions. There, Dessel’s brutality, cunning, and exceptional command of the Force swiftly win him renown as a warrior. But in the  eyes of his watchful masters, a far greater destiny awaits him. As an acolyte in the Sith academy, studying the secrets and skills of the dark side, Dessel embraces his new identity: Bane. But the true test is yet to come. In order to gain acceptance into the Brotherhood of Darkness, he must defy the most  sacred traditions and reject all he has been taught. It is a trial by fire in  which he must surrender fully to the dark side–and forge from the ashes a new  era of absolute power.

Temple Hill

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Among the dark streets of the city move thieves and cutthroats. And they don't like independent operators like Lhasha Moonsliver. But when she hires the town drunk as a bodyguard, she gets more than she bargained for. Together they'll have to battle the thieves' guild, the Cult of the Dragon, and other, darker foes. And a fallen man will have to remember the proud warrior he once was.

Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal

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Death to the Children of Bhaal! On the run and hunted by everyone in Faerûn, Bhaal’s offspring are being wiped out. Instead of ridding the land of evil, each kill gives more power to a vicious group of Bhaalspawn intent on returning their father to the world. Follow the ultimate battle of the children of Bhaal in this thrilling novel based on the computer game from BioWare and Interplay!




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