I've never played the Infinity Blade game and I'm not sure it's my thing. If the price drops, I may give it a try. Hence, I did not know the backstory, but decided to get this novella anyways because I am a fan of [a:Brandon Sanderson|38550|Brandon Sanderson|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1201547425p2/38550.jpg] and he claimed no prior knowledge was necessary. That is indeed the case. I had no trouble at quickly picking up the story. In fact, it almost feels better this way. The world is cleverly designed and I enjoyed the blend of magic and technology. I don't know if that's Sanderson's or ChAIR's doing, but it was great. There wasn't a huge cast of characters (this is a novella after all), but those that were there were well-written. I would have liked a little more backstory for a few of them, but, again, the story is meant to be short. The plot started at a good place and was very interesting. It ended at a good spot, but I would have liked more. I guess that's where the sequel game comes in.

In terms of a complete story: it's a good introduction, but leaves you hanging
In terms of a game tie-in story: it does it's job, I actually want to see where the story goes next and if the gameplay is something I like, I may consider buying the sequel.

In summary, the setting and world building were fascinating. The characters were good, but the plot left me wanting.