WARNING: The following review contains several spoilers for the novel in question.
“I, Mengsk” is the latest book in the StarCraft series of novelizations. “I, Mengsk” is, simply put, the Mengsk story – the story of three generations of Mengsk family members and how they strived, suffered and persevered against the Confederacy and their own character flaws to come to where they are now. As the novel opens, Arcturus meets with Valerian, and the two quickly erupt into argument when Valerian says that he doesn’t know what “home” means anymore, he’s moved about so much. Arcturus admits he knows the feeling himself, and offers to tell Valerian the story of Korhal, and in doing so, the story of the Mengsk family. So begins the first part of the novel: Angus. In Part 1, Arcturus is a seventeen-year old child with a smart-alec mouth and a deep-seated sense of rebellion towards his father. Angus wants Arcturus to be his heir, while Arcturus doesn’t care for politics and wants to be a prospector. As Part 1 opens, Arcturus sneaks away from his prestigious academy and infiltrates his family’s villa, just to irritate his father and prove he could overcome the security systems. However, at the same time a team of Confederate assassins attack, and the family narrowly survives with the help of the Mengsk family security organizer, Achton Feld. Angus and Ailin Pasteur, the leader of Umoja, discuss ways to strike back at the Confederacy’s growing oppression, and Angus rants that with the Old Families controlling the Confederate government, the corruption will only grow. Ailin agrees to secretly fund Angus’ planned terrorist efforts, but will not support him publicly. When he catches Arcturus spying on him, Angus tries to treat his son as an adult and explain what is happening to him, but when Arcturus repeatedly voices his inability to understand why his father wants to kill people, Angus dismisses him as a child. During the attack, Arcturus meets Ailin’s daughter Juliana, and woos her with the intention of eventually bedding her. When the Confederate Marine Corps visits Arcturus’ academy, he finds the idea of collecting prospecting experience while seeing the galaxy appealing, and eventually signs up for the Corps. On the day Angus is to give his Closing of Session speech to the Korhal senators, denouncing the Confederacy, Arcturus reveals his enlistment to his mother and walks out of the auditorium in the middle of his father’s speech, leaving his mother sobbing behind him.
Part 2 is titled “Arcturus”, and opens on Arcturus as a Confederate lieutenant roughly a year and a half later entering his first combat mission with his squadron, whom he calls “Dominion Section”, a name he feels is grand. Under the command of Captain Angelina Emillian, the same officer Arcturus met in his academy years prior, Dominion Section is part of a force meant to attack an illegal mining operation and take control of it for the Confederacy. When Emillian is injured, Arcturus takes control of the attack and forces the miners to surrender, although the Confederate forces suffer casualties. When Arcturus discovers the miners’ claim to the site was legal after all, he voices protests but is shut down by Emillian, who tells him to follow orders. Many of his subsequent missions follow similar guidelines, and Arcturus begins to work towards his goal of prospecting by overseeing the Confederate mining teams sent in to operate in the aftermath of the battles. Arcturus returns to Korhal see his family, but tensions are high and he walks out in the middle of the night following an argument with his father. He also takes Juliana on a date, and the two consummate their relationship after a failed attack on Arcturus’ life, though now that he has slept with her Arcturus’ interest in her fades. Eventually Arcturus rises to the rank of Captain and is assigned under the command of Edmund Duke and Alpha Squadron, the hope of their commanding officer being that Dominion Section will meet Duke’s expectations in the field and join Alpha Squadron, a prospect that Arcturus doesn’t care for. Their attack on a Kel-Morian mining operation goes horribly awry when heavy firepower and eventually Battlecruisers arrive to back up the Kel-Morians. Arcturus and Duke retreat and the Guild Wars begin. Several years later, Arcturus, now in his late-20s, resigns his post admitting to his commander he doesn’t believe in the Confederacy’s reasons for fighting, and begins prospecting on his own. As he strikes a massive mineral field, enough to keep him rich for the rest of his life, Arcturus is contacted by Ailin Pasteur, who urges him to come to Umoja. Arcturus does so and meets Juliana who introduces Arcturus to his seven-year old son, Valerian.
The final part of the book is titled “Valerian”. Arcturus is stunned by the idea of a son, and once Valerian is taken from the room he has an argument with Juliana, but ultimately does not find the idea of fatherhood unappealing. Ailin also tells Arcturus that his father has been causing trouble on Korhal, undermining Confederate law, and the planet is practically under martial law. Arcturus spends time with Valerian, although he finds the boy’s interest do not meet what he considers normal “boy” behaviors. Arcturus tries to feign interest in Valerian’s hobbies, but their time together ends badly when he offers to let Valerian fire his rifle, and the boy fails horribly and bruises himself. Arcturus argues with Juliana that Valerian is a “bookish, effeminate weakling”, and Juliana accuses Arcturus of being just like Angus. Their argument is interrupted by a real-time communication by Achton Feld, who tells Arcturus his family has been killed. Arcturus declares he will burn the Confederacy to the ground, and tells Juliana and Valerian they must flee before the Confederacy targets them as well. As the novel continues, Valerian and his mother flee from place to place as Arcturus forms the Sons of Korhal and strikes at Confederate installations. Valerian idolizes his father and exercises and takes fighting lessons, determined to prove himself a strong and worthy heir to the Mengsk name. Eventually Korhal is destroyed, and as the years pass Valerian’s idealized vision of Arcturus fades, and his mother is stricken with a cancerous tumor and slowly slips into death. Eventually Mengsk comes for them, and although Valerian is angry with him for not being there for his mother and forcing them to flee the Confederacy, Arcturus admits he was wrong and that his son has become a fine man worthy of his name. He wants Valerian to become his heir, but Valerian asks Arcturus what he would say if he said he does not want to be his heir; Arcturus’ reply is that he once told his father the same thing.
The Confederacy falls, and Arcturus comes to retrieve Valerian and Juliana, now on Umoja again in the care of Ailin Pasteur. However, there is an assassination attempt planned by Samir Duran, and led by Angelina Emillian. The attack on the Mengsk family echoes the attack at the start of the novel, and they barely survive. Arcturus guns down Emillian, who declares the UED will destroy him as she dies, although Arcturus does not understand what the term means. As the novel closes, Valerian and Arcturus share a drink after Juliana’s funeral, a funeral Arcturus did not speak at and was not asked to. Arcturus tells Valerian he is proud of him and that he has greatness in him, but Valerian warns he will not live in Arcturus’ shadow. Arcturus does not expect him to, and tells Valerian that many of their words together remind him of his own conversations with Angus. Arcturus voices the concern that destiny has put them in position to repeat their father’s mistakes, and Valerian says he will not repeat Arcturus’. Arcturus agrees; he says Valerian will make new ones instead. Valerian does not find such words comforting, but they were not meant to be.
The sheer scope of the novel ensures that the story of “I, Mengsk” will be epic, and it is. The story encompasses virtually the entire timeframe of StarCraft lore, from the rebellion of Korhal up to and including the beginning of the Dominion-UED conflict. The Guild Wars, the formation of the Sons of Korhal and the fall of the Confederacy are some of the events shown. Jim Raynor is only mentioned once and Sarah Kerrigan not at all – the story is the Mengsk story, not theirs. It is truly intriguing to read about how Arcturus changes from a smart-alec teenager to a self-righteous emperor, and how the Mengsks truly have had their hands in the fate of the galaxy for decades. Seeing Arcturus as a child also shows that despite his words, or perhaps because of them, Valerian truly is his father’s son in more ways than one. Many allusions to other events and novels are given – Chuck Horner is mentioned, presumably Matt’s father, a reporter named Michael is shown, Jake Ramsey is mentioned, several critical figures from StarCraft lore like Ailin Pasteur appear, and at one point, the novel echoes, word for word, a conversation between Juliana and Valerian that occurs in “Firstborn”. The continuity between different novels and the games is amazingly fluent and the book is made all the better for it.
“I, Mengsk” fits solidly and perfectly into many of the holes in the StarCraft lore. It is a story of the Mengsk family, a description of the wars of the galaxy, a glimpse into the mentality of Arcturus Mengsk, and is an excellent read for any StarCraft fan.
