Assassin's Creed: The Invisible Imam
Assassin’s Creed: The Invisible Imam is a book written by author Steven Barnes for Pocket Books, which was to be the first book of a trilogy. Publisher Marco Palmieri showed high interest in the book before it was cancelled. The story features a character by the name of Abdul Wahid, who goes on a quest for vengeance for the death of his parents.
Cancellation
Ubisoft cancelled the publishing of the book mainly because the book had to be heavily edited due to several problems.[1]
The first problem arose when the video game company was visited by descendants of the original Assassins, members of the Ismaili sect currently led by the Aga Khan in India. Not much is revealed about what actually needed correcting, however this visit caused the writers to heavily edit the book. Later, they instead decided to completely remove all religious references.
Additionally, they needed to hire an expert to confirm the historical accuracy of the story, and ask for advice from the Aga Khan’s people. However, by this time the publisher had lost interest in the book, and the whole three-book project was cancelled.
Author Steven Barnes included The Invisible Imam in his non-Assassin's Creed related book called Assassin and Other Stories.
Trivia
- The word Imam in Arabic means Leader.
- The Invisible Imam is a refrence to the story of Hassan-i Sabbah. Hassan-i Sabbah told his followers that the Imam was not dead, but he was invisible in Alamut. Thus Hassan-i Sabbah called himself a Dai (caller to the Faith, below the rank of The Imam) and The Imam had became invisible due to the risk of being killed.[2]
References