You’ve seen the HBO show. You’ve definitely played the games—probably more than once if you’re like me and enjoy emotional trauma. But if you’re scouring the internet looking for a copy of The Last of Us novel, things get a little weird. Honestly, there’s a massive amount of confusion about whether this book even exists.
Let's get the facts straight right away. There is no official, full-length novelization of the first game or its sequel.
I know, it sounds wrong. Every major franchise has a tie-in book, right? Halo has dozens. Resident Evil has those classic S.D. Perry novels. Even God of War got the novel treatment. But for some reason, Naughty Dog and Neil Druckmann have steered clear of a traditional The Last of Us novel for over a decade. It’s a strange gap in a multi-million dollar franchise that thrives on storytelling.
Why the search results are lying to you
If you go to Amazon or eBay right now and type in The Last of Us novel, you’re going to see a few things that look official but aren't.
First, you’ll see the "Art of" books. Those are great, but they aren't stories. Then, you'll see a lot of fan fiction that people have self-published under confusing titles. Some of these are literally just transcripts of the game dialogue bound in a cheap paperback. Don't buy those. You're basically paying for a PDF of a script you can find on a wiki for free.
There’s also a persistent rumor about a book called City of Thieves by David Benioff. While it’s a real book—and a fantastic one—it’s not a The Last of Us novel. However, it is the book Abby is seen reading in Part II. It was a huge inspiration for the game's tone, which is why people often get the two mixed up in search algorithms.
The American Dreams exception
The closest thing we actually have to a The Last of Us novel in terms of "words on a page" is the comic book miniseries The Last of Us: American Dreams.
Written by Neil Druckmann and Faith Erin Hicks, this is 100% canon. It’s the prequel that explains how Ellie met Riley. If you’ve played the Left Behind DLC, you know the vibe. But the comic goes deeper into Ellie’s life at the military boarding school. It’s essential reading, yet it's still not a "novel."
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Why does this matter? Because the medium changes the message. Naughty Dog has always been protective of the "prestige" feel of the series. They might feel that a $9.99 mass-market paperback would cheapen the cinematic experience they worked so hard to build. Or maybe they just haven't found a writer who can capture Joel’s grunts and Ellie’s puns without making it feel cheesy.
What about the rumors of a movie script?
Before the HBO show was a thing, there was a movie script. Sam Raimi was attached to produce it. That script floated around Hollywood for years and eventually leaked in bits and pieces. Some people mistake these script leaks for a The Last of Us novel or a "lost" book.
The movie died because they couldn't figure out how to squeeze 15 hours of gameplay into a two-hour film. It’s a good thing it failed. The show had room to breathe. But the lack of a book still stings for the "I’d rather read the book" crowd.
Why a novelization would be tricky
Writing a The Last of Us novel presents a unique challenge: the gameplay loop.
In a game, you spend hours crouching in grass and throwing bricks at Clickers. In a book, that gets boring after three chapters. A novelist would have to focus almost entirely on the internal monologues of Joel and Ellie. We’d finally know what Joel was thinking during that long trek through Lincoln, or how Ellie felt the first time she saw a giraffe in person.
The nuance of the "unspoken" is what makes the game work. In a book, you have to speak it. That’s a risky move for a story that relies so heavily on subtext and facial animations.
The fan-made "Novelizations"
Since Sony hasn't stepped up, the community has. There are some incredibly high-quality "novelizations" on sites like Archive of Our Own (AO3) or Wattpad.
Some writers have spent years painstakingly converting the game into prose, adding their own interpretations of the characters' thoughts. While these aren't an official The Last of Us novel, they are often better written than the tie-in books you find for other games. If you’re desperate for a reading experience, that’s where you have to go.
Where to find the real story today
If you want the official story in a format that isn't a video game, your options are limited but high-quality.
- The HBO Series: Obviously. It’s the definitive non-game version.
- The Art of The Last of Us: These books contain lore snippets and developer commentary that provide more "story" than you'd expect.
- American Dreams (Comic): The only true prose/illustrated prequel.
- The Official Podcast: Hosted by Christian Spicer, this gives a narrative-heavy look at the characters' motivations.
Honestly, the "novel" is the game itself. The script is so tight and the performances are so grounded that a book might actually feel like a step backward. But with the franchise expanding, never say never. Maybe we'll get an anthology of stories from the perspective of other survivors in the QZ.
If you are looking for that specific feeling of a The Last of Us novel, you should check out the books that inspired it. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is the obvious one. It’s bleak, it’s gut-wrenching, and it’s the closest you’ll get to the Joel and Ellie dynamic in literary form. Children of Men by P.D. James is another heavy hitter.
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Next Steps for Fans
Stop looking for a physical The Last of Us novel at bookstores; you won't find one that's official. Instead, track down a copy of the American Dreams graphic novel to get the actual canon backstory. If you've already read that, move on to The Road by Cormac McCarthy to understand the DNA of the series. Finally, if you're into the lore, watch the "Ground II: Making The Last of Us Part II" documentary to see how the narrative was structured—it's basically a masterclass in storytelling that explains why a traditional book hasn't happened yet.