One of the original architects of Final Fantasy VII is returning to prose. Kazushige Nojima, who helped write the 1997 game and has guided its story ever since, is the author of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth: Dear Destiny, a new novel coming to English readers next year.
Penguin Random House lists the book for March 16, 2027, as a $26.99 hardcover and an ebook. It can also be preordered through the Square Enix Store.
Picking Up From Traces Of Two Pasts
Dear Destiny is a sequel to Final Fantasy VII Remake: Traces of Two Pasts, Nojima's earlier novel about Tifa Lockhart and Aerith Gainsborough. That book was released in Japan in July 2021 and arrived in English in March 2023. It dug into the childhoods of both women, giving readers a fuller look at Tifa's life in the mountain village of Nibelheim and Aerith's upbringing in Midgar.
The new book moves the timeline forward, bringing both characters right up to the edge of the game's opening.
Two Women, One City
The official description sets up parallel stories. Tifa is still carrying memories of Nibelheim as she runs the Seventh Heaven bar, all while trying to keep the eco-terrorist group Avalanche out of sight of an investigation by the Turks, the shadowy agents of the Shinra Electric Power Company. Aerith, meanwhile, sells flowers in Midgar and worries about someone dear to her who is no longer by her side.
The synopsis closes with a line that will feel familiar to longtime fans: "an angel takes flight from a run-down church, leading to a reunion in the Sector 7 slums that will set the wheels of destiny in motion."
Final Fantasy VII has always been a story about a city that feeds on its planet, and Midgar is as much a character as anyone in it. A novel set entirely in its slums, told from the point of view of two people living ordinary lives inside it, has plenty of room to explore that world in a way a fast-moving game cannot.
A Glimpse Of Cloud Before The Legend
The novel also includes "a bonus short story set during Cloud's time as a Shinra trooper." For readers who know the full story, that is a loaded premise. Cloud's account of his own past is one of the most famous examples of an unreliable narrator in games, and his real history as a rank-and-file soldier is central to the original game's biggest revelations.
No further details about the short story have been shared yet.
Why Nojima Matters
Many tie-in novels are written by authors outside the original development team, so it stands out that Dear Destiny comes from one of the people who built the story. Nojima worked on the original game's story, later wrote the scenarios for Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X, and has continued to contribute to FF7 through the modern Remake project from Square Enix.
That gives his novels a level of authority that fans tend to treat as close to canon, which makes them more than a curiosity for anyone following the trilogy.
Bridging The Gap To The Finale
The Remake trilogy began with Final Fantasy VII Remake in 2020 and continued with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth in 2024, with a third and final game still to come. Rebirth ended on one of the most emotional moments in the series, and Dear Destiny offers a way to revisit Tifa and Aerith while the wait continues.
For fantasy readers who have never picked up a controller, the book could also serve as an entry point into one of the most beloved worlds in gaming.
Would you rather read more novels that expand the Final Fantasy VII cast, or keep that storytelling inside the games themselves?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.