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I've enjoyed Richard A. The characters are simply dull, unoriginal, and cliche (strong older brother, good and reliable best friend, eccentric but occasionally useful younger brother, damsel-in-distress childhood friend). I do not recommend this series at all to anyone but the most die-hard of fans.I bought this series because, as a fan of Blizzard's adapted novels and the Diablo II video-game, I was intrigued by the backstory of the Diablo universe. This is strange more-so because typical "casting" wizards are present in the storyline and the differences are not described but simply explained as being that way. But still, the only reason I finished the series at all is that I bought the series together and had little else to read. Knaak's works before but this series was thoroughly uninspired.Even for a fantasy book, there were just too many instances requiring an extreme leap of faith. Furthermore, none of the characters experience much, if any at all, growth throughout the series and are completely predictable and stereotypical.
It's also disappointing that what few connections he made to the Diablo universe were even incorrect.The weakest links of the story are the beginning and ending; the beginning explains nothing and is beyond cliche while the ending is completely over-the-top. However, upon reading the series, I found that not only does this novel explain next to nothing about the Diablo universe, it is also very poorly written. Any recognizable connections to the Diablo universe are not explained but simply assumed to be and felt very forced as if Knaak included them as obligations. While most fantasy themes revolving around magic require effort, will, and preparation such as words of casting, reagents, etc., magic in this book happens simply by thinking about it (huh). The story makes you feel that these characters have god-like powers but are simply too ignorant to realize as much. Aside from that, the bulk of the story itself plods and clips along at a decent pace and the action is acceptable, though in most cases is completely far-fetched. I kept hoping that Knaak would redeem himself by the end of the series but alas, he did not.
As the 3rd book of the series it gave us exactly what we wanted, a huge build up and an epic finish. I dont want to go into too much detail but if you have read the first two books you HAVE to get this one.The ending will really get you thinking, i loved it.
The part that really interested me was the theological aspects that were greatly intertwined within the story, especially the part of the Nephilim (Edyrem). I was also surprised to see the author take this stance in a widley read series. I just finished this book last week. He sort of included the hierarchical structure of Heaven with the Angiris council at the end, but I half expected a true form of a Seraph to show up.The part I most enjoyed in this series was the development of the Necromancer character. I suppose the demographic of people reading Diablo don't really pertain to such extremists. I must say that I did not predict this ending to the story, I sort of suspected it because of the story-line in the video games, but I had no idea it would be like this.This conclusion is much more profound and far more action packed than the previous two. The way this tale is written it seems the author also seems to agree the most with that philosophy.
Considering how much this country, the U.S., takes it's politically correct diatribes, I'm surprised there weren't any outspoken people towards this. After reading the first two, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this story. He essentially teaches that any extreme of good or evil is a very bad thing and only results in a circular war with no real victor. There is still a fair degree of intrigue, especially when they're in Khejan, so Knaak keeps that writing style up pretty consistently.I was honestly half expecting him to play up more of the religious end and draw more from historical theology, such as he did with Angels. My philosophies identified most with Trag'oul and his teachings, so I really got into that character. At least I haven't encountered any, yet. But the extremists tend to get into everything these days and there seems to be an obvious split, which can probably be reconicled with balance.
I actually found him less annoying in this book comapred the first two. If you have an very good and active imagination, reading this book can give you shivers. A fitting end to the series and an awesome backstory to the game. It seems like Knaak really has a facination with necromancers. It is higher in gore compared to the first two but you certainly wont be able to put this book down.This book was far better than the 2nd in my opinion. It really nice to see the main protogonist mature. Trust me its true, I've read his other books on Diablo and they always have a witty necro in them. Not that I'm complaining as I myself play Diablo2 using a necro.I hope he writes more on the main character (Zayl and Humbart) from the other books (Moon of the spider & Kingdom of Shadow)Peter
The third book of the serie and the third book that i have the chance to read about diablo.Love , drama, and lots of action scenes this book repeat the sucess of the other two books.Totally awesome.
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