Customer Reviews

Legacy of Blood (Diablo, No. 1)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Legacy of Blood is an original story based in the "Diablo" universe. It takes place slightly before and during the events of the Diablo II computer game. Said events and characters, however, are almost never mentioned.. though some of the monsters, classes, spells, and cities are.

I have mixed feelings about this novel. On the one hand, the "style" and "flow" of Richard Knaak's work is excellent in this book - better, in fact, than some of his previous ones. Examples: There is good detail when it is needed, but not so much that it is constantly slowing down the story. Characters are well developed, but we don't learn every boring detail of their lives in the first "five minutes" of their appearance.

The problems come from what I'd call "Diablo Cliches" being too prominent in this novel. What are these cliches? It is hard to go into them without spoiling the plot, but those of you that have either won the first Diablo game or played the second will notice the "artifact cliche" right away. This one is the most prominent and truly detracted from my enjoyment from the book. I really hope all future "Diablo Universe" books steer clear of this same plot hook if they don't want their readers feeling that they've read the book before.

Still, there was enough fresh material to keep me VERY entertained. I enjoyed every chapter, and didn't get "bored" with the book like I have with so many others. It was worth buying, and I look forward to Knaak's next novel!

This is a fantastic book to anyone who is into the Diablo PC game series. Richard Knaak does a fantastic job of writing out an original and entertaining story, while making various references to the classes, cities and spells from the game series, in particular Diablo II. The characters are well-developed from beginning to end, done by Knaak extremely well, by giving details of the characters lives, but not so much that we end up knowing more about the characters than we do the story. He does an outstanding job of going from the different character's viewpoints, for instance the swtich from Norrec to General Malevolyn to Kara Nightshadow is almost seamless, which does well to avoid confusion. But I found the story very gripping and didn't find the book boring at any point when I was reading it. So I do think that big fans of the game series will be very pleased with this novel.

This book is a great read for people who play the game Diablo or Diablo II. It is full of excitement and adventure. As a child I am not very sure how adults would see this book, but in my opinion, as a Diablo fan, this is one of my favorite books ever! The dangerous parts and sort of scary parts make this book wonderful!

I got Diablo 2 a couple months ago and got hooked automatically. I have played so much and just LOVE the game. So I decided to get this book. I thought it would be pretty good, but not as good as it turned out to be. I didn't fully appreciate it until I did a lil' research. Not to give ne thing away but Bartuc and Horazon ARE brothers and they both aren't just made up for this book. I thought Bartuc at least was just made up for this book but he wasn't.If I spoiled anytihng I am very sorry but I just wanted to ay that so anyone who gets this will get that and fully appreciate the story. I'd get this if I were you And I'd get the next Diablo 2 book coming out in August; The Black Road. Happy reading!

This book was a great read! After having been disappointed by the first STARCRAFT book, this one rocked! I didnt find it getting slow in any way and was exciting enough for me to not want to put it down. I havent read a book faster than I have this one! For those of you who havent played the games, It may seem a little lacking in background information on the world of DIABLO. Otherwise it was jam packed with spells and demons and loveable mayhem. The good thing about the book was that it was an original story based on the DIABLO world and not a rip off of the games story (unlike the starcraft book which I think a monkey could have written better), that way it doesnt read like a familiar story.

All in all a great book. Eagerly recommend it to everyone!

This is a good book; not great, but good. It took a little while for the story to come around, but it was indeed a decent read.

There are those readers who over-analyze plots and who can't seem to stand it when books don't conform to their core set of beliefs, but their reviews are certainly much harsher than the book deserves.

Knaak balances the book fairly well, without over complicating characters or trying to copy the game. I was actually glad that the book was not identical to the game.

This is the first Richard Knaak book that I've read, but I was not let down in the least. I intend to read his new Minitaur series.

Like all 3 of the Diablo novels, this book is not about the Prime Evils, but about a mercenary who found a magical suit of armor which seemed to have a mind of its own. The story is captivating, and I couldn't put it down once I got started. There are elements that are familiar to players of the Diablo game, like Lut Golain and the Arcane Sanctuary. I feel that Richard Knaak has done a fantastic job in bringing the Diablo world alive. This novel is also very well-paced and ends well (a common complain I have for many 'game' novels like MtG or D&D is that they rush to end the story, after taking a leisurely pace through 90% of the book). Whether you play Diablo or not, this book might get you started playing again.

It seems like anything that has to do with Diablo, StarCraft, or Blizzard Entertainment turns out enormous. Legacy of Blood is no exception. It is the first in a series of books that takes place in the same world as the video game; this specific story is situated between the events of Diablo and Diablo II.

As the book starts out at chapter one it already draws the reader in with plenty of action and suspense. Richard A. Knaak uses great depictive language to allow the reader to really be able to picture the plot in their mind and to show every minute article. Without spoiling much of the story, it consists actually of roughly three smaller stories: Norrec Vizharan, who has unintentionally come across the legendary armor of the great warlord, Bartuc, the armor of Bartuc is controlling the unfortunate soldier and sending him to do the suit's evil biding. The second is of General Augustus Malevolyn, a general who has admired Bartuc and wishes to be as great a warlord as him. Malevolyn already has the helmet and think if he can salvage the rest of the armor it will help him in his goals to continue the legacy of Bartuc. The final is of a necromancer by the name of Kara (for those of you that don't know, a necromancer is a person that deals with raising the dead) she has taken a journey to the tomb of Bartuc and realized that the armor was missing, knowing the evil that lurks within the armor she is attempting to find the person who took it to save them before it's too late. There are many other characters but these are just the major ones. Throughout the book the reader learns more about the characters and near the end all of them come together.

When I read the book I hadn't played the game but the book actually inspired me to play it. It is a great tale for Diablo fans and fans of fantasy books. Even if you haven't played the game you should still read the book since everything is explained. I recommend it! 5/5

This was a great book for people who have played the game. Many people, in previous reviews complained that he just "mentionned" certain places such as Lut Gholein, but did not describe it, I sometimes wonder if these people actually read the book word for word, or simply skimmed through the pages. Anyhow, the book was detailed just right, not too much, not too little. It allowed you to visualize where the characters were, and helped get into the story. As for people complaining that he only mentionned certain things from the game, if Knaak would of made up his own story, with hardly any mentions of the game, then it wouldn't be Diablo, now would it?

When I saw this book i thought that it might not be that good because it was based off of a game. After reading it there isn't much that is the same beyond the names of some characters and the towns. It also doesn't fallow the main story line behind Diablo the game. It goes in a completly diffrent diraction. For this variation I give this book 5 stars.

Norrec Vizharan has become a living nightmare. When he was looking for treasure, the soldier discovers an artifact beyond his wildest dearms. I was the armor that belonged to Bartuc, the legendary Warlord of Blood. Although he thought it was a good thing he soon found out that the armor was cursed. Now, pursued by demons who covet the dark armor for their own use, Norrec must overcome a bloodlust he can harly control. He must also learn the truth behind the curse before he looses his soul to the darkness forever