List of Diablo novels

The popularity of the Diablo video game series has led to several novels being written based upon or set in Diablo's fictional universe.

Diablo: The Sin War

The Sin War is a trilogy of novel series set in Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo universe, written by Richard A. Knaak. It tells the story of Uldyssian as he is drawn into the battle between the Temple of the Triune, run by the Primus under Lucion; the Son of Mephisto and the Cathedral of Light run by the rebel angel Inarius. Uldyssian feels that both sides are corrupt and wants nothing to do with either of them. When he is accused of murdering one of their missionaries, he flees his home town of Seram as he begins to discover his own strange powers. He decides to teach others how to use it, and gathers many followers to him, but the Temple and the Cathedral want his powers for their own and will stop at nothing to get them.

This trilogy was done as a collaboration between Richard and Chris Metzen (Blizzard), so it is considered canon material in the Diablo universe.^[1]

Birthright

Birthright is a 2006 novel and is the first novel in the trilogy. The novel introduces Lilith.

Birthright takes place before the games Diablo and Diablo II take place. It tells the story of Uldyssian ul-Diomed, a farmer whose only remaining family is his brother, Mendeln.

The story begins where Uldyssian's family falls victims to a plague, which only he and his brother survive. Later, a murder is unearthed in the woods near his home village, Seram. In this time he has already become infatuated with a stranger to the town named Lylia, and he has started to possess eerie powers, like a thunderstorm that left many dead, including the men of the Cathedral of Light who accused him of the murder and were there to arrest him.

Uldyssian and Lylia, along with Uldyssian's brother Mendeln, a woman from their village named Serenthia, and a skilled hunter named Achilios, escape under cover of the storm for the nearby forests. Once there, Lylia explains to Uldyssian that his power is a gift and he accepts this, and comes to awaken the same power in Serenthia and Achilios. Not long after their escape, they are set upon by Peace Warders and a priest from the Temple of the Triune, which stands in opposition to the Cathedral of Light, but Uldyssian easily routs them with the help of Lylia and they continue on to her desired destination.

Meanwhile, the priest of the Triune who led the attack against Uldyssian—Malic—returns to the Primus of the Triune, Lucion, who tortures him for his failure. The torture ends with Lucion's gifting Malic with a demonic arm and several vicious morlu to aid his second chance at capturing Uldyssian and bringing him back to the main Temple.

Scales of the Serpent

Scales of the Serpent is a 2007 novel written by Richard A. Knaak and is the second novel in the Diablo trilogy, The Sin War. It continues the story from Birthright and is followed by The Veiled Prophet.

This book begins with Uldyssian attacking the Temple of the Triune in the city of Toraja at the request of Lilith. After destroying the Temple and converting much of the cities populace to his cause, Uldyssian defeats the demon Gulag, and Lilith prevents the demon Astroga from attacking Uldyssian. Uldyssian warns the Council Senior of Toraja that he will attack again should the temple grow again.

Rathma reveals to the dragon Trag'oul that he is the Son of Lilith and Inarius, and Inarius realises after that his son is alive.

While Uldyssian is camping outside Toraja, some of its people come to see him, hoping to learn of the gift. During this time, some Peace Warder's under the disguise of common folk attack Uldyssian. One of the attackers was outside, and is found slain by an arrow shortly afterwards. This is later revealed to be a reanimated Achilios, brought back by Rathma.

Serenthia goes to a stream alone to obtain more water for her flask, and unknown to Uldyssian encounters Lilith, who takes possession of her.

Astroga has begun to suspect that Lucion is not who he seems to be, and after speaking to his master, Diablo, decides to put his own plan into action.

On the journey to Hashir, a malevolent force begins to target Serenthia, but Uldyssian and Mendeln manage to draw its attention away from her by using their power to attack the structure they sense it emanates from.

Mendeln meets with Achilios, and decides to tell Uldyssian that he is back. Rathma appears at this point and takes him to Trag’oul, preventing Uldyssian and Serenthia (Lilith) from detecting him, even though they combine their powers in a way they haven’t previously. When they continue their journey they are interrupted by heavy storms, which Serenthia disperses.

Astroga takes on the form of the Primus, and has his high priest Arihan attack Uldyssian’s group when they reach Hashir, believing that taking Serenthia as a hostage will allow him to capture Uldyssian.

Trag’oul and Rathma explain to Mendeln the history of Sanctuary, that mankind is the offspring of Lilith and Inarius (Rathma being their son). Trag’oul says that when Demons and Angels discover a potential advantage, such as the Nephalem, they fight over it relentlessly, usually resulting in its total destruction. They ask Mendeln to stand with them.

Two morlu abduct Serenthia while Uldyssian is talking to the citizens of Hashir, but she quickly reappears and reveals their presence to everyone. When Uldyssian is telepathically attacked by Arihan from the temple, Mendeln appears and takes him to Trag’oul. Arihan, frustrated with the plans failure leaves the morlu and the peace wardens to their fate, returning to the Primus. Needing a scapegoat, Astroga murders Arihan and brings his head to Diablo.

Uldyssian grows angry with Rathma and Trag’oul, believing they are corrupting Mendeln, and uses his power to escape. He ends up on mount Arreat, where Rathma appears and takes him to the World Stone. There, Uldyssian tries to use it to give his followers more power, but ends up altering its structure, something Rathma believed was impossible.

Upon returning to Trag’oul, they discover that Inarius is active, heading for the world stone. The return Uldyssian to the Jungle to confront Lilith, and they go to mount Arreat to confront Inarius. Inarius overcomes them both easily, and inspects the world stone. Upon discovering the change in its structure, he states that Uldyssian may have condemned them all, hinting that he will decide to destroy Sanctuary and start over.

Lilith has seduced Romus, and corrupts him into blindly following her and betraying Uldyssian to her. She kills Romus and attempts to sacrifice Uldyssian and her other corrupted followers to take control of the Edyrem. She fails thanks to Achilios intervening with the spell and freeing Serenthia from her.

When Lilith retreats to the temple she finds traces of Astroga in the Primus’s chamber, and realises he had been masquerading as the Primus as well. Astroga confronts her, and they briefly fight. Astroga being the less powerful retreats and decides to form his own followers. Lilith decides enough is enough and gathers a huge army, intending to attack the Edyrem from behind and from the main temple.

Uldyssian tries to remove Lilith’s taint from her corrupted followers, but is forced to kill them all when the evil within them starts to grow, he vows to make Lilith pay for what she’s done.

Achilios decides to speak to Serenthia, but is abducted by an Angel. Rathma and Trag’oul can see no reason for Inarius to do this, and believe another Angel has taken him. They teach Mendeln how to summon spirits, and he summons the dead high priest Malic, offering him revenge against Lilith for information on the main temple.

Lilith’s army attacks and she reveals the Thonos, a tentacle creature. They are almost overcome until Achilios is sent back to them with arrows that explode on impact. Lilith casts a spell that has the dead from both sides rise and attack the Edyrem, but Mendeln returns and destroys them. Uldyssian accidentally summons Lilith to him, who teleports him into the main temple. Uldyssian defeats Lilith and brings down the temple, leaving her for dead.

Rathma enters the temple and finds Lilith dead, not realising it is an illusion Inarius has cast. After he leaves, Inarius enters and confronts a badly injured Lilith, revealing that he has been boosting the power of the Edyrem so they could defeat her. He traps Lilith in a glowing ball and shrinks it down to nothing. He states that her fate is fortunate, compared to what awaits Uldyssian and his followers who in their arrogance, believe themselves to be more than they are.

The Veiled Prophet

The Veiled Prophet is a 2007 novel written by Richard A. Knaak and is the third novel in the trilogy. The book details the climax of the struggles over the Sanctuary, and the warring forces of the Angels, Demons, Inarius, and the edyrem, and the mage clans of Kehjan, who all have a stake in the outcome.

The Veiled Prophet continues Uldyssian's journey toward Kehjan City where his goal is to seek the Mage Clans as allies against Inarius and his Cathedral of Light. The book lays the ground for upcoming Diablo games and novels.

Uldyssian plans to reach Kehjan City to convince the Mage Clans to ally against the Prophet (Inarius) and his Cathedral of Light servants. However, things get complicated. Uldyssian renamed his followers as The Edyrem, the descendents of the firstborn: the Nephalem. Serenthia and Uldyssian's brother, Mendeln, helped him control the masses of nearly a thousand Edyrem marching toward Kehjan City, still days ahead. Meldeln had learned from Rathma the ways of the Necromancer and communed with Ghosts who would tell him things as spies at his service. The Edyrem found a few merchant wagons and decided to talk to the influential merchant to seek an audience with the Mage Clans. Only Uldyssian continues the journey to Kehjan City alongside the merchant. Otherwise, Kehjan City would see the approach of a thousand Edyrem as an impending invasion.

On their way to the city, a mage and a servant attack the merchant wagons. Everyone is killed, but Uldyssian who fought in vain against a binding spell. Shortly, the mage brought Uldyssian to his sanctum beneath Kehjan City. The mage planned to frame Uldyssian to look like the murderer of the influential merchant so that the Edyrem would be blamed. His monstruous servant kept watch over Uldyssian, while his master left to meet the Mage Clans. The servant was more than what he seemed to be ... it was possessed by Malic, the loyal servant of the Primus. Uldyssian had thought Malic had died at the Church of the Triune all this time, and painfully found out how he had survived. In his hand, the monster held a crystal ... a fragment of the World Stone. He would use it to transfer his soul into a new host. Each host burning away within days or hours. All this time seeking the opportunity to find Uldyssian as his final host.

Malic had taken possession of a disfigured man to serve and fuel the powers of one of the Mage Clans members, to put in motion a plan to reach Uldyssian. The monster was nearly possessing Uldyssian. The mage was interrogated by the council of the Mage Clans concerning the dead of the merchant and his guards, as their magic probes made them suspect the mage had something to do with the massacre. When suddenly, the building shook after an explosion. The mage arrived to the scene. Uldyssian was gone. His servant dead. Or nearly dead, for it possessed the mage claiming him as a new host.

Uldyssian ran still disoriented through the streets of Kehjan city, and found the Prince Ehmad on his way. The Prince trusted Uldyssian's words and promised an audience with the Mage Clans and nobles. However, Angel Inarius, as the Prophet, had sent many to spread lies across the land, blaming Uldyssian and the Edyrem for the deads of innocents all the way from Toraja to Seram. Inarius invaded Uldyssian's mind using his power to weaken him. They fought, and Uldyssian broke. To Uldyssian, he had failed to defeat Inarius and felt weak before such an opponent. However, the truth was that Inarius was deeply hurt. Uldyssian was much, much more than any mortal.

Inarius now feared Uldyssian. He would condemn all of Sanctuary just to destroy him. Even ... accept a pact with the Lord of Terror. More and more events are set in motion to pit and clash the Mage Clans against the Edyrem portraying Uldyssian as a killer of innocent people. And amidst all this conspiracy, lurked the menace of Malic's spirit who could be anyone, within any new host.

Trag'Oul and Rathma assist Uldyssian and his brother Mendeln, guiding them. But this is no longer a fight between Inarius and the erydem. The fate of Sanctuary and of many worlds is in peril. Trag'Oul the cosmic dragon can no longer keep Sanctuary cloaked from the High Heavens. The erydem march toward the Cathedral of Light, far to the north and are welcomed by the servants of the Prophet empowered by their master. The erydem are a worthy enemy, but when Inarius himself confronts Uldyssian the whole world of Sanctuary literally trembles as both titans collide as equals.

Just as the battle is nearly over, a more dangerous threat looms over Sanctuary ... the Heavenly Hosts arrive by the thousands from a vortex in the sky. Erydem fought Angels bravely, but if that was straining, things get spicy when the Burning Hells open its gate wide open into Sanctuary .... clashing Demon, Edyrem, Nephalem and Angels in utter carnage against each other. Only one may stop the madness.It ends in a breathtaking and unexpected way.

When calm settles upon Sanctuary, the five members that compose the Angiris Council arrive to Sanctuary to rule judgement over Inarius and his creations. Imperius (Aspect of Valor), Auriel (Aspect of Hope, female), Malthael (Aspect of Wisdom), Itherael (Aspect of Fate), and Tyrael (Aspect of Justice). As the five reach a final verdict (though Malthael refuses to vote), Mephisto (Lord of Hatred) comes forth to settle a pact with the Angiris Council. Tyrael requests an act from the Demon Lord as proof he will fulfill his end of the pact. Mephisto agrees, with the condition that he and his brothers would be given a prize to take with them to the Burning Hells, Inarius.

Demonsbane

Demonsbane is an e-book and the first novel of the Diablo series. It was written by Robert B. Marks. It appears in print in the Diablo Archive.

In the book, Siggard, the only survivor of the battle of Blackmarch, unable to remember the battle's final hours—is driven to avenge those slain by the army of darkness. As he hunts the demonic army, Siggard pieces together the truth of that terrible battle...and finds his nightmare is just beginning.

Demonsbane was a book published in the spirit of the "e-book revolution." However, the market for e-books was quite small at the time and despite months of advertising on battle.net, sales were in the hundreds rather than the projected thousands.^[2]

Before being written, it was decided that Demonsbane should set the tone for the series, and help establish Sanctuary not only as a living and breathing game world, but also as a living and breathing world in literature. As such, Marks did a lot of world building using flavour quotes at the beginning of each chapter.^[2]

Legacy of Blood

Diablo: Legacy of Blood book cover.

Legacy of Blood is the first novel based on Diablo (video game) by Blizzard Entertainment, published in 2001. The book itself is written by Richard A. Knaak. Legacy of Blood is intended for mature readers. It uses the same image that graced the cover of the Diablo II game box.

The book is written about a group of three men who stumble upon enchanted armor of unfathomable, immense powers that they have no clue about. The armor ends up belonging to a past warlord named Bartuc, who was the most brutal of all men to walk the earth, painting his armor each morning with the blood from the battle from his deceased foes. He was a Sorcerer who could control demons and used them to his own power to take over cities and countries in order to fiercely reign over the entire earth. He was eventually killed during an enormous battle by multiple people including his own brother Horazon. The armor was hidden away in a dark dungeon protected with dark magical powers where it sat dormant secretly calling to the main character, Norrec. Norrec was among the three tomb raiders when the armor was discovered. The three men were caught in a dire situation causing Norrec to put on the armor and reawaken the power of legions of demons and hell itself. His life would be forever changed...and one would question whether for the better or not.

The Kingdom of Shadow

Moon of the Spider

Moon of the Spider is a novel based on the games in the Diablo franchise by Blizzard Entertainment. Moon of the Spider is the third Diablo novel that Richard A. Knaak has written for Blizzard.

Driven by nightmares to the ruins of a mysterious tomb, Lord Aldric Jitan hopes to awaken a terrible evil that has slept since the fall of Tristram. Drawn by the growing darkness in the land, the enigmatic Necromancer, Zayl, stumbles upon Jitan's plot—unaware that one of his own brethren has set these dire events in motion. Now, as the celestial Moon of the Spider rises, the nefarious demon, Astrogha, prepares to unleash his minions upon the world of Sanctuary.

Diablo III: Book of Cain

Diablo III: Book of Cain is the first product based on Diablo III by Blizzard Entertainment. The book was published by Insight Editions on December 13, 2011. The book was designed by Jason Babler. Artists providing exclusive art for the Diablo III: Book of Cain include: Brom, Mark Gibbons, Jim Gurney, John Howe, Alan Lee, Iain McCaig, Jean-Baptiste Monge, Petar Meseldzija, and Adrian Smith.

During the San Diego Comic-Con International 2011, Blizzard Entertainment Senior Vice-president of Creative Design Chris Metzen revealed^[3] further details about Diablo III: Book of Cain.

Chris Metzen: 13:04 – “Another really cool project we are working on with a brother named Flint Dille is a source book for the Diablo universe. It’s been many years since we published a Diablo game. There’s a lot of weird stuff floating out there in the internet and wikis and things like that, so we wanted the opportunity to really create a product — it’s essentially Deckard Cain’s journal … I think we are calling it the Book of Cain … where over the course of his adventures, his archaeology, and studying of the manuscripts over the years he’s put together a compendium of what makes the Diablo universe the Diablo universe.”

13:34 – “We are highlighting Heaven and Hell, the people that live there, the realms of Heaven and Hell, the history of Sanctuary, the lands of Sanctuary, highlighting maybe the classes that have been playable in the games up to this point, notable people in history and pretty much trying to create a fairly tight compendium of all Diablo lore and you know one nice edition. So with any luck, that book will pop around whenever the game comes out and will be a very useful tool in getting back up on what’s up with the Diablo universe. So that’s something we are very very excited about and working on rapidly and intensely right now."

References