This was really interesting because it put a lot a of story details into order. Like how human's have magical abilities that aren't tied to demonic or angelic, such as the necromancers. It also changes the stories idea to a two-side war, between demons and angels, into a three-way war.
I liked a lot about this, specially Mendeln's side of the story which fascinated me. I don't care for wishy-washy characters, and Uldyssian does hit this in some ways, but it's completely understandable for him in this story. I do hope that he becomes a more resilient character in the next book.

Fun to get to know some Diablo lore, but not super well written IMO...

This is, as the title states the first book in the Sin War Series. It shows how Uldyssian goes from being a farmer to being a superpowered human on the run. I have to say that this was a good first part to the Sin War Saga. The writing was intriguing. I especially liked the way that the indivual caratchers started their journeys. The way that the action went down was a little bit too few and far between. But in this case it wasn’t that bad because it let the story built up the way that it needed to. What I mean by that is that it lets it start the bridge to the next book properly. The fact that the main caratcher was able to be such a regular person who not only grows. But is able to develop into person who has the potential to turn into a great hero or villain depending on which way this series decides to go. As for the horror side of things, well I don’t think that this was meant to be a straight out slasher fest. But instead a darker lord of the Rings type of book, or so it seems. The bottom line is that this book definitely goes in the Blockbuster Book Club.

I am enjoying this series

A-MAZ-ING. I could not get my nose out of this book to save my life. The story and composition pull you in and keep you there in that warm, fuzzy place. You'll never want to stop reading this intense book.

I read all three before giving this review, so I really appreciate what he did with Birthright and how he set up all the characters and their stories. It was a fast read that was hard to put down. Truly truly good stuff

A savage plague ravaged the land called Sanctuary. One of the townships affected was Seram - a peaceful village whom Uldyssian ul-Diomed, a humble farmer, called home. His family was one of those affected by it, and many a missionary from the various religious sects told him that they can cure his family should he join them and believe. There was no cure. Only he and Mendeln, his brother, were left. Uldyssian became jaded and grew to loathe the sects.

His trouble started the day he met Lylia, a mysterious city girl, and found in her a kindred spirit as she too felt animosity towards the sects as she had lost her family to their infighting. Not long after, several missionaries were found dead and his knife was found lodged in one of them. Being accused of the deed without a proper investigation, he starts manifesting strange powers: his cell doors unlock, the inquisitor is struck by lightning, a terrible storm starts to manifest, and an earthquake to cover their escape… All through the power of his will.

He flees the village, but is followed by his brother Mendeln, his best friend Achilios, and the two girls battling for his affection, Serenthia, daughter of the town trader and the mysterious Lylia. He starts travelling towards Kehjan, where the mage guilds lie in order to find out more about his powers… his “Birthright”.

Richard Kanaak tells a story of discovery of one’s self, of love and loss… Of unrequited love, the bond of family and the burdens of leadership. This is a complex tale and builds up the characters quite nicely. This is not just a “hack and slash” story.

Now, it’s been years since I last played Diablo (Hellfire to be exact), and I am very much unfamiliar with the world building that the developers have done since then, but I understand that the “Sin Wars” Trilogy acts as some kind of prequel to the entire Diablo series. I would very much like to see how these events leads up to the original game. If it does, I would be so happy.

This books isn’t for minors. Aside from the violence, there are several instances of “bumping uglies” but they’re artistically done. Recommended for Diablo players.

Diablo: Birthright was amazing. I've been fascinated with the Diablo storyline since I first played the game on my computer as a teenager. The story was well written and exciting!

Quite entertaining book set in the Diablo universe. The writing style is almost at middle-class level with constant attempts to use an elaborate language that starkly fails (instead of writing a pronoun such as "he", the author continues to use odd phrasings such as "the farmers son", "X's brother" which causes an interruption in the flow of the read. Furthermore, the characters change their personalities every once in a while to fit in with whatever is occuring in a given moment, which is mildly annoying. That said, it is a thoroughly entertaining read and I wholeheartedly recommend it to any Diablo fans looking to get thrown back into the world of sanctuary for a while. I will now start the next book in the trilogy.

As a big time Diablo fan, I wanted to read everything there was about it. I started with Diablo Archive (which has 2 stories by Richard Knaak) and Moon of the Spider. I must admit that things are getting better. Although I think the characters lack some depth and that most turn of events are very predictable, the story kinda makes you want to learn more about how the world of Sanctuary first came to be and how the Nephalem changed the tides of the Eternal Conflict.

The events in this book gives you a glimpse of people who will have their names remembered for thousands of Sanctuary years. Like Inarius, the prophet that created the Church of Light that later became during Diablo II the twisted Church of the Zakarum. Also some lesser demons, sons and minions of the Prime Evils. What I found most interesting was the relationships between them.

Notes for parents: a light read. No swearing and small hints of sexual content. A lot of gore, violence, death, demons and all that stuff. Sadly, not scary though..

I grew up playing this game series with my grandfather so this book was very nostalgic to me. The story is like that of any good fantasy novel and while in some respect is predictable the characters and environment of diablo are unique and capture your attention.

Competently written but very boring for me personally, struggled to continue reading.