First, let me thank Blizzard for sending me a review copy of Book of Tyrael. If you have read the Book of Cain, this book and it’s format will be a very familiar sight to you. Laid out very similarly to the Book of Cain, this is essentially Tyrael taking over where Deckard Cain left off, and updating the story to cover the events of the story in Diablo 3. The book also prepares us for the Reaper of Souls expansion with information about the Crusaders, and what I can only assume are the key figures in that addition to the franchise.
The book itself is very well written, and whoever did the first person perspective for Tyrael did a good job of capturing the view of the now mortal Archangel of Justice, and his newly enlightened thoughts on the High Heavens, the mortal Nephalem, and the Burning Hells. This book is a really interesting read, and if you are as excited about Reaper of Souls as many of the Dawnforge staff, including the Shattered Soulstone folks, are, then this is a great book to add to your collection of works from Sanctuary.
This book is a bit longer than Book of Cain, and with less in the way of creature art, so there is a fair bit more content to digest in this work. With portions of the book written from the perspectives of Deckard Cain and Leah, including notes in the columns like you find in any good adventurer’s resource, this is a really entertaining book to flip through, even if you are only reading the notes added by later authors.
While not the novels most would like, Book of Tyrael is a fun resource for finding out more lore from the world of Sanctuary, and helps give you a good start on stuff we are likely to see coming in the next expansion for Diablo 3. I am definitely happy I gave this a read.
