Fable: Edge of the World

Disclaimer one: before I say anything else, the ending of this book made me mad. It was the same anger I felt when I read Firelight; I had no idea this book would end on a "To be continued" kind of note (but I had my suspicions when there were only twenty or so pages left and no ending in sight). To make things worse, I have no idea if book 2 will continue the story (or even who book 2 will be written by) or if I'm just supposed to play Fable: the Journey to see what happens (which I can't because I don't have a kinect). So the ending made me angry, which is a shame because I was really enjoying the book.

Disclaimer number two: reading Fable: Edge of the World was a bit difficult becgause when I play the Fable games I'm usually a woman. So it took a bit to get used to everyone referring to the king and his father, rather than the queen and her mother.

Ok, with that over with, I'm going to talk about the story with some big spoilers. You have been warned.

Fable: Edge of the World is a story within a story. There's a framing narrative about some dwellers, one of whom is fascinated by the Heroes. He gets into trouble for telling the children tales of Heroes because none of them will ever be Heroes. This is the whole 'prequel to Gable: the Journey" part of the book, which I didn't care about and found largely boring.

The main story involves the king of Albion, the Hero you played in Fable 3, keeping in mind that this is just a version of Fable 3 they chose to write about. When you or I play the game, our Hero could be very, very different from this one. I really wish they put in the disclaimer about that that was in Fable: the Balverine Order. Anyway, the king is marrying his true love Laylah, a girl from Aurora, when he receives some troubling news: the darkness from Fable 3 has returned, plaguing the land of Samarkand. Gathering an army, the king goes to stop this threat, leaving the kingdom in the hands of his new bride. He takes with him a few notable Fable 2 characters like Ben Finn and the priestess Kalin, leaving Page to help his queen. The king's journey is a hard one, being plagued by hollow men, balverines, sand furies and worse at every turn. But he fights his way to Samarkand's capital, gaining new allies along the way, chief among them are the sand dragon Percy, who is in reality some magic thing that serves Heroes, and Garth, the Hero of Will from Fable 2. The king uses his allies and army as a distraction, hoping to secretly enter the city and capture the Empress. But things do not go as planned; the king finds himself captured.

Meanwhile, back in Albion, Laylah finds herself clashing with her husband's head of security, Jack Timmins. She finds solace in the friendship of Page until Reaver appears and weasels his way into her inner circle. He tricks Laylah into believing both Page and Timmins have betrayed her. Once the two have fled Bowerstone to escape imprisonment (and in Timmins' case execution), Reaver in actuality betrays her. Forcing her to betray both her people and the location of her husband's Sanctuary, she desperately sends word to Page through her husband's dog of what has happened and how she is sorry for doubting the former rebel.

The last time I read a book that split the action with political intrigue was Jon Sprunk's Shadow's Lure; I didn't like the political stuff there and was worried I wouldn't like it here as a result. Luckily that wasn't the case; Christie Golden wrote both plots so well that I constantly wanted to know what was happening in both of them. There were even some points where I was more interested in Laylah's tale than the king's! I love reading books by Christie Golden and Fable: Edge of the World was no exception. I just hope this story will be continued by her and soon!

The Dark Templar Saga: Twilight

Today I started and finished the final book in Christie Golden's The Dark Templar Saga. And what a book it was! Like Shadow Hunters before it, Twilight ends right where the story left off. Zamara and R.M. Dahl managed to get the warp gate on Aiur functional, and everyone who could tried to run through to Shakuras. Unfortunately, R.M. and the other refugees discover the Protoss on Shakuras realized the Aiur gate was open; in an attempt to stop the Zerg from following the refugees through, they redirected the gate to an unknown destination - and Jake and Zamara are the ones who got redirected.

To make matters worse, Zamara being in Jake's mind and sharing memories with him is killing him. And so they were on their way to Shakuras for help from the Dark Templar. Closed off from the very help they needed, they go in search of Zeratul, hoping the Prelate can aid them. But the Protoss they find is very different from the one Zamara remembers.

As usual, Christie Golden did a fantastic job bringing this story to life. I enjoyed every minute of reading it (especially when Zeratul was brought in; I have always liked his character). But more than that, The Dark Templar Saga will provide an excellent bridge between the two games. Fans of the first one are given more information dealing with certain "cliffhangers" brought up in Brood War. This whole series was an excellent read and I'm really glad I didn't wait for it a second longer!

The Dark Templar Saga: Shadow Hunters

A few minutes ago, I finished book 2 of Christie Golden's The Dark Templar Saga. Shadow Hunters picks up where Firstborn left off, but this time pretty much everyone has found out about Jacob Ramsey and the Protoss in his head. Kerrigan sends her forces, who mistakenly capture the wrong guy. The Heir to the Terran Dominion continues to pursue, sending his personal ghost into the fray. And Ulrezaj, an archon made up of seven dark templar is also after Zamara. Jacob and R.M. Dahl are hard pressed to stay ahead of everyone.

Following Zamara's directions, the pair makes their way to Aiur, where they discover the few remaining Protoss have been split into two opposing camps. While they are able to befriend the Shel'na Kryhas (Those Who Endure), the Tal'darim (the Forged) are bitterly opposed to the Shel'na Kryhas. And unfortunately, the Tal'darim are right where Zamara, Jacob and R.M. need to go.

Shadow Hunters was just as good as Firstborn. Like the first book, I didn't want to put it down. Unfortunately that wasn't possible, so it took me a bit longer than planned to read. But that doesn't matter. I can't wait to see how everything plays out in Twilight, and I can't wait to see what Zamara's been hiding.

The Dark Templar Saga: Firstborn

Firstborn came out a few years ago. As the first book of a trilogy, I wanted to wait until the final book came out before getting it. Unfortunately, the third book ended up delayed for a few years and by the time it came out the first two weren't readily available. I then decided to wait until all of the trilogy was published in an anthology like The Starcraft Archive, which collected the first three published novels as well as one story which was only released as an e-book. All of that changed when I went to Duluth and found them in Barnes and Nobel. I ended up buying both Firstborn and Shadow Hunters (Book 2) there, and I came home and picked up a copy of Twilight (Book 3) here (the only copy of Twilight that they had was in really rough shape).

Firstborn begins the story of the archeologist Jake Ramsey. He is given the chance of a lifetime when he is hired to excavate an abandoned temple. Inside he discovers the body of a Protoss and becomes bound to her spirit, a Preserver who brings with her the memories from the entire Protoss race. Jake is left trying to sort through these memories while hanging onto his own Terran identity. On top of all of this, the benefactor who hired him wants the extraordinary contents of Jake's modified brain and is hunting him down. Jake's only hope lies with both Zamara, the Protoss he has merged with, and R.M. Dahl, the very woman who betrayed him after he merged with Zamara and was then betrayed herself.

When I first saw that the entire trilogy was by Christie Golden, I was incredibly excited. Several years ago I read her Ravenloft book Vampire of the Mists and loved it. And even though I waited a long time to get my hands on the Dark Templar Saga, the wait was worth it! I love Christie Golden's characters, especially Jake Ramsey and Zamara. The story is great so far, with action and betrayal everywhere you turn. And Christie Golden even managed to make the events from Shadow of the Xel'Naga, a book I hated because it felt like it was written by people who had no idea of how the Brood War worked, seem more plausible. I can honestly say I devoured Firstborn (I read about 300 of its approximately 350 pages today) and loved every minute of it. I can't wait to see what happens in Shadow Hunters tomorrow!!!!