Diablo III: Book of Tyrael

This is another Diablo III companion book, released after Diablo III: Book of Cain. Although it's called Book of Tyrael, most of the actual content is written by Deckard Cain, with commentary added by Tyrael, one of the most important, interesting, and well-written characters in the Diablo franchise, and honestly, my favorite character in the whole series.

The book picks up right after the events of Diablo III and helps bridge the story into Reaper of Souls. It's packed with details on the people and places of Sanctuary, and true to Blizzard's usual standard, the artwork throughout is stunning.

The book is mainly about the creation myths of Diablo, the fundamentals you need to understand the story itself. If you've never played Diablo and want to get into the lore without actually playing the games, this would be a great way to do it, much like Book of Cain. It's also a great worldbuilding book and, in my opinion, a solid one to draw inspiration from, whether that's for your own writing or just a deeper appreciation of how much thought went into Sanctuary as a setting.

Structurally, Tyrael organizes his notes into three distinct sections, one centered on Adria, another tracking what ultimately happens to the Black Soulstone, and a closing appendix that gathers together a range of smaller, miscellaneous lore details.

The first part is made up of Cain's notes on Adria. If you've played the games, you know how central she is to the story, and this section dives into her obsession with the Black Soulstone, along with the history of the Black Soulstone itself. It's easily one of the stronger sections, since Adria's motivations are something the games themselves only ever hint at, and having them laid out more directly here adds real weight to her role in the wider story.

The second part bridges the gap between the end of Diablo III's main storyline and the Reaper of Souls expansion. We see how Heaven deals with the devastation brought on by Diablo, how the angels go about rebuilding, and the consequences of the attack. This section also gets into the history of Westmarch, giving some welcome context to a location that plays a much bigger role once Reaper of Souls kicks off. Having that groundwork laid out here made the transition into the expansion feel a lot more earned when I eventually got around to it.

And in the final part of the book, we're given the most up-to-date version of Sanctuary's timeline and the creation myth of Diablo. This is honestly the section I found myself returning to the most, since it ties together so much of the scattered lore from earlier games and books into one coherent narrative.

The book itself is gorgeous, honestly, all five of these companion books are. If you can, get the hardcover, it genuinely looks and feels like a real fantasy book sitting on your shelf. It's amazing, and it's the kind of thing that makes these companion books feel worth owning physically rather than just reading a summary online.

4 out of 5 stars.