The Book of Cain..

Disclaimer: This is a total Geek-Out post - you have been warned.

In the lead-up to the launch of Diablo III - a game which has been anticipated for about a decade now I have made a couple of purchases to stymie the frenzied emergence of my inner-nerd, which will be inevitable once I hold the game in my hands.

The first of these, The Book of Cain I read through in a single sitting - it cost me 50 bucks, which admittedly I first felt was excessive for what was essentially a bit of back-story to the game, but my inner-nerd wouldn't be denied. Also my inner-nerd felt it was worth every cent after reading it.

Gameplay aside, one of the things which makes the Diablo franchise so successful is the way the back-story of the game has evolved (I could even segue this into my Literary Neophyte blog) to create a rich, vibrant world for your imagination, as well as explain the situation the player finds themselves in.

For those not in the know, the story of Diablo is the quintessential story of Good vs Evil. Your character can be one of a few different disciplines, hailing from one of several diverse cultures with the sole duty of battling against the Burning Hell's minions and ultimately defeating the 3 Prime Evils and 4 Lesser Evils, IE Diablo: Lord of Terror, Mephisto: Lord of Hatred, Baal: Lord of Destruction, Andariel: Maiden of Anguish, Duriel: Lord of Pain, Azmodan: Lord of Sin and Belial: Lord of Lies.

These rulers of the realms of the Burning Hells are introduced to you throughout the game either by narration, or by stumbling across them during gameplay. Azmodan and Belial have yet to feature at all.

Prior to reading The Book of Cain I was not even aware of half of those titles, and where they stood in relation to each other. Blizzard (the company who have designed the franchise) really did well in fleshing out the details, while leaving clues that hint at what you can expect in the game.

It seems that aside from however Diablo gets resurrected for the 3rd game (I assume we can't have a Diablo III without the namesake featuring) the lords of Sin and Lies may feature prominently as well.

In a nutshell, the book gives a thorough breakdown of how the world of Sanctuary was formed, the Demon hierarchies of the Burning Hells and the Angel hierarchies of the High Heavens, as well as details of past wars, the formation of various cultures, more details around the story thus far (IE what the player went through in Diablo, Hellfire, Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction) and details around the Eternal Conflict (the war between the Burning Hells and the High Heavens).

All in all, just because of the detail and excellent story-telling involved, and for what it adds to the overall experience of the game franchise, if you're a fan, I recommend getting the book:

The Book Cover

Artwork Example

Oh and the second purchase? The mouse-mat of course: