Diablo: Moon of the Spider | a Review
originally published on 23/04/2023;
Hello everyone, I am the not-an-arachnid and the not-arachnid-controlled appreciator of arachnids, G.E.M.Simov, a fellow of no noble and no magical blood with outstanding skill in all things strange, here to tell you about Richard A. Knaak’s “Diablo: Moon of the Spider”.
Simple review details - I try to rank books on an out of 10 basis, granting up to 3 points in 3 categories, as well as a last, single point from my own self, depending on my experience with it.
Content
So, this is the fourth book in this Diablo series, and, as such, it seemingly has a lot on its shoulders. That’s said as a result of the fact that the collective quality of the Diablo novels (in this series, at least) has been relatively high. However, this one also had the unenviable task of avoiding failure, in the vein of The Kingdom of Shadow, and needed to strive for excellence, in the vein of Legacy of Blood.
Richard A. Knaak, then, has done a very commendable thing in almost retracing the steps followed in The Kingdom of Shadow, whilst also managing to avoid the pits that he fell in IN said book.
Naturally, this indicates that we have a recurrence of both thriller - with almost every chapter ending with a cliff-hanger, generating suspense - and mystery - with almost every chapter revealing something about all the unknowns.
The main thing this book focuses on, as a concept, would be plots. Not just any plots, of course, but thematically, plots weave as if by a spider, being so intricately woven and fantastically web-like that it’s a whole wonder that our protagonists do not get caught dead in them… Well, they do get help, so that’s that.
While the fact that the book’s focus on thrills and mystery also presents the same pitfalls as The Kingdom of Shadow is present, I must admit that this book manages to avoid that issue via a most appealing utilization of a few things that I suppose are important to a story.
I will not list them all, but I will contrast some with what was present in The Kingdom of Shadows.
For starters, there was a villain. That villain was actually a pair of ne-er do wells, presented to the reader as Aldric Jitan (noble aristocrat, who’d’ve thought that the one whose position in society is built around being as evil as possible [evil as in selfish] would be the villain?) and the enigmatic (but unfortunately not enigmatic enough) necromancer Karybdus (whose name I never would have translated in that manner).
Then, there’s a lack of certainty. From the very start of the book, the Main Character, and the Main Protagonist, Zayl the necromancer FROM The Kingdom of Shadow, is shown to not be wanted. Necromancers are wrongly labeled as evil, and literally pursued and persecuted by the church of Zakarum, which has a very strong presence in Westmarch, wherein the events of this book take place.
Not only that, but Zayl winds up in deeper and deeper dregs, as he ends up being a wanted man. And on top of that, the place that almost serves as a base of operations for the heroes (the good guys), being the Nesardo estate, is very clearly not a safe space. The Heroes keep getting in trouble AT the estate, so there’s never a moment of perceived peace and security.
In addition to those two things, we’ve got motivations for all the characters that seemingly make a lot more sense. Not only is Zayl’s quest understandable - be it as a thing known to the reader off of the previous necromancer appearances in the series, or simply due to the fact that it is well explained in this book - but every other character has a sensible reason. Even Karybdus, who is a necromancer and, thus, should be a good guy, and has his reasons revealed quite late in the story, is compelling, because as a villain he gets to have unknown motives.
Lord Jitan is, of course, clear as day - evil goon who has evil wants, those being world domination for his own self. The nuance - that being the spider’s web - is very interesting in relation to this character, as it turns out his evil was ACTUALLY more spurred on, more nurtured, rather than natural. It’s quite interesting.
The other good characters also have reasons that make sense. Selene, for one, has a very good reason for doing what she does. Not wanting to wind up homeless and penniless is good motivation, after all, and then having attempts on your life is even more convincing. Even the more minor characters have good motivation.
One of the other things that this book does very well is allow the readers to get to know its characters. Maybe Zayl is not a good example, because he was a main character in a previous book, but Selene Nesardo was a very compelling character. Karybdus, too, even if his reasons are a bit of a weak-point.
Though, as mentioned, there’s the plot aspect of this book. The plot being the intricately woven web, laid down by the villains. It is very satisfying and interesting to look at and examine, especially when it comes to the way it unravels, or where one finds holes in it.
But what of other concepts? There is an interesting glance to be taken at the concept of Balance, but the book, unfortunately, fails to really examine it in detail, as the side that actually provokes the concept’s discussion in the first place is dubbed - just insane OR insane because of outside influence - and thus there is no real room consideration.
What of the concept of blood relation? Was the idea of one’s predecessors being X or Y, or involved in A and B, which thing was very, very bad, and how that affects the current successor, considered? There was room for it, definitely. Blood ties to heinous evils, you know… But apparently no, that was not an interesting subject.
In fact, there was very, very little to truly consider, aside from the issue of stereotypes. Necromancers are seen as evil for a number of reasons, but is that tackled, is it considered? No, instead the reader gets to enjoy being the target of ostracism and unjustified disdain, mistrust and hatred. That’s not fun, especially when even the conclusion of the story features everyone still being disdainful, mistrustful and hateful towards the ostracized main character, even though he saved them from a horrible fate.
One other thing that was present in this book that I was surprised I was seeing - there was romance. And it was some very, very lovely romance, some absolutely sweet stuff, perfectly executed, frankly. I absolutely adored it.
Still, I can not say that I did not have my issues with the novel. Aside from those listed - those being the examination of concepts in detail, or rather lack thereof, and the use of the crutch: “The villain is just INSANE!” - we’ve got… We’ve got people being better than others based on nothing but their bright. Ah, yes, I was born a mage, and I can do magic only because I was born a mage. It’s all about being born magic, you can’t actually learn how to do magic, hohoho…
Magic systems that depend on being born magical are very stupid in the eyes of yours truly. Well, those are the problems. I feel as those are proper issues, though.
Even so, there were some things I really liked. An example would be the spectacular temporal placement in the multimedia franchise. The events of this book clearly take place after the events of Diablo 2 (and its expansion, Lord of Destruction), and the events of the ending of THAT game are powerfully present here.
In fact, a lot of what is here is very nicely utilized in Diablo 3. The king of Westmarch is Justinian… The IVth, as he is in this book. There are wendigos in the book, which covers a set of enemies from Diablo 2, and then there’s a lot of interesting stuff in relation to necromancer spells. Overall, I quite liked it, but it could’ve been better. 2/3
Richness of Expression
I read a translated version of this. The translation had some very funky mistakes. However, I am left with the impression that there were no issues in regards to the relation of what was said, as well as in relation to the relaying of the richness of that expression.
There was nothing truly impressive, however. It was just satisfactory, as I feel is most of Richard A. Knaak’s writing - at least what I’ve read of it so far. As a result of that, 2/3
Story
As previously mentioned, this story involves mystery and thrills, but then it also grows into a more action-oriented bungle of words. I must admit that I enjoyed this one far more than the previous mystery presented by Richard A. Knaak, as this one was lacking in the obviousness department.
So, following the Worldstone’s destruction, Zayl has felt the need to travel to Westmarch in search of troubles that need resolving, so that the Balance may be kept. There, he encounters Selene and Sardak Nesardo, as well as Polth, the loyal bodyguard of Selene. He gets invited to their estate, as Selene has a request of him, and on the way something happens.
His curiosity piqued, Zayl agrees to help her out, and the longer he sticks around, the more interesting things become. When he finally gets to doing what she has asked of him - summoning her dead husband’s ghost in a bid to figure out how she can get out from the bureaucratic filth that’s tightening around her neck - things explode in a most fashionable way.
Not only is Zayl almost unable to call the widow’s dead husband, but then they get attacked by spider-like creatures and a ghost, which almost spell the death of Zayl, and, unfortunately, lead to the death of Polth, who was a pleasant side-character. Zayl falls quite ill and needs time to recover, unconscious and very close to dying.
In the meantime, Lord Aldric Jitan, an aristocrat from Westmarch who has been having nightmares, has obtained an artifact called the Moon of the Spider with the help of a dark spellcaster known as Karybdus. After obtaining the artifact, his nightmares are fabled to stop - but not only that, it is supposed to grant him incredible power - according to Karybdus.
For that goal, though, it seems as though there are things that are needed, such as the Nesardo estate. Due to the fact that Selene is not budging under the pressure of bureaucracy, and the fact that an ‘enemy’ of the lord has arrived to aid her, the pair uses the Moon’s power and creates spider-esque beasts that travel to the Nesardo estate and cause the ruckus.
Things only keep going downhill from there, as the leads are very few, and all of them seem to lead to dead ends or worsening of the situation for Selene and Zayl, between whom an unlikely, but very pleasant, romance starts to bloom.
Overall, the story was very pleasant. I really liked the way the forces of Heaven wound up being involved, I also really liked the way Selene was portrayed and just how important her role in the events of the story was.
I found some things to be a bit weird, maybe a bit contrived, but it’s always difficult to tell what mages can and can not do when the magic system in place is not explained…
Either way, I loved, and I repeat, I LOVED the romance. It was absolutely magnificent. Really washes away all complaints, which were pretty minor, that I had with this story. Phenomenal stuff. If only the vows were not so strict… 3/3
Legendary Point
Does this book get the legendary point, so craved and wanted by all and none at the same time? I am going to have a caveat. I will say YES, because I found this book to have elicited the greatest reaction out of me, emotionally speaking, causing me to almost squeal with joy when the ending came to be - and I mean the last few paragraphs of the ending, mainly, in conjunction with the conclusion of the romantic game between Zayl and Selene.
However, I must express my horrible wrath. The book ends with the supposition that Selene and Zayl would meet again… BUT IT’S BEEN 16 YEARS! WHERE ARE THEY?!? I CAN’T WAIT ANY LONGER, I NEED TO KNOW! 1/1
Conclusion
8/10. A wonderful book about swords and sorcery, though mostly focusing on sorcery. I would not recommend it to folks who are far too squeamish, but any fan of Diablo, or fantasy, should definitely give it a read.
I tuck it under my belt, another shining achievement that I proudly display. If only there was more of these two…