guild-wars-2-novel
Latest
UPDATED: Win a copy of Edge of Destiny from Massively!
Guild Wars 2 fans are eagerly awaiting news of the third Guild Wars 2 novel, but -- as shocking as it may be -- there are many who haven't read the second one yet! Are you one of that crowd? We'd love to help you remedy that with a free copy of Edge of Destiny of your very own! NCsoft has given us 10 copies to share with our readers, so if you'd like to get a jump on the backstory of Guild Wars 2, this might be your chance! Simply leave a comment telling us what you've seen about Guild Wars 2 that you love. We'll take comments until Sunday, March 20th, at 11:59 p.m. EDT, then draw 10 winners Monday morning. Check out our contest rules below, get those comments in, and best of luck! [Update: All winners have been selected and contacted -- thanks for entering!]
Flameseeker Chronicles: Recap and review of Edge of Destiny
Welcome to 2011! I, along with pretty much the entire Guild Wars fanbase, am incredibly excited about what this year is going to bring to both Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. There's a lot in store, so I want to start the new year by looking at the thing that finished 2010 and brought us into 2011: Edge of Destiny. Of course, there are spoilers galore, so if you're one of the few who hasn't read the book, be warned. They're all past the cut, so follow along and let's look at Edge of Destiny.
New ArenaNet blog post confirms information about second Guild Wars 2 novel
Fans may get impatient with ArenaNet for its secrecy, but when the people behind Guild Wars 2 decide to release information, they pull out all the stops. The past 24 hours or so have been pretty exciting for Guild Wars 2 fans, and now we've got one more tidbit of news to enjoy. The newest ArenaNet blog post comes to us courtesy of Jeff Grubb, co-author of Ghosts of Ascalon. He talks quite a bit about Ghosts of Ascalon, but the final paragraph holds some extremely interesting news for those already looking forward to the second book. While intrepid fans have tracked down a bit of book information via publishing and bookstore sites, Jeff gives us some confirmation: Edge of Destiny, written by J. Robert King, is due out in December. Furthermore, we learn more about the book's content: "Of the "big guns" of Guild Wars 2 – Rytlock, Zojja, Logan and the rest that we saw in the early trailers – a couple of them will show up in Ghosts, but their full story is told in the second novel, Edge of Destiny." Check out the full blog post -- it's a must-read for any fan.
The story behind Ghosts of Ascalon: Massively's interview with Jeff Grubb
As Guild Wars 2 hype grows and we look to the upcoming novels to help hold us over until that elusive launch date, fans of all things Tyrian have become familiar with a long list of names. One of those names is Jeff Grubb. Jeff is a game designer for ArenaNet, focusing on content and lore. He's also the co-author of Ghosts of Ascalon, the first Guild Wars 2 novel to be released in what will become a trilogy before the game launches. The book is due out in less than two weeks, and Massively's Shawn Schuster got a chance to read an advance copy. He had plenty to say about it, but we had even more questions once it was all over. We spent some time with Jeff to chat all about Ghosts of Ascalon, so follow along after the jump to see what he had to say!
Next Guild Wars novel to come in December?
We're three weeks away from the release of Ghosts of Ascalon, and fans are alternately excited and a tad concerned. We know that there will be three Guild Wars novels before Guild Wars 2 is released, so they're serving as sort of a timeline. Curiosity about when the next one will arrive may have been satisfied a bit by an update to several sites yesterday: publisher Simon and Schuster, and two major bookstore sites. Simon and Schuster shows an unnamed book set for release on December 28th of this year. That in itself is a fairly useless piece of news until it's combined with the Borders placeholder that gives the same date and calls the book "Untitled Guild Wars," as does the Barnes & Noble site. While nothing is confirmed as of this writing, the two site updates together provide a potentially exciting piece of information.
Excerpt for first Guild Wars 2 novel now available, mentions necromancer class
Ghosts of Ascalon is the first of three planned Guild Wars 2 novels, and fans have been waiting anxiously to get a look at it. Today we got a little bit of our wish granted with an excerpt from the novel on Simon & Schuster's website, along with a shipping date of "On or around July 27th, 2010." Our peek at Ghosts of Ascalon serves as an introduction to the characters, but even more importantly, it might just serve as confirmation of the necromancer class in Guild Wars 2. Killeen the sylvari is defined as a necromancer in the excerpt: "The sylvari necromancer was probably the most pleasant individual of their motley krewe." Does this mean we'll definitely see necros in Guild Wars 2? It seems like a safe assumption, but as always, we'll have to wait for confirmation from ArenaNet.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Divinity's Reach to Ascalon City
We recently heard that Ghosts of Ascalon, the first Guild Wars 2 novel, is due out this summer. The plot of the book revolves around a group of adventurers traveling from Divinity's Reach to Ascalon City in search of the Claw of the Khan-Ur, a Charr relic that is the key to a truce between the Charr and the humans. Traveling from Divinity's Reach to Ascalon City is quite a hike, even in present-day Tyria (which is presumably much friendlier to travelers than the world of Guild Wars 2.) Since Jeff Grubb -- one of the principal designers of Guild Wars 2 -- is involved in the book, hopefully the tale will give us a look at the land of Tyria 250 years into the future. For now, we'll have to content ourselves with piecing together what we know of the world and taking a look at the path our (hopefully) intrepid heroes will be facing. Examining future lore based on partial knowledge is a tricky thing, because there are so many different opinions and schools of thought. Follow along after the cut for a ride on the speculation train, and feel free to add your thoughts at the end!
First Guild Wars novel announced: Ghosts of Ascalon to release this summer
We know from the lore of Guild Wars 2 that Ascalon will become what is literally a ghost town thanks to King Adelbern, his sword Magdaer, and his last-ditch effort to drive out the Charr in a cataclysm known as Foefire. The effects of the event reach farther than anyone would have thought in the first Guild Wars 2 novel, now officially titled Ghosts of Ascalon. The ghosts of slain Ascalon soldiers are the only inhabitants of the area now, defending their home from invaders and generally making it a pretty unwelcoming place. In Ghosts of Ascalon, Queen Jennah is attempting a treaty with the Charr, who are unwilling to deal until the Charr artifact the Claw of the Khan-Ur is retrieved from -- where else -- Ascalon City. A small band of adventurers sets out for Old Ascalon to retrieve the artifact from a dangerous land and an unwilling ghostly king. (Since Lion's Arch is gone, we assume they couldn't find anyone to run them.) The book is scheduled for release this summer in North America and Europe. For now, check out the FAQ on the Guild Wars 2 site.
