A book you love:
Diablo: Kingdom of Shadow.
Probably most of you have not heard of the Diablo novels. Most people don't, when I first mention them. They're like ummm, ok. But yeah, Diablo Kingdom of Shadow is my favourite novel. Here's the summary on the back of the book:
Legend speaks of a long-dead city known as Ureh, thought by many to have been a gateway to the High Heavens. It is believed that every two thousand years, when the stars align and the shadow of Mount Nymyr falls upon the ruins, Ureh is reborn - and all its lost riches are revealed to those brave enough to seek them out.
Now, after a lifetime of research and intense calculation, the Vizjerei sorcerer, Quov Tsin, has come to witness Ureh's rebirth for himself. But that which awaits Tsin and his hired band of mercenaries is nothing like what they expected. They will find that the dream of radiant Ureh is, in fact, a twisted nightmare of horror - one that will draw them inexorably into the kingdom of shadow.
If that doesn't spark your interest, I can insert a small excerpt here, from pages 214 to 215:
The shouts of merriment had risen so high now that they actually hurt his ears. Did these people never rest? Had they nothing more to do than celebrate? True, they had much reason for their happiness, but even a mercenary liked peace and quiet on occasion. The sooner Albord returned to the palace, the better. At least then he could find some escape from the carefree madness spread among the populace -
A short-lived scream cut through the air.
Drawing his sword, the young fighter raced the rest of the way to the gates. Perhaps he had been wrong, but he swore to himself that the scream had sounded as if torn from the throat of Jodas. Albord rounded the final corner -
And came across a tableau of terror that stopped him dead in his tracks.
A sea of horrific, shambling corpses - husks of bodies, to be precise - swarmed together like the hungry, vicious fish he had seen once in the jungle rivers. Clad in tattered, soiled garments, they madly fought one another as they all sought to claim some prize in their midst. Their gaping mouths, rounded and full of sharp teeth, opened and closed repeatedly. A few to the side could be seen feeding, their gnarled, skeletal hands gnawing on some bloody bit of meat.
From within the ever-growing mass, a human figure struggled his way to the top.
Orlif, his face ripped, his arms drenched with his own blood, cut with his sword, trying to reach freedom. From where he stood in shock, Albord could see that most of the mercenary's other hand had been torn or bitten off.
Orlif saw him, and what Albord caught in that pleading gaze made him more terrified than he ever could have thought possible.
Then suddenly something tugged at the older fighter from within the hungering mass of fiends. Orlif let out one hopeless cry - and was dragged back down among them.
"NO!" The shout escaped Albord before he could stop himself.
Empty eye sockets stared unerringly at the stunned soldier. Goulish shapes began to turn in his direction.
Sense at last returned...and Albord turned and ran as fast as he could.
Throughout the monstrous, grisly scene, the music, laughter and cheers had continued unabated. Albord looked this way and that as he ran, but of the merrymakers themselves he saw no sign. It was as if a city of ghosts celebrated around him.
And there you have it.
As for why it's my favourite novel, well, as you can tell from the above excerpt, there's a lot of action, even right from the very first page. I love novels that have action every other chapter, rather than several long chapters of talking and doing nothing, waiting for the climax to occur (aka Twilight or 50 Shades). I have a couple of the other Diablo novels, and read more, and I do plan to collect them all eventually. It's just that they're not in bookstores so I have to order them online. You can find them on Amazon or even eBay, or any bookstore website probably. And you can even go to your local bookstore and ask them to order it in for you.
I'm trying to convince James to read them, so maybe I'll pick up an extra copy for him XD He's not too into fantasy novels, he's more into real life history and that kind of stuff like wars and whatnot. But I told him about the Diablo novels and he said they sound cool, so I'm pretty sure he's open to reading whatever I recommend. And of course, he said he wants to read my own novel that I am writing :3
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