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I have been playing through Diablo 3 and I have noticed I often feel as though I am lost, forgetting character names and who did what. I find myself on the Wiki a lot filling in plot holes. (Usually in my brain not in the writing)

What are the names of all of the books/resources I can read to better understand Diablo as a whole? Do these books corespond with the games at all, or are they just general stories outlining the Diablo world in its entirety?

Also, sidednote: Are there any bundles out there like the Battlechest that can net me several of these books in one purchase?

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3 Answers

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There's one book in particular that offers a wealth of background material on the setting of Diablo: the Book of Cain, written by the eponymous Deckard Cain, Horadric mage and noted scholar of Sanctuary.

There are several novelizations of the world, as well: Demonsbane, the Legacy of Blood, the Black Road, and the Kingdom of Shadow can be found as a four pack in the Diablo Archive. There's also the Moon of the Spider, and the Sin War Trilogy. One novel so far has been published regarding Diablo III specifically: The Order. If I'm not mistaken, there were comics produced as well..

That said, I'd recommend sticking to the Book of Cain if you really want to immerse yourself in Diablo lore and can't stomach checking the wiki constantly - though I imagine you'll still want to for certain specifics that can only really be gleaned from playing the previous games in the series and paying attention to minute details.

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I do enjoy a good read, and I find the Lore to be fairly in-depth. Is there any particular order to read them in? – Emerica. May 22 '12 at 14:41
As far as I know (I haven't read them all, personally), all of them aside from the Sin War Trilogy are stand-alone. The order I listed them in was the order of their release date, though, if you feel like following that as a rough guide. Notably, there was also a timeline retcon shortly before Diablo III's release, so the 'official' timeline on the Blizzard site as well as the material in the Book of Cain supersedes any dates you might find. – Ashel May 22 '12 at 14:48
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Well, outside of the game world if you bought a retail copy of D3, the instruction manual has character background written in fair detail. It's a good way to get acquainted with the background stories of each class, and why they set out on their adventure.

In game, the best thing to do is search every nook and cranny. In towns there are often books you can interact with in the various shops and inns. In dungeons there are scribe tables, altars, and often dead bodies that house books and journals with various amounts of lore. You'll find the pieces coming together gradually, though it may take a while to fully sink in.

If you get lost, you're on the right track with the Diablo wiki. The official Diablo sites can also help you get up to speed on the story so far.

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I bought the digital copy. Is there a manual online? – Emerica. May 22 '12 at 14:38
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The official Blizzard store has a book section, which can be filtered to list all the novels published in the Diablo world. It's more up-to-date, in content and price, than anything I can post here :)

Full reviews for these books are available from other book stores, such as Amazon.

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