Also before I start ranting I should say thar I kind of enjoyed the books and will probably read the others except the last sin war book. Its like watching a really bad cheesy tv show like Buffy can sometimes be enjoyable.
I certainly don't agree with you here. I thought the politics within The Sin War Trilogy were fantasticly complex, and to point that out I am going to give you the list of the different factions and their interactionsn with one another that web them together.
You have the Three Prime Evils and their relationships with their children and followers, you have Inarius' relationship with both the Prime Evils and Angiris Council, you have Tyrael's relationship with the Angiris Council as well as with the Naphalem which are both seperate entities, and you have the Angiris Council's political relationship directly with the Prime Evils themselves. Not to mention, you have the Naphalem caught in the middle of this who could potentially be a power to be reckoned with, and you have the Mage Clans who up to this point aren't even part of the Naphalem. Oh and don't let me forget Trag' Oul, Rathma, and Mendeln who eventually become yet another faction all by themselves who are tyring simutaneously to keep all the others in check.
How many stories in general leave you a feeling of really not knowing who the bad guy is? You have Inarius betraying Heaven, and Lilith whose betrayal of Hell is essentially just as severe; both the Prime Evils and Angiris Council being equally pissed off about this. The Angiris Council, who supposedly represents total goodness, openely makes dealings with the Prime Evils essentially out of respect. Even the Naphalem could potentially become Sanctuary's worst enemy - as seen by Uldyssian's inability to control his powers - that you can't even rule them out as being the potential villian somewhere down the line. In my opinion, The Sin War Trilogy cleary deviates from the cookie-cutter fantasy stories that we've heard so many times.
Quote from "Calamity" »
Thats the thing that dissapoints me the most ruins the books for me. All the parts with the super powerful mythical beings like Inarius and Lucion, where i expect something really cool to happen, plays out like an episode of a soap opera with some generic fantasy mixed in. The way the author portrays these beings they might as well have been powerful, influential humans, not cold, calculating inhuman overlords determined to enslave the human race to their will.
I sort of see your point here, but we need to remember that they faced Uldyssian, who was clearly created to show us the potential power of the Naphalem to identify them as one of the power houses of the universe. If the humans are helpless or significantly inferior to the Angels and Demons then you don't have a story. Lets also remember that the Naphalem are essentially half angel and half demon; it's not like they are just a normal mortal species like the wildlife in the Torajian Jungles.
Quote from "Calamity" »
Then there is the story of Uldyssian. The unassuming nobody suddenly gains powers and wants to use them for good! Where have I read that before?
Again, you have to look at Uldyssian as the extreme case. His purpose is to show us the maximum potential of the Naphalem's powers, hince why Heaven and Hell would even want to be involved in the first place.[/quote]
Quote from "Calamity" »
The beautiful noblewoman randomly develops a crush on a nobody. What? She had an ulterior motive? Never saw that coming.
Yeah I suppose it was obvious that she was more than she seemed but I thought her story was pretty interesting. Yes she was a demon and did horrible things to Uldyssian, but the Naphalem were her children. How far would you go to save your children? Her story is no where near cookie-cutter in my opinion.
Quote from "Calamity" »
Also, his adventures seem really trivial and stupid. He wins his fights by really wanting to win, and his superpowers just takes care of the rest.
I suppose I was a little dissapointed in how well a mere "human" could match up against immortals from other planes of existence, but we need to remember that Uldyssian altered the Worldstone in such a way that it essentially became his world. I would assume that if they were in Heaven or Hell that he would not be able to accomplish what he did.
Quote from "Calamity" »
Even the subplots suck. A demon in a ancient building in the jungle sends "rage" at him so he goes over ther and wishes it dead. Uh what? Thats it? Can you at least explore the building for a cool artifact?
The book explains why the spirit was restless with rage when it gives you the backstory between the demon and his angel lover. What this does is it adds yet another issue for both Heaven and Hell to focus on instead of just focusing on one another and thus making the story more complex. This "mix breeding" was esentially another way to put angels and demons on the same level instead of clearly making one of them good and one evil.
Quote from "Calamity" »
I also got the books for the cool factor of the Diablo universe, but the author has turned it into generic fantasy. I guess i was just expecting a much darker and complex story.
The "Ask Lore Questions Here" thread is more enjoyable and informative to read than the books, ant to top it off, better written.
As someone else said, arguing about writing styles is futile and very subjective. However, I will respectfully disagree with you that the story is generic and not complex. I would have to say that having a 10-year-old child (Cedric) being skinned alive by Malic so it could be worn by a Morlu as a desguise is a pretty dark element to have in any story. I could go on but I think that illustrates my point.
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I certainly don't agree with you here. I thought the politics within The Sin War Trilogy were fantasticly complex, and to point that out I am going to give you the list of the different factions and their interactionsn with one another that web them together.
You have the Three Prime Evils and their relationships with their children and followers, you have Inarius' relationship with both the Prime Evils and Angiris Council, you have Tyrael's relationship with the Angiris Council as well as with the Naphalem which are both seperate entities, and you have the Angiris Council's political relationship directly with the Prime Evils themselves. Not to mention, you have the Naphalem caught in the middle of this who could potentially be a power to be reckoned with, and you have the Mage Clans who up to this point aren't even part of the Naphalem. Oh and don't let me forget Trag' Oul, Rathma, and Mendeln who eventually become yet another faction all by themselves who are tyring simutaneously to keep all the others in check.
How many stories in general leave you a feeling of really not knowing who the bad guy is? You have Inarius betraying Heaven, and Lilith whose betrayal of Hell is essentially just as severe; both the Prime Evils and Angiris Council being equally pissed off about this. The Angiris Council, who supposedly represents total goodness, openely makes dealings with the Prime Evils essentially out of respect. Even the Naphalem could potentially become Sanctuary's worst enemy - as seen by Uldyssian's inability to control his powers - that you can't even rule them out as being the potential villian somewhere down the line. In my opinion, The Sin War Trilogy cleary deviates from the cookie-cutter fantasy stories that we've heard so many times.
I sort of see your point here, but we need to remember that they faced Uldyssian, who was clearly created to show us the potential power of the Naphalem to identify them as one of the power houses of the universe. If the humans are helpless or significantly inferior to the Angels and Demons then you don't have a story. Lets also remember that the Naphalem are essentially half angel and half demon; it's not like they are just a normal mortal species like the wildlife in the Torajian Jungles.
Again, you have to look at Uldyssian as the extreme case. His purpose is to show us the maximum potential of the Naphalem's powers, hince why Heaven and Hell would even want to be involved in the first place.[/quote]
Yeah I suppose it was obvious that she was more than she seemed but I thought her story was pretty interesting. Yes she was a demon and did horrible things to Uldyssian, but the Naphalem were her children. How far would you go to save your children? Her story is no where near cookie-cutter in my opinion.
I suppose I was a little dissapointed in how well a mere "human" could match up against immortals from other planes of existence, but we need to remember that Uldyssian altered the Worldstone in such a way that it essentially became his world. I would assume that if they were in Heaven or Hell that he would not be able to accomplish what he did.
The book explains why the spirit was restless with rage when it gives you the backstory between the demon and his angel lover. What this does is it adds yet another issue for both Heaven and Hell to focus on instead of just focusing on one another and thus making the story more complex. This "mix breeding" was esentially another way to put angels and demons on the same level instead of clearly making one of them good and one evil.
As someone else said, arguing about writing styles is futile and very subjective. However, I will respectfully disagree with you that the story is generic and not complex. I would have to say that having a 10-year-old child (Cedric) being skinned alive by Malic so it could be worn by a Morlu as a desguise is a pretty dark element to have in any story. I could go on but I think that illustrates my point.