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Revision as of 22:35, 29 July 2010 by Jexx21 (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)— Desperate to defend his land from advancing hordes of bestial charr, King Adelbern summoned the all-powerful Foefire to repel the invaders. But magic can be a double-edged sword—the Foefire burned both charr and human alike. While the charr corpses smoldered, the slain Ascalonians rose again, transformed by their king's rage into ghostly protectors and charged with guarding the realm—forever. The once mighty kingdom became a haunted shadow of its former glory.Centuries later, the descendants of Ascalon, exiled to the nation of Kryta, are besieged on all sides. To save humankind, Queen Jennah seeks to negotiate a treaty with the hated charr. One obstacle remains. The charr legions won't sign the truce until their most prized possession, the Claw of the Khan-Ur, is returned from the ruins of fallen Ascalon.
Now, a mismatched band of adventurers, each plagued by ghosts of their own, sets forth into a haunted, war-torn land to retrieve the Claw. Without the artifact, there is no hope for peace between humans and charr--but the undead king who rules Ascalon won't give it up easily, and not everyone wants peace!
Ghosts of Ascalon is the first of three novels written to bridge the time between the original game series and Guild Wars 2. The novel series was originally announced at the Penny Arcade Expo in 2008 as a partnership with Pocket Star Books. The authors of the book are Matt Forbeck and Jeff Grubb, who have experience in writing fantasy game novels. Will McDermott acted as liaison between them and ArenaNet. The announcement was made official on April 14th 2009 when Forbeck announced his involvement and the title on his website. The book was released on July 27th, 2010 in North America and Europe, as shown in the "release" section below. The contents of the book are considered canon lore for the Guild Wars universe.
Plot
The main plot takes place one year before the events of Guild Wars 2, dealing with the initial stages of an alliance between the humans and the charr as an expedition with members of both races seeks an ancient artifact. It has been said that the book will use flashbacks to tell the backstory of all five playable races, likely including a depiction of King Adelbern's ultimate sacrifice to defend Ascalon City from the charr, as described in the Movement of the World.
The book begins with 4 characters: Dougal Keane, a human adventurer specializing in pointing out and disabling traps; Clagg, an ignorant asura who hired the team; Gyda Oddsdottir an overconfident norn; and Killeen, a young sylvari. The story begins with their exploration of a catacomb underneath Divinity's Reach for the tomb of Blimm.
Release
The first chapter of the novel can be read for free in this PDF.
The release date for the book differs according to language and/or region:
| Language | Availability | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| English | North America - July 27, 2010 United Kingdom - July 27, 2010 Australia - August 15, 2010 |
Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster |
| German | August 11, 2010 | Panini |
| French | December, 2010 | Bibliotheque Interdite |
| Russian | TBA | EXMO |
| Italian | August, 2010 | Multiplayer |
Trivia
- The title of the book was first announced to be Fall of Ascalon, but was subsequently changed to more accurately reflect the story's themes.
Notes
- The book is currently selling for $7.99 USD .