Starcraft: Queen of Blades Book

I'm a big fan of gaming lore, and enjoy reading the books and comics that expand a video game's already rich story-even for games I haven't actually played. In this case, my husband played Starcraft II and eagerly shared all the major cutscenes with me. I instantly fell in love with Sarah Kerrigan, played by one of my favourite voice actresses, Tricia Helfer.

This is the story of Kerrigan's emergence as the vengeful Queen of Blades, after being left for dead by her commander. It's told from the point of view of Jim Raynor, the game's main protagonist and Kerrigan's would be lover had things not turned out so poorly for the couple. I had hoped to get insight into Kerrigan's transformation and what it was like for her-and the prologue seems to imply that-but then it switches to Raynor's point-of-view. He follows the lead of Kerrigan's telepathic dreams to the planet Char, where Kerrigan now lords over the deadly bug-like Zerg. Despite the telepathic bond, we get little insight into Kerrigan's mind, and, when the Zerg's mortal enemies, the Protoss, show up, the book settles into a long back and forth chase sequence as the Protoss leader attempts to gauge Kerrigan's abilities. Raynor literally runs along behind them, detailing the encounters, as the formidable aliens fight and exchange melodramatic, villainous dialogue. There are implications through Raynor's dreams that there is still good in Kerrigan, but those brief interludes get lost in the continued back and forth that really doesn't teach us much about the Protoss, or the titular Queen of Blades. Gaming lore is meant to enhance the main storyline of the game, without punishing the players who choose not to consume it, but sadly, this didn't add much for anyone.

Originally published at WWAC