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Guild Wars #3
Sea of Sorrows
The lost kingdom of Orr lies beneath the ocean waves, an entire civilization swallowed by an ancient cataclysm. For centuries, it has lain dormant in the depths, its ancient secrets lost.
Until now.
The Elder Dragon Zhaitan has risen. In its wake, the drowned kingdom of Orr is reborn—and another is destroyed. The city of Lion’s Arch, for generations a cornerstone of civilization in Tyria, is brutally swept beneath the waves, leaving nothing but ruins. Among the survivors is Cobiah Marriner, a human sailor shipwrecked by the tsunami and stranded at sea. When he is rescued by a ferocious charr, Cobiah knows that he’s been plunged into a world forever changed.
Now, Zhaitan’s undead servants dominate the sea, destroying port after port and slaughtering anything in their path. In the midst of ruin, Cobiah vows to see Lion’s Arch rebuilt. Amid the storm of the dragon’s rising, Cobiah must become a hero to his crew and an admiral to the pirate fleet, and face the ghosts of his past. Only then will he master the Sea of Sorrows and crush the armada of Orr.
Until now.
The Elder Dragon Zhaitan has risen. In its wake, the drowned kingdom of Orr is reborn—and another is destroyed. The city of Lion’s Arch, for generations a cornerstone of civilization in Tyria, is brutally swept beneath the waves, leaving nothing but ruins. Among the survivors is Cobiah Marriner, a human sailor shipwrecked by the tsunami and stranded at sea. When he is rescued by a ferocious charr, Cobiah knows that he’s been plunged into a world forever changed.
Now, Zhaitan’s undead servants dominate the sea, destroying port after port and slaughtering anything in their path. In the midst of ruin, Cobiah vows to see Lion’s Arch rebuilt. Amid the storm of the dragon’s rising, Cobiah must become a hero to his crew and an admiral to the pirate fleet, and face the ghosts of his past. Only then will he master the Sea of Sorrows and crush the armada of Orr.
478 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 25, 2013
93 people are currently reading
1059 people want to read
About the author
Ree Soesbee
81 books50 followersRee Soesbee is a writer, game designer, and lore editor for massively multiplayer online games as well as traditional pen and paper RPGs. She has authored more than sixteen novels in a wide variety of fantastic worlds ranging from the popular Legend of the Five Rings setting to Star Trek, Dragonlance, Deadlands, and Vampire: the Masquerade. Her body of work includes over a hundred RPG texts, and inclusion in numerous short story anthologies and professional literary journals. Currently, she is a lead designer and lore writer for Guild Wars 2; innovative follow-up to the award-winning Guild Wars MMORPG. Already, Guild Wars 2 has recieved Gamescom's 'Best Online Game' and MMORPG.com's 'Most Anticipated MMO' awards.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 80 reviews
April 9, 2017
Sea of Sorrows reads like a play to me. It is divided into several acts and the dialogue (especially in the first few chapters) would fit better when actors shout them on stage, almost blinded by the spotlights hanging above them. It was so over the top and dramatic at first that I couldn't take it too serious. I bet it's not easy being Cobiah Marriner. It takes only a couple of chapters for him to lose everything - with dramatic flair that Shakespeare might've approved of.
This does get better. The dramatic flair stays, but at least the characters start to feel fleshed out. They're not just carbon copies meant to demonstrate one of the races of Tyria, but they clearly have their own goals and needs. Sometimes the goals even seem to be different than what we had come to expect. As the characters grow older, the dialogue (usually) feels more layered. This book is a wonderful guideline for how the different races in Tyria can speak. Better yet it's a historical seafaring extravaganza, which gives the game itsself more depth.
I like that Sea of Sorrows is different than what you would expect of a novel about an MMORPG. This is not your actionpacked fullfledged adventure, but the history of a figure that has meant much for the world in this game. If you're a lore enthusiast this book might just fullfill some of the cravings for a story. If you're not this will have many dragged out scenes, over the top dialogue and not enough heartracing fighting.
I'm a bit in between. I appreciate what this book does for the world of Guild Wars 2. It gives a part of it more context like reading a historical non-fiction work would, only with the added dramatic flair of a play. I'm down for this, but it wasn't what I wanted to read at the moment. And so this book only fed my reading slump as I forced my way through the book. I appreciate it, but I couldn't fully enjoy it.
Now, don't get me wrong, there are actionscenes. Huge chunks of this fictional memoir happen on the sea. And even though the characters don't have many places to explore on a ship, it's the most exciting. Maybe because it makes sure the focus stays on the characterization or the action. Of course this book will have swordfighting and canonballs. There's even seafaring zombies and ghosts of the past. But there's also growing up and a man settling down in a city to become part of its council. It doesn't help that the characters all blame Cobiah for choosing this path, it makes the scenes feel even more dragged out. Even though I did enjoy the policits involving asura.
In some ways I feel like this is a gem that's not polished enough. Sea of Sorrows might be in need of a good editor, one that knows its way with dialogue. In one of my creative writing lessons I was taught that a book shouldn't contain descriptions or even words that don't contribute to the story. In the last act the three previous parts do all come together but for the longest time this seems to be a collection of tales in a lifetime. I couldn't place a lot of the scenes and how it benefitted the story. Sometimes in life things don't add up. I haven't decided if I want my books to give me a cohesive story to fill that void or if I like it when some things happen without reason, just like in our world. Just when I decided I accepted that this book went for the latter, the plot holes get solved. I know that should be a good thing and that my complaining is silly, but reading through all of it, it didn't feel satisfying.
For all the nagging about dialogue I have to give credit where credits due. The descriptions of the characters, objects and places really made the world come alive. I can easily picture what it looks like. To me, it even seems that someone that hasn't played the game could do the same. But the eloborate and imaginative descriptions couldn't save the fact that I think this story might have actually been better suited as a script for a play. Ree Soesbee, if you're ever in want of a new career, maybe you should try being a playwright.
This does get better. The dramatic flair stays, but at least the characters start to feel fleshed out. They're not just carbon copies meant to demonstrate one of the races of Tyria, but they clearly have their own goals and needs. Sometimes the goals even seem to be different than what we had come to expect. As the characters grow older, the dialogue (usually) feels more layered. This book is a wonderful guideline for how the different races in Tyria can speak. Better yet it's a historical seafaring extravaganza, which gives the game itsself more depth.
I like that Sea of Sorrows is different than what you would expect of a novel about an MMORPG. This is not your actionpacked fullfledged adventure, but the history of a figure that has meant much for the world in this game. If you're a lore enthusiast this book might just fullfill some of the cravings for a story. If you're not this will have many dragged out scenes, over the top dialogue and not enough heartracing fighting.
I'm a bit in between. I appreciate what this book does for the world of Guild Wars 2. It gives a part of it more context like reading a historical non-fiction work would, only with the added dramatic flair of a play. I'm down for this, but it wasn't what I wanted to read at the moment. And so this book only fed my reading slump as I forced my way through the book. I appreciate it, but I couldn't fully enjoy it.
Now, don't get me wrong, there are actionscenes. Huge chunks of this fictional memoir happen on the sea. And even though the characters don't have many places to explore on a ship, it's the most exciting. Maybe because it makes sure the focus stays on the characterization or the action. Of course this book will have swordfighting and canonballs. There's even seafaring zombies and ghosts of the past. But there's also growing up and a man settling down in a city to become part of its council. It doesn't help that the characters all blame Cobiah for choosing this path, it makes the scenes feel even more dragged out. Even though I did enjoy the policits involving asura.
In some ways I feel like this is a gem that's not polished enough. Sea of Sorrows might be in need of a good editor, one that knows its way with dialogue. In one of my creative writing lessons I was taught that a book shouldn't contain descriptions or even words that don't contribute to the story. In the last act the three previous parts do all come together but for the longest time this seems to be a collection of tales in a lifetime. I couldn't place a lot of the scenes and how it benefitted the story. Sometimes in life things don't add up. I haven't decided if I want my books to give me a cohesive story to fill that void or if I like it when some things happen without reason, just like in our world. Just when I decided I accepted that this book went for the latter, the plot holes get solved. I know that should be a good thing and that my complaining is silly, but reading through all of it, it didn't feel satisfying.
For all the nagging about dialogue I have to give credit where credits due. The descriptions of the characters, objects and places really made the world come alive. I can easily picture what it looks like. To me, it even seems that someone that hasn't played the game could do the same. But the eloborate and imaginative descriptions couldn't save the fact that I think this story might have actually been better suited as a script for a play. Ree Soesbee, if you're ever in want of a new career, maybe you should try being a playwright.
June 25, 2013
Initially, when I first started playing Guild Wars 2 about six months ago, I was by no means an "MMORPG" player; I played games primarily for story and I felt some "MMORPGs" did not deliver in that respect. Imagine my surprise when I was informed there were two books published for the game to fill in the 250 year gap between Guild Wars 1 - which I unfortunately skipped - and Guild Wars 2. Ghosts of Ascalon was sufficient in setting up the world in which the other races emerged upon Tyria and the creation of the brittle peace between the Humans and the Charr. Edge of Destiny brings us the history of "Destiny's Edge" - a guild renowned for their exploits and achievements but split by the time of the game.
While I liked both previous books, there always seemed like there was something lacking. I finished the books feeling as if I read a small part of lore that explained the circumstances for the story dungeons in-game or the world (e.g. The Pile of Stones in the Secluded Glen in the Fields of Ruin). However, some characters did not leave a lasting impression or made me hateLogan Thackaray them more than in-game.
Yet, I took to Sea of Sorrows as a landlubber would to the debris of a sunken ship. While Edge of Destiny spread its focus amongst the members of "Destiny's Edge," Ghosts of Ascalon and Sea of Sorrows focused on a primary character supported by a motley crew. However, in Ghosts of Ascalon, each character felt more like an image of what the rest of their respective races were than truly their own character, if only to serve the purpose of introducing the world of Tyria. Sea of Sorrows suffers less from this, likely because the game was already released by the time the book was delivered to our doorsteps days early by Amazon. Either that, or Soesbee did a great job of characterisation to a point where each member of the cast could be taken to represent their races but were fleshed out enough to make each one distinctly their own character. It may also have helped that more than 2-3 characters of each race made an appearance in the book.
As far as the main character Cobiah Marriner is concerned, however, his journey over the timeline of the book is what brings the story to life. Within the first chapter alone, we are given a character who has nothing but one precious thing in his life and even said precious thing is taken away from him, setting him free to sail the seas. The next few would show his rebirth as a sailor and how he comes upon the crew and best friend that would serve him for the remainder of his years. These alone served to give his motivations and the methods that he would take to solve his future problems.
While the book's events spans about 37 years, the pacing in acts is excellent. The effect of knowing the passing of time also helps an understanding of how close some characters have gotten to Cobiah and expands their roles somewhat. Sykox and Macha are two great examples. Spoilers ahoy: Each act also spends sufficient time on each battle to understand the machinations that help them become victorious with each detailed action.
The dialogue and wit combines to craft a type of humour that helps to spur the reader on. Consider this example (while not entirely a spoiler, I would rather not take that chance and it is a bit more "mature" in nature):
Despite all this, the book is not without some shortcomings. My issues mainly stem from the last few chapters with the invasion of Lion's Arch.
Regardless (as Macha was informed "irregardless" is not a word... by a charr), this book was thoroughly enjoyable even as a separate story from Guild Wars 2. It served its purpose: to show the fall of the original Krytan Lion's Arch, the rise of the new, free Lion's Arch the players are familiar with, and the heroes that helped to make it happen.
While I liked both previous books, there always seemed like there was something lacking. I finished the books feeling as if I read a small part of lore that explained the circumstances for the story dungeons in-game or the world (e.g. The Pile of Stones in the Secluded Glen in the Fields of Ruin). However, some characters did not leave a lasting impression or made me hate
Yet, I took to Sea of Sorrows as a landlubber would to the debris of a sunken ship. While Edge of Destiny spread its focus amongst the members of "Destiny's Edge," Ghosts of Ascalon and Sea of Sorrows focused on a primary character supported by a motley crew. However, in Ghosts of Ascalon, each character felt more like an image of what the rest of their respective races were than truly their own character, if only to serve the purpose of introducing the world of Tyria. Sea of Sorrows suffers less from this, likely because the game was already released by the time the book was delivered to our doorsteps days early by Amazon. Either that, or Soesbee did a great job of characterisation to a point where each member of the cast could be taken to represent their races but were fleshed out enough to make each one distinctly their own character. It may also have helped that more than 2-3 characters of each race made an appearance in the book.
As far as the main character Cobiah Marriner is concerned, however, his journey over the timeline of the book is what brings the story to life. Within the first chapter alone, we are given a character who has nothing but one precious thing in his life and even said precious thing is taken away from him, setting him free to sail the seas. The next few would show his rebirth as a sailor and how he comes upon the crew and best friend that would serve him for the remainder of his years. These alone served to give his motivations and the methods that he would take to solve his future problems.
While the book's events spans about 37 years, the pacing in acts is excellent. The effect of knowing the passing of time also helps an understanding of how close some characters have gotten to Cobiah and expands their roles somewhat. Sykox and Macha are two great examples. Spoilers ahoy: Each act also spends sufficient time on each battle to understand the machinations that help them become victorious with each detailed action.
The dialogue and wit combines to craft a type of humour that helps to spur the reader on. Consider this example (while not entirely a spoiler, I would rather not take that chance and it is a bit more "mature" in nature):
Despite all this, the book is not without some shortcomings. My issues mainly stem from the last few chapters with the invasion of Lion's Arch.
Regardless (as Macha was informed "irregardless" is not a word... by a charr), this book was thoroughly enjoyable even as a separate story from Guild Wars 2. It served its purpose: to show the fall of the original Krytan Lion's Arch, the rise of the new, free Lion's Arch the players are familiar with, and the heroes that helped to make it happen.
May 18, 2014
This book was very frustrating for me to sit through. Tyria and the history of Lion's Arch have always had my interest. While the author does give a clear history of how Lion's Arch became independent of Kryta, it is conveyed in a way that tends to slog through details that are reiterated far too often.
Another thing that takes you out of the story is how slap-shod it feels when reading it. It almost feels like a high school report that was completed last-minute. This leads to situations that are hard to believe and pretty inconsistent.
The main reason I say I was frustrated by this book is because I am probably more invested than the average reader in the world of Guild Wars. The two previous books were of better quality than Sea of Sorrows so my expectations were high, especially since Ree has done work with Jeff Grubb before.
I had listened to an interview of Ree on the Guild Wars Podcast. She talked about her past in fantasy and writing and about this book (which was still upcoming). She is a fascinating person and was full of energy and passion which are some of the greatest tools that a writer can have. So I was a little let down by this book's quality.
That said, if you are not quite as invested as I am, you probably will enjoy this book more than I did. There are several very well written scenes and dialogues. (Act 3 was probably the most interesting and fun) Ree's writing style is fast enough that you can read it quickly and have fun with it.
Thank you for taking the time to read this review :)
Another thing that takes you out of the story is how slap-shod it feels when reading it. It almost feels like a high school report that was completed last-minute. This leads to situations that are hard to believe and pretty inconsistent.
The main reason I say I was frustrated by this book is because I am probably more invested than the average reader in the world of Guild Wars. The two previous books were of better quality than Sea of Sorrows so my expectations were high, especially since Ree has done work with Jeff Grubb before.
I had listened to an interview of Ree on the Guild Wars Podcast. She talked about her past in fantasy and writing and about this book (which was still upcoming). She is a fascinating person and was full of energy and passion which are some of the greatest tools that a writer can have. So I was a little let down by this book's quality.
That said, if you are not quite as invested as I am, you probably will enjoy this book more than I did. There are several very well written scenes and dialogues. (Act 3 was probably the most interesting and fun) Ree's writing style is fast enough that you can read it quickly and have fun with it.
Thank you for taking the time to read this review :)
February 13, 2014
I'm probably very biased, because I've always been a fan of Ree Soesbee's style, but I loved this book.
It has everything you'd want in a fantasy epic. Politics? Check! Action? Check! Magic? Check! Strong characters of both genders? Check again! Really, I'd recommend this book even to people who are unfamiliar with Guild Wars lore. It's just that good.
It has everything you'd want in a fantasy epic. Politics? Check! Action? Check! Magic? Check! Strong characters of both genders? Check again! Really, I'd recommend this book even to people who are unfamiliar with Guild Wars lore. It's just that good.
April 25, 2019
I had some trouble reading this, I will admit. Mainly because of the main character. Though I did enjoy the world around this main character. The MC acted often very immature in my opinion though you follow him through the years, you would think he'd become more wise and mature but, not really in my opinion. Still an interesting read.
February 15, 2016
Sea of Sorrows by Ree Soesbee is perhaps the best of the three Guild Wars novels. I was already familiar with the Guild Wars franchise, having played both games before reading this book. Therefore, I am writing this review with the assumption that potential readers know at least a bit about the lore of Guild Wars.
Story summary
In Sea of Sorrows, you follow the human Cobiah and his colorful band of companions through the destruction and rebuilding of Lion's Arch during the awakening of the Elder Dragon Zhaitan and the return of Orr.
The book is split into four acts, each about ten years apart. In the first act, Cobiah is still a young lad, who, due to circumstances, is forced to join the Indomitable, a large ship of the line. At the end of Act II, things have gone horribly wrong and he ends up on the Charr ship Havoc. Cobiah quickly befriends the smart Asura Macha, and the bulky, rust-colored Charr engineer Sykox (which is remarkable, since the humans and Charr are at war).
The Havoc's crew ends up sailing to Lion's Arch, Kryta's capital. Lion's Arch is all but destroyed by the awakening of Zhaitan. Cobiah and his band, now grown to include more humans and even two Norn brothers, decide to build a new and open-to-all city on the old capitals' ruins. In Act III, we see the new Lion's Arch prosper under the rule of the Captains Council, and is able to withstand all attacks from Orrian ships. For ten years, things are smooth sailing for its citizens. Charr, human, Asura and Norn live and trade in peace. Kryta has built a new capital, and King Baede mostly ignores the 'lawless pirate den'. However, when Baede dies, his heir is not so content with the state of Kryta's former capital. In Act IV, the prince sails on Lion's Arch, blocking the trade and threatens invasion. During the blockade, Cobiah is captured but eventually leads the assembled Krytan fleet against a large army of Orrian ships, including the Indomitable...
Reflection
Ree Soesbee establishes the races of Guild Wars in a very charming way. The Asura especially are very witty, explaining the uttermost simple situations in difficult, scientific jargon. The Charr, while at first one-dimensional beasts in the eyes of humans, turn into caring, albeit rough, feline warriors. Sykox especially becomes a dear friend to Cobiah and the others, going as far as to consider them his 'warband' (that's family to Charr). I've laughed out loud at some of the one-liners being thrown about in the midst of battles.
The story is easily digestible and understandable, which makes for a light and enjoyable read. There's no filler, which also means no pauses. The story moves forward at a swift pace, leaving the reader little time to reflect upon what has happened.
Like the story, the plot is fairly simple. The attentive reader will not be surprised by the stories' twists and turns, especially the movements of the main antagonist Zhaitan and his minions.
Magic usage is a bit strange in this book, since it often uses abilities straight from the game Guild Wars 2. The references are far from subtle, often interrupting the scene. While some may enjoy the link to the book's origins, I found them to be quite blatant.
Another thing that keeps interrupting the scene is all the technical naval jargon. If you are unfamiliar with terms like sailors berth, stem and stern, yardarm, mizzenmasts, quarterdecks or triangular jibs, you're in for a treat. While some of the terms can be guessed from their context, it makes tracking a character through an action scene very difficult.
Conclusion
Definitely pick up this book if you enjoy a fast paced, action filled story with memorable characters set in the Guild Wars universe. A light read, all the more fun if you're no stranger to the lore of ArenaNet's games.
Ree Soesbee is currently ArenaNet's Narrative Designer. Sea of Sorrows is a standalone novel, meaning you can read it without having read the other two novels (those being Ghosts of Ascalon and Edge of Destiny respectively).
Story summary
In Sea of Sorrows, you follow the human Cobiah and his colorful band of companions through the destruction and rebuilding of Lion's Arch during the awakening of the Elder Dragon Zhaitan and the return of Orr.
The book is split into four acts, each about ten years apart. In the first act, Cobiah is still a young lad, who, due to circumstances, is forced to join the Indomitable, a large ship of the line. At the end of Act II, things have gone horribly wrong and he ends up on the Charr ship Havoc. Cobiah quickly befriends the smart Asura Macha, and the bulky, rust-colored Charr engineer Sykox (which is remarkable, since the humans and Charr are at war).
The Havoc's crew ends up sailing to Lion's Arch, Kryta's capital. Lion's Arch is all but destroyed by the awakening of Zhaitan. Cobiah and his band, now grown to include more humans and even two Norn brothers, decide to build a new and open-to-all city on the old capitals' ruins. In Act III, we see the new Lion's Arch prosper under the rule of the Captains Council, and is able to withstand all attacks from Orrian ships. For ten years, things are smooth sailing for its citizens. Charr, human, Asura and Norn live and trade in peace. Kryta has built a new capital, and King Baede mostly ignores the 'lawless pirate den'. However, when Baede dies, his heir is not so content with the state of Kryta's former capital. In Act IV, the prince sails on Lion's Arch, blocking the trade and threatens invasion. During the blockade, Cobiah is captured but eventually leads the assembled Krytan fleet against a large army of Orrian ships, including the Indomitable...
Reflection
Ree Soesbee establishes the races of Guild Wars in a very charming way. The Asura especially are very witty, explaining the uttermost simple situations in difficult, scientific jargon. The Charr, while at first one-dimensional beasts in the eyes of humans, turn into caring, albeit rough, feline warriors. Sykox especially becomes a dear friend to Cobiah and the others, going as far as to consider them his 'warband' (that's family to Charr). I've laughed out loud at some of the one-liners being thrown about in the midst of battles.
The story is easily digestible and understandable, which makes for a light and enjoyable read. There's no filler, which also means no pauses. The story moves forward at a swift pace, leaving the reader little time to reflect upon what has happened.
Like the story, the plot is fairly simple. The attentive reader will not be surprised by the stories' twists and turns, especially the movements of the main antagonist Zhaitan and his minions.
Magic usage is a bit strange in this book, since it often uses abilities straight from the game Guild Wars 2. The references are far from subtle, often interrupting the scene. While some may enjoy the link to the book's origins, I found them to be quite blatant.
Another thing that keeps interrupting the scene is all the technical naval jargon. If you are unfamiliar with terms like sailors berth, stem and stern, yardarm, mizzenmasts, quarterdecks or triangular jibs, you're in for a treat. While some of the terms can be guessed from their context, it makes tracking a character through an action scene very difficult.
Conclusion
Definitely pick up this book if you enjoy a fast paced, action filled story with memorable characters set in the Guild Wars universe. A light read, all the more fun if you're no stranger to the lore of ArenaNet's games.
Ree Soesbee is currently ArenaNet's Narrative Designer. Sea of Sorrows is a standalone novel, meaning you can read it without having read the other two novels (those being Ghosts of Ascalon and Edge of Destiny respectively).
July 25, 2025
Priates? Check. Magic? Check. Dragons? Check? Zombies? Also yes. Quite literally has something for all fantasy lovers
First book I've read that's connected to a game I play. Played the Guild Wars franchise for decades at this point (2 at least lol).
Slow start but really picked after the first act. Made me really want to explore the game again and see these spaces in Lion's Arch and now what they mean.
The world building is good but I think someone not versed in the Guild Wars universe of Tyria might have some issues envisioning the non-human races and the spell effects. But overall good!
First book I've read that's connected to a game I play. Played the Guild Wars franchise for decades at this point (2 at least lol).
Slow start but really picked after the first act. Made me really want to explore the game again and see these spaces in Lion's Arch and now what they mean.
The world building is good but I think someone not versed in the Guild Wars universe of Tyria might have some issues envisioning the non-human races and the spell effects. But overall good!
August 17, 2013
Light read, good for people familiar with the world of Guild Wars. Characters are well written for the most part. Kind of wish the novel had been more continuous, instead of being presented essentially as a combination of short stories with a central set of characters in each, but it didn't detract drastically from the book - just seemed like a lazy way to avoid telling the story between the major events.
July 9, 2013
You know, more so than the other Guild Wars 2 books I really enjoyed Sea of Sorrows. I've a niggling complaint here and there towards the end but overall I loved getting just that little bit more of the world via Ree.
Well worth a go.
Well worth a go.
March 13, 2022
2 STARS
CW: child abuse, death (of loved ones), alcoholism, racism
While the Guild Wars 2 books are a nice addition to the experience of playing the game to me, they don't hold up as novels. (I will not mark spoilers in this review, so beware when reading on.)
I'll start with what I enjoyed, which is pretty much the same thing I loved in the other two Guild Wars books, Ghosts of Ascalon and Edge of Destiny: Guild Wars 2 is easily my favorite video game and I dearly love the world and characters and story. Thus, I loved seeing the world I so dearly love and love exploring in-game in book-form. I never knew the original version of Lion's Arch but I have explored the post-Scarlet Briar version of it on multiple occasions so I loved seeing the city being rebuild by Cobiah and it being a "new experiment" of having all peoples of Tyria live together.
It took me a significant amount of time to read through the book. I never really had any drive to dive back into the story even though I, as explained, love the world it's set in. I think one big problem of this novel was that it seemed rather unconnected, the different acts (four in total) were more like glimpses of Cobiah's life at various points in time and he as a character didn't really have any ultimate goal he was trying to achieve. We never really learned much about the conflict with the Krytan royalty. The first time we hear about Prince Edair is in the last act when he's basically on Lion's Arch's doorstep already and we're supposed to have feelings for his characters which is just not possible.
I think the point in the story I was most intrigued by was the very short interval that Cobiah is searching for whoever planted the bomb and then eventually who Grimjaw was working with. While typing this, I realize that we basically had four separate stories put together in the book, which brings me back to my point of the story having no overarching connection other than Cobiah. There are always small, very short-term problems that get resolved at the end of each act: Cobiah's ship sinks and he gets rescued by charr. They make for Lion's Arch which was destroyed and eventually Cobiah becomes captain of a ship and resolves to rebuild the destroyed city of his childhood. We then IMMEDIATELY cut to him having rebuild the city and having to deal with internal problems and politics. And in the last act Lion's Arch is once again in jeopardy because the Krytan prince-soon-to-be-crowned-king decided for military action.
Generally, I found especially the last "act" very predictable. I knew the Krytan prince was coming to Lion's Arch before it happened and that he would be on the ship Cobiah's gets brought to after he goes to meet with Isaye. I was waiting for the Orrian Dead Ships to attack and a little later, there they were and I was definitely expecting Macha to make a reappearance.
Another issue I had was that the Indomitable's crew was so calculating in the end. Before it had been described how when people fall to Zhaitan's will and become part of the Orrian army of undead, they lose their personality and just attack whatever's closest. However, in the end for dramatic effect and seemingly just because it made the conflict so much more interesting for our heroes, Cobiah's former friends from the Indomitable still have their personality and remember him and what happened years ago. I could excuse it with Bronn because he literally only fell under Zhaitan's influence when he fought with Grymm but the crew I was bothered by.
I definitely wouldn't recommend this book to people who have not played the game. If you have and are interested, I'd strongly advise you pick up either of the other books. I definitely enjoyed them much more than this one.
CW: child abuse, death (of loved ones), alcoholism, racism
While the Guild Wars 2 books are a nice addition to the experience of playing the game to me, they don't hold up as novels. (I will not mark spoilers in this review, so beware when reading on.)
I'll start with what I enjoyed, which is pretty much the same thing I loved in the other two Guild Wars books, Ghosts of Ascalon and Edge of Destiny: Guild Wars 2 is easily my favorite video game and I dearly love the world and characters and story. Thus, I loved seeing the world I so dearly love and love exploring in-game in book-form. I never knew the original version of Lion's Arch but I have explored the post-Scarlet Briar version of it on multiple occasions so I loved seeing the city being rebuild by Cobiah and it being a "new experiment" of having all peoples of Tyria live together.
It took me a significant amount of time to read through the book. I never really had any drive to dive back into the story even though I, as explained, love the world it's set in. I think one big problem of this novel was that it seemed rather unconnected, the different acts (four in total) were more like glimpses of Cobiah's life at various points in time and he as a character didn't really have any ultimate goal he was trying to achieve. We never really learned much about the conflict with the Krytan royalty. The first time we hear about Prince Edair is in the last act when he's basically on Lion's Arch's doorstep already and we're supposed to have feelings for his characters which is just not possible.
I think the point in the story I was most intrigued by was the very short interval that Cobiah is searching for whoever planted the bomb and then eventually who Grimjaw was working with. While typing this, I realize that we basically had four separate stories put together in the book, which brings me back to my point of the story having no overarching connection other than Cobiah. There are always small, very short-term problems that get resolved at the end of each act: Cobiah's ship sinks and he gets rescued by charr. They make for Lion's Arch which was destroyed and eventually Cobiah becomes captain of a ship and resolves to rebuild the destroyed city of his childhood. We then IMMEDIATELY cut to him having rebuild the city and having to deal with internal problems and politics. And in the last act Lion's Arch is once again in jeopardy because the Krytan prince-soon-to-be-crowned-king decided for military action.
Generally, I found especially the last "act" very predictable. I knew the Krytan prince was coming to Lion's Arch before it happened and that he would be on the ship Cobiah's gets brought to after he goes to meet with Isaye. I was waiting for the Orrian Dead Ships to attack and a little later, there they were and I was definitely expecting Macha to make a reappearance.
Another issue I had was that the Indomitable's crew was so calculating in the end. Before it had been described how when people fall to Zhaitan's will and become part of the Orrian army of undead, they lose their personality and just attack whatever's closest. However, in the end for dramatic effect and seemingly just because it made the conflict so much more interesting for our heroes, Cobiah's former friends from the Indomitable still have their personality and remember him and what happened years ago. I could excuse it with Bronn because he literally only fell under Zhaitan's influence when he fought with Grymm but the crew I was bothered by.
I definitely wouldn't recommend this book to people who have not played the game. If you have and are interested, I'd strongly advise you pick up either of the other books. I definitely enjoyed them much more than this one.
January 13, 2021
This was a great read. If you enjoy Guild Wars 2, you will love it. It tells the story of one of the game's most famous cities, Lion's Arch. It follows a pirate ship captain who becomes a leader in Lion's Arch, Cobiah Marriner. What really impressed about this novel was the writer's demand of the language of sailing and the ocean. I live in a coastal area with a lot of sailing, and this so rang true as far as representations of oceans, sailing, and the sea. I would smell the salt wind, hear the bells, and get the sense of changing tides. The novel is structured in several parts and the narrative incorporates many years. You begin with the protagonist's childhood; you end in their late prime. This is a rare approach for most game novels, in my opinion, which are often cinematic in their narrative pacing. This is the third and last Guild Wars novel. It was published several years ago, so I assume they are not writing any more. I wish they would. The world is so enchanting. The Charr, Asurans, Norn, are all so cool and create an intriguing mixture of theme. (There are no Sylvari in this novel because it takes place before they emerge from the "Pale Tree."
May 19, 2022
Wow vilken härligt skriven bok! Så mycket detaljer från GW2 att jag blir så sugen på att spela det så fort som möjligt! Boken är svår att lägga ifrån då karaktärerna och världen utvecklas ständigt.
January 24, 2015
I'll hold my hands up here and admit something that will probably skew my entire review: I am a GW2 lore geek. I'm a card-carrying member of the GW2 roleplay community, for goodness' sake. As such, this book probably had a far bigger impact on me than it would for most other readers.
This book does a fantastic job of revealing parts of Krytan history, and of bulking out the lore that's revealed in game. The Marriner plaques, the Moran memorial, Yomm's Mercantile, the Polla doll trinket that can drop as loot - all of these familiar places and items from in-game Lion's Arch now make so much more sense having read this book. I really wish I'd read Sea of Sorrows sooner and had chance to properly appreciate them in-game before the events of the game's Living Story changed the city as we knew it.
I adored the characters in this book. They came across as well-developed, and I really felt for them at times. The flip side of that, unfortunately, is what cost the book what would have been a five star rating. One of the characters I loved best throughout the book disappears partway through - I spent the rest of it desperately wishing for them to return, and when they finally did (right at the end, and only briefly!), I ended up feeling a bit cheated.
That one particular gripe aside, Sea of Sorrows was a thoroughly enjoyable book that will be going back on my bookshelf for future re-reads. If you'll excuse me, I'll be off to rave about it to my guildmates now.
This book does a fantastic job of revealing parts of Krytan history, and of bulking out the lore that's revealed in game. The Marriner plaques, the Moran memorial, Yomm's Mercantile, the Polla doll trinket that can drop as loot - all of these familiar places and items from in-game Lion's Arch now make so much more sense having read this book. I really wish I'd read Sea of Sorrows sooner and had chance to properly appreciate them in-game before the events of the game's Living Story changed the city as we knew it.
I adored the characters in this book. They came across as well-developed, and I really felt for them at times. The flip side of that, unfortunately, is what cost the book what would have been a five star rating. One of the characters I loved best throughout the book disappears partway through - I spent the rest of it desperately wishing for them to return, and when they finally did (right at the end, and only briefly!), I ended up feeling a bit cheated.
That one particular gripe aside, Sea of Sorrows was a thoroughly enjoyable book that will be going back on my bookshelf for future re-reads. If you'll excuse me, I'll be off to rave about it to my guildmates now.
July 15, 2014
I really wanted to like this book. I play GW2 and I thought that it would be interesting to read some stories within this world. What I found was standard fantasy fare with little imagination. The characters aren't very interesting and the story is very predictable. There's also a case of insta-love which is enough to make me put down a book. The world of Tyria is so rich and interesting and I feel that there is so much potential for some interesting stories to come out of it but, alas, this isn't one.
April 13, 2024
Honestly I wanted to like this book but I just couldn't. Far too much information that ultimately felt redundant. Throughout the book terrible things happen and then someone will just chime in with a cheesy or snarky comment.
Personally, this book didn't work for me. To be fair, I'm not a dedicated guild wars player and maybe if I was more invested in the world, it would appeal more.
The cover is very nice though.
Personally, this book didn't work for me. To be fair, I'm not a dedicated guild wars player and maybe if I was more invested in the world, it would appeal more.
The cover is very nice though.
August 17, 2020
Recently, I’m trying to finish off all the books that were started long ago but constantly interrupted by other books or my study schedules. Leaving the book undone makes me feel like abandon a friend without giving us a chance to know each other. Guild Wars 2 Sea of Sorrows is one of the books I was eager to buy but never finish. Why? I’ll explain below.
Guild Wars 2 already published three books as Sea of Sorrows is the latest one. In compared to other franchise, Guild Wars has a humble number of adaptation fictions. Perhaps, the books were not as successful as expected.
Sea of Sorrows is written by See Soesbee, a fantasy novel writer and later a video game Narrative, Lore and Continuity Designer for Guild Wars universe since Guild Wars: Nightfall.
Though the book was beautifully introduced as an appealing narrative of how Cobiah Marriner—the founder of the new Lion’s Arch rebuilt and devoted his life to fight against the dreadful Orrian undead army. The real plot failed to deliver the main concept as mentioned.
The novel followed Cobiah since he was a child till the end of the Great Krytan Blockade event. However, the plot sadly failed to deliver the main idea due to its constant shifting focus. In the first quarter, I thought the book would narrative Cobiah’ life; then maybe it is about how he would fight the Orr in the second quarter. But no, he started to rebuild Lion’s Arch with a new mission and vision in the third quarter which I was like, “Oh, so now it will be about how he created this independent city to its fullest glory”; then again, 20 years had passed… until the Great Krytan Blockade event which ultimately helped the sea city gained its full independence from Kryta. So if you ask me to summarize the book in one sentence, I don’t know!
I have a complex feeling for this book because it was a boring novel until some last few chapters of the final battle against the Orrian armada. Soesbee though did a kind of uninterested job for most of the book, she created an epic final battle that I would love to see it on screen. However, I still don’t see Sea of Sorrows in my favourite book list.
Here what kept postponing my reading of this book:
Writing style: as mentioned in my Diablo The Sin War trilogy review, I love the kind of writing styles that uses a lot of analogy and a decent amount of time in describing characters’ emotions. Soesbee mainly focused on narrating the events rather than building up and helping readers to feel the characters.
Character Development: No character development. For the whole book, none of the characters can mesmerize me. My feeling is: “There is a character named…” As a reader who loves to create a strong affection to fantasy characters, this book disappointed me completely! Main characters like Cobiah, Isaye, and Matcha acted very immature, especially the main couple. I cannot believe a couple who knows and lives together roughly 20 years still has big trouble with understanding and communication. Isaye—the main female protagonist is supposed to be a strong, determined, and smart woman but for the rest of the book, she annoyed me by her entitling attitude and behaviours. I dislike characters who act on their own because they believe in their righteous intention without any priming discussion. When she was misunderstood, she would leave with the attitude of “Anyway, I wasn’t exactly eager to explain myself to someone who called me a grog-snarfing murrelow.” I was like “The f***, can you just discuss with him your intention before you act?” Cobiah is a hot-tempered character, immature and often acted rudely when feeling betrayed but he’s not a person without reasons. Oh, come on!
Something missing in the background: I don’t know what exactly it is because this feeling isn’t very obvious while playing the game. However, when the game is set aside, that feeling rose up strongly that at some points, it troubled me a little. In my perspective, I think the executed process of the main “Union Concept” is a problem to build up a strong lore foundation. Sometimes I think the book tried so hard to deliver the union message. I will try to discusss about this in another blog post.
On the bright side, I love some very-asuran dialogues by Matcha and Yomm. Their intellect arrogant sarcasm is super fun to read. Another thing I especially love is how Cobiah views the concept of being a captain and his ship. A ship, a place he belongs to does not have to a literal ship, it can be his Lion’s Arch or anywhere he feels obligated to protect and nurture. Lastly, fans would learn a lot about the Lion’s Arch before Scarlet’s maniac assault.
Though I said the Union concept execution could be one of the issues that prevent the Guild Wars lore to take a flight, reading about having comrades and friends and family around makes me wanna go home! It is so lonely to be alone all the time.
Rating: 3/5
Guild Wars 2 already published three books as Sea of Sorrows is the latest one. In compared to other franchise, Guild Wars has a humble number of adaptation fictions. Perhaps, the books were not as successful as expected.
Sea of Sorrows is written by See Soesbee, a fantasy novel writer and later a video game Narrative, Lore and Continuity Designer for Guild Wars universe since Guild Wars: Nightfall.
Though the book was beautifully introduced as an appealing narrative of how Cobiah Marriner—the founder of the new Lion’s Arch rebuilt and devoted his life to fight against the dreadful Orrian undead army. The real plot failed to deliver the main concept as mentioned.
The novel followed Cobiah since he was a child till the end of the Great Krytan Blockade event. However, the plot sadly failed to deliver the main idea due to its constant shifting focus. In the first quarter, I thought the book would narrative Cobiah’ life; then maybe it is about how he would fight the Orr in the second quarter. But no, he started to rebuild Lion’s Arch with a new mission and vision in the third quarter which I was like, “Oh, so now it will be about how he created this independent city to its fullest glory”; then again, 20 years had passed… until the Great Krytan Blockade event which ultimately helped the sea city gained its full independence from Kryta. So if you ask me to summarize the book in one sentence, I don’t know!
I have a complex feeling for this book because it was a boring novel until some last few chapters of the final battle against the Orrian armada. Soesbee though did a kind of uninterested job for most of the book, she created an epic final battle that I would love to see it on screen. However, I still don’t see Sea of Sorrows in my favourite book list.
Here what kept postponing my reading of this book:
Writing style: as mentioned in my Diablo The Sin War trilogy review, I love the kind of writing styles that uses a lot of analogy and a decent amount of time in describing characters’ emotions. Soesbee mainly focused on narrating the events rather than building up and helping readers to feel the characters.
Character Development: No character development. For the whole book, none of the characters can mesmerize me. My feeling is: “There is a character named…” As a reader who loves to create a strong affection to fantasy characters, this book disappointed me completely! Main characters like Cobiah, Isaye, and Matcha acted very immature, especially the main couple. I cannot believe a couple who knows and lives together roughly 20 years still has big trouble with understanding and communication. Isaye—the main female protagonist is supposed to be a strong, determined, and smart woman but for the rest of the book, she annoyed me by her entitling attitude and behaviours. I dislike characters who act on their own because they believe in their righteous intention without any priming discussion. When she was misunderstood, she would leave with the attitude of “Anyway, I wasn’t exactly eager to explain myself to someone who called me a grog-snarfing murrelow.” I was like “The f***, can you just discuss with him your intention before you act?” Cobiah is a hot-tempered character, immature and often acted rudely when feeling betrayed but he’s not a person without reasons. Oh, come on!
Something missing in the background: I don’t know what exactly it is because this feeling isn’t very obvious while playing the game. However, when the game is set aside, that feeling rose up strongly that at some points, it troubled me a little. In my perspective, I think the executed process of the main “Union Concept” is a problem to build up a strong lore foundation. Sometimes I think the book tried so hard to deliver the union message. I will try to discusss about this in another blog post.
On the bright side, I love some very-asuran dialogues by Matcha and Yomm. Their intellect arrogant sarcasm is super fun to read. Another thing I especially love is how Cobiah views the concept of being a captain and his ship. A ship, a place he belongs to does not have to a literal ship, it can be his Lion’s Arch or anywhere he feels obligated to protect and nurture. Lastly, fans would learn a lot about the Lion’s Arch before Scarlet’s maniac assault.
Though I said the Union concept execution could be one of the issues that prevent the Guild Wars lore to take a flight, reading about having comrades and friends and family around makes me wanna go home! It is so lonely to be alone all the time.
Rating: 3/5
August 2, 2018
Онлайн игрите са нещо, към което винаги има две основни реакции – или ги обожавате, кълнете се в тях, там са ви приятелите, живота, смисъла, вселената и всичко останало, или ги мразите тихичко, или не толкова скромно, като загуба на време, нерви, усилия, съществувание и реална комуникация. Хм, това последното май е по-скоро описание на Фейсбук от която и да е гледна точка, но отрочето на Зукърбърг е вече самостоятелен субект, и със сигурност има отдавна достатъчно изкуствен интелект, за да насъска тостера и пералнята срещу вас, ако решите да си изтриете профила. Аз лично не бих рискувала, но ако сте по-авантюристично настроени – пишете после колко лошо хапе кафемашината.
Та, игрите по принцип в днешно време вървят честичко и с полезен елемент в книжна форма, или поне в комиксова, нещичко за абстиненцията, която напада след финалните кредити на последната мисия, оставяща не един или двама играча по света в унинието, сравнимо за мен със затварянето на последната страница на наистина въздействаща книга. Като умерено играещ и съвсем неумерено четящ човек разбирам нуждата на студията да си имат и странични златни кокошчици и кравички, от които да съберат някой и друг долар, но качеството на подобни допълнителни проекти обикновено не прости рие земята, ами достига като свредел до ядрото, и излиза някъде в Китай, а там предполагам на всичко дето не прилича на ориз и бамбукови пръчки се радват.
Настоящата книжка е доста странно вдъхновение от доста популярната Guild wars, но обективно погледнато – това е морски пиратски роман, изключително подозрително напомнящ на последния Карибски пирати с все мъртвите кораби със зомби чайки и недовършен екипаж, настояващ за някакво криво отмъщение. Тукашният Джак Спароу не е и наполовина толкова забавен, вероятно защото от един момент нататък му се появяват жена, деца, приятели и прочие, но почва с драматична история за ограбено детство, преминава през сблъсък със зомби другарчета, и финишира в създаването на град на свободните, много любезни и въобще добродушни пирати, притискани от някакъв гад, дето е местния цар и си иска данъците, щото, така де, те са на негова територия. Гад, ви казвам.
Историята е простичка, развиваща се във времето и е просто поредица от сцени, които биха изглеждали наистина добре като прикуъл на карибските обесници, но като самостоятелна книжка, освен ако наистина не си падате по морски битки и пиратщини, трудно ще ви хареса. Героите са готините полу-лоши момчета в стил Косъма, а злите са обикновено алчни богаташи или някакви грозници, живеещи на дъното на океана в полу-разкапано състояние. Бързо четимо и бързо забравимо – и това си има своето очарование, особено ако си имате един пресантимент към морето и момчета с триъгълни шапки и превръзка на окото.
Та, игрите по принцип в днешно време вървят честичко и с полезен елемент в книжна форма, или поне в комиксова, нещичко за абстиненцията, която напада след финалните кредити на последната мисия, оставяща не един или двама играча по света в унинието, сравнимо за мен със затварянето на последната страница на наистина въздействаща книга. Като умерено играещ и съвсем неумерено четящ човек разбирам нуждата на студията да си имат и странични златни кокошчици и кравички, от които да съберат някой и друг долар, но качеството на подобни допълнителни проекти обикновено не прости рие земята, ами достига като свредел до ядрото, и излиза някъде в Китай, а там предполагам на всичко дето не прилича на ориз и бамбукови пръчки се радват.
Настоящата книжка е доста странно вдъхновение от доста популярната Guild wars, но обективно погледнато – това е морски пиратски роман, изключително подозрително напомнящ на последния Карибски пирати с все мъртвите кораби със зомби чайки и недовършен екипаж, настояващ за някакво криво отмъщение. Тукашният Джак Спароу не е и наполовина толкова забавен, вероятно защото от един момент нататък му се появяват жена, деца, приятели и прочие, но почва с драматична история за ограбено детство, преминава през сблъсък със зомби другарчета, и финишира в създаването на град на свободните, много любезни и въобще добродушни пирати, притискани от някакъв гад, дето е местния цар и си иска данъците, щото, така де, те са на негова територия. Гад, ви казвам.
Историята е простичка, развиваща се във времето и е просто поредица от сцени, които биха изглеждали наистина добре като прикуъл на карибските обесници, но като самостоятелна книжка, освен ако наистина не си падате по морски битки и пиратщини, трудно ще ви хареса. Героите са готините полу-лоши момчета в стил Косъма, а злите са обикновено алчни богаташи или някакви грозници, живеещи на дъното на океана в полу-разкапано състояние. Бързо четимо и бързо забравимо – и това си има своето очарование, особено ако си имате един пресантимент към морето и момчета с триъгълни шапки и превръзка на окото.
September 3, 2020
I played Guildwars 2 for a few years and was a big fan of it. I love the lore and was happy that I came across the books.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There's pirates and basically zombies/undead(in a different setting than most books). You got to learn more about the history of Lion's Arch which was cool. I also really loved the characters, especially a lot of the supporting ones. I'll be honest I liked some of them even more than the main character. (Sykox is best!)
I felt like the book had a little bit of everything which made it enjoyable(action, humor, etc). It was definitely a light read and something that I just picked up here and there to get back into reading as I was recovering from a very long slump + being distracted with finishing video game backlog and life. I also enjoyed that it had a happy ending.
The time jumps and splitting the book up was a little weird. It didn't make me hate the book by any means, though. There were a couple chapters that were a bit of a slog to get through because I felt that the story wasn't really moving and it was filler in a bad way. I also was a tiny bit annoyed at some of the miscommunication or lack thereof that went on in the book. I felt it was pretty silly and childish but it didn't ruin the story for me. It might have just been me but I felt like most of the book went at a decent pace but towards the end it almost seemed a little rushed.
Overall, I was happy to read this and will definitely read it again. I would recommend this book to anyone that has played or is a fan of GW. I'd also recommend it to anyone that is interested in pirates, a hint of politics, and zombies not in a modern setting.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There's pirates and basically zombies/undead(in a different setting than most books). You got to learn more about the history of Lion's Arch which was cool. I also really loved the characters, especially a lot of the supporting ones. I'll be honest I liked some of them even more than the main character. (Sykox is best!)
I felt like the book had a little bit of everything which made it enjoyable(action, humor, etc). It was definitely a light read and something that I just picked up here and there to get back into reading as I was recovering from a very long slump + being distracted with finishing video game backlog and life. I also enjoyed that it had a happy ending.
The time jumps and splitting the book up was a little weird. It didn't make me hate the book by any means, though. There were a couple chapters that were a bit of a slog to get through because I felt that the story wasn't really moving and it was filler in a bad way. I also was a tiny bit annoyed at some of the miscommunication or lack thereof that went on in the book. I felt it was pretty silly and childish but it didn't ruin the story for me. It might have just been me but I felt like most of the book went at a decent pace but towards the end it almost seemed a little rushed.
Overall, I was happy to read this and will definitely read it again. I would recommend this book to anyone that has played or is a fan of GW. I'd also recommend it to anyone that is interested in pirates, a hint of politics, and zombies not in a modern setting.
September 9, 2020
Again to preface this, I have over 10k hours on the two games combined so I'm quite versed in the lore and captured by the world of Tyria.
I think this is by far the best of the three books. Ree Soesbee's writing is way more flowery and descriptive and it really fits the almost play-like structure of the book. I also thoroughly enjoyed the way the story was split into chunks and how the city of Lion's Arch felt like a major character with an actual arc inside the story. Politic tension was done surprisingly well but some of the combat scenes felt a bit confusing because of a lack of consistency in abilities and decisions on some characters' behalfs. I felt this one also had a problem of trying to wrap everything up way too fast near the end but it wasn't nearly as bad as with the other GW books. I'm a fan of having a whole chapter after the final climactic fight to tie everything up nicely without a hurry. In my opinion, it would have worked really well if
Good light fantasy read. This is the only Guild Wars book I would recommend to someone who doesn't play the game but it still has some problems that hinder it from being great.
I think this is by far the best of the three books. Ree Soesbee's writing is way more flowery and descriptive and it really fits the almost play-like structure of the book. I also thoroughly enjoyed the way the story was split into chunks and how the city of Lion's Arch felt like a major character with an actual arc inside the story. Politic tension was done surprisingly well but some of the combat scenes felt a bit confusing because of a lack of consistency in abilities and decisions on some characters' behalfs. I felt this one also had a problem of trying to wrap everything up way too fast near the end but it wasn't nearly as bad as with the other GW books. I'm a fan of having a whole chapter after the final climactic fight to tie everything up nicely without a hurry. In my opinion, it would have worked really well if
Good light fantasy read. This is the only Guild Wars book I would recommend to someone who doesn't play the game but it still has some problems that hinder it from being great.
August 8, 2025
This book shines in its combat scenes, especially when taking place on a ship- which, fortunately, most do. It's clear Ree put a lot of heart and soul into their maritime research. As an avid roleplayer in Guild Wars 2 with many characters who call Lion's Arch home, getting to see its origins as a free city also warmed my heart and made me love the city even more (and be even more upset at how kiel's redesigned it lol). The callbacks and characters within this novel always had me smiling, and there were multiple times that I had to get up and walk around before returning to read from various emotions.
A solid four stars only because the prose outside of the combat and maritime scenes does feel lacking, and there were quite a few typos or sections that could have used another pass at editing. However, overall still a very solid book, even if those moments did take me out of it. I'd definitely pick up something else by this author in the guild wars line or another maritime adventure.
A solid four stars only because the prose outside of the combat and maritime scenes does feel lacking, and there were quite a few typos or sections that could have used another pass at editing. However, overall still a very solid book, even if those moments did take me out of it. I'd definitely pick up something else by this author in the guild wars line or another maritime adventure.
July 20, 2022
As someone coming from the GW2 game (who happened to join shortly after the first season of LW was removed from the game) and is very curious and interested by the world of Tyria, this was a superb read.
The book follows Cobiah Marriner, a resident of Lion's Arch, who survives an attack by the Elder Dragon Zhaitan and its undead servants. We get to see as Cobiah fights against the undead forces and with the help of friends and not-so-much-friends, rebuilds Lion's Arch into a city akin to what was seen in the early days of GW2: A City of Pirates.
The book is well-written and witty, with lots of fun dialogue, good world-building, and interesting history of the world of Tyria. While this doesn't have as much to do about the games, it does a wonderful job of telling the history of some of the key locations.
I highly recommend this to anyone that likes Lion's Arch :)
The book follows Cobiah Marriner, a resident of Lion's Arch, who survives an attack by the Elder Dragon Zhaitan and its undead servants. We get to see as Cobiah fights against the undead forces and with the help of friends and not-so-much-friends, rebuilds Lion's Arch into a city akin to what was seen in the early days of GW2: A City of Pirates.
The book is well-written and witty, with lots of fun dialogue, good world-building, and interesting history of the world of Tyria. While this doesn't have as much to do about the games, it does a wonderful job of telling the history of some of the key locations.
I highly recommend this to anyone that likes Lion's Arch :)
July 12, 2020
I admit I dropped this novel after a few chapters. It was just so boring, every plot point happened the most predictable way. The characterisations were one-dimensional and the dialogues bland. Aside of the larger plot of there was literally nothing that motivated me to read even that far. The last straw that broke my camel's back was when the protagonist somehow were able to make out minute details of what happened on the horizon, like no, I can only suspend my disbelief so far.
June 17, 2021
Sea of Sorrows is a brilliant read and a must read for anyone interested in the lore of Guild Wars. What makes this book so good though is the fact that I think it stands perfectly well on its own and will be an enjoyable read even for those who do not know anything about the video game world. This book is masterfuly written and the only gripe I have with it is wishing that the first part was longer. The whole ride was good, but I think the first third of the book is the best. I want to read more books by Soesbee!
August 26, 2019
This book surprised me! It's the best in the series by far, and for once I have no lore qualms. It fills in some interesting gaps, and really lays a solid foundation for the personal story (so, while maybe irrelevant at this point, it's still enjoyable and has some good information to give). It also has the best characters of all three books I think, and the most solid take on the way magic manifests.
August 8, 2020
This book is for players of the MMORPG Guild Wars 2 and provides lore to make the game more enjoyable for players. Non-players, might get some enjoyment out of this, but they shouldn’t expect it to be a great work of literature, it isn’t.
It centers around the lore of Lion’s Arch and Orr. Learn about the relationship between Lion’s Arch and Kryta, The Drummond Priory, Livia and The Shining Blade, and more.
I enjoyed the epic sea battle in the last part of the book.
It centers around the lore of Lion’s Arch and Orr. Learn about the relationship between Lion’s Arch and Kryta, The Drummond Priory, Livia and The Shining Blade, and more.
I enjoyed the epic sea battle in the last part of the book.
October 24, 2023
This tale of the founding of Lion's Arch as it stands in Guild Wars 2, or as it did prior to Scarlet's attack, is incredibly touching and adds a lot of depth to how and why Lion's Arch came to be the busy and peaceful bastion that it is, and the heroes that gave their all to see it happen. The novel is well written with a deep focus on nautical knowledge that was surprising, considering the source material is a video game, and descriptions reminiscent of Tolkien in their prose.
November 1, 2025
Story-wise this book doesn't have anything groundbreaking or new to offer, but if you carry a warm heart towards the game, this is for you. It has humor, coziness and action. I felt connected to the characters and the character driven scenes regularly brought a smile to my face while reading. The action scenes are also fun, creative and well written. Only the last action sequence felt too outstretched to my taste.
A comfortable read!
A comfortable read!
November 8, 2017
Wonderful!
I didn't expect to like this book so much, but I loved it!! I love reading the history of Lion's Arch, of how it flooded the first time, of the Dead Ships rising, of Zhaitan awakening, of the ships and the sea and politics and mad plans that work out just fine. It was a beautiful book!!
I didn't expect to like this book so much, but I loved it!! I love reading the history of Lion's Arch, of how it flooded the first time, of the Dead Ships rising, of Zhaitan awakening, of the ships and the sea and politics and mad plans that work out just fine. It was a beautiful book!!
February 5, 2020
Tho I dislike the big jumps in time, it did not bother me too much with this book.
I'm a sucker to learn the lore about the games I like.
It was fun to see few easter eggs in the book eue
"It's the capricooorrrrnnn" (I'm still wondering what happened to that ship!)
Good interesting story, nice and lovable characters, I did enjoy this very much. <3
I'm a sucker to learn the lore about the games I like.
It was fun to see few easter eggs in the book eue
"It's the capricooorrrrnnn" (I'm still wondering what happened to that ship!)
Good interesting story, nice and lovable characters, I did enjoy this very much. <3
May 11, 2020
Chronologically, this is the first of the three novels in the Guild Wars universe.
A truly enjoyable book that tells the story of Cobiah Marriner, founder of Lion's Arch as we know it now, and his crew's adventures and misadventures around the seas of Tyria.
It is a welcome addition to the lore and gladly we see many references to this novel in Guild Wars 2 itself.
A truly enjoyable book that tells the story of Cobiah Marriner, founder of Lion's Arch as we know it now, and his crew's adventures and misadventures around the seas of Tyria.
It is a welcome addition to the lore and gladly we see many references to this novel in Guild Wars 2 itself.
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