The Starcraft Archive

StarCraft #0.5-3

by Jeff Grubb, Gabriel Mesta, Tracy Hickman

In the distant future, a loose confederacy of terran exiles is locked in battle sixty thousand light-years from Earth, caught in the crossfire between two powerful alien races: the enigmatic protoss and the ruthless zerg swarm. Conflicts rage across the Koprulu sector as each of the three species fights for its existence among the stars.

LIBERTY'S CRUSADE: Behind the attacks of the zerg and the protoss lies the story of a lifetime, and investigative reporter Mike Liberty is determined to uncover it. But every new piece of information only deepens the mystery. Thrown into the middle of a war that may determine the fate of humanity in the Koprulu sector, Liberty reports on the escalating conflict and wonders whom he can afford to trust.

SHADOW OF THE XEL'NAGA: Bhekar Ro is a bleak, backwater world on the fringe of the Terran Dominion, and every day is a struggle to survive for the planet's human colonists. Yet when a violent storm unearths an unfathomable alien structure, Bhekar Ro becomes the greatest prize in the Koprulu sector. Zerg, protoss, and terran forces turn the planet into a bloody battlefield in their haste to claim the lost secrets of the most powerful species the universe has ever known.

SPEED OF DARKNESS: All Ardo Melnikov ever dreamed of was living in peace on the verdant colony of Bountiful. That dream was shattered when the zerg attacked the colony and annihilated his loved ones. Now a marine charged with defending the worlds of the Terran Confederacy, he must come to terms with the painful memories of his past...and the unsettling truths that may dominate his future.

UPRISING: She is the Queen of Blades. Her name has become legend throughout the galaxy, and that legend is death for all who dare oppose the swarm. Nevertheless, Sarah Kerrigan was once human, and an extraordinary human at that. Forced to become one of the Terran Confederacy's merciless psionic assassins, she carried out her orders without question until a twist of fate propelled her toward a destiny no one could have foreseen. This is the tale of Kerrigan's shadowy origins -- and the war that was fought for her very soul.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Video Games

722 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

He is an author and game designer.

See more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Grubb

Reviews

[Zachary Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic collection that'll reinsert you into the Starcraft universe. Overall, I really enjoyed each book in this Archive. I'd rank them in the order of Liberty's Crusade -> Speed of Darkness -> Uprising -> Shadow of the Xel'Naga. Speed of Darkness could've started off better and Uprising's end sequence could've used some more work, but overall they're enjoyable and worth a read, especially if you're a fan.

Some info threw me off, even if I haven't played the original game in years. Evidently, there are a few factual errors, but I managed to push past 'em.

[Issac · Rating 5 out of 5]

I freaking love this series, and to have the story behind it all, the introduction to this fascinating world is simply the bomb. My Favorite series is Diablo but Starcraft comes in a close second, go terran!

After finishing this book, well I just can't wait for more content, there is so much to explore in the world of starcraft, the races, their inhabited planets, their histories and of course the Xel'naga and how they caused the genesis of the zerg and protoss. I will forever be in love with kerrigan and but I need to know how she fits back into civilization with the terran. Again I need more, more of the history, more of the future, more characters so that I can stop close my eyes and know that I am thinking correctly of the world of starcraft and everything in it. Love to all the authors and teams who produced the series. I like to keep things relevant but er ehm, FINISH DIABLO III!

[Ken Pichakun · Rating 5 out of 5]

อยากรู้เรื่อง Starcraft ภาคแรกแต่ขี้เกียจกลับไปเล่นเกม แนะนำให้อ่านเล่มนี้ (เก่งภาษาอังกฤษกันหน่อยนะ)

[Johann Mahinay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book is a really good collection of stories for fans of the Starcraft games and want to dive into the lore more and explore the little bits that are a bit too small to be covered by an RTS game. It's not groundbreaking sci-fi to any degree but it's gripping fast-paced sci fi that goes straight for the Zerg Rush rather than exploring the inner workings of the Terran Confederacy. I think it's cool that way.


Liberty's Crusade: Low B-tier
Shadow of the Xel'naga: High C tier
Speed of Darkness: A tier
Uprising: Low A-tier

The way how the last story connects to the 1st story is an absolute masterclass in weaving a series of slightly disjointed stories together. Sick moves.

[Robert Noll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four (slightly) intertwined tales in the World of StarCraft, with Terrans, Protoss and the dreaded Zerg!!

Liberty’s Crusade: Mike Liberty attempts to unravel a mystery involving the Zerg!
Shadow of the Xel’Naga: A fun read about an attempt to recover an artifact from a lonely planet nobody cares about until it’s too late!
Speed of Darkness: Arguably the best of the quartet. A Marine must make a difficult choice in the face of adversity: saving himself or saving an entire planet.
Uprising: Um, yeah, probably more of an expanded outline for a video game than a fleshed out story. Sarah Kerrigan has to go all Ghost on some people.

[Andries van Wyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly good. 2 good books, 2 not so good book.
The latter two books are fairly good. The third book would make quite a movie (in the calibre of Doom).

[Johanna Holm · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who's never played the game, but is really into lore, this book is amazing!

[Scott Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

My book, "Shadow of the Xel'Naga" is a science fiction novel written by Gabriel Mesta. The book sets on a remote planet during a devastating storm. Main character Octavia Bren and her brother Lars safely survive the storm and go out to investigate the aftermath the next day. They find an ancient artifact protruding out of the mountainside. They investigate deeper. Lars is killed by the artifact and a strange signal is sent by the artifact into space. Octavia runs back to the colony and warns them. They send for help. Having heard the signal, the alien races, the Protoss and the Zerg, make their way to the planet to claim the artifact for their own. The Terran (humans) receive the message sent by the colonist and come to help. All these armies and races arrive at the planet around the same time and a humongous blood bath begins. Each race is fighting for the artifact. However, this is what the artifact wants. The Protoss, Terran, and Zerg all send squads inside the artifact to race to the center. All beings in the center are consumed by the artifact including the humans even though the humans were not wanted. The artifact awakens. A creature hatches from the temple, which was an egg. The creature absorbs all beings in the field of war while Octavia watches from a safe distance. Creature leaves into space, while returning all the humans it consumed to the ground. A protoss named Xerana chases after the creature.
"Gone. Lars was gone." is a line from the book that really stuck out to me. This is because Octavia is realizing the loss of her brother and mourns his death greatly. She is motivated by his loss to warn the colony and save everybody from the same fate.
I think this was a pretty good book. I enjoyed reading it, even though some of the story seemed a little "out there" and actually did not really explain the storyline of the game. It was still a good story and a good book.

[Sean Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

1.)The book, Liberty's Crusade is science fiction novel based on the popular video game of StarCraft. It starts out on the planet Tarsonis where the main character, Michael Libery, is given a job to be a reporter for the Confederate Marines and roam in space with them. He travels with the Marines uncovering answers to questions of what the Confeds were hiding. The fact that they are in war against alien races that have grown too powerful to defeat.

2.)My favorite line from this book is "Kerrigan snapped off a quick salute. "Captain Raynor, I've finished couting out the area and ... You Pig!" Mike quickly turned down the volume on his comm unit. Raynor lurched backward as if struck. "What?" he said. "I haven't even said anything to you yet!" Kerrigans too-wide lips turned into a nasty sneer. "Yeah, but you were thinking it." This is my favorite line from this book because it's just funny. Raynor was thinking "naughty" thoughts about Kerrigan and didn't even have to say them aloud. Kerrigan is telepathic and can read thoughts. Kerrigan and Raynor later fall in love.

3.)I really liked this book. It has a lot to it that I think makes a good book, action, mystery, and adventure. Love it.

[Syaiful Bakhtiar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say that this book totally opens my mind to the universe that is starcraft. I have been playing the game since a long time. Now, reading the book page by page sets me on a journey I felt comfortable with. Each character, each item defined in each chapter is like fragments of memory in my mind brought to life. It was like a journey home. Now, when I played the game again, I focused on detail. Before this, for me it was just like highlighting a group of marine and target them to attack the enemy, now, I felt some connection to them, I started to wonder how they felt, how they were brought here, where did they come from... each unit, an individual. That truly defines "gaming from the heart" for me.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've posted reviews of the four titles contained in this omnibus on my blog here:

Liberty's Crusade - http://www.geeky-guide.com/2010/08/bo...
Shadow of the Xel'Naga - http://www.geeky-guide.com/2010/08/bo...
Speed of Darkness - http://www.geeky-guide.com/2010/09/bo...
Uprising - http://www.geeky-guide.com/2010/10/bo...

[Wachlin007 Hotmail · Rating 4 out of 5]

These four books helped explain the storyline of the starcraft computer games. I really liked them. My favorite was the third, "Speed of Darkness". It showed things from the viewpoint of a low-ranking terran Marine.

[Ivan Leong · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains 4 storys in one. It will be a cheaper solution to buy this book. However it is 600-700 pages long and really thick. Quite a pain to carry this around. The storys are compelling enough that I finished them quite quickly.

[Emmanuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

WoW ! Just finished ! I should have started with Uprising! "Reporting for Universe News Network, this is Michael Daniel Liberty, signing off. ..."

[Zadoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best if you are a fan of starcraft but the second book (shadows of the xel'naga) is best skiped.