Shadow Hunters

The Dark Templar Saga #2

by Christie Golden

An original tale of space warfare based on the bestselling computer game series from Blizzard Entertainment. Driven by the living memories of a long-dead protoss mystic and hounded by the Queen of Blades' ravenous zerg, archaeologist Jake Ramsey embarks on a perilous journey to reach the fabled protoss homeworld of Aiur.

Seeking a vital piece of protoss technology, Jake finds that Aiur has been overrun by the zerg. Descending into the shadowy labyrinths beneath the planet's surface, he must find the sacred crystal before time runs out -- for him...and the universe itself.

Yet, what Jake discovers beneath Aiur is a horror beyond his wildest nightmares -- Ulrezaj -- an archon comprised of the seven most deadly and powerful dark templar in history....

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Video Games, Gaming, Media Tie In, Fantasy, Audiobook

320 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2007

About the author

Award-winning author Christie Golden has written over thirty novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror. She has over a million books in print.

2009 will see no fewer than three novels published. First out in late April will be a World of Warcraft novel, Athas: Rise of the Lich King. This is the first Warcraft novel to appear in hardcover. Fans of the young paladin who fell so far from grace will get to read his definitive story.

In June, Golden’s first Star Wars novel, also a hardcover, sees print. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi—Omen is the second in a nine-book series she is co-authoring with Aaron Allston and Troy Denning. Also in June comes the conclusion of Golden’s StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga with the release of Twlight, the third book in the series. The first two are Firstborn and Shadow Hunters.

2004 saw the launch of an original fantasy series called The Final Dance, from LUNA Books. The first novel in the series, On Fire's Wings, was published in July of that year. The second, In Stone’s Clasp , came out in September of 2005. With In Stone’s Clasp, Golden won the Colorado Author’s League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel for the second time. The third book, Under Sea’s Shadow, is available only as an e-book

Golden is also the author of two original fantasy novels from Ace Books, King's Man and Thief and Instrument of Fate, which made the 1996 Nebula Preliminary Ballot. Under the pen name of Jadrien Bell, she wrote a historical fantasy thriller entitled A.D. 999, which won the Colorado Author's League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel of 1999.

Golden launched the TSR Ravenloft line in 1991 with her first novel, the highly successful Vampire of the Mists , which introduced elven vampire Jander Sunstar. Golden followed up Vampire with Dance of the Dead and The Enemy Within . In September of 2006, fifteen years to the month, The Ravenloft Covenant: Vampire of the Mists enabled Jander Sunstar to reach a whole new audience.

Other projects include a slew of Star Trek novels, among them The Murdered Sun , Marooned , and Seven of Nine , and "The Dark Matters Trilogy," Cloak and Dagger , Ghost Dance and Shadow of Heaven .

The Voyager novel relaunch, which includes Homecoming and The Farther Shore , were bestsellers and were the fastest-selling Trek novels of 2003. Golden continued writing VOYAGER novels even though the show went off the air, and enjoyed exploring the creative freedom that gave her in the two-parter called Spirit Walk, which includes Old Wounds and Enemy of my Enemy .

Golden has also written the novelization of Steven Spielberg's Invasion America and an original "prequel," On The Run , both of which received high praise from producer Harve Bennett. On The Run, a combination medical thriller and science fiction adventure, even prompted Bennett to invite Golden to assist in crafting the second season of the show, if it was renewed.

Golden lives in Loveland, Colorado, with her artist husband and their two cats.

Reviews

[Șerban Mazilu · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to express, as a Starcraft fan, how delightful the whole experience was. I've always wanted to know more about Protoss lore and the entire series just overflows with it. I love the method of shedding light on the subject and I love the fact that, even if the author doesn't give many visual details, she makes you feel your are the character and you are experiencing all his thoughts and feelings. It made me love the Protoss even more and, like the first book, the urgent nature of the story, the constant obstacles and foes the heroes must confront, as well as the heroic nature of the purple / grey aliens, made me addicted to this novel. Fantastic writing!

[Jared Delcamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this even barely as an acquaintance/casual fan of StarCraft. Rosemary is inspiring. All the stars for this one because I’m a sucker for last stands.

[Kryptomite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shadowhunters picks up directly after the events of Firstborn, and I am pleased to say raises the story to another level. Christie Golden continues building the lore behind the Protoss, using several prior books in the starcraft series to her advantage, building a story that captivates you and holds your attention until the end. I was very pleased with how she utilized the cast of characters, giving you a good sense of the emotions they are struggling through. The plot itself kept me guessing the entire time, and I'm looking forward to finishing the last book in the series even more than I was excited to start this one.

[Ryan Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuation of Jake/Zamara, Rosemary Dahl, with the dominion of Terran on their trail; and yes, we can’t forget the Infested Sarah Kerrigan “Queen of Blades”.

[Dino · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all, i'd question my objectivity on any book that's related to StarCraft, simply because i consider myself to be a HUGE fan of the series and the story. Bearing that in mind, this is my opinion on the book.

Now, despite it being written in 3 separate books, it's basically 1 story, and as such i will be giving my experience and impression of it as a whole, not book by book, simply because it'll make a lot more sense this way.

The story takes place in the year 2503, after Brood Wars (2500) and slightly before Wings of Liberty (2504), and it follows a human called Jacob "Jake" Ramsey and a protoss conscience within him, Zamara, and a lot of other characters who've had the (miss)fortune of living this epic adventure with them.

I will try to word this as best as i can, but i have to say right away that i was BLOWN AWAY at the sheer awesomeness that is the Dark Templar Saga and the way Christie Golden presented it. This is, hands down, the BEST and most enjoyable chunk of lore that i've learned. I shit you not, i've read all 3 books within 3 and half days, taking some downtime to charge my notepad and read more.

The story is so captivating, heartfelt, action packed, there are multiple stories and plot lines being told (phenomenally, i might add) simultaneously, plot twists (some predictable, but you would have wished for them to happen so you won't care!), solid pacing (never a dull moment), character depth (i bet you'll care and understand about the protss a whole lot after reading these. And don't even get me started on R.M Dhal <3). Reading these books have been the most enjoyable thing that i've done in recent memory, constantly wanting more, and finding myself quite sad after finishing them, simply because there's no more :(

I've read 9 novels/books so far from the StarCraft universe (all within the past...2 months i'd say), and i haven't disliked any of them so far, just different degrees of like. The Dark Templar Saga blew all of that away and has easily become my favorite, which i didn't think would happen because it's a Protoss based story, and i only really like humans (Terrans). I must admit, after reading these i have developed a HUGE amount of sympathy, respect, grief, liking and admiration for the Protoss. And just in time for the Protoss based expansion, Legacy of the Void (a coincidence, in truth). Now, you might find this a bit ridiculous because it's a fantasy setting, but i've grown quite fond of and attached to this franchise and i look at it from a different perspective, i feel for it.

This might seem more like me expressing my fanboy-ism, rather than a review, but i think that if i express how i felt while reading it, and being able to share that to future potential readers (who i assume are fans of the franchise) might enforce your will to purchase/rent this book and "live" it the way i have.

[Nerd_Pilgrim · Rating 3 out of 5]

We delve back into the mind(s) of Jake Ramsey for what makes an alright middle book. What do I mean by that? Things have been built up from the First Book and are slowly building for the pay of in the final Third Book.

But it does feel like we're just waiting for the conclusion of the story here. We're put in a position where we're just kind of being re fed information we already know about the universe. We do recieve some personal insight into important Protoss historical events, but aside from that it's all just filler until we meet Ulrezaj. Ulrezaj who we're told about mainly through the interactions of the Tal'darim or as was translated for us - The Forged and that's basically it. So we're hinged on book three being great now and while I liked the Protoss interactions I hope they can find someway to end all the other story threads satisfactory.

[Chris The Lizard from Planet X · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a great deal. It offers everything I exept from
a lightweight sci-fi novel. The pace is perfect, as it resume the storyline at the point where 'Firstborn' had finished, you don't have to wait much for action.
The protagonist (and the reader) gets deeper and deeper insight into protoss history,
through visions provided by the protoss preserver and by conversations with her.
What I liked most about this book, was the convergence of history and present as a lethal menace emerged from the past of the protos race. Of course we musnt be bereft of the zerg and the Dominion chasing our archeologist with the protoss mind in his head.
The end of Shadow Hunters is also great and makes you covet to read further.

[DJNana · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, after an interesting action-packed, planet-hopping, revelation-filled first book, our characters are stuck on the planet of Aiur.

Now, there's a lot of history and lore to uncover on Aiur, sure. Except that *nothing happens in this book.* Nothing. Just a bunch of boring words and some lore exposition, which you could get from a Wiki with a lot less hassle.

And ugh, Rosemary Dahl is just about the worst character I've ever read. There's a whole subplot where she gets addicted to some weird Protoss drug, but then she's super strong and overcomes it, even though it was super intense. Stupid subplots like that.

Skip! Read the Wiki of the Protoss lore, which is very cool (the only thing that earns the 1 star on this review).

[Aykut Elmas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben çok beğendim. İlk kitapta kalan macera kaldığı yerden oldukça heyecanlı bir şekilde devam ediyor. İkinci kitapta en beğendiğim şey şahsen hayranı olduğum Kerrigan ile karşılaşmak oldu. Yazar Kerrigan’ı Harika bir şekilde tasvir etmiş. Üçüncü kitaba geçmek için sabırsızlanıyorum. Eğer bu evrenin hayranıysanız keyif alacağınızı düşündüğüm bir seri olmuş. Üçüncü kitabın da diğer ikisinden çok farklı olacağını düşünmüyorum.

[Sean McKenney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the Dark Templar Saga. I liked how it introduced us to some elements in SC2 and even drew upon the Enslavers Campaign (part one and two) from good old SC1. Following Ramsey, Dahl, and Zamara through all three novels was fun, entertaining, and very enjoyable. Christie Golden has written many books and this series was a definite favorite of mine.

[Steven Shinder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of feeling like this middle book exists just so the story can be a trilogy.

[David Sastre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid entry.

[Jonas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid continuation of the story, and some interesting world building. I don't think it was quite as strong as the first book, but still good.

[Magyarvandor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a great deal. It offers everything I exept from
a lightweight sci-fi novel. The pace is perfect, as it resume the storyline at the point where 'Firstborn' had finished, you don't have to wait much for action.
The protagonist (and the reader) gets deeper and deeper insight into protoss history,
through visions provided by the protoss preserver and by conversations with her.
What I liked most about this book, was the convergence of history and present as a lethal menace emerged from the past of the protos race. Of course we musnt be bereft of the zerg and the Dominion chasing our archeologist with the protoss mind in his head.
The end of Shadow Hunters is also great and makes you covet to read further.

[Sean Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

1)In this book, Jake and R.M.(Rosemary), the main characters, run to escape from the Dominion. They fly to Auir, the Protoss home world which is now devastated by the swarms of the Zerg. There they struggle to survive while they discover lost knowledge and secrets.

2)I believe a proper theme for the book would be, "run from danger and don't give up".

3)I feel like I can make a connection to my imagination with this book. I am always imagining things that have to do with science fiction and I felt that imagination required for this book really fit in.

4)I really did like this book. It related to a game that I really enjoy and it had the mystery and action that I desire.

[Filip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usually I'm skeptic about books based on video games, but this one was really nice. I loved the Jacob/Zamara interaction (well, I loved everything about Zamara), I liked other characters - both the protoss and R.M. Dahl. We learn more about Valerian, Ulrezaj and we get a bonus in the form of a story-within-a-story describing the origins and exile of the Dark Templar. We even get to learn more about Adun himself!

I really enjoyed this read and I'm looking forward to the third part of the trilogy.

[Andries van Wyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the first book in the series, I found this one a bit disappointing. This was an intermediary book in all sense of the word, between the first book (which was great) and the obvious build up to an all epic fight in book three. I therefore feel, like many other trilogies, this whole book could have been a chapter in either the first or third book. The pace was really slow for anything to happen and the promise of Zamara's secret gets annoying.
I hope the third book makes up for this one.

[Locked Out · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you havent read the first book of this series: "The Dark Templar Series - Firstborn" Then go read it now before you pick up this one. I personally like the way Christie Golden is able to advance the plot line very smoothly and fluidly with the plot twists and unique characters that she has created in this series. This book was very entertaining!

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this series because I wanted to learn more about protoss history, but by the time I finished book one, I was starting to care a lot about the characters in here, too. And I'm not sure why, but it seemed like there was a jump in writing quality between books one and two, as well. If you liked the first book in this series, book two should not disappoint.

[Zohaib Sharif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nicely picked up where he first left. Again I loved as it's based on a book and has a very interesting take on one of the alien races. Bringing together all the interesting and loved aspects and story lines of the game into the book was the most interesting part. Well done

[Wachlin007 Hotmail · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was part two in the Dark Templar series. It further explains the history of the protoss. It was very exciting and leaves you wanting to read the third.

[Zadoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book I'd recomend it to anyone that is a fan of Starcraft or of sci fi in general.

[Scott Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really freaking good book, even better than the first, I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for the next one to come out!

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book.

[Seokyong · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can read about Protoss' history in this book.
This book, 2th of 3 Darktemplar saga, is story about Adun.
I think it's more interesting than Firstborn.

[Mark Schebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a novel based around a video game, these are surprisingly good.

[Jeshu · Rating 4 out of 5]

It gets better... if you're patient. As I've said before, this plot has great potential and it pays off. If you're able to pass the first installment and the first half of this book, of course.

[Doug Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastic sequel to The Dark Templar Saga. The last third of this book was phenomenal. I can't wait to pick and start reading the finale.

[Alexander Damian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!!!

[Ivan Leong · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new Protoss villain is in town. But not that captivating either.