Runescape: The Fall of Hallowvale

by Robbie MacNiven

A thrilling epic of duty, magic, and vampyres set in the Third Age that looks at why Lord Drakan invaded Hallowvale. Sure to delight RuneScape fans old and new, this stunning tale shows how and why Hallowvale was taken over.

The vampyres are coming.

As the God Wars grind towards their brutal conclusion, the armies of darkness descend upon the city of Hallowvale—vampyres, werewolves, and legions of cruel mortal warriors, led by Lord Drakan. The streets are filled with panic, but Queen Efaritay remains confident. Surely Saradomin, Lord of the Light, will save them? Their military will stand strong, the glow of the Everlight will stave off the vyre and, if all else fails, the Queen has a secret weapon.

Can the knightly warriors defending Hallowvale stand firm, or will they be undone not by the wicked efforts of their foe, but by the faltering reign of their queen, Efaritay? And why has Drakan become obsessed with claiming Hallowvale for himself?

Faced with desperate choices, the queen adopts a risky strategy to turn the tide. Her choices will echo for eternity as the fate of Hallowvale teeters on the brink.

Genres: Fantasy

400 pages, Paperback

Published November 5, 2024

About the author

Robbie MacNiven is a Scottish author and historian. His published fiction includes over twenty novels in genres ranging from sci-fi and fantasy to historical fiction, written for publishers such as Black Library, Titan, Rebellion and Aconyte Books. He has also written novellas, short stories, audio dramas, comic scripts and graphic novels, has worked on narrative and character dialogue for multiple digital games (SMITE: Blitz, Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground, Raid: Shadow Legends), and has written colour text and branching narratives for multiple RPG and game rulebooks, including the award-winning Undaunted series by Osprey Games. In 2022 his X-Men novel "First Team" won a Scribe Award for tie-in fiction.

On the non-fiction front, Robbie specialises in Early Modern military history, particularly focusing on the 18th century. He has a PhD in American Revolutionary War massacres from the University of Edinburgh - where he won the Compton Prize for American History - and an MLitt in War Studies from the University of Glasgow. Along with numerous articles for military history magazines, he has written eight books on 18th century conflicts including the American Revolution and the Seven Years War, seven for Osprey Publishing and one for Helion Books. He has also written the scripts for over a dozen episodes of the hit YouTube educational channel Extra History.

Outside of work and writing, his passions include historical re-enacting, gaming, and football.

Reviews

[Brad Cypert]

Tons of lore, which is good. Tons of characters and constant perspective juggling, which, given a large chunk of the book takes place in one specific battle, makes following difficult at times. Additionally, the weapons used are Saradomin’s names for weapons which just adds one more thing to juggle.

I’d give this a 3.5 if I could, but given that I think you could skip this book and be fine as a RS fan, im rating it a 3 on goodreads.

[James Milton]

For RuneScape veterans, this book is an excellent deep-dive into a wonderful part of Gielinorian lore that we do not get to experience in-game. Although, it is likely difficult to follow for general fantasy readers due to needing to understand a large amount of RuneScape lore to fully appreciate the tale and grasp the gravity of the events.

Many familiar names pop up and reflect how they are portrayed in-game accurately which shows dedication of the author to echo the game. However, it is a harrowing tale with little reprieve from the brutalities of war - I would recommend this book to every RuneScape player alongside a warning about its dark nature.

Even as a veteran, there is confusion at times about the sex of certain characters which makes them difficult to imagine and there are also a few minor spelling and grammatical errors.

[Samuel Lee]

An amazing addition to RuneScape lore!

For avid RuneScaper players, this book is an easy recommendation. It's especially true if you're an in-game lore hunter, particularly within the Archeology space. The book heavily expands on the story of Hallowvale, which is the site of the Everlight Digsite in the modern game.

The plot takes little time to ramp up and quickly introduces the reader to pivotal characters (some of which players would recognise from in-game quests). However, because the book dabbles so heavily in RuneScape lore, it's not entirely suited for non-RuneScape players due to the frequent use of lore or in-game terms.

[cass]

More like 3.5 Stars.

If you are not a fan of Runescape, you will probably not appreciate the lore that went into this book that we only scratch the surface with in the games with the Myreque questline. I found the first ~60% of the book to be extremely dry but important to the lead-up of the last 40%, then it took off.

I forgot things that happened in the game's lore and helped connect the dots. So that said, I probably would not recommend this to anyone who hasn't played the games. It is definitely a love letter to RS and not meant for non-players of the game.

[Stephen Coleman]

3.5*

As a longtime RuneScape player (and lorehound), seeing some familiar faces (and Archaeology nods) in the story was fun. I have to wonder how it would be seen by a non-player, though. I understand that's a tough line to tow.

I felt like it was too difficult to really mesh out characters deeply, such was the turbulence of events & the wide cast. Even a character like Luken (whom the novel opens on) features only within a few chapters, and only rarely with others we know of.

It was an interesting look at the siege and ultimate fall of Hallowvale. Ultimately, I enjoyed it.

[Steve]

Overall this Kindle eBook is good and engaging. Before I bought and read this Kindle eBook I played Runescape. The people that played Runescape might like this novel. I like the characters, the dialogue, the detailed descriptions, most of the plot, and the pace in this novel. The plot in this novel is dark. One of the sentences in this novel isn’t grammatically correct. I rate this novel four out of five stars.

[George Concepcion]

Overall, excellent scenic descriptions and action sequences regarding battles for Hallowvale. Regarding lore, certainly an enrichment of the already deep lore surrounding the game of RuneScape. My only critisism for which I would give a 4.5 is that it is particularly technical regarding terminology of battle scenes, strategy, and weaponry which requires a little bit of either background knowledge or research that can be an obstacle to the uninitiated.

[Alexander Kafaei]

Much more engaging than Gift of Guthix, Fall of Hallowvale delivers an action-packed story where nearly every chapter feels like part of one grand battle.

The story is gripping and keeps you hooked, balancing action-packed combat with engaging storytelling. It does lean on familiarity with the game’s lore, but it’s still an exciting and immersive read for any fantasy fan.

[Amy Ward]

A little bit of a slow start, but overall very compelling. It's hard to write a book where the audience knows almost every beat of the story and to keep their interest. This book succeeds. It is infuriating and you can be screaming at the page for a character not to do something while still completely understanding why they are choosing what they're choosing.

[Ryan Gold]

If you like Runescape lore this is for sure a book for you. I enjoyed it immensely even knowing what the outcome was going to be. The battles were interesting, and even though you know what will happen it was exciting the entire time. Maybe...just maybe they can win...

[Tyler Richter]

This book bangs. Action packed, an excellent read. 10/10 would recommend. Please buy spins.

[Frank Davis]

Having only previously encountered the Icyene as fossilised remains, this was a real eye-opening expansion of the lore for me. Well told.

[Maya van Hoof]

A relatively well thought-out tragedy primarily depicted as a series of battles. The battles are good, so the book is mostly good, even if the characters are a little basic.