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Diablo: The Sin War #3

The Veiled Prophet

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Since the beginning of time, the angelic forces of the High Heavens and the demonic hordes of the Burning Hells have been locked in the Eternal Conflict for the fate of all Creation. That struggle has now spilled over into Sanctuary -- the world of men. Determined to win mankind over to their respective causes, the forces of good and evil wage a secret war for mortal souls. This is the tale of the Sin War -- the conflict that would forever change the destiny of man.

The demon-backed Triune has fallen. All that now stands in Uldyssian's path to freeing humanity is the Cathedral of Light and its charismatic leader the Prophet. But the Prophet is actually the renegade angel Inarius, who sees the world he created as his uncontested domain. Facing a cunning foe that would just as readily see Sanctuary destroyed than let it slip from his grasp, Uldyssian is blind to the others who would possess his world. Both the Burning Hells and the High Heavens now know of Sanctuary...and their warring hosts of demons and angels will stop at nothing to claim it.

An original tale of swords, sorcery, and timeless struggle based on the bestselling, award-winning M-rated computer game from Blizzard Entertainment. Intended for mature readers.

534 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

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1121 people want to read

About the author

Richard A. Knaak

282 books1,478 followers
Richard A. Knaak is the bestselling author of Dragonlance novels, the Dragonrealm and Black City Saint series (his own creations), six novels for Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo series, and six works in the Warcraft universe. He has also written several non-series fantasy books.

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5 stars
431 (34%)
4 stars
423 (34%)
3 stars
289 (23%)
2 stars
76 (6%)
1 star
19 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
Profile Image for Amy .
34 reviews1 follower
January 16, 2009
Oh thank the stars, I'm done.

Okay, I really do love the Diablo games, and the other books not in the Sin War series aren't bad. I like Knaak's writing in Warcraft, and there are some parts to this that I enjoyed, but over all, this series was a chore to get through. I had no empathy with the main characters, the plot was strained in sections, and it ended up feeling more like an episode of Dragonball Z, where the combatants stand around powering up for 3 episodes, punching each other once, then starting the whole powering up routine again.

So, yeah, interesting lore that could have been compressed down into one, maybe two, books and made for a tighter read, instead of trying to be "EPIC!!!!!!". /sigh
Profile Image for Adam.
299 reviews44 followers
January 28, 2011
I just finished this book last week. After reading the first two, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this story. The part that really interested me was the theological aspects that were greatly intertwined within the story, especially the part of the Nephilim (Edyrem). I must say that I did not predict this ending to the story, I sort of suspected it because of the story-line in the video games, but I had no idea it would be like this.

This conclusion is much more profound and far more action packed than the previous two. There is still a fair degree of intrigue, especially when they're in Khejan, so Knaak keeps that writing style up pretty consistently.

I was honestly half expecting him to play up more of the religious end and draw more from historical theology, such as he did with Angels. He sort of included the hierarchical structure of Heaven with the Angiris council at the end, but I half expected a true form of a Seraph to show up.

The part I most enjoyed in this series was the development of the Necromancer character. My philosophies identified most with Trag'oul and his teachings, so I really got into that character. The way this tale is written it seems the author also seems to agree the most with that philosophy. I was also surprised to see the author take this stance in a widley read series. He essentially teaches that any extreme of good or evil is a very bad thing and only results in a circular war with no real victor. Considering how much this country, the U.S., takes it's politically correct diatribes, I'm surprised there weren't any outspoken people towards this. At least I haven't encountered any, yet. I suppose the demographic of people reading Diablo don't really pertain to such extremists. But the extremists tend to get into everything these days and there seems to be an obvious split, which can probably be reconicled with balance.
Profile Image for Omid Milanifard.
393 reviews43 followers
August 1, 2020
خوندن این سه گانه رو به عنوان یک تجربه جدید از فانتزی ادامه دادم، با اینکه به به خصوص از اواسط جلد سوم (همین کتاب) چندان کشش و جذابیتی نمیدیدم. ناک توی این سه گانه دنیای فانتزی شناخته شده رو با تصورات سوپر نچرالی جهنم و بهشت مخلوط کرده. اگر چه مخلوط کردن ایده های گذشته خودش نوعی خلاقیت هست اما هر خلاقیتی جذاب در نمیاد. من فکر میکنم ناک تصمیم گرفته یک آش با طعم جدید بپزه، موادی به آشش اضافه کرده که تناسبی با آش نداشته، من که مزه این آش رو نپسندیدم.
Profile Image for Sofia.
326 reviews12 followers
September 27, 2021
No. Diablo lore has no business being this tedious and uneventful. This book could have been edited down to about 50 pages and still held more entertainment. Or even better; the whole trilogy could have been boiled down to one tome.
One disappointed nerd over here.
Profile Image for Daniel Facchini.
45 reviews2 followers
February 11, 2014
It is rather difficult to review the third book of a series without spoilers. But I will try.
Of all Richard A. Knaak's books, this one was the best, in my opinion. Although by the end of it you realize that the name of Trilogy seems misplaced. When I started reading "The Sin War" I thought I would read about that said conflict. Yet, the real action of the Sin War itself (which is the name given to the Eternal Conflict when it spilled over Sanctuary) had only come to pass in the ending.
And that was very entertaining, alas. The gradual rise of the Nephalem and everything that built up until the end of the saga enabled a very interesting ending to the whole storyline with an actual battle. Everything else are the events that led to such a confrontation. So, if you started this trilogy and got bored through Birthright and Scales of the Serpent, the final book may reward your patience.
I still hold the point that the characters lack human behavior and emotions, beeing all very predictive in their reactions, feelings and thoughts. But overall, my liking for Sanctuary's lore made up for most of this issues.
4 reviews
December 13, 2025
I loved this book overall. This one and the second book were definitely far superior to the first installment in the sin War Trilogy.

There are a couple of reasons it does not get a 5 stars in my opinion. first, the power scaling in this worlds is not explained at all and opens up plot holes. **spoiler**

if the Angari Council + Mephisto are that powerful to reset the world and erase people's memory like nothing happened, then why didn't they just defeated Uldyssian to begin with? and furthermore, why is Uldyssian extremely powerful? he went from a former farmer to a god level powers, yet multiple times during the series the demons could have killed him but didn't or he would simply use some "miracle power" out of the blue to survive.

The first point brings me to my second, the ending of the series was disappointing to me. I personally do not like the idea of erasing everyone's memories and pretending nothing happened. furthermore, Ansari Council made a deal with Mephisto, this does not stop Baal or Diablo from interfering with Sanctuary. I personally thought the ending could have been darker and people kept their memories.

***spoiler**

they should have kept Serenthia dead in battle alongside Achilios, Uldyssian still sacrificing himself and Melden survives with a few Nephalem to spread the word to Sanctuary.

all in all, despite these 2 personal problems I have with ending, the book overall was well written, good plot lines and once again, Rathma, Trang and Melden plot lines were the most interesting
Profile Image for Lyandros.
69 reviews
October 7, 2025
The Veiled Prophet brings the Sin War trilogy to a close — and opens a new chapter for Sanctuary.

Like the first two books, I enjoyed this one. It’s campy but fun; over the top, but entertaining — and it’s the same power fantasy, albeit cranked up to eleven, as the rest of the trilogy.

What I’ve always loved about Diablo is how it blurs the line between good and evil. The angels are indifferent to humanity, while the demons feign compassion only to manipulate and exploit. It paints a world that feels utterly hopeless for humankind.

And that’s exactly why the human struggle hits so hard. When they rise up, it’s not just rebellion — it’s survival, a fight to reclaim their freedom and their world. A true David vs. Goliath story — and I’m always here for that.
Profile Image for Hossein.
5 reviews
December 5, 2020
I would say this was a rushed ending to an adventurous meaningful series. That is, the author could've extended the timeline into maybe one or two more volumes. Other than that, the series was quite intriguing, featuring symbolic characters of different types, several poles involved in the story, and exciting back and forth between the various locations and personalities.
Profile Image for sally.
18 reviews1 follower
July 24, 2024
babciu to jest zajebiste wiecej gowna wiecej (skonczylam trylogie)
Profile Image for Filipa.
41 reviews28 followers
May 26, 2015
I'm a bit outdated already, since I've finished this book somewhere during last year/beginning of this year...
But I still recall the feelings of its final.

*some spoils will occur*

The sin war, as a general triology, isn't that bad. I felt worse writing in the Legacy of Blood, like I was reading a bad inside-game-tale instead of a proper book. In the Sin War trilogy, one can build up images of the angiris, of their sons with the deamons, the re-creation of the nephalem and the impact of that in the world of Sanctuary. As an ending book, I was excepting what I got: a great clash between haven and hell. And the decision of the world. Yet, the characters, specially the main nephalem, were... a bit empty. As I was expecting a lot more of the veiled prophet: certainly not a vain angel with delusional ideas of its own grandeur.

But in the overall I find it a very nice book ending. It helped building a bridge between the game play and story and the parallel universe of novels.
I liked it.

A read-at-your-own-risk type of book.
30 reviews
February 10, 2012
I read the whole series. This fact is not due in the least to the quality of the books but to the fact that I liked to play Diablo II a lot.
The series is quite weak from a literary point of view. It is written in a childish manner. It is beyond me why Knaak chose to write it as for dumb teenagers when it could have been so much more.
During the whole series I was hoping to get a bit more info on the basic lore of the Diablo universe. It turns out that I didn't get nearly as much as I hoped for.

The feeling I got from reading these 3 books in the series is, simply put, that not knowing what is written in them and having the feeling I have now, I would NOT read the books.

I gave it 3 stars because I somewhat liked the ending.
I still believe that Richard A. Knaak is a moron.
Profile Image for Michael Reyes.
89 reviews7 followers
June 6, 2017
"THE END IS NIGH!!!"

With the Sin War drawing to a close, Angels, Demons, Edyrem and Nephalem find themselves engaged in an epic struggle with the fate of Sanctuary hanging in the balance. The Angels see Sanctuary & it's denizens as abominations which must be destroyed. The demons look at it as a weapon. One they can use to strike at the Heavenly Hosts. The Nephalem and Edyrem are just struggling to survive. Which side will prevail?

I like how Knaak throws in a little backstory whenever he introduces a core character for the 1st time in this book. He does it so well and is unobtrusive. Even if this is the first book (or only book) that the reader picks up, they won't find themselves wondering "What the hell is going on?"
27 reviews
October 13, 2013
This third and final part of The Sin War trilogy focuses on the Cathedral of Light and its leader Inarius. It starts out pretty slow but gets better for every page and the final scene is the climax of the trilogy and is really exciting with some unexpected twists. For the first time you will see the angels play a big role as well as learn some more background story on the demons and their intention with Sanctuary and the Nephalem. Also it was nice to read about something that is closely tied to the games for once.
Profile Image for Barbara Huskey.
750 reviews16 followers
July 27, 2019
Did not finish. I love playing Diablo, but this book just isn’t getting me interested after 42 pages. I liked the first book of the series but did struggle with the second and now I’m really not into this third one, so I’m done. Too many books on my to-read list!
Profile Image for Derek.
78 reviews18 followers
April 3, 2015
I'm genuinely confused as to why anyone would rate this higher than 2-3 stars.
Profile Image for Bunny Huynh.
17 reviews3 followers
July 29, 2020
It took three years to finish The Sin War trilogy since I got them from a used bookstore back in the Soo. Working hard and studying with the aim of all straight A consumed all of my time, only left some for relaxing painting. But honestly speaking, the trilogy, though tells one of the main events of Diablo universe, is not very fascinating enough to hook me hours of reading. And yeah, by the time I finished the third book, I forgot most of the details of the first one, haha.

The Sin War trilogy follows Uldyssian, his younger brother Mendeln, and two of his best friends, Achillios and Serenthia on the path of power awakening under the manipulation of both angels and demons. The story explains the reasons behind the tolerant decision of the Angiris Council toward humans’ fate due to the final heroic sacrifice of Uldyssian.

I am not sure why I did not feel attracted to the trilogy though Diablo universe is my most favourite among video game adaptations. The story itself? The characters? The writing style? Weirdly, Memphisto’s brief appearance truly caught my attention. Maybe because I always have fetishes for villains or mischievous characters.

However, saying so does not mean the story has nothing worth to remember.

Firstly, about the angels and demons! In both Warcraft and Diablo universe, there is no such defined line between two main factors. The Horde is not evil as the Angels are not benevolent. In the Diablo universe, angel and demon are two opposite aspects of the universe. They are both arrogant, selfish and full of entitlement. What kind of benevolence when they are ready to annihilate the whole Sanctuary or manipulate humans heartlessly for their causes. I am so in love with Blizzard’s vanilla concepts as there is no such absolute of anything.

The trilogy explains Inarius and Lilith’s complex grand scheme me which I was consufed for a long time. I did not understand why Inarius wanted to purge his children and exiled Lilith to the void for her motherly protection toward her children. I did not understand why Lilith’s massacre was an evil deed while she was trying to revenge for her lost offsprings. Indeed, Inarius wanted to create his version of a perfect world where he is the ultimate God. The appearances of uncontrollable nephalem destroyed his vision thus their existence is not tolerant-able. With Lilith, she wanted to use the nephalem’s power to turn the tides of war. She did not act for the pure reason of the mother love.

Admittedly, I am not attracted to any character in this trilogy, from the forced-to-be-hero Uldyssian to the bookworm Mendeln or the handsome Achillios and beautiful Serenthia. Please do not take my words in a negative meaning. Like reading a book does not guarantee that you would feel intimate for the characters. Uldyssian is still a wonderful character—a normal farmer without any leadership ability was thrown into a whole grand scheme simply because he was the descendant of the angel-demon couple. He from passively to actively struggled to protect and lead his people against the superior entities of both High Heaven and he Burning Hell. Uldyssian, I would like to say that he is a “normal” hero yet still very brilliant.

Finally, I guess Richard A Knaak’s writing style is not my favourite style. The description of Uldyssian’s final sacrifice is kind of disappointed to me for the author could not create the intense atmosphere. The act made me feel as if I was brushed slightly with an abstract scene. I did not realize that scene was Uldyssian’s death until other characters confirmed the fact.

In general, this trilogy is still worth the reading for the fans. It explains in details of what happened during this crucial event which forever changes the fate of the Sanctuary and opens a new era of the Eternal War.
Profile Image for Andrew Weston.
Author 37 books298 followers
September 20, 2020
The demon-backed Triune has been vanquished. Now, all that stands between Uldyssian, his edyrem, and outright victory over evil is the Cathedral of Light and its charismatic leader – the fallen angel Inarius – who hides in plain sight, using the guise of a youthful Prophet.
However, Uldyssian is unaware of the aid bestowed upon him and his followers by the angel in his quest so far. As such, they have grown overconfident in their invulnerability, and are blind to the fact that they are being manipulated. Something has to give. But what?
The edyrem are oblivious to the consequences of submitting to their unrestrained passions in battle. Inarius is intent on retaining power, and would willingly allow Sanctuary to be destroyed rather than lose face. Ever ready to seize the advantage, the demon lords bide their time, just waiting for the scales to tip in their favor. Worse still, the heavenly host has discovered the location of Sanctuary and one of the Angiris Council is, even now, confirming his worst suspicions before calling in the High Heavens to act.
As I said: Something’s got to give.
What that is, exactly, you can discover for yourself in a helter-skelter ride of an adventure that is as action-packed as it is riddled with subterfuge and subtext. Even better, it’s also a story of personal growth, acceptance, and sacrifice.
No, you can’t always have a happy ending. But then again, don’t the best stories always end with a little dash of poignant self-discovery?
A thoroughly enjoyable conclusion to the Sin War. (Now – play the game!)
357 reviews
March 20, 2021
I really do wish that there were half start options; the first two books in the Sin War trilogy might be 3.5 or 4 stars, but this final installment would get at .5 or 1 more star.

This book brings the Sin War trilogy to a soft close, that is, we know that there will be more (lots more!), but this particular story has come to a close. I rank it higher than the other two for several reasons that I will delve into.

The first reason that I think this book is better than the other two is the pacing. The first book sets up so much through exposition and introducing the characters, and the second book does more worldbuilding and a little advancing of the narrative. If we are looking at the arc as one collective plotline, the third book here encompasses everything just before the climax all the way through the falling action and resolution.

There is more action in this book, and it doesn't take five chapters to get through one setting. That being said, none of the three books in this trilogy are skippable, contrary to what some other reviews I've read have said. Seriously, if you try to skip any of these three books, you're going to be very lost.

I look forward to reading the other Diablo lore books, but I will be taking a break from them for a short while. I think now would be a good time to shift gears and read something in a different genre. Read the Sin War trilogy, though, it is worth it!
Profile Image for Sierra.
508 reviews5 followers
December 26, 2025
The ending to this was intense!
I actually liked this so much more than book 2. But as I got closer to the end I started dragging my feet to finish it. But it is worth it and I really, really like the ending.
I know I'd been hard Uldyssian's personality and decisions in the previous books, but this is the best version of him. He's empathetic and caring, finally driven and aware. I'm weirdly proud of him.
And becomes of Menedeln, I have to go backwards in the books I have read and do a double check. Lore!
Profile Image for Philiplibri.
112 reviews
March 11, 2020
Entertaining novel to end the sin war trilogy. All in all, it wasn't what I expected but I must say it was quite entertaining indeed. I think Mr knaak did a good job handling the magic in the book. The world building was okay. I might read some of the other books in the Diablo series, as I just found out that there are more. As I wrote before for the other books, the writing is mediocre, perhaps approaching decent, but again, it makes up for it with the entertainment value.
Profile Image for Bryan.
3 reviews
April 6, 2023
The son of Diomedes
The brother of Uldyssian
The daughter of Cyrus
The son of Inarius


The Sin Wars, as a series, was better than the first book I read by this author, but I genuinely hate the way he writes. If not for the link to Diablo and my nerdy desire to read more in to the series before Diablo 4 releases, I would never read anything from this author again.
10 reviews1 follower
November 23, 2022
Good book. Stopped reading because I didn't want it to end. Enjoyed the end & the ride.
Profile Image for Andrei.
41 reviews6 followers
January 2, 2024
The series turned from decent horror in the first book to full-blown anime fights in the third. In a way this matches Diablo the video game, but it's not something that works as well in a novel.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews

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