Quote:
On behalf of Diablofans, Hello Mr. Knaak.
Hello to everyone! Thank you for having me.
--- Q&A ---
Q: As a writer are there any other parts of the Diablo
lore that interest you? Such as the Dark Exile or the Binding of the Three?
A: The Binding of the Three, naturally. More on the Rathmians, of course.
And, to be honest, I'm very interested in what material we've already seen
coming for Diablo 3. King Leoric is a character I'd like to delve into. I
think that there's a lot to work with there.
Q: The Diablo universe has grown and evolved significantly since the first
Diablo game has come out. What has it been like for you to be an integral
part of that process?
A: Fantastic! To be able to flesh out events, to flesh out the world and add
to the mythos --- all as Blizzard approves and directs, naturally
--- had been great fun! It's especially great now that the first images of
Diablo 3 include a certain lost city...
Q: What were your inspirations for writing the Diablo
novels? For example, the character of Uldyssian seems to be inspired by
Odysseus (also known as Ulysses), who similarly went on a long journey and
is said to be full of wrath.
A: Blizzard laid out a very fascinating and complex struggle between
darkness and light and introduced some classes that blended well with the
setup of the world. I chose to build stories around particular elements,
which Blizzard very much liked. For Legacy of Blood, I liked the idea of
enchanted armor that wasn't beneficial to the wearer and had a
history of terror attached to it. For Kingdom of Shadow, Ureh's mysterious
past enabled me to create something of an 'anti-Brigadoon', which worked to
good effect. Moon of the Spider was a terrific chance to bring back Zayl and
delve into the necromancers more, something Blizzard was very much
interested in.
As for the Sin War, Blizzard needed that history adjusted to fit their
notions of what D3 would be and between the company and myself, we worked
out this one man's odyssey from human to what humanity has the potential to
be. Homer's The Odyssey definitely inspired us and we're happy with the
results.
Q: Is the character Karybdus
from The Moon of the Spider loosely based off of the necromancer in Diablo
II or are they in fact the same character?
A: Loosely.
Q: In Birthright, Uldyssian
has an encounter with a Thorned Hulk and it kneels before him. Is there any
significance to this?
A: The thorned hulk sensed what was developing in Uldyssian. It was a sign
of what was to come for someone who was once a simple farmer and was now on
the path to something amazing.
Q: Are there any non-Diablo writing projects you are
currently working on that we may look forward to?
A: Most immediate are the WarCraft Legends anthologies. Volume 4 is coming
along in mid-June and will conclude my four-part saga concerning Trag, the
tauren from the Sunwell saga. September not only sees Volume 5 --- with a
special story I can't yet speak about --- but the release of Legends of the
Dragonrealm, a trade omnibus that features the first three novels of my own
Dragonrealm series! With a 2-page map --- the first for the world --- and
the novels FIREDRAKE, ICE DRAGON, & WOLFHELM, it is an astounding 680 pages.
December sees BEASTMASTER: MYTH an epic that brings the iconic character
from the movie back to his roots while expanding his world in an entirely
new direction. This will be out in trade paperback. At the same time, the
third volume of my Ogre Titans trilogy for Dragonlance --- THE GARGOYLE KING
--- will be released in mass market.
I'm also at work on SHADOW WING, the first volume of the next WarCraft manga
trilogy.
Q: Thank you for taking time to answer a few questions for
us. Is there anything else you'd like to say to the Diablofans community?
A: I'd like to thank the community for their support and hope that they
continue to enjoy not only my contributions, but the upcoming game!
So there you have it. My short interview with
Richard Knaak, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed conducting it.
