Any new novels?

[SouthPaw.9705]

As someone working their way through the novel trilogy again I wanted to know what the chances are of any new books on the horizon. With sea of sorrow being almost 8 years old, there must be sufficient amount of lore to cover in a book? Just asking as I love reading, more guild wars material the better! 

[Eekasqueak.7850]

Give us hard copies of Snargle Goldclaw's marvelous works. 

[Diovid.9506]

I have always argued for content (either a novel or single-player spinoff game) in the 1080 AE to 1120 AE era. Of course that is partially GW1 nostalgia, but it's also just an eventful time of geopolitical change. 

[Bast.7253]

1 hour ago, Eekasqueak.7850 said:

Give us hard copies of Snargle Goldclaw's marvelous works. 

Finally finished the Character Growth achievement yesterday and just sat around reading Snargle's dialog. Snargle is my spirit animal. Or maybe I'm his. I don't know but I love him.

[Kossage.9072]

Yeah, I'd like novels to explore backstories of some key or side characters and expand the world of Tyria. The three current novels helped flesh out so much, so it's a shame we haven't seen any since. Sadly I doubt ANet will invest in new novels as those would require significant research on the world and building extensive lore while making sure the events wouldn't contradict with what's already established in game.

Some of my picks for future topics with proposed titles:

 

1) Prince of Winter

This book would detail the final tumultous days of Dwayna and an Orrian sculptor's (Malchor? ;D) doomed romance that led to the birth of Grenth. We'd see how he'd fare living in Orr as a demigod and how the other gods and mortals treated him, his relationship with mortals and eventual friendship with the mortals who'd become the Seven Reapers, and their fateful decision to overthrow the unjust god of death Dhuum in a clear suicidal mission with seemingly little chance of success.

It would show how Grenth prevailed against Dhuum, why he was unable to slay Dhuum (is it because Grenth was a demigod as opposed to a full mortal like Kormir, so he couldn't make the choice "only a mortal can make" and thus Dhuum retained some divine power?), his redecoration of the Underworld, and recruiting Desmina as his first follower once the Reapers have been elevated and the Church of Grenth grows in power.

We'd see early hints of Abaddon's fall and how Grenth would respond to the insurrection, the climactic battle at the Gates of Heaven and then at what would become the Desolation where Abaddon was finally cast down. We'd witness where Grenth's anger at false authorities stems from, why he is quite cruel as a god in his strict pursuit of justice, what messed him up to create the bodyhorror grentches that steal presents from innocent children (did Grenth not receive enough presents as a kid so he wants to punish other kids so they appreciate what they have?) etc.

It could lead all the way to GW1 time of witnessing Abaddon's ultimate defeat, and we could see glimpses of Balthazar's growing madness and if Grenth sees a pattern forming based on his experiences with Dhuum and Abaddon before. We could witness how Grenth feels about Mad King Thorn becoming his unpredictable ally and why he tolerates Thorn's presence in one section of the Underworld, the Mad Realm.

We could get teases of why the gods didn't reach out to Glint regarding the Legacy project, Lyssa's potential shenanigans with Balthazar, and why they kept Glint in the dark about their plans, elaborate on Grenth getting pissed off at Zhaitan stealing his followers' souls to embody Risen manifestations, and why the gods left Tyria and what they hope to achieve in the worlds beyond as a potential setup for gods' return in GW2.

 

2) Firstborn

This book would chronicle Trahearne's life as the first sylvari to ever awaken until he'd gradually meet his other awakening siblings over the following year. We'd see him being the special child who has direct connection with Pale Mother and how that makes others feel, we'd get some fun interactions with the doomed Riannoc as well as the two still unknown and unnamed Firstborn out of the twelve (perhaps teasing their eventual return in a GW2 living world season or even a future sylvari expansion), the schism between Trahearne and Faolain, Trahearne's growing racism towards asura after what they did to Malomedies until he learns to forgive the asura for their transgressions, all that good stuff. His views on Cadeyrn and Faolain's fall and the forming of the Nightmare Court would likewise be interesting and if his views on the court are more complex than other sylvari's.

What would also be fascinating would be Trahearne's gloomy trip to Orr and him and Caithe being the only two living souls to witness Zhaitan in the modern day and live to tell the tale, perhaps even some teases of Caithe and Faolain's travels and if they first encountered Nightmare in Orr or somewhere else while giving us hints of what the Dream and Nightmare actually are (since they're unrelated to Mordremoth) and how we might start to get teases of Mordremoth via Wynne's cryptic talks. We'd also get more screentime for the less used Firstborn like my fave Aife, or the valiant Niamh, or the clever Kahedins among others.

Other fascinating tidbits would be the few tidbits of Trahearne backstory that GW2 has teased us with. He somehow managed to befriend and earn the trust of the reclusive largos Sayeh al'Rajihd in an apparently epic teamup, the tengu smith Izu Steelshrike, as well as Riel Darkwater after he helped her slay the previous Master of Whispers who had fallen under a dragon's corruption (maybe Zhaitan so the novel could tie Trahearne's Orr quest together). The whole Sayeh teamup need not necessarily be a fight against Risen but against the horrors of the depths, thus teasing and exploring that angle and what awaits us in the Unending Ocean and why Sayeh swore Trahearne to not tell anyone the specifics of their mission without her approval. We'd see how he also earned the trust of not just Whispers but Priory and Vigil too, setting the stage of him becoming the only viable candidate for Pact Marshal in the future.

We'd also see the less explored side of Trahearne as the shy scholar with a seemingly impossible quest (cleanse the fallen Orr) which many sylvari actually ridiculed and bullied him about. We'd see his heartwarming friendship with the sylvari seer Amaranda the Lonesome (who has such lovely dialogue to the sylvari player if we defend Trahearne in front of her) and the curious rapport with Caithe who, save for Amaranda, is the only one to truly understand Trahearne's burden at first.

We could see glimpses of Trahearne's actions and thoughts during Season 1 Scarlet's War when he wasn't around in game, how the threat of Mordremoth affected him, his growing friendship with the Pact Commander etc. And we'd see firsthand how the Pact fleet fell down, how Trahearne tried to defend the Pact soldiers alongside Destiny's Edge only to be captured and eventually ending up in Mordremoth's embrace. His "bonding" with Mordy could also reveal some key insights about the dragon cycle and the Void, and Trahearne could come to see Mordremoth as a tragic monster with a sympathetic past who nevertheless has to be put down so he can't tell the Commander too much.

And if we're lucky, we might even see what happens to him after death. Will his and Mordy's souls merge so he becomes a literal spectral Voice of Mordremoth who has two souls inside him? Will he enter the dragon or sylvari afterlife, or are they one and the same (depending on if sylvari are literal grandchildren of Mordy as the anniversary art book may have teased)? It could even foreshadow Trahearne's eventual return to narrative as a ghostly Twilight Messiah who'll play a part in a future expansion or living world where he helps us one last time before we get to say true farewells to him.

 

3) Soulkeeper

This book would detail the early life of Almorra Soulkeeper in the Blood fahrar as she bonds with her Soul warband, her eventual friendship and fiery romance of true passion with Bangar Ruinbringer and how their paths lead them to different destinations and relationship drama as Bangar rises in power while Almorra remains a legionnaire. We'd see how the births of Ajax and the unnamed daughter affect Almorra as a mother as well as the daughter deciding to join Ash Legion instead of Blood Legion while Bangar gets his claws on Ajax to twist him to his liking. We'd get hints at why this daughter (Ember Doomforge's mom) apparently has as juicy story behind her as Ajax did as Almorra never elaborated on it in game.

We might explore Almorra wading through complex charr politics, how her and Smodur's views match on the future of the charr, and what she feels about the youngest imperator Malice and what Malice's goals may be in regards to Khan-Ur (to possibly foreshadow the teased plot element in EoD about some imperators apparently gunning for Khan-Ur seat again despite all of them saying that none of them want it during Champions time). After all, Malice is a pretty nasty name, so maybe there's more behind her than meets the eye in true "Ash trash" fashion? 😉

We would witness Almorra's Massacre firsthand and the horror of Kralkatorrik's Branding. How Almorra becomes suicidal after losing and being forced to kill her corrupted warband until a few kindly souls such as Laranthir of the Wild, Efut, Jhavi Jorasdottir and Lord Rodrigo of Cormoch among others snap her out of her depression and turn her quest for vengeance into a quest for justice. We'd see how this friendship becomes very deep and unbreakable as they all swear loyalty to her in a time when charr and human truce still hasn't come to pass. We'd see the nigh impossible funding of the Vigil in a mere five years from a group of rag-tag friends into a massive well-funded army and how they accomplished this feat when unity between races was still a dream of Trahearne's and Pale Tree's.

We'd get to experience Almorra's feelings about Aurene, the granddaughter of Kralkatorrik, and she eventually lets go of her hate and comes to see Aurene as not the same as her grandpa but a savior, something I wish Season 4 had gone into before the budget cuts. We would witness Almorra's elation at Kralkatorrik's fall and how she has finally avenged her warband while she tries to figure out what to do with the remaining Elder Dragons. We'd experience Almorra's horror first-hand at Jora's Keep as Jormag's influence creeps in, how Bangar has gone off the rails and she realizes he has to be stopped no matter the cost while there may still be some love left for him after all despite her brave act of defiance.

Perhaps we'd even see an epilogue of sorts where she gets to meet with Glint's ghost in the Mists and what their new adventures will be in the worlds beyond. Perhaps she gets to meet Trahearne too, tying into some events teased in the Trahearne novel and possibly the Grenth novel if there are some hints of gods returning etc. and why Glint wants Almorra and Trahearne to be her vanguard for what's to come.

These are just some of the many examples the authors could explore. The stories would practically write themselves as Tyrian lore is rich from GW1, GW2, all the manuals, interviews, blog posts, wikis, internal lore bible etc.

While I think it's unlikely we'll see any future GW2 novels, I would happily welcome more novels if they were as lengthy as the previous ones and went as much in depth as those novels did with key characters' stories. It would certainly deepen my and many others' appreciation on Tyria's lore and world. 🙂

Edited April 17, 2022 by Kossage.9072

[genjonah.1253]

19 hours ago, Kossage.9072 said:

This book would detail the final tumultous days of Dwayna and an Orrian sculptor's (Malchor? ;D) doomed romance that led to the birth of Grenth. We'd see how he'd fare living in Orr as a demigod and how the other gods and mortals treated him, his relationship with mortals and eventual friendship with the mortals who'd become the Seven Reapers, and their fateful decision to overthrow the unjust god of death Dhuum in a clear suicidal mission with seemingly little chance of success.

It would show how Grenth prevailed against Dhuum, why he was unable to slay Dhuum (is it because Grenth was a demigod as opposed to a full mortal like Kormir, so he couldn't make the choice "only a mortal can make" and thus Dhuum retained some divine power?), his redecoration of the Underworld, and recruiting Desmina as his first follower once the Reapers have been elevated and the Church of Grenth grows in power.

Heh, funnily enough I’m actually working on a board game for my friends and I exploring the fight with Dhuum, it’s something I’ve speculating on myself and even writing some fan fiction on the subject 

[Zola.6197]

A novel about the early days of Tyria as the world was new before the EDs went mad would be neat. Show them devolving over time, maybe explore a few notable dragon cycles. Maybe it ends with Soo-Won going into the reactor?

 

Edit: a novel focusing on Kuunavang’s life and other saltsprays sounds compelling to me.

Edited April 18, 2022 by Zola.6197

[DanAlcedo.3281]

My Idea for a novel. 

It's starts shortly after Aurenes death. 

Pact moral is nearly none existent anymore. 

Some pact soldiers have enough of all this dragon BS and decide to get away from it all. 

But where do you go? There are Dragon's or Dragon minions in every direction. 

Except for east. 

So they sneak away and travel east to unknown lands and adventure. 

Story ends with them seeing Aurene Ascended over the horizon. 

Hope has returned. It's time to go home. 

[SouthPaw.9705]

Plenty of cool ideas out there, though I do remember a few years back that most of the community said it would be unlikely to see any more official ANet books. Does anyone know why? Have ANet even mentioned the possibility of another/more novel(s)?

[Narcemus.1348]

I think that the reason we haven't seen any more books is because they were part of a marketing ploy to keep up hype for the new upcoming game. They were never intended to be their own thing. This is why all 3 took place between the games in order to build up the world/hype for what was to come. This doesn't mean that they couldn't do that again, but it is not their focus at the moment.