Bruce Von Stiers

The StarCraft franchise includes a couple of games and a few novels based on them. One of these novels was written by Gabriel Mesta, a pen name for the writing couple, Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta. This novel is the second in the StarCraft series and is called Shadow of the Xel’Naga. It was published by Pocket Books.

Octavia Bren and her brother Lars are miners on the world of Bhaekar Ro. They come across a strange element in a cave and it results in Lars being evaporated and some kind of celestial signal being generated by the element.

One of the characters from the first StarCraft novel, Liberty’s Crusade becomes part of this as well. Sarah Kerringan was captured by the Zergs and ends up being the major Queen, the Queen of Blades. Her minions in the Zerg Hive are out to conquer Bhaekar Ro.

Octavia and the people of Bhaekar Ro send out a signal for help to stop the invading Zerg. What shows up to help is not quite what they expected. The Alpha Squadron is under the direction of General Edmund Duke. This was one tough leader .“Duke hated aliens- of any flavor.” Duke comes to the rescue of the people of Bhaekar Ro, or so they think.

Throughout the book we see the struggle of Octavia and her fellow inhabitants as they battle the oncoming Zergs. And they have a battle on another front with Duke and his soldiers. What do they really want? They seem to want to confiscate everything and tear things up. Does Duke have sinister plans for this little world?

This novel keeps with the characterizations from the game pretty well. The humans and Zergs are portrayed vividly. The Zergs are some real nasty creatures. And General Duke is a tyrant who inadvertently provides a certain amount of comic relief in his absurdity.

If you’re not a StarCraft fan, then this story of trying to beat back invading creatures might not be too appealing. But if you’re one of the million or so StarCraft fans out there, then this book should be on your list to read.

Shadow of the Xel'Naga can be found at most major book retailers. It can also be ordered online from PocketBooks at www.simonsays.com or Blizzard Entertainment at www.blizzard.com.