Blizzard is notorious amongst the gaming community for the exceptional storytelling behind each and every character, the realities they inhabit and the games that give those worlds life. Heaven’s Devils, penned by William C. Dietz, while not the most superb example of narrative is still notable for the aspects of the overarching Starcraft story that is fleshed-out. Illustrating the details surrounding the early years of Jim Raynor, his meeting of Tychus Findlay and their experiences serving together in the Confederate Marine Corps. fills in several gaps that had previously been left blank. While the underlying story remains interesting throughout, I feel like there are quite a few issues with the writing that leave it feeling more often than not predictable and rushed, which results in some of the minor characters feeling static, if not shallow. But for a die-hard Starcraft fan, the prospect of learning the background behind Jim Raynor and how he ended up as the character players met in the game, this is an opportunity for information that may prove unavoidably alluring.

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Opening with Jim Raynor as the young farmer-to-be on a backwater world, it quickly becomes apparent where the author is going with the story when Jim encounters a recruit

er who bedazzles Jim into signing away his life to join the Confederate Marines, it also goes hand-in-hand with a signup bonus that will benefit his parents who are having tax trouble as a result of the Guild Wars. Shifting gears, readers are additionally introduced to Staff Sergeant Tychus Findlay, who winds up performing hard labor after beating the living crap out of his idiot of a commanding officer during a botched mission. Swapping even faster, Ark Bennet, a child of privilege born into the Old Families is drugged and press-ganged into Confederate service and eventually warms up to military life. The point being is that the novel jumps around the various plot lines frequently during the first several chapters in what can be a confusing, jumbled manner before all the characters converge together on a singular story arc.

Despite the numerous gaggle of words, chapters in Heaven’s Devils stand-up excellently as isolated literary experiences that just so happen to attempt progressing the overall novel forward in a struggling fashion. Why this would seem ridiculous, through all the fantastically minute references to the rest of the Starcraft universe, the story never becomes capable of surpassing the quality of its separate to make a stronger whole. The minor characters, admittedly, are somewhat interesting and cool, but only as cool as relatively generic soldier-types can be and Dietz doesn’t seem to make any effort to break the mold throughout the entire course of the three-hundred pages.

Without a doubt, it isn’t a bad novel overall – it simply straddles the line of literary mediocrity and comfortably stays there through each and every chapter. Occasionally a reference will come along that makes a reader’s eyes light up with recognition or catch themselves giggling, but it would be a disservice to say that the overall package would do a competant author proud. But realistically, that isn’t the purpose of this book – Heaven’s Devils was written to provide the Starcraft zealots who can ravenously devour every bit of fluff something to tide them over until Starcraft II releases proper at the end of July.  If that is the expectation you have from page one, then without a doubt, you won’t be disappointed. However, expecting anything other than a narrative that feels like it was too big to fit within the confines of an instruction manual and you’ll want to return the novel or discard it as though it were trash.

Disappointingly, Dietz was able to nail the Halo universe pretty well when he gave it a shot, but seemed to phone it in when it came to Starcraft II. And it isn’t as though there wasn’t a significant amount of detailed, interesting lore to work with. The story is not forgettable as it offers a backstory on why Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay are the people players will see in Starcraft II, but it does feels emptier at times than a depleted Vespene Gas geyser. Hopefully, the PC game will provide a significantly more interesting story elements when it arrives at the end of July as is keeping with Blizzard’s modus operandi regarding storytelling. Nevertheless, if you can’t wait and absolutely must have your hands on something Starcraft, this should fill the void like cheap Ramen, but will definitely leave you feeling hungry for something more.