Fantasy

Ghosts of Ascalon

Ghosts of Ascalon

  • Downloads：1825
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-08-16 09:57:28
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Matt Forbeck
  • ISBN：1416589473
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
  • Download

Summary

250 years ago， Ascalon burned 。 。 。

Desperate to defend his land from advancing hordes of bestial charr， King Adelbern summoned the all-powerful Foefire to repel the invaders。 But magic can be a double-edged sword—the Foefire burned both charr and human alike。 While the charr corpses smoldered， the slain Ascalonians arose again， transformed by their king’s rage into ghostly protectors and charged with guarding the realm 。 。 。 forever。 The once mighty kingdom became a haunted shadow of its former glory。

Centuries later， the descendants of Ascalon， exiled to the nation of Kryta， are besieged on all sides。 To save humankind， Queen Jennah seeks to negotiate a treaty with the hated charr。 But one obstacle remains。 The charr legions won’t sign the truce until their most prized possession， the Claw of the Khan-Ur，is returned from the ruins of fallen Ascalon。

Now a mismatched band of adventurers， each plagued by ghosts of their own， sets forth into a haunted， war-torn land to retrieve the Claw。 Without the artifact， there is no hope for peace between human and charr—but the undead king who rules Ascalon won’t give it up easily， and not everyone wants peace！

Download

Reviews

Raistlin （Rai） ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 A good， fast paced read， but the ending was disappointing。 It could have used another chapter to include them returning the prize， announcing their fight scene leaving Ascalon City， even a time jump to them bringing the weapon back to the Vigil and a celebration。

Kevin ，

This book really made me nostalgic for the original Guild Wars。 Great banter and characters。 I particularly love the Charr lore and the Charr and human conflict， so I appreciated how King Adelbern and the Foefire were heavily referenced！

Lotte Gijzen ，

Very entertaining with well written characters。

JSR ，

Ghosts of Ascalon is a decent fantasy novel， it won't break any barriers or bring anything new to the genre and that's alright in my opinion。The chapters are rather small， but it's not a bad thing， easier to keep track that way。The plot revolves around retrieve ancient weapon to make peace between the warring races at the time。For the most part it's a nice read， except maybe several pointless deaths and the need to transform the norn race from a mysterious northern folk to a stereotypical viking Ghosts of Ascalon is a decent fantasy novel， it won't break any barriers or bring anything new to the genre and that's alright in my opinion。The chapters are rather small， but it's not a bad thing， easier to keep track that way。The plot revolves around retrieve ancient weapon to make peace between the warring races at the time。For the most part it's a nice read， except maybe several pointless deaths and the need to transform the norn race from a mysterious northern folk to a stereotypical viking like warrior that charges into pointless battles for the glory。 There is also a pointless plot twist near the end of the book， I think the book would have been okay without it。All in all， the book is an enjoyable read。 。。。more

Ceri ，

It had taken me quite some time to find the motivation to read this one。I must have started this several times and always stopped very early in， but I decided to really give it a go and get it off my TBR list。It starts sluggishly， but it does give some detail about the lore of the game。 You'd definitely need to be familiar with the game as terms and nouns are taken directly from it without explanation。I only started to feel the story pick up pace just over halfway through and I found it more enj It had taken me quite some time to find the motivation to read this one。I must have started this several times and always stopped very early in， but I decided to really give it a go and get it off my TBR list。It starts sluggishly， but it does give some detail about the lore of the game。 You'd definitely need to be familiar with the game as terms and nouns are taken directly from it without explanation。I only started to feel the story pick up pace just over halfway through and I found it more enjoyable to read after that point， but it still plods along quite slowly。It is full of details about the races， history and geography of Tyria， primarily the war between human and charr， but it's lacking when it comes to combat。 All those classes with their skills and abilities， and we barely see anything other than swinging swords。 There is a brief show of what a necromancer can do， but fights are very basic， and not exciting at all。 。。。more

Laurel ，

This book was a quick and enjoyable read。 Some of the characters are pretty two-dimensional， though several of the main cast have decent depth。 The pacing was inconsistent; I felt like the first 3/4 of the book moved along at a good speed， then things sped up and finished out very rapidly for the remaining portion of the book。 Locations and history in the game universe （guild wars 2） are well referenced and hold true to the details given in-game。

Fieloes ，

I liked this so much！！！ I love Guild Wars 2 and all it's history。 After finishing this book I immediately visited the characters in game。 I liked this so much！！！ I love Guild Wars 2 and all it's history。 After finishing this book I immediately visited the characters in game。 。。。more

Uri Gutman ，

This book had me properly scared！I loved this！I loved the politics， the jokes， the descriptions， the betrayal， it was everything that I wanted and so much more。 I went ahead straight away to read the other guild wars novels， and wasn't disappointed at any point。 One of my favorite adventure books ever， and strongly recommended to fans of the series。 This book had me properly scared！I loved this！I loved the politics， the jokes， the descriptions， the betrayal， it was everything that I wanted and so much more。 I went ahead straight away to read the other guild wars novels， and wasn't disappointed at any point。 One of my favorite adventure books ever， and strongly recommended to fans of the series。 。。。more

Diantha ，

Years ago， this was the first video game based novel I read。 It set for me the standard of what such a novel should be。 This book is gripping， world building， has well-developed characters and that unmistakable fantasy feel。 It adds to the wonderful world already in the video game and makes it even more interesting。Five stars for me！

Anthony Susu ，

I honestly did enjoy this book im currently on book 2 only reason im reading book 1 and 2 and 3because i love the lore in guild wars its amazing and interesting but the book not the same for me but i still like the book。

Charlie ，

4 STARS。I really enjoyed this story but I'd definitely not recommend this to people who have never played Guild Wars because then it'd be a lot to take in。 There's also not quite enough worldbuilding and explanation for it to be clear to people who have no background knowledge。That being said， I loved seeing these characters and the world I love in my favorite video game from a different perspective and get a little bit more story behind some of the places I've already explored in-game and areas 4 STARS。I really enjoyed this story but I'd definitely not recommend this to people who have never played Guild Wars because then it'd be a lot to take in。 There's also not quite enough worldbuilding and explanation for it to be clear to people who have no background knowledge。That being said， I loved seeing these characters and the world I love in my favorite video game from a different perspective and get a little bit more story behind some of the places I've already explored in-game and areas I've run around in a lot。I also loved that not everyone made it out alive and to see characters I've already met through the in-game story again in this book。 Generally， just a very enjoyable read and I'm already excited for the other two books。 。。。more

Tapio Kurkinen ，

I'm a huge Guild Wars fan and have spent over 10k hours combined in GW1 and GW2。 This book works way better than Edge of Destiny but it has some problems that hinder the experience。 By far the most enjoyable part for me is the world itself and how the book connects to the games。 But if I hadn't played the games， this would be somewhere between 2 and 3 stars for me。 The story feels incredibly predictable and formulaic。 Characters talk， get ambushed， and move forwards and that repeats for most of I'm a huge Guild Wars fan and have spent over 10k hours combined in GW1 and GW2。 This book works way better than Edge of Destiny but it has some problems that hinder the experience。 By far the most enjoyable part for me is the world itself and how the book connects to the games。 But if I hadn't played the games， this would be somewhere between 2 and 3 stars for me。 The story feels incredibly predictable and formulaic。 Characters talk， get ambushed， and move forwards and that repeats for most of the book。 There is one twist near the incredibly rushed ending but that gets solved in under a page。 I really enjoyed the start of the book but there should have been some twists and turns on the way and having the ending climax and wrapping up all the loose ends in less than 20 pages feels way too rushed considering we spent 330 pages on the journey。Some interactions between Killeen and Dougal bring this up to 3。5 stars。 。。。more

Nakarem ，

I love that world so much。 The boon might be hard to understand without actually knowing/playing the game but it's amazing in my eyes。and I enjoy it A Lot。 I love that world so much。 The boon might be hard to understand without actually knowing/playing the game but it's amazing in my eyes。and I enjoy it A Lot。 。。。more

Emmanuel Manolidis ，

Charr bad， humans good。 In order to enjoy this book， you had to have at least played guild wars and the expansion eye of the north。 It does a good job of setting up the world that guild wars 2 takes place in。 You can even find some of the characters in game。 I haven’t visited Dougal or Gullik but I want to

Jason Ray Ray Carney ，

This novel surprised me。 I really enjoyed it。 As a media-tie-in novel， my expectations weren't really that high。 Nevertheless， my friend convinced me to play Guild Wars 2， and after just a few levels I was struck by the unique fantasy setting of the game。 I immediately wanted to learn more about it。 As a media-tie-in work， this is excellent and effective。 A key part of what makes the MMORPG Guild Wars 2 so unique are the distinctive races， the Norn， Asura， Charr， Sylvari， and， yes， humans。 In th This novel surprised me。 I really enjoyed it。 As a media-tie-in novel， my expectations weren't really that high。 Nevertheless， my friend convinced me to play Guild Wars 2， and after just a few levels I was struck by the unique fantasy setting of the game。 I immediately wanted to learn more about it。 As a media-tie-in work， this is excellent and effective。 A key part of what makes the MMORPG Guild Wars 2 so unique are the distinctive races， the Norn， Asura， Charr， Sylvari， and， yes， humans。 In this novel the party consists of a vivid representatives of each distinctive race。 So， you learn about the specific personalities and cultural lore of each race and how they interact with eachother。 The plot was really intriguing to me as well。 The stakes are quite high。 Although this is written in a fun， light-hearted way， the authors remind you that these characters can die。 This is somewhat rare for lighthearted， video game tie-in novels （in my experience--and I've read a lot of them）。 As the novel concludes， you are unexpectedly surprised to realize how effectively the writers were able to get you to care for the characters。 The novel's primary source of joy， for me， was connected to my desire to learn more about the gameworld setting， so I am not sure if this is for everyone。 But， if you play Guild Wars 2， it does this effectively and even artfully: it renders the world vividly and strategically by introducing you to characters who you want to invest in， whose traverse this world。 。。。more

Paschalis ，

elibrary

Ted Wolf ，

Do you play or are you familiar with Guild Wars 2？If no， this book isn’t for you。 If you just want a light fantasy to read the story is easy enough， but you’ll miss a lot being unfamiliar with much of what is in the book。If yes， you might like this book。 If you enjoy Guild War 2 and the world of Tyria and the lore， you’ll probably enjoy this book。 Your in game knowledge will make the book more enjoyable and the book should make your game experience richer and more enjoyable。This book is a light Do you play or are you familiar with Guild Wars 2？If no， this book isn’t for you。 If you just want a light fantasy to read the story is easy enough， but you’ll miss a lot being unfamiliar with much of what is in the book。If yes， you might like this book。 If you enjoy Guild War 2 and the world of Tyria and the lore， you’ll probably enjoy this book。 Your in game knowledge will make the book more enjoyable and the book should make your game experience richer and more enjoyable。This book is a light fantasy read and if that’s what you’re looking for than you should enjoy it。 If you want more than that， keep looking。 Personally， I enjoyed it as a fun escapist story in a game world I enjoy。 。。。more

Nikki ，

Love it！ Enjoyed it from the beginning to the end！I could be biased but I love it because I was able to immerse my self into the story line since I do love playing the game as well ， however I also believe this is a book worth reading even if you are not a person who plays this game。 The story does not drag unnecessarily， the characters are well written and easy to understand and it isn't a million pages long to finish！ Def。 worth a try。 Love it！ Enjoyed it from the beginning to the end！I could be biased but I love it because I was able to immerse my self into the story line since I do love playing the game as well ， however I also believe this is a book worth reading even if you are not a person who plays this game。 The story does not drag unnecessarily， the characters are well written and easy to understand and it isn't a million pages long to finish！ Def。 worth a try。 。。。more

Kam ，

This was one of those books one starts with some skepticism， and then when its good， you fall into the spell: low expectations mean big surprises when it delivers， and the start is great: lots of GW lore， some pretty well-known characters thrown in the mix， lots of funsies and a couple lovely characters。 So， why did they have to write such a bad last third？ Obviously， to put the rating back down。 It's hard to review a book like this， where most of the bad points come from spoilers， so let's just This was one of those books one starts with some skepticism， and then when its good， you fall into the spell: low expectations mean big surprises when it delivers， and the start is great: lots of GW lore， some pretty well-known characters thrown in the mix， lots of funsies and a couple lovely characters。 So， why did they have to write such a bad last third？ Obviously， to put the rating back down。 It's hard to review a book like this， where most of the bad points come from spoilers， so let's just leave it at that。Tl，dr; great book， made me laugh， bad book， made me angry。 。。。more

Tom East ，

I'm not sure if it's because I'm a Guild Wars lore nerd but a lot of the dialogue felt exposition-heavy for several good portions。 I did enjoy the inter-party conflicts and seeing the complexity of the human-charr relationships though and I think if the book had spent more time exploring those in a deeper fashion I may have enjoyed it even more。 I'm not sure if it's because I'm a Guild Wars lore nerd but a lot of the dialogue felt exposition-heavy for several good portions。 I did enjoy the inter-party conflicts and seeing the complexity of the human-charr relationships though and I think if the book had spent more time exploring those in a deeper fashion I may have enjoyed it even more。 。。。more

Charles Bouley ，

Great Novel， Stands Alone WellA great fantasy novel that stands alone without needing to have played the video game series。 An easy read that I recommend。

Tyler ，

This book was honestly a lot better than I thought it was going to be。There was a lot of info dumping， and any non-human character was just a cut and dry stereotype of their own race。 I expected as much going into the book， and aside those things， the plot was fun to follow and the action scenes were cool and the pacing was fast and well done。 I don't think I would read a 10 book saga in this universe but for a quick read I feel like this was worth my time。There was a lot of times I expected the This book was honestly a lot better than I thought it was going to be。There was a lot of info dumping， and any non-human character was just a cut and dry stereotype of their own race。 I expected as much going into the book， and aside those things， the plot was fun to follow and the action scenes were cool and the pacing was fast and well done。 I don't think I would read a 10 book saga in this universe but for a quick read I feel like this was worth my time。There was a lot of times I expected the cliche thing to happen but then I was pleasantly surprised when the writer makes something else happen instead。 The plot twist at the end was pretty predictable but I enjoyed reading it all the same。Over all a good book and I'm glad I read it。 。。。more

Lee ，

I'm giving 4 stars for this book， though it's probably closer to a 3。5， however I'm rounding up because it was honestly much better than I expected， and because， as a Guild Wars fan， I think the book did a very solid job of providing familiar and crucial world lore， introduced a charming and balanced cast of characters representing each of the major races of the world， and delivered an interesting， well-paced story that was infused with as much warm humor as it was engaging action。 Definitely co I'm giving 4 stars for this book， though it's probably closer to a 3。5， however I'm rounding up because it was honestly much better than I expected， and because， as a Guild Wars fan， I think the book did a very solid job of providing familiar and crucial world lore， introduced a charming and balanced cast of characters representing each of the major races of the world， and delivered an interesting， well-paced story that was infused with as much warm humor as it was engaging action。 Definitely convinced me to keep the next two installments on my to-read list。 。。。more

Laura ，

The story itself is not great by any means， but as a Guild Wars 2 player， I still enjoyed the background lore。

Charles Bertram ，

I will admit to having a strong bias being a long time Guild Wars fan。 But when this book came out it was probably the first real book that I sat down and read cover to cover and I loved it。 It painted such a beautiful stage for GW2 filled with vibrant characters that exemplified the good and bad traits for all the races with plenty of nods to GW1 lore。 Recently Youruber WoodenPotatos uploaded an audio book （With ANet’s blessings of course） on his channel and I must say。。。 story still holds up。 I will admit to having a strong bias being a long time Guild Wars fan。 But when this book came out it was probably the first real book that I sat down and read cover to cover and I loved it。 It painted such a beautiful stage for GW2 filled with vibrant characters that exemplified the good and bad traits for all the races with plenty of nods to GW1 lore。 Recently Youruber WoodenPotatos uploaded an audio book （With ANet’s blessings of course） on his channel and I must say。。。 story still holds up。 I laughed， I cried， well worth the listen if you don’t feel like reading the physical book。 :） 。。。more

Igor ，

A decent adventure with ties into the lore of one particular area in Guild Wars 2， with a much more grounded point of view of the events and catastrophes that happen before the events of the second game（mainly Ascalon's Foefire and Kralkattorik's awakening）。 Surprising amount of violence， which I didn't exactly expect considering that GW2's story cutscenes don't really have many violent moments in them。 The characters are mostly fine， not too memorable as they kind of follow the tropes of what a A decent adventure with ties into the lore of one particular area in Guild Wars 2， with a much more grounded point of view of the events and catastrophes that happen before the events of the second game（mainly Ascalon's Foefire and Kralkattorik's awakening）。 Surprising amount of violence， which I didn't exactly expect considering that GW2's story cutscenes don't really have many violent moments in them。 The characters are mostly fine， not too memorable as they kind of follow the tropes of what a typical human， charr， norn， asura and a sylvari are， so if you are curious about those races and how they interact with each other then it's a good glimpse into the lore。 But asides from that， meh。 Book explores some backstory of the humans and charr and their "relationship" in Ascalon， so if you are after some sweet lore for those two races then you'll be in luck。The game itself has a few nods to the characters from the book， nice little touch there。 。。。more

ThanatosBlood ，

Great novel for the fans of the videogame。 Not really sure if a non-player would enjoy it that much， but for those cases， there're a lot of lore explanations， and they don't become annoying to read; on the contrary， the lore of this world is beautiful and it's the main reason I chose to read it。I personally enjoyed it a lot。 It's true that sometimes it felt like I wanted to skip to the most interesting parts， but I at least endes up empathizing with the characters， and felt honestly surprised by Great novel for the fans of the videogame。 Not really sure if a non-player would enjoy it that much， but for those cases， there're a lot of lore explanations， and they don't become annoying to read; on the contrary， the lore of this world is beautiful and it's the main reason I chose to read it。I personally enjoyed it a lot。 It's true that sometimes it felt like I wanted to skip to the most interesting parts， but I at least endes up empathizing with the characters， and felt honestly surprised by the plot-twist at the end of the book。 Gonna go for 'Destiny's Edge' now。 。。。more

Charla ，

Wonderful adventure storyI recently got into playing Guild Wars 2。 And wanted more lore。 This story takes place about a year before the game and is a nice lead in。 I didn't know any of the history of this world but you don't need to they give the necessary background。 I had a hard time putting the book down。 Wonderful adventure storyI recently got into playing Guild Wars 2。 And wanted more lore。 This story takes place about a year before the game and is a nice lead in。 I didn't know any of the history of this world but you don't need to they give the necessary background。 I had a hard time putting the book down。 。。。more

Ellis Johnson ，

The writing is cheesier than I remembered， but I still enjoyed it。 I still liked many of the characters that I did the first time through， even if there were times when the characterization was really funky。I reread it for the lore， and while there didn't end up being anything I didn't already know， it's still a lot of fun to read through an in-world perspective of the history and landscapes that I know inside and out。I was sometimes bothered by how stereotypically norn and asura were portrayed， The writing is cheesier than I remembered， but I still enjoyed it。 I still liked many of the characters that I did the first time through， even if there were times when the characterization was really funky。I reread it for the lore， and while there didn't end up being anything I didn't already know， it's still a lot of fun to read through an in-world perspective of the history and landscapes that I know inside and out。I was sometimes bothered by how stereotypically norn and asura were portrayed， but it lessens toward the end and I think is more of an indication of Dougal's biases than poor writing， but it still seems kind of weird for someone who's been working with a variety of people for so long to still hold those biases。Anyway， this book is more of a nostalgia trip for me than anything else， but I enjoy it all the same :） 。。。more

PuckSwaen ，

I loved how the characters interacted with each other。 It's a nice small fantasy adventure story。 I loved how the characters interacted with each other。 It's a nice small fantasy adventure story。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Ghosts of Ascalon

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Ghosts of Ascalon&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Ghosts of Ascalon&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0