As Blizzard Entertainment gets ready to launch Diablo IV for pre-orders on June 1, many gamers might want to learn more about the history of this huge franchise. As luck would have it, they can do just that by checking out a book that offers a detailed history of the development of the original game in the fantasy action-RPG franchise right now for a rock bottom price.
The book is Stay Awhile and Listen: Book I Legendary Edition: How Two Blizzards Unleashed Diablo and Forged a Video-Game Empire. It's written by David L. Craddock and right now you can download the eBook version on Amazon for just 99 cents. Normally the book costs $9.99 to purchase on its own. The low price will continue until May 30.
Here's a quick summary of the book:
Two companies. Two opposing cultures. One multi-billion-dollar video-game empire.
Stay Awhile and Listen: How Two Blizzards Unleashed Diablo and Forged a Video-Game Empire - Book 1 invites readers to discover the origin of Blizzard North, a studio built by gamers, for gamers, and Blizzard Entertainment, a convergence of designers driven to rule their industry.
Composed from exhaustive research and hundreds of personal interviews, the Stay Awhile and Listen series divulges the fated meeting that brought the two Blizzards together, the clashes that tore them apart, and their transformation from grassroots democracy to corporate empire. At the center of it all—Diablo, a hack-and-slash adventure through the darkest recesses of Hell that changed online gaming forever.
You can also read the book for no additional cost if you sign up for Kindle Unlimited. For $11.99 a month, you can access millions of ebooks, comics, and magazines.
If you like the first Stay Awhile and Listen book, the good news is that Craddock has released the second book in the series, Stay Awhile and Listen: Book II: Heaven, Hell, and Secret Cow Levels. It chronicles the making of Diablo II. It's available to purchase and download for $9.99.
If you prefer to "read" books via audiobooks, the good news is that both of the Stay Awhile and Listen volumes are available in that format as well on Audible. You can even get one or both of them for free with the 30 day free trial to Audible Premium Plus.
During the trial period, you can get one audiobook from Audible's vast library for free, and if you are an Amazon Prime member, you can get two audio books for free. Best of all, if you decide to cancel your Audible Premium Plus membership before the free trial ends, you can still keep the audiobooks you got during that trial.
By the way, you should definitely check out Craddock's other video game history books as well. That includes his most recent book, Long Live Mortal Kombat: Round 1: The Fatalities and Fandom of the Arcade Era, about the early developments of the Mortal Kombat game franchise.
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