Rating: 
Summary: Review as a book, not just a starcraft collectible
Review: Had book been relaced not associated with Starcraft, it would have been a breakthrough hit, had it's own movie, and spawned coutless ripoffs.
Although it has not elevated to such greatness, it stands with it's head high anyway. The story is not the most original, but thats not noticible due to the association with the Starcraft universe. Although the charecters could have been fleshed out more, the are developed enough not to be names, or even charecters: they are people, and you really feel for them. Unfourtunatly for a person picking this up without knowledge of the Starcraft universe, the story could get a bit confusing, although not enough to ruin the overall experiance. Speaking of experiances, this is a rollercoaster of happyness, detail, charecter, drama, and loss.
Stripped to essentails though, this feels a tiny bit like a crossover fo Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun and Remarque's All Quite On the Western Front (both great things to work with): Ardo is taken from his love to fight for words meaningless to him, andhas him fighting for his life in a lifeless conflict, ending with him and his comrades dying. Dramatic Ending included.
Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: Hesitate of buying this book, from #2's failure to live up with the first, i wasn't sure. But being the Starcraft fan i am, decided to check it out. Let me tell you, it was NO MISTAKE! This book is so great! It is so filled with action and suspence. Tracy Hickman did a wonderful job with it, and I plan to read more of her books for sure! It is definately the best of the series. The story is about a man named Ardo, who is in love with this girl, when th "zerg" kill her and the terran forces rescue him and others from the area. After much fighiting, and much work on his brain, everything his mind can think of is wrong. when he rescues a civilian everything changes. She has the Psi emitter. A box that can call all the Zerg to an area. After the woman does some work on his brain Ardo cant think straight. When the time comes, he will remember the truth, and will hate all humanity for it... There you go. Thats about the sum of it, without giving away too much. goodguys die, Zergs die, people back stab, etc. Its really a great epic. i truly bieleve this can be a great movie. There was only one flaw that i found in this book. One marine can kill tons of Zerg units. whats up with that? They have a small force, and somehow manage to kill BILLIONS of Zerg when they only have about 8 to 16 men. Something is a little wrong here am I right? Anyhoo, i reccomend this book to anyone who loves Star Craft and any one who loves Sci-Fi, and any one who loves mystery and any one who loves... Why am I wasting my time! I RECCOMEND IT TO EVERYONE!-i edited this just now i fixed up grammar ect. :)
Rating: 
Summary: The best Starcraft book yet!
Review: I am a big Starcraft fan, and have been reading this book series since the first book came out. Even though the first two books in the series were just quick, easily forgettable, and unremarkable reads, I still stuck with the series becuase it's Starcraft and becuase I was sure the series would get better. Enter Tracy Hickman. When I heard that Tracy Hickman (of Dragonlance fame) would be writing the 3rd book in the Starcraft series, I was really excited. He's a talented author and brings some prestige to the series. The main character in "Speed of Darkness" is a man named Ardo Melnikov. The book tells the story of how he joined the Marines, but is mostly centered around his whole squad and their battle with the Zerg on the planet Mar Sara. I'm going to keep this review spoiler free, but there are other characters and plots that unfold throughout the book, as one would assume. All together the story is pretty well done and a lot more engaging than the previous Starcraft novels. The book enthralled me enough so that I couldn't put it down. Until I finished it. A few hours later.. I finished it. That's the sad part. The book could've benefited from about another hundred pages or so. I would've liked it if there were more chapters in the begining of the book that dealt with Ardo before he joined the marines other than just once chapter. Actually, while reading the book I felt that there should have been more time spent on character development and just more depth in general. I get the feeling that Tracy had a 250 page limit so he just tried to make things a little briefer than they could have been. I've gotten this feeling for all the Starcraft novels so far. Maybe it's Pocket Books fault? "Speed of Darkness" might not be the "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" of the StarCraft universe, but it is a highly enjoyable read that could have benefited from an extra hundred pages or so. I highly recommend the book to Starcraft fans, or to those who have read the previous StarCraft novels. Don't let the bitter taste in your mouth from the first two books in the series keep you from giving the third book a try. It's well worth it. Here's hoping for more StarCraft books by Tracy Hickman sometime in the (near) future.
Rating:
Summary: The greatest book i have ever read in my life
Review: I found this book amazing because what the writer does is great, the begining is very nice with the beautiful descriptions of the world of bountiful and the end is engrossing and just totally perfect with the story ive never read such a great book, this book is amazing and praticly leaves you in tears at the end yuo really get into it its great all the things the writer has done in the book like starting with beautiful world and a girl but then they get lost to later find out it was all a lie, the story is great and suprises you along the way even if your a starcraft fan this story is much more original then the other two.
BUY THIS BOOK, its amazing!
Rating: 
Summary: The Shakespearian Tragedy in Space.
Review: I know Starcraft fans are really gonna be drilling me for this one but please let me explain why I gave this book only 3 stars. It was too dang depressing. The entire time I read the book I did not once feel excited. It was like reading Romeo and Juliet, nothing but tragedy and it got old really fast. I was amused by Cutter's Gung-Ho attitude however Ardo I thought was too much of a stiff. The book was just too short to really get into charactor development. One thing that should make this a 2-star and not a 3-star is the fact that asside from marine, zerg, sons of korhal, there really wasn't any real distinction between this book and the Starcraft universe. In the seccond one, the only real connection is General Duke, Acturus and Kerrigan. There are no charactors from Blizzard's Starcraft universe which makes this really disapointing. But what really got to me was you knew they were all going to die, they practicly told you that 50 pages before it happened. I thought they would get out somehow because it was no that far into the book however they all died anyway and that made me a little mad. My conclusion is this book is a seat filler intended to attract Starcraft fans into spending [money] and finishing the book overnight. I was really disapointed with this one, the first one is still the best.
Rating:
Summary: Finally a StarCraft book not chained to the game formulas!
Review: I was hesistant to pick up "Speed of Darkness" because I heard from a few friends that it was the worst book so far. But when I did pick it up I really enjoyed it. The story follows a young man whos life seems all up and joyful until he is forced to join the Terran marines. Hickman attempts to make his character very human and sort of erie: and he does a great job! The only flaw that I find with this novel is that the ending was sort of a let down (I won't spoil it for you). Overall, read "Speed of Darkness", I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.
Rating:
Summary: Not as upbeat as the others but very good
Review: I was hesistant to pick up "Speed of Darkness" because I heard from a few friends that it was the worst book so far. But when I did pick it up I really enjoyed it. The story follows a young man whos life seems all up and joyful until he is forced to join the Terran marines. Hickman attempts to make his character very human and sort of erie: and he does a great job! The only flaw that I find with this novel is that the ending was sort of a let down (I won't spoil it for you). Overall, read "Speed of Darkness", I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.
Rating:
Summary: Well written - especially for SC lovers
Review: Pretty well written - good story, nicely embedded quotes, data and descriptions from the actual game. All that without taking away from the quality of a scifi novel. Tracy Hickman does a good job at bringing you into the rine life - at times stripped from humanity and at times just focused on the human essence. A bit too dark and at the same time imbued with hope. Sometimes the action scenes were a bit too repetitive - could have used some spicing up, new elements. The book could have used some ingenious insight into the zerg society (perhaps through the rine's observations) - although the book attempts to scratch the surface on that aspect. Dark, but otherwise a decent scifi book - recommended even for non starcrafters.
Rating:
Summary: The best starcraft novel yet
Review: READ the reviwers, one single constant is found: this is the BEST starcraft novel of the three. I've read all of them and let me tell you this, this book is a movie candidate. This novel doesn't even NEED to be read by a starcraft fan for he/she to like it. it's story is complete and full of emotion, action, suspense ... DON'T be fooled by it's simple portrait (but nevertheless i love it, it exemplifies all the novel) it is a grown-up, not for faint hearted people. five stars for a game tie-in novel.
Rating:
Summary: Speed of Darkness: a REAL Sci-fi
Review: Set in the STARCRAFT galaxy where human race battles the Protoss and the Zerg for survival, this novel takes place on the Zerg-infested planet Mar Sara. Ardo Melnikov, a newly recruited marine steps into the dropship heading for Mar Sara to seek revenge for what the Zerg did to his love ones, at least that's what he thought he is doing... For Ardo, this is more than a path to revenge, it is also a journey to reveal his true identity. As Ardo battles through the planet with his squad members, fragments of unknown memories start to surface in his mind. In no time, he can no longer distinguish his real memories apart from the "unnatural" ones. Without anyone to support him in the war-tore planet, Ardo suffers from his memories, he tries to forget them yet they always return as if they're reoccurring nightmares. Ardo's self struggle will soon face a turning point however, when he meets a woman named Merdith, a member of the rebeling organization, the Sons of Korhal.
Tracy Hickman did a brilliant job in portraying the environment of STARCRAFT universe with clear descriptions the buildings' interior, such as the barracks, command center, and refinery..,etc. The specific languages use by the marines and the routine of the army are accurately stated, which effectively grabs the attention of hardcore STARCRAFT fans. This novel is a definitely considered a good stand alone sci-fi instead of another story in the STARCRAFT universe for people who played the game. By excluding the famous STARCRAFT characters such as Kerrigan and Jim Reynor from the novel. Hickman assures that readers who never played the game can still read the novel and get the feel of the universe and environment without being puzzled by characters relating to the original storyline. I strongly advice this book to any readers, both players and non-players of the game STARCRAFT. As long as you are a sci-fi fan, you will enjoy the intensity and actions between the warfare of human and Zerg.
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