Guild Wars 2

I recently purchased the three novels. I took great care to avoid all spoilers because I wanted to read them in the right* order and dutifully read Ghosts of Ascalon first. I noticed, of course, that Edge of Destiny was named after Destiny’s Edge, but only found out later that it is set 5 years before the events in Ghosts of Ascalon.

(* chronoligical…)

Should I have read Edge of Destiny first? Or is there any merit to this? Is there any reason Ghosts of Ascalon was released first?

And more importantly right now, how does Sea of Sorrows fit in? Should I read Edge of Destiny now or Sea of Sorrows?

:’-(

The books were released in reverse chronicle order. Chronicle order is Sea of Sorrows -> Edge of Destiny -> Ghosts of Ascalon.

However, there is no real reason to read them in order. They are individual stories with little to no relation to each other, and Sea of Sorrows is based nearly 100 years before the other two. There’s nothing that really isn’t said in general gameplay/knowledge of GW2’s story that spoils books. Only about Lion’s Arch being rebuilt by pirates is really a spoiler to SoS if you only read the books, and only about Destiny’s Edge’s division is a spoiler if you read GoA before EoD. But both facts are highly pronounced in the game, near impossible to avoid.

Sorrow’s Embrace, the Marriner Plaques, and select NPCs are really the only spoilers to the book, truthfully.

chronoligical:

Sea of Sorrows 1219 A.E.
Edge of Destiny 1319 A.E.
Ghosts of Ascalon 1324 A.E.

Thanks for the info! I should’ve asked sooner

So I guess I will read Sea of Sorrows next – so I can do the Marriner Plaques scavenger hunt.

Especially thanks for the hint about Sorrow’s Embrace containing spoilers.

well you’re already going in reverse chronological order by playing the game before reading the books, so might as well stick to the order the books were released (ghosts, destiny, sorrows)

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Sorrow’s Embrace, the Marriner Plaques, and select NPCs are really the only spoilers to the book, truthfully.

that cutscene was sooooooo cool. made me and my friend kinda want the whole book to be told in that style :P

Always read on release date order.

Sometimes authors make references to previous works, and you won’t get them if you don’t read them by release date order.

Lonami.2987:

Always read on release date order.

Sometimes authors make references to previous works, and you won’t get them if you don’t read them by release date order.

Why would an author make a reference to something they (or somebody else!) have written before, but that plays “in the future”, and if they did, how would that impact my ability to understand what’s going on?

On the contrary, in Ghosts of Ascalon, events and people are referenced that are vastly elaborated on in Edge of Destiny, which was released after.

I am reading them in order of release now, but halfway through the second one, I still think I would have been happier if I would have stuck to the chronological order.

Most references made in Sea of Sorrows are to unexplained Points of interests in the game. From Macha’s Landing (warning, reference spoiled on article) to Maw and Pride (and in fact, the other Claw Island PoI too) and even Harbinger.

There really aren’t any references written up in Edge of Destiny, except a nod to GW1.

And Ghosts of Ascalon’s references are limited to cameos of Destiny’s Edge more or less. Though there are subtle hints to later-revealed lore about the charr invasion (multiple Searing Cauldrons when previously thought to be one and only one).

Pixelpumpkin.4608:

Lonami.2987:

Always read on release date order.

Sometimes authors make references to previous works, and you won’t get them if you don’t read them by release date order.

Why would an author make a reference to something they (or somebody else!) have written before, but that plays “in the future”, and if they did, how would that impact my ability to understand what’s going on?

On the contrary, in Ghosts of Ascalon, events and people are referenced that are vastly elaborated on in Edge of Destiny, which was released after.

I am reading them in order of release now, but halfway through the second one, I still think I would have been happier if I would have stuck to the chronological order.

It’s something that happens often in other bigger franchises. No matter when the events happen, there’s references to stuff in other books. Of course, they’re always minor, and unless you read the previous books and paid a lot of attention, you won’t notice them.