Before Diablo III first released, Blizzard put out the Book of Cain, a lovingly crafted lore repository that has become one of my all-time favourite pieces of gaming memorabilia. To mark Reaper of Souls’ launch, they released the somewhat less impressive Book of Tyrael, which added more to Diablo’s backstory.
And that was pretty much that, except now something interesting has happened. Amazon has now posted a listing for a third installment of this series: the Book of Adria.
Well.
I’m trying not to get my hopes up here, and I’m not being entirely successful.
I had pretty much written Diablo III off as a dead game at this point. I’m desperate for a conclusion to the multiple cliffhangers left by Reaper of Souls, but it’s been so long without any meaningful updates to the game or even the suggestion of such that I had figured Blizzard had abandoned the project for some incomprehensible reason.
And a new book definitely doesn’t mean that a new expansion pack is around the corner. Maybe they’re just churning out a new book for the sake of getting a little extra cash from the Diablo brand name.
But each of the previous Book of X installments were tied to a major release. And this is coming on the heels of the announcement of new comic books in the Diablo universe, so it does feel as if some momentum is building here. Gamescom and BlizzCon are both coming soon, so there’s at least the opportunity for a major announcement in the near future.
We do know that Blizzard is working on something related to Diablo. They’ve been hiring new developers for the Diablo franchise for a while now. The general assumption was that it was for Diablo IV or some other new game, but it seems too early for an announcement of either of those things. If the Book of Adria is tied to a new release — which I grant is far from certain — it’s more likely to be for Diablo III content than anything else.
If nothing else, a new source of Diablo lore is appealing, especially as seen through the eyes of Adria. She was one of the most memorable characters of Diablo III, and delving into her writings could provide fascinating insights into not just the Burning Hells, but her psychology as a character, as well.
Finally, as an aside, this news comes at an interest time for me personally as I’ve recently been getting back into playing D3. I’m doing so very casually, but I wanted something mindless to relax with, and it occurred to me I’d never finished the story on my necromancer. My gripes from before remain, but I can’t deny Corpse Explosion is ridiculously satisfying to use.
Superior Realities 
for some odd reason I reloaded D3 and started playing again. I don’t even remember where I left off (was playing on my PS4 originally, now PC). It’s fun. Mindless fun, mind you, but that’s good now and again.
I’d love to see a new Diablo title instead of an update / expansion
The only way I’d be entirely okay with a new game instead of an expansion is if it’s a direct sequel that continues from RoS with the same characters and plotlines. And even then I’d still be a little miffed since the effort I spent gearing up my characters would be wasted. I spent all that time grinding out my Tal Rasha’s set with the expectation I’d be able to use it in a new expansion.