A brief moment so I can clean up my tears. After several years checking Amazon, and some book publishers on a daily basis for any new products, especially Diablo products, one has finally pop up on radar range.

The last Diablo products, other than calendars, which have been published were the Diablo Archive (collecting several past novels) and Diablo: The Sin War Trilogy by Richard A. Knaak.

Today a new Diablo product is listed in Amazon. It’s not a novel, but because of the existence of this product we might speculate the gates for upcoming Diablo novels is now open, with approval from Blizzard to start flooding bookstores by 2012+.

Insight Editions, the publisher of The Cinematic Art of World of Warcraft: The Wrath of the Lich King, has announced the upcoming Diablo III: Book of Cain. This hardcover contains 144 pages and hits bookstores on November 15, 2011. Care to speculate a Q4 release date for Diablo III?

Blizzard executives and developers have shared their wish to ship in Q4 2011, without an official commitment to do so noting they won’t sacrifice game quality for a set date and it will ship when it’s done.

Product Description

In Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo® and Diablo II, the recurring character of Deckard Cain delivered quests, accompanied the brave adventurer, and, as the last of the Horadrim, provided a link to the greater history of the world of Sanctuary. Ever mysterious during these appearances, Cain hinted at a larger story, providing snippets of it in his notebook. Diablo III: Book of Cain is Cain’s formal record of this greater tale—a dissertation on the lore of the Diablo universe, told by one who has witnessed and participated in some of the epic events that make up the eternal conflict between the High Heavens and the Burning Hells.

Designed as an “in-world” artifact from the Diablo universe, Diablo III: Book of Cain includes Cain’s revealing meditations, as well as dozens of sketches and color artworks depicting the angelic and demonic beings who wage constant war with one another.

For players of the eagerly anticipated Diablo III, this mysterious tome will provide a deeper understanding of the franchise and its storyline.

Pre-order Diablo III: Book of Cain now.

Note: Marketing of the games and the novel tie-ins seems to be very predictable. Even if the official release date of a Blizzard Entertainment video game has not been announced, one can draw a conclusion based on the announced release date of novel tie-ins. These release dates are listed by bookstores far in advance (pre-orders). Some of the novel release dates end up in bookstores a month before the game ships, some novels do so a month after the game ships. Based on the release date of Diablo III: Book of Cain (November 15), one can extrapolate Diablo III might ship in the range of October, November, or December 2011 (more or less). World of Warcraft: Arthas being the exception. Examples below:

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm — (December 7, 2010)

  • World of Warcraft: The Shattering (October 19, 2010)
  • World of Warcraft: Stormrage (November 30, 2010)

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King — (November 13, 2008)

  • World of Warcraft: Arthas, Rise of the Lich King (April 21, 2009)

World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade — (January 16, 2007) Note: Burning Crusade suffered a delay from its original December 2006 release date

  • World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde (December 26, 2006)

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty — (July 27, 2010) Note: StarCraft II development was announced in Seoul, South Korea on May 19, 2007

  • StarCraft: The Dark Templar Trilogy, Firstborn (May 22, 2007)
  • StarCraft II: Heaven’s Devils (April 6, 2010)

StarCraft: Ghost (last known release date before postponement: April 2006)

  • StarCraft: Ghost Nova (according to my interview with Keith R.A. DeCandido the novel was meant to ship simultaneously with the game)

Update: Added Diablo III: Book of Cain to our Blizzard Products 2011 Release Dates List and the Diablo Books Store.