Eroldren continues his spotlight review over Blizzard’s Heart of the Swarm short story series.

“A swift read with fierce and stout characters of fun who will grip you.” – The Founding Fields

When I saw Matt Forbeck’s name crop up in the short story section for StarCraft II, I suspected I was in for a worthwhile treat base on his prior reception here at The Founding Fields. Featuring the Viking unit this time around and set on the frozen fringe world of Braxis which StarCraft players haven’t revisited in any direct manner story-wise since the days of Brood War (or perhaps even the Nintendo 64). Surely “Lost Vikings” has something great in exchange for our time?

Erik Snabb did his time in the corps, but he got smart and traded in his wings while he still could. Going from being a fighter ace to being a loving husband and father took some getting used to, but Erik is handling it well… until the zerg threaten his home and his family once again.

With a Erik Snabb as the lead character driving the story here as he and others hold off the Zerg Swarm’s advancements as Dominion citizen and personnel evacuate. Despite sent into the middle of a dire situation for Erik and his new relationship with seasoned Viking comrades they were believable enough people to become interested in. Throw in the action against the Zerg and the tensions being a Viking pilot, Matt Forbeck can keep you reading straightaway through all the pages.

If there were any down points to give to Forbeck’s otherwise great story was the obvious namesake references to The Lost Vikings video game series as the short story’s title suggests and other Nordic bits seeded into the backstory. And by extension a lack of fear for particular characters named after their Lost Viking counterparts verses others as they go up against the Zerg Swarm. Though I’ve grown accustomed to appreciating these easter eggs Blizzard well known to hide within their game products, seeing it in the fiction medium however instead was off putting for me as I grasped the full extent of the story and its cast of characters after understanding Erik Snabb’s origins.

Although on a trivial note of fair warning: nobody is abducted by a malevolent protoss looking for terran specimens for his inter-galactic zoo. Matt Forbeck’s “Lost Vikings” doesn’t push itself that far.

Until next time,

Overall Verdict: 9/10