I was surprised by how much I liked the Ocean of Tears. It is set back in the time when Weille was the "free port" and during the formative days of the Combine Empire. Much lore is covered concerning the dark elves, Grieg and his invention of the spires, the Orcs and the high elves and many other facets of EQ1. This is wrapped around a story that is much more engaging than Rogue's Hour. While some of the die hards will disdain any attempt to translate their world of EQ1 into fiction, this is the best of the two published novels. It doesnt create new and unheard of lands and cities as was the case in Rogue's Hour. The Ocean of Tears uses the lands, cities and even spells of the original EQ and the Kunark expansion. I found that it brought back many fond memories of the landmark game.