World of Warcraft: Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects

Excellent read

I read this book cover to cover in about a day and a half (which is about as fast as I go) and was very pleased by it. It ties in with the video games, WarCraft 3 and World of WarCraft, as well as ties into several other books in the WarCraft lore. It stills delivers originality and does not feel like it's 'describing a game campaign on paper'. Accuracy was very good too, I scrutinize details and 'facts' in books as compared to others in the same universe and this was very well thought out.

Yet another example of Christie Golden's excellent work, I have quickly become a fan of hers in her WarCraft/StarCraft novels and sincerely hopes she continues to write in these universes.

8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

A Huntard's review of The Shattering

I recently finished reading Christie Golden's "The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm," and in the spirit of actually working on this blog again, I'm reviewing it for your edification. Or annoyance. Whatevs.
The novel follows Thrall's quest to understand what's happening to Azeroth, and his pain at the torment his beloved elements are enduring. It also shows the internal strife present in the Horde, and the treachery of the Grimtotem clan, and chronicles Cairne's death, Thrall's more permanent appointment of Garrosh as warchief, and Moira's return to Ironforge and the death (I'm assuming he's dead) of our pal Magni.

Off the bat, a few things got me hopping mad about the book, none of which can be blamed on the author. First, Cairne's death. Dammit, I liked him. Second, Magni's death. Huh!? Two of my favorite leaders, gone. The horde being led by a hothead, and Ironforge ruled by a sociopath. Regardless of why she became one, the fact remains that she's a sociopath. No good can come of this.

Now that that's out of the way, on to the novel itself. One thing that comes through time and again is the balance Christie Golden is able to walk while bringing major lore characters to life. Do too much, and they change materially. Too little, and they seem as though they're cardboard cutouts with no personality. Personally, this is my chief complaint with some of Knaak's work. it seems as if he's scared to approach the major lore figures, and as such they come off very wooden. As in Arthas, Christie's treatment of Thrall, Anduin, and others does not disappoint. It manages to be true to the existing lore of the characters while giving a perspective on each of their inner turmoils and struggles.

Anduin in particular is wonderfully done. His simultaneous love and disdain for different aspects of his father's personality shines through, and we get to see what he's become: a developing leader with a great amount of empathy for others. I loved this guy.

I also think that the novel, particularly later in the story, has done a great job of undoing some of the general dislike towards Garrosh. Garrosh, from in-game sources, has come across as a jerk. In the novel, although we see that he's hotheaded and sometimes stupid, we also see his great sense of honor at being robbed of a proper kill in his battle with Cairne. We also see humility, when he realizes the losses the Horde has suffered, and the consequences of his brashness.

Golden's descriptions of Thrall's struggles in Nagrand were particularly revealing. You sense the pain he feels at his world's suffering, and his reluctant mentor Aggra eventually feels it too. Thrall casting off the plate armor and taking up the traditional Shaman garb marked what I think will be a drastically different direction for the character, although like others I am disappointed that his romantic interest ended up being someone other than Jaina, although I understand why it had to be that way.

I think it's probably tough to write a novel when most of the major points of the story are already laid out for you. That said, Christie Golden did as great a job as she did on Arthas. Her ability to bring major characters to life without changing their essence is extremely valuable in this genre, and separates her work from the heaps of trash in the Warcraft and Star Wars universes that I can only describe as glorified fanfic.

I enjoyed the book immensely!

6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Arthas - Need We Say More

First off, I am a lover of WOW lore. I have read several books about the lore and it positively amazes me.

The goods of this book is that we can really see how Arthas makes his change from being the Prince to the Lich King. We understand his relationship with Jaina and the influence she had on him and his actions (both positive and negative).

The negatives of the book is the focus of Jaina. I honestly felt like I was reading a romance novel at times, instead of the story of Arthas (now, I realize that Arthas and Jaina's story is important to his development, but I think there was too much there). I would also liked to see more character development with Uther. The last thing I did not like was the writing style of the book. It was very elementary reading, maybe to capture a different audience, however, it was written more for a teenager than an adult.

Overall, a good book and definitely worth the read, especially if you're a lore addict like me.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Great book

If you play the game you will love this book. Gave great insight to new expansion. I want to read it again!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Rise of the Lich King

This is the first World of Warcraft novel I've read thus far and all in all it was a pleasurable read. The story follows closely to Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne expansion, in some cases even word for word dialouge in some of the more memorable scenes. The center of the story revolves mostly around Arthas, though it expands a little bit on Jaina and Sylvanas. Prior to reading this book I had always thought of Arthas as a mirror image to the original Darth Vader, but after reading it I would've liked to known the parts to skip, Arthas' whining. Some parts of Arthas' story were well rounded and fleshed out in the image I had. Other parts explored his 'humanity' a little too childishly. Many mager characters such as Varian, Khagdar, and Uther are prominent in the book, giving some pleasant back exposition over the other personalities that inhabit the world of Azeroth. Kel`Thuzad stands out as one of my favorite figures in particular because of how 2-dimensional his character is. For those that think just because they've played the games, should know the story, you won't. There are some delightful perks saved within this book that bring more light on questions left unanswered since the Wrath of the Lich King has taken off. If you want to enjoy a simple but memorable book with a particular shocker at the very end (trust me it's delicious if you like World of Warcraft and speculate about the Icecrown Citadel raid).

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Love it

It made me love my shaman even more

Darvena

Goes to warcraft first result.

I just live it!

I'm not much of a reader but during my depolyment to Iraq I saw this book and decide to read, because me and my wife are WoW fans, and I loved it. I love how the author writes even dough it took me almost four to six month to actually finish it the story is geat. Now I'm trying to read the rest of the series.

Love the lore

As I entered Northrend I really was looking forward to questing and eventually fighting Arthas. I really enjoy the lore around this expansion and for me this book was a must have. In the beginning of the book I felt like I was going through his struggles with him and eventually becoming the lich king I really feel I can fight and beat him with a sense of satisfaction

WoW the book

WoW the game rocks and all the books do to!

Malnourished ghost wolf balls

Exquisitely awesome if you play wow get it,if your a fantasy get it. Christie Golden FTW

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

What happened to the cover? It is wrong! I need it fixed for m

What happened to the cover? It is wrong! I need it fixed for my NOOK.

Horde 5644

Lok-tar for the Horde!!!!! Horde rules Alliance drules because they stink at fighting. I make all my guys on wow Horde. I do that because me & my dad play the game together. We are huge Horde fans. If there are any more Horde fans out there, FOR THE HORDE!!! Horde rules

Good Read if you love the Arthas arc.

If you enjoy the story arc for Arthas, then you should definitely pick this up. I couldn't put the book down it was that good. I'm not too familiar with the Warcraft Lore, so it didn't confuse me that much...but its not recommended for people who know nothing about Dalaran or the characters...you'll be completely lost.

If you play WoW and love the love story of Jaina and Arthas..get it.

Christie's the best!

I love Goldens books!

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Freaking awesome!!

I could not put thus book down. Explains a ton of the lore going on behind the scenes just before the latest patch, The Hour of Twilight. I recommend reading The Shattering first.

Excellent!

A very good book. I can't put it down

Awesome book but....

This is an awesome in depth book about everything you need to know pre-cataclysm. A world of warcraft lore fans must have, only one thing....... The cover of this Ebook shows up as Twilight Aspects and not the Shattering, someone please fix this! It makes it difficult to tell the difference on Nook Simple Touch if you have both books. I find myself opening the wrong book to read and its very annoying, other than that I would give this book five stars.

highly recomended

It came very quickly and was packaged very well I recomend this seller