World of Warcraft: Sylvanas Review

World of Warcraft: Sylvanas

World of Warcraft: Sylvanas was written by New York Times Best-Selling Author, Christie Golden. The book was published by Del Rey and serves a media tie-in novel to Blizzard’s World of Warcraft game. This story takes place after the novel, Shadow’s Rising.

SUMMARY: Sylvanas Windrunner reflects on her life, from childhood all the way up to current day (in game). We follow her down the light and dark paths she took throughout her life, exposing the devastating details as to how and why she came to be so fierce. Sylvanas meets The Jailor in a place called the Maw. He reveals to Sylvanas that the afterlife is corrupt and unjust; that it needs to be transformed. If Sylvanas allies with The Jailer, together they can rebuild the afterlife to bring fairness and justice to the souls of not just Azeroth, but the universe.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This book is packed with excellent character development, it has an entertaining plot, it’s loaded with emotion, and it’s tragic. It’s got all the elements needed to be a great World of Warcraft fantasy story.

This book has such an emotional story! Christie Golden managed to bring a tear to my eye a few times with this wonderfully tragic tale. Sylvanas Windrunner suffered great loss throughout her life, but her biggest flaw was her pride. She was forced into a life she did not want, being reborn to a world of chaos and endless pain, once she became the Banshee Queen. It was easy to feel sympathy for Sylvanas; but when she broke through her bondage to walk a new path, her swollen pride and eagerness for revenge, kept her enslaved to darkness.

Christie Golden explored the early life of Sylvanas Windrunner, and she did an outstanding job penning the family dynamic in the Windrunner household. Each character is unique; the love between them felt so authentic! I really enjoyed reading the backstory of the youthful Sylvanas and the times she had with her family; she had such a strong bond with her younger brother. The introduction of a man named Nathanos and how the relationship with Sylvanas came to be, was also written very well.

Christie Golden always does a wonderful job giving excellent descriptions. However, there are some elements in the story that I felt needed more explanation, such as the outcome of certain characters and events. I turned to web, browsing to see if some of these missing elements were found in other stories or videos published by Blizzard, some were.

I no longer play World of Warcraft, so I’m happy Blizzard has a YouTube channel with many videos that are highly entertaining and informative. The channel really is a helpful resource. World of Warcraft also has good sized library of short stories, comics, and books, which are a great substitute to spending hours in front of a screen playing the game.

RATING: This book receives a B+. Had more gaps been filled in to explain what happens to specific characters and event for non-gamers, I would have given the story an A+.

World of Warcraft: The Last Guardian Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

World of Warcraft: The Last Guardian was written by Jeff Grubb.

SUMMARY: Long ago, Azeroth was protected from outside forces by the Guardian of Tirisfal. The guardian was a mage, keeping watch over the world, insuring that the burning legion (demonic forces), could do no harm. Sargeras, the dark titan, leader of the Burning Legion, is unrelenting in his campaign to rule the worlds in the universe. After his successful takeover of Draenor in the previous novel, Rise of the Horde, he turns to Azeroth in an attempt to capture it. Throughout Azeroth, Orc numbers have been rising, villages pillaged, farms destroyed, and people slaughtered. The portal used to link Azeroth to Draenor remains undiscovered by warriors of the Stormwind kingdom, they’re busy defending themselves.

An organization known as the Kirin Tor, an order of mages, users of magic, have been deteriorating as the rise in demonic forces have crept over the land.

The Guardian of Tirisfal has always been hesitant to take on an apprentice, until Kahdgar comes to his door.

CHARACTERS: In the world of Azeroth we are met with many new characters, but I haven chosen two to talk about.

Kahdgar: He’s a young man who wields mage powers learned from the Kirin Tor. He is sent to the Guardian with hopes of becoming an apprentice. He’s patient, yet desperate for knowledge. Kahdgar is eager to see visions of either the past or the future within the Guardians tower. He’s a fast learner and skilled at problem solving.

Medivh: He’s the Guardian of Tirisfal, the most powerful mage in all of Azeroth. This power was inherited by his mother Aegwynn, who held on to the roll of Guardian for an extremely unnaturally long time. Medivh is strict, but can also have a sense of humor. He is very mysterious, as he would often disappear from his tower at random and would reappear at his leisure. His odd and inconsistent behavior is confusing for the young Kahdgar.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I really enjoyed this novel, but I have to be honest… it’s not the greatest. The story was fantastic and the plot was executed well. Dialogue wasn’t so smooth. I found story beats getting a little rough towards the last half of the book when the character Garona was introduced. She is half orc and half human, sent to spy and gather info on the Guardian for the orcs. The banter between Garona and Kahdgar was not organic.

A lot of the same words were used within a sentence or paragraph, it made some of the story sound cheaper (if that makes any sense?) a thesaurus would have come in handy for sure. These hiccups with the writing didn’t take away from the story, just the way it was hashed out. Had the book gone through another editor or another set of eyes, I think some of these issues would have been fixed.

Do I recommend that you read World of Warcraft: The Last Guardian? Yes, a great continuation of the Warcraft story from Rise of the Horde

RATING: I will give this novel a B.

World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde Book Review

A Novel by Christie Golden

World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde was written by New York Times Best Selling Author, Christie Golden.

SUMMARY: This book is somewhat difficult to breakdown into a brief summary. I will do my best and not drop any spoilers.

Sergeras, the Dark Titan and lord of the Burning Legion, has corrupted the eredar, a race of powerful magic wielders. Sergeras promised power to the eredar leadership in exchange for their peoples bidding on the world of Argus. Two of the three eredar accept this offer. The one who believes this deal is wrong, is Velen. He and his most trusted, gather others who disagree with the deal between the leadership and Sergeras, to escape their world with the help of a devine Naaru. The eredar who escape the dreaded grip of Sergeras, and make their new home on Draenor. They are given the name, draenei, meaning, exiled ones.

The draeni live among the orcs. The two races aren’t necessarily allies, but they do get along. Over many many years the draeini (who live extremely long lives) have watched the orcs become more civilized with time. Two young orcs find themselves in trouble. However the draeni save them and take them to the draeni kingdom, where they meet Velen. The hospitality the orcs were given, will have a lasting affect on their lives and for major events to come.

Kil’Jaeden, one of the eredar leaders who accepted the deal from Sergeras, becomes obsessed with searching for the draenei. When he finds them on Draenor, he will use his dark power to seduce the orcs into doing his bidding. The shaman orc, Gul’dan, does as instructed and gathers the separate clans of orc, and unites them under one banner as… the horde.

CHARACTERS: There are great number of characters, I will only mention three.

Durotan: He and his Frostwolf clan don’t like how events are playing out under the leadership of Gul’dan. The horde defies much of who they are as a people and their traditions. Durotan does his best to stay loyal to the legacy of the Frostwolf clan and slow to changes forced upon him. He’s brave,defiant, and moral.

Gul’dan: He’s a shaman orc, he’s the great betrayer, the first warlock of the horde. He forces the orcs to abandon the old ways. No longer shall the orcs dwell on the spirts, but a new dark magic. Gul’dan leads his people to betray all they once believed, the peaceful draeni have been twisted in the minds of orc, they are now viewed as the villain and have no place in the world of Draenor. Gul’dan will lead his horde to war, and when the war is over, through a magical portal… to Azeroth… for more blood.

Velen: Former eredar, now a draeni. He is wise and caring for his people. He’s always keeping an eye out for the traitorous Kil’Jaeden. He’s always one step ahead of the Burning Legions quest for domination and annihilating the remainder of his people. His desire for peace and a place to call home is great.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This book was great! The lore for Warcraft is deep and expansive. The story is actually pretty tough to explain without giving much away, but I’d say I succeeded in remaining spoiler free. I loved the book. the characters felt real and their situation dire.

Christie Golden is an excellent writer. This book is the best place to start reading in the Warcraft novel timeline, it’s the formation of the horde and the beginning of the invasion of Azeroth. If your time is limited and you can’t play World of Warcraft the game, the book is a wonderful substitute!

Do I recommend that you read World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde? Heck yes!

RATING: I will give this book an A! It’s full of action and emotion, will leave you craving more of Warcraft lore!

World of Warcraft: Before the Storm Book Review

by Matthew Wilson

World of Warcraft: Before the Storm Book Review

Written by New York Times Best-Selling Author, Christie Golden.

World of Warcraft: Before the Storm was written by New York Times Best-Selling Author, Christie Golden.

SUMMARY: The Burning Legion has been defeated. Both the Horde and Alliance seek solitude to mourn, heal, and prepare for the future. The defeated leader of the Burning Legion, Sargeras, struck Azeroth with a mighty sword for his final blow in his lost war.

A substance with great power is discovered in Silithus, the location in which the giant sword pierced the world. Goblins are mining this newly discovered material. The Alliance discovers the happenings in Silithus and concludes that the majestic material not fall into the wrong hands, especially the horde.

In this brief time, absent of war, The King of Stormwind, invites the Warchief of the Horde and her forsaken people, to an event that all say will be impossible. While the King of Stormwind extends his hand in a peaceful gesture, Sylvanas Windrunner, warchief of the Horde, boils with hatred.

CHARACTERS: There are quite a few characters in the book, and they’re all fleshed out very well. I’ll be talking about two, Anduin Wrynn and Sylvanas Windrunner.

Anduin Wrynn: He’s the king of Stormwind. What he desires most, is peace in Azeroth. He is proud of his people, yet humble in his actions. He’s young, but bears the weight of leadership well. He trusts his loyal advisors, though he does not always act on their advice.

Sylvanas Windrunner: She is the Warchief of the Horde, the Banshee Queen, and Dark Lady of the Forsaken. She’s fueled by hate. However, she does care for her forsaken people. She is occupied with Horde business on Kalimdor, while her people dwell in the Undercity on the Eastern Kingdoms. She is very war hungry.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Christie Golden delivers an enthralling, emotional story driven by hope and rage. This book is wonderful.

This story introduces so much for such a short book. By the end we have a lot of loose ends that don’t get wrapped up in the novel. I think another hundred pages… even two-hundred more would have been welcome. Christie Golden knows how to write characters extremely well. Each character stands out individually with rich backstory that could easily grant them their own story.

Scene setting is always important to me, I like to get a real since of the atmosphere our characters are experiencing. Golden does this wonderfully. The flow of the story was smooth, at no time was a bored or thought things dragged on. I wasn’t counting down the pages wondering when I’d finish a chapter.

Call me a gnomist and goblinist if you want, but I’ve never really liked those races in Warcraft… but in this book I really got a kick out them. They brought in some welcome humor and played an important role on things to come in Azeroth.

There are times in this novel I had to hold back tears. I didn’t expect the book to be an emotional rollercoaster at times! It’s political (in the Warcraft since) and a little adventurous.

Do I recommend you pick up World of Warcraft: Before the Storm? Yes, but I also highly recommend you at least read Rise of the Horde as well, if not before reading Before the Storm.

RATING: I will give this book an A.

Spider-Man Your Friendly Neighborhood Hero

by Matthew Wilson

Marvel – Spider-Man: Inside the World of Your Friendly Neighborhood Hero

This reference book was released by DK Publishing. The book is over 200 pages, loaded with everything you need to know about the amazing Spider-Man! A nice little design detail I like is the gold edged pages.

Up top I’ll put the credits page, information on the editors and directors.

The forward was written by none other than Stan Lee, the creator himself! I was highly entertained by his words, he comes off slightly cocky, but hey… he has every right to be.

In this book, you can learn so much about Spider-Man. Personally, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the web slinger. After I watched Spider-Man homecoming, I became a bit more interested. This book taught me a lot about the hero. There’s a breakdown of his current suit and the technology within. We get a look at all his past spidey suits too!

From Spider-Man’s list of villains to Peter Parker’s coworkers!

You want to learn more about Spider-Man? How about his friends and foes? This DK reference book is for you!

World of Warcraft Book Review: Traveler

by Matthew Wilson

SPOILER FREE

Traveler Series – Book One

World of Warcraft: Traveler is written by Greg Weisman. The art within is done by Samwise Didier and Stepane Belin. Traveler is a junior novel based on the online fantasy game World of Warcraft by Blizzard Entertainment. It was announced in 2016 that this book is the first in an ongoing series. Though as of this review, I have found no details regarding a release for book two.

SUMMARY: Aramar Thorne aka Aram, is a boy who’s forced to spend some unwanted time with the father he could care less about. Greydon Thorne, the father of Aram, made the choice of abandoning his family while Aram was just a small child. Now Greydon is back, with permission from Aram’s mother and stepfather to take the boy with him, to spend six months at sea. Greydon is the captain of his own boat and contractual crew, traveling the sea as a merchant, trading goods from coast to coast. Aram is to learn the ways of the sea, how to trade, wield a sword, and understand various cultures.

The ship is targeted by a sinister group known as The Hidden. They seek a compass possessed by Gredyon. As the crew of Greydon’s ship is separated, Aram obtains the compass, his father tells him to protect the compass, at all cost.

We follow Aram and his companions through tough times, unfamiliar terrain, and dangerous situations in a desperate attempt to avoid The Hidden.

CHARACTERS: I’d like to mention three characters; Aram, Makasa, and Murky.

Aram is just a boy, an artist, putting to paper people and places. He keeps his sketchbook and pencil in his pocket, handy for when the urge to draw strikes. He doesn’t want to become his father, doesn’t want to spend time with, not even talk to him. But, a piece of Aram wants to learn. He’s innocent but angry, kind and adaptable.

Makasa is a young lady, pretty much adopted by her captain, Greydon. Greydon had saved her when she was young so she’s owes him a life debt, as her culture requires. She’s strict and disciplined, brave and honorable. Makasa has the spirit of a warrior but has a soft spot, but keeps up her guard. She doesn’t want attachment and definitely doesn’t want to be drawn in Aram’s sketchbook.

Murky is a murlock, a young fisherman murlock who lost his family. That’s sad… but I hate this character so much. That is all.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: I really enjoyed this book. Blizzard Entertainment had announced in 2016 that this junior novel will be the first in a series. However, as of this review, I have not heard of any updates on when book two will be released.

All the characters were great. The dialogue and interactions between most of the characters was enjoyable. The one major complaint I have for the book, is the stupid murlock character, Murky. Don’t give a creature that can’t talk a big part a story. The pages with Murky on them, I wanted to rip out.

The book was fun and adventurous. Aram character was really fleshed out and has a great backstory. Aram and Makasa actually have a character arch that’ left me satisfied. I can’t wait to read more on the adventures of Aram Thorne and what obstacles he will face.

RATING: I give this book a 3 of 5

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