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!