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.