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.