World of warcraft : rise of the horde

English language

Published May 23, 2007

ISBN:: 978-0-7434-7138-1

(1 review)

World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde is a novel by Christie Golden set in the Warcraft Universe. It was published in December 2006. Golden also has a commitment with Blizzard Entertainment and Simon & Schuster to write a StarCraft trilogy. Originally presumed to be the sequel to her previous 2001 book, Warcraft: Lord of the Clans, it depicts the draenei's escape from Argus and the rise of the Horde, following their shift from a shamanic race to a warmongering one. The book features major Warcraft characters, such as Durotan, Ner'zhul, Gul'dan, Orgrim Doomhammer, Kil'jaeden, and Velen. The story tells of how the orc clans and the noble draenei slowly become enemies due to deception and arrogance, and shows the downward spiral into which the orcs are thrown, and explores the role that demonic forces play in the Horde. It also expands on the origin of the Burning Legion, and …

World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde is a novel by Christie Golden set in the Warcraft Universe. It was published in December 2006. Golden also has a commitment with Blizzard Entertainment and Simon & Schuster to write a StarCraft trilogy. Originally presumed to be the sequel to her previous 2001 book, Warcraft: Lord of the Clans, it depicts the draenei's escape from Argus and the rise of the Horde, following their shift from a shamanic race to a warmongering one. The book features major Warcraft characters, such as Durotan, Ner'zhul, Gul'dan, Orgrim Doomhammer, Kil'jaeden, and Velen. The story tells of how the orc clans and the noble draenei slowly become enemies due to deception and arrogance, and shows the downward spiral into which the orcs are thrown, and explores the role that demonic forces play in the Horde. It also expands on the origin of the Burning Legion, and the events preceding the first game of the Warcraft series. The entire novel appears to be told from the viewpoint of Thrall, son of Durotan, and every chapter features a diary entry. Thrall himself was not alive during these events, as he himself is learning them from Drek'Thar, an elder farseer. The book could be considered a sequel of Lord of the Clans, but an equally strong case could be made for Rise of the Horde being a prequel.

1 edition

Kadomi reviewed World of warcraft : rise of the horde by Christie Golden

Review of 'World of warcraft : rise of the horde' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

While better than the last Warcraft book I read, this book is altogether just as average, though I did enjoy Christie Golden's writing. Unfortunately, it's all very black and white, scratching characters on the surface. But I get ahead of myself.

The story of Rise of the Horde gives a lot of backstory of how the once beautiful world of Draenor ended up being the broken world of Outland that we know today. Sargeras makes his offer to the three most powerful eredar: Archimonde, Kil'jaeden and Velen. Velen refuses and flees from his former friends, taking loyal people with him. They come to Draenor, homeworld of the orcs, those draenei, and all is well for 200 years. Until KJ finds them, and turns to the orcs to corrupt them, to use them as tool for destroying Velen and his people.

As a big whopping TBC lover, I had fun reading …

While better than the last Warcraft book I read, this book is altogether just as average, though I did enjoy Christie Golden's writing. Unfortunately, it's all very black and white, scratching characters on the surface. But I get ahead of myself.

The story of Rise of the Horde gives a lot of backstory of how the once beautiful world of Draenor ended up being the broken world of Outland that we know today. Sargeras makes his offer to the three most powerful eredar: Archimonde, Kil'jaeden and Velen. Velen refuses and flees from his former friends, taking loyal people with him. They come to Draenor, homeworld of the orcs, those draenei, and all is well for 200 years. Until KJ finds them, and turns to the orcs to corrupt them, to use them as tool for destroying Velen and his people.

As a big whopping TBC lover, I had fun reading about the life of the orcs and the various locations. It makes me want to log on, fly to Shadowmoon Valley and watch the shade of Gul'dan corrupting his people. It is obvious Golden has played WoW, because she describes elements from the game, like the various demons of the warlocks, quite well. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, the characters are very one-note. Gul'dan and Blackhand are just evil and power-hungry, with no real depth to them. Durotan is the good guy, the hero that tries to do the right thing. Again, little depth.

Regardless, I shall plod on, because it is quite fascinating to read about the events I have played through for years now.