World of Warcraft: Cycle of Hatred

This was a good book, and well worth reading, but I didn't like it as much as the other Warcraft Novels.

As a semi-casual WoW player, I probably would never have picked this up, if I hadn't been absolutely book-less a few minutes before a 10-day at-sea cruise. I saw this book, and the War of the Ancients trilogy. The WotA books just looked, well, boring, and daunting. So I got this book. I'm so very glad I did. I enjoyed it immensely! The inaccuracies mentioned in other reviews, while existent, didn't really take away from the story, in my humble opinion. This book is really what sparked my love of Warcraft lore. I loved reading about the places and people that I'd visited and seen in the game, and even now, two-plus years after reading it, passages still stick in my mind as I gallop through Azeroth, four characters later. As a Warcraft newcomer, I felt that I got a better grasp and a better love of the virtual world my characters inhabited by reading this book. On a slightly unrelated note, I thought it was great how the publishers highlighted Jaina on the back cover of this book, thought it would have been nice if, you know, the front cover reflected the book's main focus at all. I suppose that the publishers felt that they needed a fight on the front to sell a book. Really, though, I've recommended this book to people who don't know or like WoW, and they've loved it, just as I did. In fact, this book is what convinced my cousin and my roommate to start playing WoW with me. They play Horde, but created Alliance alts just so I could show them Jaina. Yeah. It's that good of a book. Well, it's no Chaucer, and perhaps it's more of a marketing tool than a book, but it's enjoyable, none the less. :)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was an easy read, with a good plot. If you are looking for a book with a lot of World of Warcraft history, you won't find it in this book. What you will find is a good fantasy story set in the World of Warcraft universe involving "big name" characters.

Now if you are a real Warcraft Fan - you dont need the character developement that the other reviewer(s) are whining about - this was a great read with plenty of interesting info about the Warcraft world. Even if you only played Warcraft III and not WoW (like me) you know all you need to know to not miss the waisted time of reading stuff you already know. But dont get me wrong - there are plenty of references to the characters' backgrounds so that even new readers can somewhat get a feel for what is going on... I will agree it is no where near as good as any other Warcraft book written (and i have read all but one) but that does not take away from this great read.

The first of the official WoW novelisations, this is not just a tale for WoW game junkies (though the junkies will love it too). It's just a good story, period. Simple yet descriptive language puts the reader in the frame of mind of an almost young-adult type of word style. Nevertheless, the book is highly entertaining as it traces a story of two of Warcraft's main characters, Jaina Proudmoore and Warchief Thrall in the early stages of their shaky alliance on Kalimdor (about a year before WoW starts). Fans of the game will recognise many names and places and thanks to that familiarity will have a clear mental picture in places of exactly what the author is describing. It's a fast read and worthwhile, even if it's just to wile away those hours of server downtime while you wait to log on once more. Highly recommended.