The Warcraft Archive

=SPOILERS AHEAD= Day of the Dragon - 3.5 Stars - While I liked the writing style, I found the constant (and sometimes pointless) action a bit tiresome. The novel is very plot-driven, and characters often act and think exactly the way they need to in order to keep the story going. Apart from this, I loved Day of the Dragon. The characterization was rather well done, and the sexual tension between the protagonists was especially enjoyable, as it was both simple and well-developed, without any of the Deux Sex Machina idiocy that tends to occur so often in fantasy novels. Finally, I found Day of the Dragon especially enjoyable because it dealt with a part of WarCraft storyline that I knew little about - that being the dragon aspects, how the Orcs enslaved Alextrasza, and the semi-peaceful period following the second war. Lord of the Clans - 5 Stars - Kudos to Christie Golden for writing this novel. It is, by far, my favorite in this collection. It tells the tale of Thrall's life before WarCraft III, at the same time giving us an insight into what the world of Azeroth was like between the second and the third war. The writer focuses on emotions and character development, and wastes no time on unnecessary action scenes. Christie Golden shows great skill when it comes to handling her characters, even managing to present a stereotypical evil baron as a human being that elicits pity, as well as hate. After reading Lord of the Clans, I'm definitely going to buy other novels by C. Golden. Even if you have no interest in purchasing WarCraft Archive, you should consider getting standalone Lord of the Clans - it's well worth it even if you aren't a fan of the genre. The Last Guardian - 4 Stars - While the hero of this novel is Khadgar the mage, the story itself revolves around Medivh and his gradual degeneration into "madness". It gives us an insight into the guardian's personality, and reveals his motives, as well as the outside influences that made him the man (monster) he was. The story is well done, the writing style manages to be ornate and concise at the same time, and the characters are quite believable. Sadly, The Last Guardian was probably written under a deadline, resulting in more then one language mistake, as well as word combinations that are so badly thought out ("most mighty"), that they hurt the story. The thing I dislike about The Last Guardian is the final confrontation; I expected Medivh himself would defeat the evil that corrupted his soul, and then willingly submitting to his punishment. Instead, we get to see Medivh, whose powers are such that he could single-handedly destroy an army of demons, getting stabbed to death by a frail old man. As a direct result, Medivh's pre-death redemption lacks the impact it so rightfully deserved. Overall, The Last Guardian is a very good novel, one that I recommend to any fan of epic fantasy. Of Blood and Honor - 4 Stars - Shortest of the four novels, Of Blood and Honor concerns one paladin's fall f

All 10million users of World of Warcraft should read these books! It should be mandatory reading, for the pure simple fact of making the online world we play in richer. Blizzard has created an amazing world with an in-depth history, these books (there are 4 books in the Archive) will provide more in-sight and change the way you look at some of the NPC and locations. While reading these books you will find yourself thinking about locations you have played in during questing, you will go to the website to look up the world map so you can picture where the characters are at. You will love them, and you will want to buy all the WoW books, I have.

Although each bok didnt follow on from the last it was essentially filling out the story of warcraft since the beginning. The best book in my oppinion was lord of the clans and coming in close second was the day of the dragon. however this compiltio recieves 5 stars due to the enjoyment i have had with all 4 books. The last gurdian was a thriller more suspense and twists than the other which made it an interesting read. All in al if you enjoy warcraft novels and the fan fiction this is a must buy. Cheaper than purchasing them all seperate aswell Jack, Melbourne