Rise of the Horde (Warcraft - Blizzard Legends)

World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde was written by New York Times Best Selling Author, Christie Golden.

SUMMARY: This book is somewhat difficult to breakdown into a brief summary. I will do my best and not drop any spoilers.

Sergeras, the Dark Titan and lord of the Burning Legion, has corupted the eredar, a race of powerful magic wielders. Sergeras promised power to the eredar leadership in exchange for their peoples bidding on the world of Argus. Two of the three eredar accept this offer. The one who believes this deal is wrong, is Velen. He and his most trusted, gather others who disagree with the deal between the leadership and Sergeras, to escape their world with the help of a devine Naaru. The eredar who escape the dreaded grip of Sergeras, and make their new home on Draenor. They are given the name, draenei, meaning, exiled ones.

The draeni live among the orcs. The two races aren't necessarily allies, but they do get along. Over many many years the draeini (who live extremely long lives) have watched the orcs become more civilized with time. Two young orcs find themselves in trouble. However the draeni save them and take them to the draeni kingdom, where they meet Velen. The hostility the orcs were given, will have a lasting affect on their lives and for major events to come.

Kil'Jaeden, one of the eredar leaders who accepted the deal from Sergeras, becomes obsessed with searching for the draenei. When he finds them on Draenor, he will use his dark power to seduce the orcs into doing his bidding. The shaman orc, Gul'dan, does as instructed and gathers the separate clans of orc, and unites them under one banner as... the horde.

CHARACTERS: There are great number of characters, I will only mention three.

Durotan: He and his Frostwolf clan don't like how events are playing out under the leadership of Gul'dan. The horde defies much of who they are as a people and their traditions. Durotan does his best to stay loyal to the legacy of the Frostwolf clan and slow to changes forced upon him. He's brave,defiant, and moral.

Gul'dan: He's a shaman orc, he's the great betrayer, the first warlock of the horde. He forces the orcs to abandon the old ways. No longer shall the orcs dwell on the spirts, but a new dark magic. Gul'dan leads his people to betray all they once believed, the peaceful draeni have been twisted in the minds of orc, they are now viewed as the villain and have no place in the world of Draenor. Gul'dan will lead his horde to war, and when the war is over, through a magical portal... to Azeroth... for more blood.

Velen: Former eredar, now a draeni. He is wise and caring for his people. He's always keeping an eye out for the traitorous Kil'Jaeden. He's always one step ahead of the Burning Legions quest for domination and annihilating the remainder of his people. His desire for peace and a place to call home is great.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: This book was great! The lore for Warcraft is deep and expansive. The story is actually pretty tough to explain without giving much away, but I'd say I succeeded in remaining spoiler free. I loved the book. the characters felt real and their situation dire. Christie Golden is an excellent writer. This book is the best place to start reading in the Warcraft novel timeline, it's the formation of the horde and the beginning of the invasion of Azeroth.

Do I recommend that you read World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde? Heck yes!

RATING: I will give this book an A! It’s full of action and emotion, will leave you craving more of Warcraft lore!

Bookworm Speaks!

World of Warcraft

Rise of the Horde

by Christie Golden

****
Acquired: Barnes and Noble Booksellers
Series: World of Warcraft (Book 2)
Paperback: 355 Pages
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment; First Edition edition (November 15, 2016)
Language: English
Subject: Genre Video Game Adaptation / Fantasy

****
The Story: Though the young Warchief Thrall ended the demon curse that had plagued his people for generations, the orcs still wrestle with the sins of their bloody past. As the rampaging Horde, they waged a number of devastating wars against their perennial enemy — the Alliance.

Yet the rage and bloodlust that drove the orcs to destroy everything in their path nearly consumed them as well. Long ago, on the idyllic world of Draenor, the noble orc clans lived in relative peace with their enigmatic neighbors, the draenei. But the nefarious agents of the Burning Legion had other plans for both of the unsuspecting races. The demon-lord Kil’jaeden set in motion a dark chain of events that would succeed not only in eradicating the draenei, but forging the orc clans into an single, unstoppable juggernaut of hatred and destruction. An original tale of magic, warfare, and heroism based on the best-selling, award-winning electronic game series from Blizzard.

The Review: This was one of the first Warcraft novels Bookworm had ever read and its influence has never waned. One of the hallmarks of a good book is how well the reader can recall parts and passages long after the completion of the reading. This book has stuck in Bookworm’s memory for a very long time, a testament to the wordsmithing at work here.

On a minor note: the cover of this book is probably the most iconic images of the Warcraft universe that Bookworm can think of.

In a lot of ways, the overall storyline contains threads of the traditional hero’s journey, the foundation of almost all fantasy fiction. It follows the journey of an Orc named Durotan, who is the father of Thrall, a central character in Warcraft. The story describes him growing up and rising to leadership of his clan, the Frostwolves. Unlike most hero’s journey tales though, Durotar does not go on to become the savior of his people. Some may say that he failed in the expected hero’s challenge. That could be seen as one of the flaws with this novel. Durotan could be seen as a passive

When one gets down to it though: Most if not all ‘Hero’s Journey’ tales are power fantasies in disguise. There nothing inherently wrong with that, they are fantasies after all. There are not realistic though, and oddly enough for a story that stars trolls and warlocks, is bit more realistic a path for a ‘hero”. The truth, there are a handful of people who get to shape the course of history and the most that the rest of us can do is just try to live our lives the best we can while we are swept up in the tides. That is exactly what Durotan does and why he is relatable as a protagonist. Perhaps it is a bit too relatable. Like many Warcraft books, the text carries multiple Point of View characters but Durotan is the only character that Bookworm can recall any significant passages from. Him and the narrator. He is the central character after all but perhaps the author should have stuck with him alone. Would have added a little less confusion.

The world building is excellent. The way the Orcs are portrayed is very compelling. The truth is…Bookworm prefers the Orcs of Warcraft compared to the Orcs of Middle-Earth. The world of Draneor is easily visualized in the minds eye, a form of rugged paradise. The orc’s lived in harmony with their world in a primal but beautiful tribal culture.

The way the Draenei are portrayed is not quite as well written or memorable as the orc arc. The best comparison Bookworm can think off, is the elves from Lord of the Rings. (Tolkien’s creation seems to come up frequently in this review!) That is not necessarily a good thing, as both are rather boring and lack depth. The reader only spends a limited amount of time with the Draenei so it is be expected, but their genocide has more gravitas on the side of Orcs rather than them.

The fall of the Orcs is really a tragedy is every respect. They were a proud and noble culture but there was an innocence about them that made their manipulation so heartbreakingly believable. It adds context to the central conflict of Warcraft (Orcs & Humans) and creates a much more nuanced tale. Their being completely played by the Burning Legion can stretch believability a bit but the book does mention that during their time on Draenor, the tribes were essentially like children. What more needs to be said?

One of the more uncomfortable truths that are uncovered is that more worldly readers can detect threads of human history among the history of the Orcs. One of the lines from this book that will probably never lose its relevance is:

“Hate is powerful. Hate can be eternal. Hate can be manipulated. And hate can be created.” Time and again this words have been proven true, both in history as well as events currently unfolding. The tale Orc’s of Draener is mirrored by the Humans of Earth. Story can teach as much fact and reader’s must take heart the lessons they impart.

The Final Verdict: World of Warcraft has been called by some as the Lord of the Rings of gaming, in that they are both fantasy universes with a vast and complex lore, filled to the brim with characters, settings, and conflicts. So much so, that confronting it can very intimidating. Where to begin! Thankfully, a book like this is around to guide the apprentice adventure to the world of Azeroth and beyond.

The Rating

Four Frostwolf Clan Crests out of Five

World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde, by Christie Golden

"Rise of the Horde" is what a Warcraft book should be. The book is enjoyable, the plot is pretty solid, and the characters are spot on. In the author biography, Golden states that she is a World of Warcraft player and it shows - there are little things thrown in that any Warcraft player will appreciate.

Each chapter starts with a brief introduction from Thrall, the current chief of the new Horde. He is writing the history of the old Horde, the Horde that destroyed their own world and invaded Azeroth, the Horde that perpetuated genocide on the draenei and slaughtered the humans.

The story of the orcs starts with a noble race, living peacefully on Draenor. The orcs have coexisted with the draenei for hundreds of years, ever since the draenei arrived on Draenor fleeing from their ancient enemies. While the orcs take pleasure in hunting animals and bloodlust, they are not killers and have a culture, family groups, a belief system. But all that changes when the Burning Legion turns a key orc to their side, and he leads the orcs on a terrifying descent into madness. Only one clan stands apart, the Frostwolves; their leader Durotan watches helplessly as the orcs are corrupted by demons.

Golden depicts this tale with plenty of emotion; I felt for Durotan's situation. How many of us have watched someone do something we know is wrong, but we can't change their minds? Most of us have, I'm sure. "The Rise of the Horde" details just that, the rise of the horde that descended upon Azeroth, intent on taking the world for their own. The story is known, especially if one is a Warcraft player; but Golden fleshes out the story very nicely. How many Warcraft players have visited Durotar, or Orgrimmar? The figures these places are named after, Durotan and Orgrim, are key characters in this book. The additional background detail it provides will delight any Warcraft player; this is one of my favorite novels based on the universe - I've read all of them, and read them all multiple times.

5/5.

If you're looking for high brow literature, this obviously isn't it - but it isn't meant to be, and I think that is where the lower ratings are coming from. As far as Sci-Fi, and WOW lit in particular, it's great. Interesting story and good characters. Many of the characters have a high degree of depth, and the author does a good job of showing that there are shades of gray, not just black and white. It gave me a totally different perspective on the horde from the one I had had just from game experiences. Durotan in particular is a very sympathetic character, in my opinion. If you're interested in understanding the back story to the game, I highly recommend. It's also sort of fun to read about places that you have "been" in game. Definitely a wonderful addition to the game experience, particularly for someone (like me) that enjoys reading to begin with.

I loved this story as well as the Author, however I am livid with the store at the moment. I purchased the Kindle Edition of this Title in 03/2012. I downloaded the content, read the book and was looking to reread it tonight only to find it has been removed from my actual Kindle Device with ZERO notification or refund!!! After a lengthy battle with customer service I was issued a full refund but the fact my legally purchased digital content was REMOVED without proper authorization, explanation, and any sort of pay-back makes me absolutely LIVID and shatters any trust I had towards buying ANYTHING digitally from the store which leads me to question the purpose of even owning a Kindle in the first place. Just thought if it ever re-appears in the "Kindle Edition" to BE WARY and PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR PURCHASED CONTENT!

A marvelous, lore-rich book that expertly fuses the Warcaft story old and new. The writing is direct without any frills and the story itself is very compelling.

It details the rise of the Orcish Horde on their planet of Draenor. Set before the events of the Warcraft games but including what we know from World of Warcraft (such as the Draeni), we follow the peaceful, shamanistic, brown-skinned orcs as they abandon their traditional tribal societies and become a force of doom and chaos that slaughters everything in its path, including the land. The transformation of these peaceful people is a very tragic tale that really makes this book a memorable experience that will stick with you: indeed, of all the Warcraft books I've read so far, this is my favorite. The writing is succinct, poignant, and masterful. There are no frills, it's just the narrative and the natural power of the story.

I'd not only recommend this book to Warcraft fans but also to fans of Lord of the Rings and Warhammer, just to see how the Orcs of the Warcraft universe have quite a different background and origin story to the orcs of other franchises.

I really enjoyed this filler story to tell how the orcs became so brutal and aggressive. I've not only played all the games and read all those little story introductions Blizzard had with the games, I've read a lot of the novels. This is one of my favorites, but I can see where some can be confused by it. The writer did pretty well to stick to the original stories the old games only hinted at and still held to the storyline of the MMO. I felt the writer did very good, considering this was just filler space in the timeline.

Excellent story about the (current)Horde WarChief's father. Thrall's father, Durotan, is depicted as wise and honorable, which also is reflected in his son. Without giving too many spoliers away, the story tells the origin of the Burning Legion's first contact with the Horde and the blood-pact that is made with them. This first (original) Horde is made-up of multiple clans of Orcs and brought together under the guidance of Ner'zhul who later comes to regret his actions and is quickly replaced by Gul'dan. It is an interesting look at how the Horde first came about, their bloodlust, and a preview of their arrival to Azeroth.

Fans of the original WarCraft: Orcs and Humans and of World of WarCraft alike will deffinately enjoy this book.

By; Anthony Michael Tuzzolo.

First of all, If you have no idea what Warcraft is then go home! This story is set in a place called Hellfire peninsula in the shattered world of Draenor. The story starts out with a young orc named Duratan, who is heir to the Frostwolf clan, befriending another orc named Orgim Doomhammer. One day, the two friends are saved by an alien race,named Draeni who befriend them and allow them to stay in their marvelous city. When they grow up a very influintial shaman named Ner'Zhul had a vision from his deceased mate who told him that the ancestors were all with an omniescent being and that he would soon get a vision from it. Ner'Zhul gets a vision from a maelevolent being named Kil' Jaedan who tells him that the Draeni are no friends, but are instead enemies. Ner'Zhul then calls a meeting between with all the clans and send them out to attack the Draeni. The only clan that is not fighting is Duratan and his Frostwolf clan.Eventualy, Ner'Zhul gets another vision from his Mate who tells him that he was listening to the wrong being and that the ancestors will no longer answer to him. Guldan, Ner'Zhuls apprentice, betrays him and tells Kil' Jaedan about how Ner'Zhul tried to reach the ancestors. Ner'Zhul, now a demoralized husk of his former self, no longer is a threat to Kil'Jaedan and Guldan is now incharge. uldan then sends an all out attack on the Draeni fortress along with some demons brought by Kil'Jaedan. Although, some of the Draeni, including their leader, Velen, escape. The Orcs homeworld is dying so they open a portal to another world were the land is greater.

Easily, one of the best books in the Wow franchise. It not only talks about Thrall's father but it shows the orcs slow descent into the savage race they are today. This book was heart breaking and suspenseful. It's a great book to read before playing the first WoW game. It was just plain amazing, buy this book Wow fans

Quick read, and was a great backstory on the Horde. I like Christine Golden's writing style and I look forward to reading more Warcraft books by her. I'm currently on The Last Guardian, and am reading the books in sequential order.

Tells the tragic story we have all wanted to know for years and does its best to blend the Warcraft 1,2 and 3 storylines not so easy.

This book is all the more tragic because ultimatly the reader knows the ending. I thought it was great because it showed what true friends Doomhammer and Doritan were.

Everything I have come to expect froma Bilzard book.

... from a WoW novel. It was stunning, really. Okay, maybe that isn't the right word. But if you're a diehard fan of the games like me, you'll find yourself very attached to the storylines, especially if you're an Orc and/or Draenei fan. Some of the scenes near the end of the novel had me very emotional as you watch a genocide, one of a race and another of an ancient culture.

I suggest this to every single WoW player out there who wants to start reading the books.

This was a wonderful book, I really enjoyed the background it gives, it helps to flesh out the story a little better, and gives you more insight into the Orcs, and the Draenei. Well worth purchasing.

Another excellent work of fantasy fiction from Christie Golden, who also wrote the Warcraft novel 'Lord of the Clans', about the origins of Thrall, Warchief of the Horde.

An engrossing story, and one that, if you have any interest in the lore behind World of Warcraft when you play the game, is pretty essential to understand the place of a lot of locations in Outland, and the origins of the Orcs and Draenei.

I am not surewhat book the other reviewers read but Rise of the horde is really bad. I started playing wow two weeks before tbc came out and I have read shattering [bad] and war of the ancients [really good] also. the main problem with the book is how simple minded the orcs are protrayed, how slow the story progresses, the anti climatic ending, and how lazy the author is in describing the world. If this was not a wow book noone would undrstand it. not a good read for anyone.

This book is for Warcraft fans and many die hards will enjoy the depth it goes into and the explanations it gives. Pure fantasy nuts may want to stay away and, it goes without saying, that if you do not care for the literary style of Golden you should move right along. While I thought Arthas was a far better read than this book, the subject is a rooted before the time of WoW and players should know that. Upon completion of the book players of the MMO will know a lot more about the burning crusade and its events than they previously did and may have a better appreciation for that expansion and what was occurring there. Players of Warcraft III will probably recognize Archimonde and other characters and if they don't, all the cinemas are easily found on YouTube nowadays.

I would recommend picking this up if you have a few hours/days and you want to get some more lore in your head before Golden's new book about Cataclysm comes out. If you haven't read Arthas, pick that one up first, it's in paperback now and it's a quick and satisfying read.