The Shattering - by Christie Golden

[NotGreyheim]

Powered through this book the other day. Enjoyed it more than I did Arthas. Very well written and, imo, another NY times best seller.
My review: (Spoilered for long-winded and, well, spoilers)

Spoiler: show

Anduin Wrynn: Few times I wanted him to just shut the hell up. Seemed quite whiny for a large portion of the book. Though I guess that can be attributed to his character growth throughout, as I didn't hate him quite as much towards the end.

Magni Bronzebeard: Really liked this character, which is unusual for me and Dwarves. It seems to me like they didn't necessarily kill him off as much as they wrote him out for the time being. After all, we know how death doesn't quite stick when it comes to Bronzebeards.

Moira Bronzebeard Thaurissan: Portrayed very well in my opinion. I loved hating her. Acted exactly how I would expect given her situation and personality.

Varian Wrynn: Didn't really like the Varian/Lo'Gosh split personality thing. Glad it didn't take up very much of the story. Thought his infiltration of Ironforge with the SI:7 agents was particularly badass.

Drek'thar: Don't know much about his backstory other than being the leader of the Frostwolf clan and teaching Thrall in the ways of Shamanism. Thought it was kind of sad that he was made out to be some senile old orc for most of the book.

Garrosh: Was Garrosh. Not particularly fond of him, even as an anti-hero. The character is just too one-dimensional for my taste. I'll go into it more when I get to Cairne.

Thrall: Where I felt the meat and bones of the story was. Azeroth was suffering, and Thrall felt it was his responsibility to fix it. I think his decision to appoint Garrosh as leader of the horde in his stead was completely ridiculous, however. Using the excuse that people like Saurfang or Cairne or even Eitrigg were just too old felt like more of a cop-out than anything else. Especially after Cairne proved in battle that he was, at the very least, Garrosh's equal.

I felt myself wanting to skim through parts of his training in Nagrand, but I'm glad I didn't. I thought the visions of his past and how they tied into the different elements was interesting.

Aggra: The relationship forming between her and Thrall felt forced, but I'll withhold judgment until there's more development. I suppose that in itself could be construed as a negative, though.

Cairne: Oh, Cairne. You old Bull. I thoroughly enjoyed Cairne's perception of Garrosh during the celebration after the return home from Northrend, and how it evolved during and after Garrosh was appointed Warchief.

Garrosh's decision to make the duel with Cairne a fight to the death made no sense to me. I understand that he felt his honor was besmirched, but I don't think that's any reason to deprive the Horde one of the greatest leaders it will ever see.

Magatha Grimtotem: Again, deliciously evil. However, I feel like they could have gone into more detail about why she was doing what she did. Maybe that's just me, though.

Baine Bloodhoof: Another well-written character. I look forward to seeing where they take his story in the future. I especially liked the interaction between him and Anduin later on in the book. Which reminds me...

Jaina Proudmoore: More of the same, really. We get some development in that we see her acting as somewhat of a mother-figure to Anduin. Other than that it's more self-doubt and regrets about the same old shit (Arthas, relations between Horde and Alliance, etc...)

I felt that Vol'jin should have had more to say about the situation in the horde, but from what I understand that will be covered more in-game.

Also curious as to the whereabouts of Malfurion Stormrage with everything that's happening to Azeroth. Granted I couldn't bring myself to finish Stormrage, so I don't really know what he's been up to since coming back.

Phew, that took longer than I had expected. All in all I thought this was a very good book, and would recommend it to anyone who is excited about the story surrounding the upcoming expansion.

[Metta]

[NotGreyheim]

Ok. Thanks for that.

[Despain]

Ok. Thanks for that.

Have to admit that was kinda funny..

[Eaglestrike]

It would be funnier if there was actual discussion involved after it though. I'm interested in the lore but not a big reader, so I'd love to read some discussion between people reading the book(s) here. But with just a mock of the guy and no one coming in to discuss it, I'm disappointed =p

[NotGreyheim]

It would be funnier if there was actual discussion involved after it though. I'm interested in the lore but not a big reader, so I'd love to read some discussion between people reading the book(s) here. But with just a mock of the guy and no one coming in to discuss it, I'm disappointed =p

That was kind of my goal for this, to get people talking about the events of the book. My knowledge of Warcraft lore pales in comparison to most. I just really enjoyed this book

[Tajin]

can't discuss what I havent read

[Despain]

At first I didn't give a fuck about the lore about WoW... to me it was just another game to play, but then I started researching into the whole Rise of the Lich King stuff, and started getting really into it. I had no idea how expansive the whole WarCraft universe was. Sure I played WarCraft III, and now WoW, but meh. I enjoy the lore personally, would be interested in reading a book sometime.

[Norellicus]

You played WC3 but had no idea there was expansive lore?

Again, why am I surprised by this

[vrumpt]

reading the book now. gimme a few days.

[Dareus]

Why bother reading the books if you are interested in warcraft lore? I mean, sometime next week they will just retcon everything to give you the "koolist" new bad guy, or a funny new race!

[Takie]

I liked the fact that via the book you now know why Tauren can be Paladins in Cataclysm as opposed to a new random class & race combination

[Tajin]

There is a lot of dead going around the main protagonists and nobody seems to care unless someone important dies, otherwise its nicely written and explains most of the changes for cataclysm. That tidbit that made the red guy 'famous' isnt as obscure as people think, fuck its right near the end of the book haha, bitch probably had the book with him right there at the blizzcon.

[The Stig]

I'll probably read it once they make a movie on the book or something =p ...

Otherwise, I was interested in how Arthas progressively became LK, quite interesting.

[Despain]

You played WC3 but had no idea there was expansive lore?

Again, why am I surprised by this

I was 8-9 at best when I played WC3, and I only ever stayed playing online. Around that time I played StarCraft a lot more than Warcraft. Relax.

[vrumpt]

just finished it. Mixed opinions really, its nice to see some of the reasoning behind a lot of the changes that take place between now and the cataclysm.

Really though anybody who doesn't read this is going to be confused as to WHY faction leaders have changed, which is really the only important questions that get answered in the book.

[Siniroth]

There's an RP event in Org that deals with Thrall leaving the Horde to Garrosh, stumbled on it while I was finishing up Ghostlands quests on my priest earlier.

[vrumpt]

There's an RP event in Org that deals with Thrall leaving the Horde to Garrosh, stumbled on it while I was finishing up Ghostlands quests on my priest earlier.

yeah its been there for a month now, since 4.0.1 shipped. Very excessive, should have only been there for 2 weeks max imo, especially since Thrall wastes no time at all leaving in the novel.

[Siniroth]

I agree, especially since all the quests have already been moved to Garrosh

[Skeeterxi]

I enjoyed it and it was my first warcraft book, I'll probably end up reading the others but I hear Knaak kinda blows. I don't dislike Garrosh as much as I used too, he just lets his pride cloud his judgment and I'm actually interested in seeing his character development play out while he serves as Warchief. My favorite part of the book was probably when Anduin gave Baine the Fearbreaker. I really wanted Varian to kill Moira too, that was a badass event.