Dragon Hunt (Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy, Book 1) (Paperback)

~ Kim Jae-hwan (Author), Richard A. Knaak (Author) "No one knows exactly how the universe began, but it is clear that the Titans-a race of powerful, metal-skinned gods from the far reaches of..." (more)
Key Phrases: Burning Legion

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the world of the incredibly popular Warcraft online role-playing game comes this first manga of a trilogy. The war-torn world of Azeroth is plagued on all sides by evil dragons, power-hungry elves and the armies of the Undead Scourge. Just as a wary peace seems possible, the Sunwell, a source of unimaginable power previously thought to be lost, resurfaces. Kalec, a blue dragon who takes an appealing human form complete with Farrah Fawcett hair, is on a quest to prevent the Sunwell's destructive power from being realized. He is joined by Anveena, a quaint country girl with a world-changing secret. Together they encounter the stock set of fantasy characters: surly dwarves, stupid orcs, rugged warriors and beautiful maidens. There's betrayal, magic and, of course, pages and pages of sword fights. The backstory for the Warcraft world is so complicated it requires eight pages of prose to explain it in brief, and still much of the comic is spent on exposition. This volume manages to be incomprehensibly complicated and yet at the same time insipidly transparent. The art is attractive and easily digested, but the characters and plot are purely cookie-cutter creations. This work will please only hardcore fans of the game. (Apr.)
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From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-An accomplished fantasy author has extended the popular world of "Warcraft" (S & S) into manga. This first volume opens with eight pages of back story. Readers meet Kalec, a blue dragon who can shapeshift into a young man and who is being pursued by a band of dwarves. He nearly dies from their missiles, but Anveena, a local peasant girl, finds him and brings him home. Thus begins a quest of sorts, marred by derivative writing and formulaic plots. When her parents see their daughter with a strange, wounded man with shredded clothes, they inexplicably call out, "Hello, what's your name?" Their faces never change from huge grins, even as they're about to be murdered. Anveena then goes along with Kalec, who is engaged to another woman. It's hard to imagine that this title will appeal to any but the least discerning "Warcraft" devotee, given the huge gaps in logic and absurd action. Why build intelligent, dramatic tension when each moment of crisis can end with some new character swooping in with a huge monologue to deliver? Also, the illustrations, while appropriately grotesque, seem unpolished and amateurish. A final scene with an undead army is built up as an epic battle, but ends with someone saying, "Is that all?" A fan base alone may not be enough of a consideration for purchase when a title has so little to recommend it.-John Leighton, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Tokyopop (March 8, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595327126
• ISBN-13: 978-1595327123
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #109,163 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars STRONG START TO THE TRILOGY, April 14, 2005

By	Tim Janson (Michigan) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

Based upon the enormously popular PC, video, and role-playing games comes this first part in the Warcraft graphic novel "Sunwell Trilogy" from TokyoPop. "Dragonhunt" opens with a prologue detailing the rich history of the Warcraft universe in which the Titans go about creating worlds and breathing life into them throughout the universe. They create the Well of Eternity upon the world of Azeroth, leaving flights of dragons to protect their creation. Azeroth soon becomes a battle ground as the Titans former champion, the Dark Titan Sargeras, corrupted by evil and with hordes of orcs led by the Lich King, seeks the Well for his own. The cataclysmic battle sunders the world into fragmented landmasses. The story begins as the Lich King, Arthas seeks to rebuild his citadel and humans and orcs enter join in an uneasy alliance to battle Arthas' undead Scourge.

An injured blue dragon, Kalec, now in human form is assisted by a young girl Anveena to escape those who are hunting him. Kalec explains that the dragons are seeking a great source of power and he was sent by Malygos, the Lord of the Blue Dragons, to find this power. But he's not the only one searching for it. An evil elf, Dar'khan, servant of the Lich King is also seeking the power which he reveals as the Sunwell, source of elven power, created out of the destruction of the Well of Eternity. Dar'khan captures Kalec and Anveena and only the intervention of another blue dragon, Kalec's mate Tyrygosa, allows them to escape. They soon learn that Anveena's home houses a secret...an egg which a tiny dragon hatches from. Could this be the source of the power that everyone is searching for? Where will their journey lead them from here?

Dragonhunt was an outstanding start to this trilogy. Having not been overly familiar with the Warcraft Universe, I found the history rich, colorful and detailed. There certainly seems to be some Tolkien influence, particularly in the prologue, but it still cuts a nice, unique world, all its own. A lot of action was tossed at you very fast and there wasn't a great deal of character development so hopefully we will delve into these various characters in the succeeding volumes. It's interesting to see the blend of heroic fantasy done with a Manga style. Since Warcraft is a known commodity with legions of fans, people may be predisposed of how it should look, but I thought the art of Jae-Hwan Kim was superb and fit very well. Kim is one of the best artists in Manga today, having worked on the terrific "King of Hell" series, also from TokyoPop. He's got a clean, yet very detailed style and handles action sequences deftly.

The story was written by Richard Knaak, one of the tops in the heroic fantasy genre. Knaak has written such huge hits as "The Legend of Huma" and The Minotaur Wars, set in the Dragonlance world, as well as Warcraft novels "Day of the Dragon" and "The Well of Eternity." In addition to Warcraft, Knaak has also written novels based on the "Diablo" PC game so he has a strong background in adapting gaming environments to novels. Knaak and Kim have succeeded in creating not only a gorgeous graphic novel, but a marvelous heroic fantasy story, with lively characters and an intriguing plotline. A must for fans of Manga, Warcraft, or heroic fantasy!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The art carries the book., January 23, 2006

By	C. T. Hunter "chips_books" (Gainesville, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

From what I've seen of Manga, the art in this book far exceeds the norm. Detailed and beautiful drawings capture the wonder of the world of Warcraft nicely. Characters are developed and defined by the expressions on their faces and the cloths that they wear. It is amazing that so much of the feeling behind the story can come straight from the visuals. It almost seemed like you could get through this book without even really needing to read any of the dialogue.

While I was a bit disapointed in the story as a whole, it may just be because I am so used to reading novels that I have a hard time appreciating the simplicity of the story, or it may be that much of this book was devoted to laying the foundation for more Warcraft mangas to come. Either way I will definitely get the next one as soon as I see it.

One thing is for sure though, the artist for this book deserves far more of the credit than Richard Knaak.. This seems like something Knaak could pound out in just a couple of days while the detail in the art makes me believe that much, much more time was invested in that part of the work.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Art Stupendous; Story Incredibly Long-Winded, October 13, 2005

By	L. Mintah "Author of the Heart" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I don't know about you, but in my manga, I like to read pages of a background story in minute detail, beginning with the creation of the world, and spanning thousands of years, through catacyclsm after catacylsm. Races and cities rise and fall, lots of good folks just inexplicably go "mad," and that's all before the art! No, actually, I don't.

Warcraft is written by a guy whose imagination is in overdrive. If this is a trilogy, and not a thirty-volume manga, such a background story was really uneccesary. What saves this manga is the art.

Korean artist Jae-Hwan Kim draws really exciting art. You feel like you are in the story. Kim has an incredible sense of space, dimension, and proportion. The characters designs and clothing are to die for. The men are men's men, but wear intricate clothing and armor. The women are beautiful, with lovely clothes. Forests and mountains don't look like backdrops, but like the real thing. You can almost smell the pine trees.

Richard A. Knaak has a "knack" for storytelling, when the manga finally begins. It is a good tale of good vs. evil in a fantasy land. Dragon Kalec has taken human form when he is attacked by a band of orcs led by a dragon-hating dwarf. Injured, Kalec is led to safety by a beautiful, naiive peasant girl named Anveena.

Anveena is so dumb, she makes TV's Crank Yanker's Special Ed look like a genius. (Yay!) If she were as ugly as she is stupid, Kalec would run like hell. As it is, she is very pretty, and Kalec feels a bond with her, even though he is engaged to the Dragon Tyrl. Tyrl is smart, beautiful, and arrogant. Soon they are engaged in bloody, (well-drawn) battles with orcs and the undead. Seeing someone fighting with his guts hanging out is pretty cool.

I would get this trilogy just for the art.