The Last Guardian [Mass Market Paperback]

Jeff Grubb (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743423143
• ISBN-13: 978-0743423144
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,669,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another great addition to Warcraft Lore, August 8, 2003

By 

Michael Pappalardo (Ronkonkoma, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Guardian (Warcraft, Book 3) (No.3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Of all the books in the Warcraft line, I cannot say that this is my favorite, however it was one of the most intriguing.

Going way back into the days of the first Warcraft game, The Last Guardian tells the tragic story of Medivh. Since it was not well explained in the first Warcraft game, I found the chronicle of Medivh and his apprentice Khadghar to be an excellent read, and very insightful to the long history of Warcraft.

When the young wizard from Dalaran, Khadghar, is sent to Medivh's tower to be his understudy, young Khadghar is in for the greatest trial of his life. The great magus himself, Medivh, welcomes Khadghar into his tower, and Khadghar becomes his apprentice. The days and months that follow prove to be some of the most influential in the war against the Orcs.
Since there are many twists and surprises in this story, I do not wish to further my synopsis. Though it is vague, the general idea is there.

This book is very different from the others, in that it does not really focus on the war between Orcs and Humans...it centralizes on Medivh and Khadghar. Although the war is a crucial part, it is not the main subject of the book. Instead, the book is entirely about Khadghar's trials within the tower and Medivh's struggle within himself. It was very different...and very good. I was pleased to see a story based on the early days of Warcraft. There are familiar characters, and the book even dabbles into the origins of the half-orc Garona, a key figure in the first Warcraft, who unfortunately was never truly explained. Her motives and origins were completely ignored in the first game, so much that even true, veteran Warcraft fans have probably long forgotten about her and her actions by now. This book does a great job of explaining her, and her ties to Medivh and Khadghar. Furhtermore, the book also successfully explains Medivhs re-emergence into the Warcraft 3 storyline. Personally, I was extremely disappointed to see that the storyline with Medivh was ignored in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Though good, the expansion ignored both the Orcs and Medivh, which is troubling, considering how great The Last Guardian is, and how much it makes you appreciate and realize just what Medivh actually is.

I give this book only four stars because the book is packed with spelling, grammatical, and Warcraft lore errors. While the errors of Warcraft lore are kept to an absolute minimum (there are no more than a handful, if even that), the sheer amount of spelling and grammatical, and even negligent errors are very noticeable and drag the book down as a whole. Having read Jeff Grubb's work before, I can affirm that he is very prone to this. Otherwise, this book was excellent, and I hope to see another Warcraft book in the future.,

As usual I recommend this book only to those versed on Warcraft lore. However, this book is based in the early days of Warcraft...if there is one thing the author did very well, it was of keeping the story accessible to newcomers as well, since it is very descriptive, and doesn't refer too much to things that only seasoned Warcraft veterans would know. Definitely a great read. Finally, the origins and secrets of Medivh are revealed, and I was very impressed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short and simple, but good., October 4, 2005

By 

C. T. Hunter "chips_books" (Gainesville, FL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Guardian (Warcraft, Book 3) (No.3) (Mass Market Paperback)

While this is the quickest read of the three Warcraft books (with less pages and larger type set) it still does a lot to reveal some of the core history behind the world of Azeroth. The mad wizard Medivh has been a cornerstone of the Warcraft story from the begining and this book does a great job of processing the lore into something easily understood.

While Jeff Grubb isn't my favorite author, he gets a passing grade on this one. The characters are intriguing and the plot engaging. The character:character interactions were my favorite aspect (between Medivh and Khadgar, Khadgar and the orc emissary).

Quick and easy to read, but also enlightening.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The way they should've started, May 15, 2003

By 

Clayton A. Blackwell (Parkersburg, WV) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Guardian (Warcraft, Book 3) (No.3) (Mass Market Paperback)

An excellent addition to the WarCraft series of books. In fact this is where I wanted to see the books start when I picked up the first one and read it. There is so much rich history in the WarCraft games I don't understand why they wanted to start them off at beginning of the WarCraft 3 storyline.

Anyway, this was a well written book and really expands up on the WarCraft history. The characters are addictive and the story pushes you on from page to page. About 4 days to read this book if that.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. Very well written.