Customer Reviews

World of Warcraft: Stormrage

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This book does a few things really well and a lot of things wrong which is why I'm giving it two stars.

On the up side the author clearly did their homework on the WoW world. Lots of names and locations pop up in the story and I really liked that I could go "Oh, my character has been there!" or "The person gave my character a quest." So it's pretty easy to get into the world and get excited about the backdrops.

Now without going into major spoilers there were also lots of nice moments mixed in like people from all the races having to band together to fight a common threat (WoW loves that theme), getting to see a runestone in a story and the short but very cool appearance by Sylvanas Windrunner.

So while the feel of the WoW world is really well done the characters and the story aren't. Some of the most powerful people in WoW are taking on a single threat that they end up being able to do almost nothing about. Until the very end pretty much everyone is at best holding line or running away. Seriously, the heroes of this novel run away in the course of one story than Shaggy and Scooby do in the whole history of Scooby Doo.

It got to the point where the last 100 pages where just a slog and I was happy to just be done with the book so I could go read something else. "Lord of the Clans" this ain't.

Overall, save your time and money for something else.

I thought it would be impossible for RK to top Night of the Dragon, but he once again proved that he is a master story teller with a firm grasp on the lore of Azeroth. I originally planned to read this novel over the course of a week, but found myself unable to put it down. I simply can't wait for his next foray into the World Of Warcraft.

This book was amazing. I agree with a previous post that the author really took his time to learn the locations and NPCs in the game. I read the 'War of the Ancients" archive and was so impressed with Knaak and how he took the lore and brought it to life and this book just further impressed me. I would recommend this book to anyone who plays W.o.W or just wants a good book with lots of adventure, danger and an extremely tolerable love story.

The first few pages of the book enthralled me, but as I read on the book lost my interest. The battle scenes got repetitive quick, had too little detail about the landscape and the environment, and aside from a few minor emotional character developments (like Shandris Feathermoon giving a daughter-like hug to Tyrande), there wasn't much to pull me into the book. I didn't feel like I *wanted* to finish the story.

Sometimes there was so little detail about the character's whereabouts that I became confused about their location. Example: I would begin a new chapter, converge upon a conversation between the characters, only to be quickly confused and wonder where they are and how they got there. I felt like the characters were pushed through the book. The characters themselves seemed too bland, without much substance.

I'm a guy who finishes what he starts most of the time. If I start a book, even if it sucks, I will finish it. Unfortunately, this is one of the few books that I did not finish. I just didn't grapple me into the story. In fact, it did more than that; it made me bored and pushed me away.

I don't like putting down writers because I think that it takes a lot of time, patience, and effort to write any book, but I have to be honest. This book wasn't very good. I wish Blizzard would employ another writer in Richard Knaak's stead, because I really wanted to like this book but I didn't. With what I did read, for the most part, I had to force myself through.

I've read all the WoW novels and this one to no surprise was very good, I enjoyed learning more about Malfurion and the lore of the night elves. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in WoW lore.

Those of us that were waiting for the lore to be moved along in relation to the Emerald Dream storyline will probably read it just to fulfill that story arc but it doesn't mean everyone enjoyed it.

Richard's work in writing Warcraft novels is quite varied in quality. His writing style can become repetitive and his over glorification of newer characters can start to degrade the story telling. That is what happened to Stormrage. The back cover that claims this novel is about Malfurion's return from the nightmare is misleading. That storyline is only loosely followed and is never fully developed. Instead, the book spends chapters at a time building up the druids introduced in the Comic series and his own character Lucan which is his "Mary Sue" of the book.

Unfortunately this not only means the namesake Malfurion Stormrage's character and story is never developed, but it also means the action and plot forwarding in the book can be quite sluggish and especially toward the end I found myself wanting to skip over pages at a time just to get the actual story to move forward.

World of Warcraft: Stormrage is a really great book! It is about Malfurion Stormrage, the night elf archdruid, and the Emerald Dream. The Emerald dream is a spirit world copy of Azeroth, the regular world. The Emerald Dream is a world that developed under the Aspect of Nature, Ysera. This world had only nature and it did not contain any of the races of Azeroth. Because of this, it is a wild Azeroth. It never had deforestation for villages or towns and all the other destructive things we do to our world. The Night Elf Druids can sleep and appear in the Emerald Dream. Recently, something mysterious and evil has appeared in the Emerald Dream called the Emerald Nightmare. It kills all plant and animal life. But, it doesn't just do that. It also corrupts them into twisted versions of themselves. The soil turns into grey sludge and the animals turn into evil demonic versions of themselves. One night in the dream, Malfurion comes upon the Nightmare and is captured and tortured. Malfurion's lover, Tyrande Whisperwind, fights against time to save her Malfurion, the Emerald Dream, and perhaps Azeroth itself. She doesn't stand alone, however. Broll Bearmantle, a younger night elf druid whose daughter died in his arms, also fights the Nightmare but he also fights himself. He also felt he failed his daughter and is never good enough. Malfurion sees the potential and strength in Broll and helps him conquer his fears. A female orc also joins them, despite her being enemies to the elves. A rather unlikely hero is also a member of the group. A human cartographer who has a special ability joins them. He is battling the dream as well as his fear, as he is often afraid. Other companions join in and help as the battle goes on, while the Nightmare spreads to Azeroth making many fall asleep in their nightmares. They are impossible to wake, and after awhle begin the sleep walking. They still believe they are in their nightmares and try and attack anything near. If the adventurers can free Malfurion, they might have a chance to save their world against their worst nightmares.

I loved this book. I lost sleep because of it. The fact that I play a Night Elf Druid in WoW is definitely a big reason. It was well written and I enjoyed reading about some of my favorite places in the game. It brought the world to life on another level.

I could not put this book down. In almost every chapter, Mr. Knack has twists and crooks, beloved charactors and new faces, and keeps you guessing what will happen next. seldom in the world of Azewroth can one find so many charactors, from Alliance to Horde, in one place. I dont think he left out very many! Well written and an awesome job! A definate MUST HAVE for any WOW reader.

I must say, Knaack's writing was a serious disappointment. I've been reading fantasy and sci-fi since 1985, when I first read the hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I've read major writers over the years (Assimov, Jordon, Weber, etc.) and I've have to rate Stormrage's writing near the bottom. I was a bit surprised, given how many books he's already written in the series. I have a problem with writers in love with their own work, and Knaack definitely is fully in love with his pen. This book was very difficult to get through, and but provided some great lore background.