Tides of Darkness by Aaron Rosenberg – ⭐⭐⭐
It was fun to get the backstory / origin story of so many big people and events, but it was a lot more tell than show in terms of the style.
Recommended: Yes!
For fantasy/epic adventure fans, for those who have already played World of Warcraft games (or similar ones)
Summary:
Doomhammer leads the Horde after killing most of the warlocks and the previous corrupt leader. After taking Stormwind, the Horde is moving to take the rest of the continent. Meanwhile, Stormwind’s champion, Lothar, is fleeing north to warn the other kingdoms and forge an alliance to stop the Horde. With each side gaining strength and using every trick they have, it’s a battle for Azeroth in the World of Warcraft. The Second War is coming, and it will reshape the future of Azeroth.
Thoughts:
WELL. This was fun because I got a lot of origin stories that I hadn’t heard before. “What are death knights?” is something I’ve definitely asked my S.O. before, and he said he wouldn’t tell me because it would ruin some moments in the lore (which he knows I care very much about!). Plus, the origin of Paladins?! And Alleria, and Lothar, and Turalyon, and Proudmoores… and Gul’dan, my god, I swear this dude has died ten times and JUST KEEPS COMING BACK!
Writing style was pretty basic, and could have made the story far more epic by spicing up descriptions a bit and being more sensory. The moments themselves are incredible, though, so it’s hard not to get some good stuff from this. I love getting into the lore of the world, and this is such a defining moment in Horde/Alliance building. I mean, what else is there to say? If you like WoW, or something similar like LOTR, then go for it. Although this isn’t really a standalone, because there’s a lot of past moments that will make no sense to you if you haven’t read the previous books. That said, I liked some of the little callbacks, like Khadgar riding a gryphon and commenting “Well, good thing I remember how!”
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