George Chernikov 2008-08-13
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
...then rejoice because Christie Golden's "Rise of the Horde" delivers everything you've come to expect from fantasy - an interesting plot, good character development, and, most importantly, professional literary writing that sets it well apart from the stylistic disasters that were "The War of the Ancients" and "Day of the Dragon".
The eventual culmination of the book contains no secrets to anyone who has played World of Warcraft or, indeed, any of the Warcraft RTS games. The backstory of Archimonde, Kil'Jaeden and Velen is very well-told and contains valuable lore for anyone who appreciates World of Warcraft for its, well, world.
As you can imagine, the focal point is the rise (or, as one could say, the fall) of the Orcish Horde. Christie traces its evolution from its humble beginnings as a collection of scattered Orc tribes to its emergence as a single entity - and the dark bargains made and betrayals that took place along the way.
What I like the most about the book is its writing style. Although Christie Golden makes a few stylistic faux pas, they're mostly limited to tautology, and, as such, the book itself feels like a much higher quality read that Knaak's Warcraft works. If you were disappointed by Knaak's works - as I was - then Christie Golden is here to show you that there are still books in the WoW setting that can be read without cringing.
