Book Review: Wolfheart by Richard A. Knaak

I strongly recommend that you read my other review on Knaak’s book Stormrage before reading this one, as I use it as a reference point multiple times.

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Mild spoilers for Wolfheart by Richard A. Knaak below! If you want to approach this book with no preconceptions, avoid this blog post.

As may be apparent by the timing of this review, I’ve taken to reading the World of Warcraft novels in chronological order, and after reading Stormrage I moved on to Christie Golden’s The Shattering, which takes place shortly after the events of Stormrage. However, I didn’t write a book review for The Shattering as I didn’t feel like I had much to say about it. As usual, Christie Golden delivered an enjoyable reading experience which, whilst not surpassing the masterpiece of Arthas: Rise of the Lich King or War Crimes, was still a wholeheartedly wonderful novel.

I was less apprehensive when I then started Wolfheart than I was with Stormrage, though I’ll admit I didn’t expect the former to trump The Shattering. But in my opinion, it did, and it definitely surpassed Stormrage and avoided most of the issues I had with that book.

Getting right into it, Wolfheart is set not so long after the events of Stormrage (during the events of the World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm), and features many of the same characters, albeit under somewhat different circumstances. Not to give too much away, war has now officially broken out between the Alliance and the Horde, both of whom are still reeling after the cataclysm wrought by the mad black dragon Deathwing, leaving much of the world in a state of peril. The repercussions of such an event heightened the need for resources and opened new opportunities for taking territories, and has such led to the re-ignition of old rivalries.

This novel focuses mostly on the Alliance side of matters, with a few different sub-plots. In the city of Darnassus, the recently forgiven Highborn night elves who have been welcomed back into night elven society are being murdered, in a series of attacks which threaten to destabilise the summit called to debate the introduction of the Worgen into the Alliance. This in itself is a separate plot point, one which focuses on human King Varian Wrynn, who is trying to come to grips with the two halves of himself warring within. And finally, the war for Ashenvale, which is told mostly through the eyes of Haldrissa, also plays a key role in the novel.

The concept of a World of Warcraft murder mystery written by Knaak was probably the least appealing plot line to me before I started the novel, largely because as a WoW player I already knew the answer to the whodunit riddle. Despite this, though, Knaak delivered a fully intriguing narrative that not only keeps the reader guessing, but also does a superb job of introducing the Highborne and the still largely unwelcome Worgen into the overall narrative, as well as introducing Jarod Shadowsong as a very well likeable character.

Whilst I was originally not all that fussed with him, it was after reading War Crimes (set after the events of Mists of Pandaria, roughly two years ahead of this novel) that I became a huge fan of the character of Varian Wrynn, a thoroughly complex character who goes through a myriad of character development over the years and truly shines in the latest expansion. (May I direct you to this trailer? Spoilers in the comments.) The events of Wolfheart depicted a massive turning point for his character, and it was not one that Knaak took lightly. This was a shining gem of the novel to me, and for that I commend him.

The war for Ashenvale took a while to warm up, for me, which is admittedly a criticism I had with the previous novel Stormrage. But it was a slow burn, and it truly paid off from the middle to the climax of the novel. One thing that I discovered in Wolfheart was Knaak’s ability to write a clearly understandable and enjoyable battleground, with sound tactical decisions and believable hindrances. Tying into this, Knaak is a master of the fight scene, with numerous skirmishes being described in crystal detail, and one particular fight in Darnassus during the novel’s climax that I hold above all other fight scenes in writing. Perhaps this is more of a comment on my ability to imagine than it is on writing, but I find it a rare occurrence that I am able to completely visualise every move and blow of a fight and how it leads into the next. As invested as I was in this point of my reading session, it felt more like I was watching a Monty Oum animated fight scene that reading a book.

I may have evaluated the different plot lines separately in this review, but do not for a moment believe that this is a fractured narrative. These plot lines often meet and diverge, influencing each other, and by the end of the story they’ve converged into a most natural coalescence. The only issue I have with this novel is that the actions of one of the character’s doesn’t line up with how they are betrayed in the wider World of Warcraft story later on, but I firmly believe that Knaak is not to blame for this. This novel has kindled my faith in him as a writer and I look forward to reading his other works.

Book Review: Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak

Let’s try something new. This will be my first ever book review.

Mild spoilers for Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak below! If you want to approach the book with no preconceptions, avoid reading this blog post.

Stormrage, it must immediately be noted, is a novel that takes place within the game World of Warcraft, and, like the other WoW books I’ve read, successfully expands the narrative outside of the confines of the initial game. In the case of Stormrage, it depicted an event within the narrative which I was not previously aware had even occurred, and thus added to my enjoyment and knowledge of the game world as a whole. As with the other WoW books I’ve read (namely War Crimes, Illidan, and Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, in that order), it has been an enjoyable fantasy novel for me, but not one that I’d consider recommending to somebody who isn’t already acquainted with the Warcraft universe, as there are often many settings, character relationships and events which have been conceived and developed outside of the book series.

Out of the aforementioned Warcraft books I have read, Stormrage is that first I’ve read that has been written by Richard Knaak, the others being written by either Christie Golden, or newcomer to the series William King. Having heard some previous criticism of Richard Knaak’s writing, I entered into my reading with caution, and indeed did find some criticisms which I shall note further on.

Stormrage, then, is a novel which depicts events taking place between the World of Warcraft expansions Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm. The Emerald Dream has long been an alternate plane of existence in which the blueprints of a perfect Azeroth could be experienced, with no demonic or otherwise sentient meddlings shaping the world. Maintained by the druids of Azeroth, it has long been a place of paradise and prosperity. However, when an unearthly mist starts causing the citizens of Azeroth to fall into a comatose state, it becomes clear that all is not well, and it soon becomes apparent that Arch-Druid Malfurion has been captured within the Dream, which is rapidly becoming tainted by what is soon to be known as the Emerald Nightmare.

If I had to describe this book in one word, it’d be ‘long-winded’. I’ll immediately emphasise that I did enjoy the book, and I don’t regret reading it, but the malign forces which beseech the characters keep growing in stature, and when reading about setback after setback it might soon occur to the reader that the narrative might be shorter and sweeter should a few of these setbacks fail to occur. I found myself somewhat lost in the geography of the story arc when almost exactly midway through, I began reading what felt like a (hard-fought) climactic struggle. The narrative also suffers from the task of portraying too many abstract concepts, such as the barriers between Azeroth and the Emerald Dream breaking down, and a druid (whom I shall not name) wielding powers of global proportions sometime in the narrative.

One thing this novel does right, though, is provide an excellent platform through which to explore the characters we have already seen in-game, and challenge their deepest fears as they face the onslaught of their worst nightmares. Tyrande, in particular, is noted as fearing her evil predecessor as leader of the night elves, and the corruption which threatened to lead her people into darkness. Stormrage also introduces lesser characters such as Broll Bearmantle, whom I severely hope will make an appearance in an upcoming World of Warcraft expansion. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, Knaak is tasked with portraying some very abstract concepts which I feel many writers would choose to avoid if given the chance, whereas Stormrage, being in the rare position of depicting events of what is typically a visual and interactive world, must make do attempting to describe them; Knaak’s writing, whilst imperfect, never left me clueless as to the events unfolding before me. I do feel the need to make an example of some of his stiff writing, however:

The vision had so troubled her today that Shandris could no longer sit still. Hoping to clear her thoughts, she had personally begun patrolling the length and breadth of the capital, wending her way from the fortified bastion of the Warrior’s Terrace down into the commercial sections of the Tradesmen’s Terrace, on through the mystic Temple of the Moon and across the lush, sculptured islets of the garden. There, she had made a detour to the industrious Craftsmen’s Terrace before returning to her quarters in the Warrior’s.

The only purpose this paragraph serves is to portray Shandris’ uneasy state of mind, and there are much faster ways with which this could have been achieved. Knaak’s description of her patrol through Darnassus was, whilst descriptive, an entirely futile endeavour, and I regret to say that the novel is riddled with similar such passages. The other pet peeve I have is the way Knaak will hint at a character’s discovery, discuss it at length, but fail to inform the actual reader what the character is talking about until at least a few pages later. All this does is make me feel lost and irritated, rather than in suspense, as is likely the intention. Perhaps if the novel was not dealing with such abstract concepts, this style of writing would be more forgivable.

If you are a World of Warcraft fan, though, I recommend this book nonetheless. One of the upcoming raids of the next expansion has players actually fighting in the Emerald Nightmare, so this will be some good background reading, and despite my criticisms of Knaak’s writing, he does the job of providing an entertaining narrative featuring some fan-favourite characters. I must admit that I prefer other works within the series from Christie Golden and William King, but I’ll certainly not shy away from reading other Knaak books.