I have to agree with Saint, here. I think the first Knaak story I read was the manga trilogy, and being manga I kind of assumed it was being translated by Knaak, and not penned by him (which I believe is not the case), and was really surprised that your average English speaker could write something so weak. Correction, an average English speaker was being PAID to write something so weak. Being manga, I forgave it and spent more time looking at the pretty pictures (amazing art, even if it doesn't really tie-in to the games art much).

Then I read the Ancients Trilogy, and while better, it was still rough going. I was pretty entrenched in the game at the time and was able to power through on account of not being able to play at work, so I read the books instead. And honestly, I'd probably have said they were good books if Krasus and Rhonin were not there (I never really considered them as Mary Sues, I just didn't care for them much); I quite liked Brox, and the bit with the dragons was good (they were not all just hanging out in Dragonblight back then, so it was more of a treat to read about them), and anything that has Maiev is alright in my book.

And then I tried Night of the Dragon. I didn't read Day of the Dragon, and hardly intend to now, but I thought I'd give NotD a try both since I was invested into the game again, and because I was intrigued by a draenei character; I am still unsure of how best to roleplay mine, so this seemed like a good place to do some research. It's still sitting on my bookshelf, literally being overshadowed by Arthas.

Somewhat off the topic, I love Ms. Golden's work, partly because it tends to be so personal as opposed to the epics that Knaak writes. I didn't care much for Arthas, but that's because I've played Warcraft III and the human campaign is my least favorite, so this just compounded upon that. But I think Lord of the Clans and Rise of the Horde are proof that books based on video games don't have to be sub-par, like someone else mentioned. They might not win any awards, but I can think back upon them fondly at least. And since I'm pretty much Alliance mostly, it says something that she's single-handedly made me care for Thrall.

Ahem, back on topic, I don't have anything against Knaak, it just disappoints me that he's going to be tackling Malfurion's tale, since I am interested in said tale, but I don't know if I'll be able to stomach it. Maybe if Krasus doesn't show up it'll be OK.

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