I don't mind Knaack. And despite 'popular opinion' I can't be the only one. His stuff obviously sells, and obviously people at Blizzard like his writing too, or they wouldn't keep giving him work. Anyone who doesn't like him has an easy way to let Blizzard know that: Vote with your wallet and don't buy anything with his name on it. Trust me, if it doesn't make money, Blizzard will stop.

As for Arthas, I have to agree, I really like Golden's writing, and have since she was doing Star Trek novels, but i don't feel that Rise of the Lich King was up to her normal standards. To me it really seemed like just a recitation of what we already knew from in games, with very little character building. Especially as Arthas was growing up, it really seemed set to just speed towards the story for WC3. We get flashes of him being young and him meeting/observing some famous lore characters from past games, but no real depth to it.

That's not to say that others can't feel differently. That's the great thing about being individuals, we can all have our own tastes and feelings.