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by Mathew McCurley 
Jul 21st 2011 at 9:00PM
Christie Golden's Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects, is currently on the shelves, chronicling Thrall's journey post-Cataclysm with the Earthen Ring and his counterpart Aggra, as well as the dragons and their quest to stay alive and allied during Deathwing's brutal return. With Wolfheart, it seems we're getting an Alliance leader's story opposed to that of Thrall, who was once the Horde's warchief.
World of Warcraft: Wolfheart is going to be available on Sept. 13, 2011. Hit the jump for the full description.
A slight movement in the opposite direction caught Eadrik's attention. The doe, acting only on her instincts and unable to meld those with common sense, had chosen an inopportune time to begin running again.[Thanks for the information, BlizzPlanet.]
The worgen lunged after her. Varian waited for a moment, then stepped from the tree. If Eadrik was here, the lord of Stormwind considered, then his master could not be far.
The bow once again ready, Varian moved in the direction from which Eadrik had come. The worgen hunted as a pack to a point. Being also men, those like Genn would seek their individual kills.
Varian retraced Eadrik's path, moving through the brush as readily as the worgen. His eyes constantly surveyed the vicinity and his ears and nose sought signs of his prey.
And at last he saw a worgen who could only be the Gilnean king. Genn flung himself after a massive boar with tusks so sharp and strong that, if the animal turned to face the worgen, Genn would truly risk death. At the moment, though, the boar thought only of flight.
Genn, however, was fast gaining. He ran sometimes on only his legs, but other times used his hands, too. With a litheness that Varian had not even seen from the much younger Eadrik, the veteran ruler closed on the boar.
Having measured the situation, Varian entered the fray. Although without the "benefit" of the curse, he moved with all the skill and pace of one who had survived more critical struggles than surely all the worgen combined. Yet, it was more than merely the reflexes of a former gladiator that served Varian now. Another force guided him, drove him in among the worgen as if he were one of their own and not simply a man. Others in the past had called him Lo'Gosh . . . and, at that moment, that name was more true of him than the one with which he had been born.
---
In the wake of the Cataclysm, conflict has engulfed every corner of Azeroth. Hungering for more resources amid the turmoil, the Horde has pressed into Ashenvale to feed its burgeoning war machine. There, acting warchief Garrosh Hellscream has employed a brutal new tactic to conquer the region and crush its night elf defenders, a move that will cripple the Alliance's power throughout the..
---
Unaware of the disaster brewing in Ashenvale, the night elves' legendary leaders, High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind and Archdruid Malfurion Stormrage, conduct a summit near Darnassus in order to vote the proud worgen of Gilneas into the Alliance. However, resentment of Gilneas and its ruler, Genn Greymane, runs deep in Stormwind's King Varian Wrynn. His refusal to forgive Genn for closing his nation off from the rest of the world years ago endangers more than just the summit: it threatens to unravel the Alliance itself.
Varian's animosity is only one of many unsettling developments in Darnassus. An uneasiness creeps over the once-immortal night elves as the first of them fall victim to the infirmities of age. While they cope with their mortality, tensions flare over the reintroduction of the Highborne, formerly the highest caste of night elf nobility, into their society. Many night elves are unable to pardon the Highborne for the destruction unleashed on Azeroth millennia ago by their reckless use of magic.
When a murdered Highborne is discovered on the outskirts of Darnassus, Malfurion and Tyrande move to stop further bloodshed and unrest by appointing one of the night elves' most cunning and skilled agents to find the killer: the renowned warden Maiev Shadowsong. Yet with all that is transpiring in Darnassus, the Alliance might be powerless to stop the relentless new warchief Garrosh from seizing the whole of Ashenvale.
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 8)
Moeru Jul 21st 2011 10:16PM
*Spoilers*
Malfurion: "I has plan but will not divulge to keep suspense."
Plan fails.
Malfurion: "Plan didn't work...I failure to Azeroth and people I love."
Depressed Malfurion is depressed.
But wait! Get super power/inspiration!
Malfurion: "I has plan but will not divulge to keep suspense."
--------
^Reason I didn't like Stormrage novel^
Can't say much about his other books, but for me, it felt like his overlying story arch isn't very well structured. With Golden, I feel like I can actually go through the book without putting it down too much. I'll still buy it, but I prefer Golden's stuff.
ReluctantlyHuman Jul 21st 2011 11:27PM
Gosh dang it, this totally sounds like something I'd really like too. I hate how the Gilneas storyline seems to end once you get to Darnassus, and I wanna read about tensions between the humans, and MAIEV, she is one of my favorites. Sigh. I managed to make it through the War of the Ancients, maybe I can make it through this one too.
And hey, I'm actually not enjoying the Thrall book, so maybe Ms. Golden will have an off book, and Knaak will respond in kind?
Lemons Jul 21st 2011 10:30PM
It may be Knnak but I'm looking forward to this way more than I was looking forward to Thrall's book. I read the description and I already didn't care about Twilight of the Aspects.
MusedMoose Jul 21st 2011 10:38PM
Speaking as a writer, what bothers me about this sample of Knaak's writing is that I can read it and point out a lot of things that I think need to be improved. The entire sample violates what most writers are told when they start to write; "Show, don't tell" is considered a rule for a reason.
But instead, Knaak tells us that Varian moves better than the worgen, tells us how the worgen hunt instead of giving an actual description of their actions and movements, and simply tells us that another force guides Varian. It's clumsy and I think it's very bad storytelling.
It also takes out any mystery about Varian - instead of making it a plot and/or character point that he's one with Lo'gosh at times and showing changes in Varian to indicate that, Knaak just says it. And quite frankly, that's boring.
I hadn't planned to pick up the book in the first place, but this sample makes it clear to me that I don't need to bother even trying to read the book. If this is an adequate example of his writing, I don't think I could get through an entire chapter.
GuyverIV Jul 22nd 2011 3:48PM
...clumsy. Yes! That is EXACTLY the term I've been looking for! Most of the samples of Knaak has written are just freakin' awkward for me to read, overly ornate when simplicity would do or poorly fleshed when we need meaty descriptions.
And is it me or does it seem his style is getting more simplistic? Like he's phoning it in now that he's been established as a regular?
Matthew Rossi Jul 21st 2011 10:48PM
I really think this book might fall into Knaak's strengths as a writer, and I'm looking forward to it. If I'm wrong I'll admit it, but I really think this could be good.
razion Jul 21st 2011 11:57PM
I remember that bubble of hope. I, too, had it. ... Then I read the except description.
Kaphik Jul 22nd 2011 12:06AM
As a fellow warrior, I have to think that you may have taken one too many blows to the head.
Patrick Jul 21st 2011 10:50PM
Why is Knaak still allowed to write lore? He is incapable of setting a proper scene, and his characters are one dimensional. Not to mention he dotes on unimportant aspects. If I have to read about how Korialstrasz sometimes likes to go by Krasus I am going to throw his books out the window into a burning fire. But I am never a fan of blatant criticism, so here are some of my more personal pet-peeves that Knaak likes the throw at the reader:
1) Mary Sue Complex: The two big ones are Rhonin and Krasus, but there have been others. The most recent is Lucan Foxblood from 'Stormrage'. It is the story of Rhonin all over again. A misguided sheepish individual has immense powers, those powers will eventually become extreme, and will later become a major plot character. It would not be so bad if Knaak did not retell the entire back story every time the character is introduced.
2) Multiple Viewpoints: I have yet to read a Knaak novel that does not do this. It is a fine technique that works well in moderation, but for an entire novel? It seems to be the only way Knaak knows how to write. Every chapter hops and skips between three or more story lines. This is fine for select segments, but is clearly not needed for the entirety. This plays into the Mary Sue complex, as every time there is a new chapter more than a page is dedicated to some form or recap. This makes for dull and inconsistent reading. The worst example of this clearly was in 'Night of the Dragon'. The book took place in one location, and yet we needed four separate viewpoints?
3) Dragon Ball Z Effect: Nearly every Knaak novel ends with a major battle that climax's the story. And this is fine in its own right. But it, at times, borders on the silly. Near the end of 'Stormrage', Malfurion expanded his mind to encompass the entirity of Azeroth? And then there was the 'war' in the Emerald Dream where every living creature on Azeroth took part in. It is obtuse to a childish amount. It is grandeur for grandeur's sake and holds absolutely no substance when held to the other part of the lore. And to have it so that the enemy seems so powerful that it would be impossible to overcome, and then the character looks deep inside and finds a hidden power and then the enemy is overcome, is poor writing.
In conclusion, reading Knaak is like reading a tale told by a six year old. It is over the top, and focuses on details that are trivial to the overall story. In addition, it can never stay on point. He is a poor writer, and does not deserve to be writing the books that he is.
MusedMoose Jul 21st 2011 11:00PM
Re: multiple viewpoints:
This was a huge problem I had with the sample above. In only seven paragraphs, we're seeing the thoughts of the doe, Varian, Genn, and the boar... and it makes for a confusing read. I know that "third person omniscient" is a valid POV to write from, but in this case, it's completely unnecessary to get into the heads of the prey animals.
Granted, this is something that bothers me because rapid POV-switching is something I used to do. ^_^ Friends who read and critiqued my work told me of the problems it caused, so it's something I don't do anymore. Seeing a published author do it and be worse about it than I ever was is really disconcerting.
smartazjb0y Jul 22nd 2011 11:09AM
I'm going to have to disagree with the last one. I mean, WC3 ended with Malfurion beating freaking Archimonde by calling upon a bunch of wisps. I think the fact that it's Warcraft kind of means it's going to have to be "epic."
arkhan Jul 22nd 2011 12:34AM
"In conclusion, reading Knaak is like reading a tale told by a six year old."
That pretty much sums it up.
Zhiva Jul 22nd 2011 1:52AM
# Why is Knaak still allowed to write lore? #
Maybe he's the cheapest author to hire?
snarkygoldfish Jul 22nd 2011 11:27AM
If you've read Twilight of the Aspects, re: point number one, you already love Christie Golden even more, as I do.
....
I hope she gets to write about Rhonin next. ;)
amazon Jul 21st 2011 11:16PM
"Thrall's journey post-Cataclysm with the Earthen Ring and his orcish counterpart Aggra"... makes it sound like Thrall/Go'el isn't an orc. O.o
Saroc Jul 21st 2011 11:20PM
Anyone else think that the close up on the header image looks like Shiro Tagachi in the Guild Wars: Factions trailer?
S.O. Jul 21st 2011 11:28PM
I thought it looked like Arthas from the Warcraft3 Boxart with a couple of scars added
AudreyR Jul 22nd 2011 12:43AM
Except for the scars, this could have been Wolverine with Gambit's (discolored) eyes.
Gamberine?
Brevalaer Jul 22nd 2011 5:28AM
Wait, you mean, this ISN'T Arthas!?
Konataismine Jul 21st 2011 11:32PM
I was excited until I saw Knaak, from that passage alone Varian already got Mary-Sued, D:
Even though It'll never happen, I'd love to see George R.R. Martin write a WoW book....