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Christie Golden, Micky Neilson discuss newest novel, War Crimes
War Crimes, Christie Golden's latest Warcraft novel, officially hit the shelves today. The novel details the trial of Garrosh Hellscream for his crimes against Alliance, Horde, and Pandaria alike. We were lucky enough to get a chance to sit down and chat with Christie Golden, as well as Lead Story Developer Micky Neilson, about the novel, the feedback, and even some upcoming projects that are on the way. War Crimes is a different kind of book -- it features a gigantic cast. Can you tell us a little about the challenges involved in writing and keeping track of so many familiar faces? Christie: It definitely is. I had kind of done a run at something like this with The Shattering, that was my first experiencing writing for both Horde and Alliance, trying to weave in various characters and their story lines and still make it fast paced and entertaining. This really was a chance for me to, with the Vision of Time at my disposal, to kind of go through and not just address Garrosh, but sneak in some of the history of Azeroth. What made these factions who they are, how they thought of each other, and a lot of old hurts, as well as new things. I actually just posted on Twitter a picture of the colorful index cards that I laid out on my dining room table at work at one point just to keep track of it!
Review of Christie Golden's novel, War Crimes
It's time for Hellscream to pay. Or at least that's what everyone in War Crimes would enjoy seeing, to varying degrees. Christie Golden's latest novel, War Crimes, is due out next week on May 6. It tells the tale of Garrosh Hellscream's trial, an event many players have been waiting to hear about -- and it also serves as a bridge novel, of sorts, between Mists of Pandaria and the upcoming expansion Warlords of Draenor. If you'd like to know how Garrosh wriggled out of his presumably inevitable death and got to Draenor, this is the book you want to read. But it's so much more than that. In War Crimes, the focus is much less on Garrosh, and much more on the people around him -- those called to the witness stand, and those simply observing the trial in progress. It's a sweep of almost every major face in the Alliance and Horde, and their unique individual reactions to what happened during Hellscream's reign. In that, it's a very different kind of novel -- and I think it was just the novel needed to bring this expansion fully to a close. Please note: Because War Crimes has yet to be released, this will be a spoiler-free review. Please refrain from talking about spoilers in the comments -- any spoiler information posted will be deleted.
Know Your Lore: Durotan, son of Garad
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Durotan, son of Garad, chieftain of the Frostwolf Clan. A mighty warrior to be certain, yet there is far more to Durotan than what is widely known. Yes, he was a warrior, but he was also a conflicted soul, one who could only watch from the sidelines as the height of orcish civilization crumbled under the influence of the Burning Legion. Durotan may never have fully understood exactly what happened to the orcish race, but it affected him deeply. Yet Durotan's most notable legacy is his son, Thrall. Found by humans, raised as a gladiator, liberating the orcish race and rallying a new Horde by his side. When Thrall took the new Horde to Kalimdor, he named the land they settled on Durotan, after his father -- a father who likely would have been very proud of his son. In Warlords, we'll see Durotan again -- Horde players will have the unique opportunity to work with this legend of the past, surprisingly alive and well. What kind of orc is Durotan -- and what will he think of his son?
Warlords of Draenor: Cities and geography updates
CM Bashiok had an interesting reply to some lore and geography queries on the official forums, after reaching out to Lead Quest Designer Craig Amai for answers. Some familiar places will indeed make an appearance in Warlords, including the draenei city Telmor, mentioned in depth in the novel Rise of the Horde. Telmor was a hidden draenei city, notable because it hosted two very unusual guests -- a young Orgrim Doomhammer and Durotan, who were rescued from an ogre attack by a draenei party and then taken to the city. Both orcs witnessed the removal of the invisibility spell that shrouded the city, and met with the Prophet Velen himself. Years later, Durotan was asked to use his knowledge of the invisibility spell to reveal the city and leave it open for attack. Telmor was quickly overrun. There are no remnants of Telmor in Outland today -- but there are other geographical areas that have been described in lore prior to Draenor's destruction, which Bashiok further clarified.
Exclusive first look at Christie Golden's new novel, War Crimes
Christie Golden, author of a substantial amount of Warcraft novels including The Shattering, Tides of War, Lord of the Clans and Rise of the Horde, recently announced a new novel to add to the list, and we have all the details. Titled War Crimes, the new novel features an all-star cast of nearly every important figure from both the Alliance and Horde, and tells an interesting, new kind of story the likes of which we haven't seen from Blizzard before. The brutal siege of Orgrimmar is over. Garrosh Hellscream, the most infamous orc on Azeroth, now sits in chains. His tyrannical leadership of the Horde has been ended by his many enemies, and he must answer for his crimes. Renowned leaders from across the world gather in Pandaria to witness Garrosh's trial. Visions of his past atrocities are presented in vivid detail for all to see. But as history is revisited, old grievances and bitter memories come back into the light, and those in attendance begin to wonder if anyone among them is truly innocent. Mounting tensions and rising enmity steer the court to the brink of chaos... as the world waits with bated breath for the verdict on the war crimes of Garrosh Hellscream. If you think a novel about a courtroom trial is going to be a dull affair, think again -- War Crimes isn't just a story about a trial, nor is it just another story about Garrosh Hellscream. In fact, it's anything but another Garrosh Hellscream novel. We were thrilled to get an exclusive interview with Christie at BlizzCon 2013 about her new title, a gigantic cast that includes some unexpected faces in the spotlight, and what we can expect to see -- as well as information on the book's release.
New Christie Golden novel on the way
Amidst all the BlizzCon excitement yesterday, author Christie Golden decided to drop an interesting bit of information on Twitter -- she's working on a new novel. Not just any novel, but a WoW novel that ties in with the new expansion, Warlords of Draenor. Obviously no title or plot information has been released, but since Golden has written several novels with expansion lead-in titles, it stands to reason this novel will hopefully form some kind of bridge between Mists and Warlords. With titles like Lord of the Clans, Rise of the Horde, The Shattering, and Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects under her belt, Golden is also incredibly familiar with the history of the orcish race. While we don't know how much this novel will feature any of the key players in Warlords, it's safe to say that this is going to be a pretty amazing read. Hopefully we'll see more information regarding this mysterious new title soon.
Know Your Lore: The legacy of the Mag'har
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Garrosh Hellscream's actions thus far in World of Warcraft have been, by and large, downright villainous and despicable. He's responsible for the murders of countless Alliance soldiers and civilians at both Northwatch Hold and Theramore -- and countless others over the course of his reign as Warchief. He's also responsible for the deaths of countless Horde -- some honorable, some not, all distinctly under the impression that being a member of the Horde brought certain advantages. Advantages like not having the Warchief order your execution over perceived slights. Yet Garrosh's roots, oddly enough, are with a clan of orcs that pride themselves in the noble preservation of orcish society as it stood before the Burning Legion's influence. Small, yes, remote and isolated, yes, but they stood and continue to stand with pride in the face of corruption. Based in a remote corner of Outland, they are the Mag'har. Where did they come from, and how did they affect how Warchief Hellscream views the world today?
Cover art for The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm
While the next novel in the Warcraft series, The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm has been available for preorder for quite some time, the book itself had no cover art -- until now. The artwork for the novel is available for viewing on Amazon, and while it's been stated that this is preliminary artwork, it looks pretty official. The Shattering covers the stretch of time between Wrath of the Lich King and the Cataclysm expansion -- what exactly happened to cause the scenery changes as well as the situational changes that lead to the events we'll be seeing as we play through the new expansion. The book is written by Christie Golden, whose other works in the Warcraft series include Lord of the Clans, Rise of the Horde and Arthas: Rise of the Lich King. According to Amazon, the release date has been pushed back from the originally stated release date of Aug. 31, 2010, to Oct. 19, 2010 -- a little longer to wait than previously thought. The cover image itself? A striking (no pun intended) image of the Doomhammer smashing into what looks like volcanic rock. If the cover art is any indication, Thrall is playing a major role in the book -- and Golden's already shown us on more than one occasion that she's capable of writing the character. Does this mean we'll see more of Jaina as well? How about Varian? Unfortunately there's no real summary of the book available just yet, but you can see the full cover image, as well as pre-order the novel, via Amazon.com.
The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm available for preorder
The next book in the Warcraft novel series, World of Warcraft: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm by Christie Golden is now available for preorder on Amazon.com both in hardcover edition and for the Kindle. This book (which incidentally has the longest title I've ever seen for a Warcraft book) covers the events prior to the release of the Cataclysm expansion, and as mentioned is written by award-winning author Christie Golden, who brought us other novels such as Lord of the Clans, Rise of the Horde and Arthas: Rise of the Lich King. Both the Kindle preorder and the hardcover print edition preorder have a release date set for August 31st, 2010. While some may view this as a tip off to Cataclysm's release date, I'd advise people not to get too excited -- generally the novel release dates aren't tied to the release of expansions at all. I am, however, looking forward to the book; Golden's prior works have always made for an entertaining read, and while we have no information regarding the contents of the book, it can be assumed we'll be seeing more of Deathwing, Warchief Thrall, Garrosh Hellscream, King Varian Wrynn, Malfurion Stormrage and many of the other characters that may play major parts in the Cataclysm expansion. Thank you to reader Patrick for the tip!
The Queue: Decisions, decisions
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Readers, I'm having trouble making a very tough decision today. I'm in the mood for two very specific things but can't make up my mind between them. I definitely can't have both. So before you read the rest of The Queue and pick apart its World of Warcrafty deliciousness, please, help me choose what I'm eating for dinner today. %Poll-44314% Boz asked... "Any word on whether School of Hard Knocks will be removed from the meta-holiday achievement, or if it will hammer Battlegrounds for another week this year?"
The Twelve Days of Winter Veil: Day ten
WoW.com continues celebrating Winter Veil with our Twelve Days of Winter Veil contests. Today is day ten of our countdown and we are giving away a set of World of Warcraft novels written by Christie Golden to one lucky winner courtesy of Pocket Books. The set includes: Arthas Beyond The Dark Portal Rise of the Horde Warcraft Archive The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 18 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before 12pm ET (noon) Friday, December 25, 2009. Please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact you should you be the winner. You may enter only once and one winner will be selected randomly. The winner will receive 1 set of Christie Golden World of Warcaft novels including Arthas, Beyond The Dark Portal, Rise of the Horde and the Warcraft Archive with a total retail value of US$58. Click here to read the official contest rules. And if you don't win today (or even if you do!) check back later today for loot card giveaways and tomorrow for more contests -- the prizes only get better as we count down the Twelve Days of Winter Veil! EDIT: Contest closed. Thanks everyone!
Blizzard orders up a dessert contest
Neth has posted an announcement for Blizzard's annual dessert contest, and... wait, dessert contest? I don't remember them doing that one before, but sure enough, they have. I guess it follows after the pumpkin carving contest. Anyway, yes, your task, should you choose to accept it, is to make a confectionary creation based on one of Blizzard's big franchises, and submit a picture of it to them over on the site. Each of ten winners will get seven different Warcraft books, including the popular Rise of the Horde and Arthas novels. You have until December 21st at midnight, so get cooking! And if you do make a nice Warcraft cake, be sure to send us a copy (if the rules allow), so we can add it to our gallery below. Good luck to everyone who enters the contest, we can't wait to see what kind of sweets you cook up. %Gallery-31459%
WoW Rookie: Reading about Warcraft
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the basics of a good start in the World of Warcraft. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic, and be sure to visit the WoW.com WoW Rookie Guide for links to all our tips, tricks and how-to's. Even if you're not a roleplayer, it's almost impossible not to find yourself swept up by some aspect of the hundreds of compelling stories tucked into the World of Warcraft. The question is, how can you dig deeper? Where do you find more? The answer: Books ... Manga ... Comics ... RPGs .... Page after page after page of glorious lore. Blizzard approves the storylines and lore included in the Warcraft and World of Warcraft line of novels, although you won't find a straight and clear progression across the whole line. Not every story and character crosses over from books to game (and vice versa). Besides the Warcraft novels, WoW-starved readers can chew through enough manga, roleplaying game books and gaming guides to sate any lore feeding frenzy. The best part? You enjoy +Lore bonuses to your online play experience. Even the RPG books add color to the overall picture. Follow us beyond the break for a basic reading outline to escort you down Warcraft's path of lore.
All the World's a Stage: So you still want to be a Shaman
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the twenty-first in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself. There's something about shamans that gets us thinking and talking. Whether it's something as simple as the proper pronunciation of "shamanism," or something as profound as a shaman's humility in relation to the source of his or her power, the lore and ideology of the shaman class often resonates with players more than many others in the World of Warcraft.One reason for this is that shamans have been such a pivotal force in the lore, possibly more than any other class in the game (depending on your point of view). Other classes, such as warriors, or paladins, come as a sort of pre-defined archetype in fantasy games that don't seem all that different from their original forms in other fantasy settings. The actual beliefs of a priest, for instance, don't seem to matter so much to many players, so long as the class can heal like we expect them to. Even the druids, with their central place in night elf society, sometimes seem more like nature-based magic users rather than true philosophers in their own right.Shamans, however, have a major burden to bear in one of the central plot shifts of the Warcraft storyline -- namely that the orcs, who entered the Warcraft stage in the Warcraft 1: Orcs and Humans computer game as rampaging demonic evildoers bent on destruction, and actually turned out to be a peaceful race that just got tricked into being evil. Shamanism had to be much much more than just an archetype with some special powers -- it had to be a way of thinking, a system of belief that could be taken over by demonic corruption and yet at the same time act as a beacon of truth and goodness once that the demonic taint had been defeated. Shamanism has got to be complex and profound, or else the story wouldn't make sense.
Ask a Lore Nerd: Books, boats and Blood Knights
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, the column that answers your questions about the story and lore of the Warcraft universe. Click the Comments link below (or e-mail us!), ask your question, and blogger/columnist Alex Ziebart will answer your question in a future installment!Without further ado, let's get to the questions. Justin of Firetree-US wrote in to ask...Along the coastline in the Swamp of Sorrows there are skeletons of giant turtles with structures built onto the back of their shells. Is this a nod to the Gnome submarines used in Warcraft II? If I remember correctly, they were turtles as well.While yes, the Gnomes did use the turtles as submarines in Warcraft II, they aren't the only ones that have made use of them. According to a few quests in Darkshore, the Naga have put the Giant turtles to work as transports. Also, in Wrath of the Lich King, the Tuskarr use giant turtles with carriages on their backs as transportation as well. In fact, you can use them to get from one end of Northrend to the other. Edit: I was wrong, the Gnomes didn't use the turtles. It was a Horde unit. Same answer applies, though.
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Burning Crusade winner
We'd like to thank everyone for helping us level up our contest skill with one final contest in our Countdown to Burning Crusade. We're happy to announce two lucky winners -- Baxmaniac is going to be the recipient of a copy of Burning Crusade for lucky comment number 260, and Kieron is going to receive a copy of Christie Golden's Rise of the Horde novel for lucky need roll number 119. Grats to Baxmaniac and Kieron, and thanks to everyone for taking part in the Countdown this month!
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Just. One. More. Contest.
Now that the expansion is out we've been able to access the Master Contest Trainer, and in the interest of leveling up our contest skill beyond 300 we've got one final Burning Crusade giveaway for you. Plus, we had such a good time counting down to Burning Crusade that we're going through a bit of withdrawal. This contest is yet another very simple /Need roll affair, and we're going to pick one winner and one runner-up from the needy, undergeared commenters. The winner will receive a copy of Burning Crusade -- we realize many of you already pwn own the expansion, but for those who haven't or have been waiting, or who want to give the gift of WoW to a friend or S.O. (pushers!), this contest is for you. The runner-up will receive a copy of The Rise of the Horde novel by Christie Golden. You must leave your comment in this thread by 3pm EST tomorrow, Wednesday January 24 to be eligible to win one of the prizes. Good luck to everyone!
WoW Books: Rise of the Horde now available
The latest novel set in the World of Warcraft has been released this week. While I haven't yet seen it in my local bookshop, it does seem to be available from Amazon.com. Rise of the Horde is written by Christie Golden, who wrote (with Don Perrin) Warcraft: Lord of the Clans, as well as a couple of Star Trek: Voyager novels. From Amazon's blurb: Though the young Warchief Thrall ended the demon curse that had plagued his people for generations, the orcs still wrestle with the sins of their bloody past. As the rampaging Horde, they waged a number of devastating wars against their perennial enemy -- the Alliance. Yet the rage and bloodlust that drove the orcs to destroy everything in their path nearly consumed them as well. Long ago, on the idyllic world of Draenor, the noble orc clans lived in relative peace with their enigmatic neighbors, the draenei. But the nefarious agents of the Burning Legion had other plans for both of the unsuspecting races. The demon-lord Kil'jaeden set in motion a dark chain of events that would succeed not only in eradicating the draenei, but forging the orc clans into an single, unstoppable juggernaut of hatred and destruction. I've bought a couple of WoW novels in the past, but I've never really been drawn-in by them, preferring being in the game than to lazing on the couch reading about it. Rise of the Horde seems to be a little more interesting, as it may give some background going into The Burning Crusade. And hey, with a couple of weeks to go, and not a lot to do in-game, now might be a good time for me to give WoW novels a second chance. So, are you going to pick this one up? Have any of you read the past novels, and do you find they add to your enjoyment of the game, or just give you a nice break from staring at the computer screen? 01/16/07 UPDATE! Christie Golden has written in (YAY! THE AUTHOR!) and clears up a few things: Thanks for making people aware of the book! I do have a correctionfor you if I may--I did not write Lord of the Clans "with" DonPerrin. Lord of the Clans (as a novel that is, of course thebackstory and the world is Blizzard's!) is entirely my own creation,I never saw any of the work Don had done on the project before Istarted writing.Also, I'm delighted to report that many things made it from the bookRise of the Horde into the expansion, which is a real thrill for mepersonally and doesn't often happen in the world of media tie-ins.Blizzard is a fantastic company to work with. And yes, I play WoW.:D Thanks for the information, Christie, hopefully we'll see you in the Outlands!
