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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.
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.
BlizzCon 2010: WoW Insider interviews author Christie Golden
Today, in between the panels and the announcements at BlizzCon 2010, we had the distinct pleasure of meeting Christie Golden, author of the latest World of Warcraft novel The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm. Christie was kind enough to give us a few minutes and talk about her writing, her latest work and some glimpses at the behind-the-scenes work of novel writing. WoW Insider: Christie, thank you so much for joining us. The WoW Insider readers are big fans of your books, especially The Shattering. Can you tell us a little bit about the challenges about writing within the Warcraft universe? Christie Golden: One of the biggest challenges is that it's constantly growing and changing; with every new patch there's something new that comes along -- it's almost a living entity. Books take about a year from start to finish, so we're a little bit more locked in to our schedules. So there's a lot of back and forth. Things will change sometimes from one draft to another, so there'll be something new -- it's like, "Oh by the way, this character blahblahblah, can you update." Unfortunately, a book can't be tinkered with right up to the release date like a game can. You can't hotfix a book, then? I'm sure a lot of authors would love that! That's probably the biggest challenge, though. But the creativity and the appreciation I get from working with Blizzard certainly makes up for the inconveniences. WARNING: This interview does contain some spoilers for The Shattering. Caution is advised!
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!
Breakfast Topic: Reading rainbow
While World of Warcraft has one heck of an audience, the story involving it doesn't limit itself to just playing the game. There's a ton of books, comics, manga and RPG source guides out there with yet another ton of information. Some of this we see reflected in game, some of it is merely implied, and some of it we just don't see at all. I'm currently working my way through Stormrage, but I've read pretty much everything out there in the Warcraft universe -- and trust me, it's a lot of material. It got me thinking, though, particularly with what's contained in Stormrage and in other books as well: Just how many people actually read the books and other assorted reading material? Do you go out and buy a novel when it's released? Or do you prefer to just wait for the story to show up in game? So it's time for a Breakfast Topic poll! %Poll-42473%
Know Your Lore: The Lich King
WARNING: The following post contains spoilers for the novel Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, and the final battle with the Lich King in Icecrown Citadel. They're all pretty much contained on Page 2, and I'll give you another warning later just in case you forget about it. Most players are, by this point in Wrath of the Lich King, more than familiar with Arthas Menethil and his fall from supposed grace into the arms of the Lich King. Players may be slightly less familiar with Ner'zhul, the orc shaman who originally took on the mantle of the Lich King, but we've got an article for that. This article on the other hand, isn't so much about Ner'zhul, or Arthas, as it is about the Lich King -- the position that Arthas, and Ner'zhul before him, had foisted upon them. What exactly is the Lich King? What is its purpose, and why does it exist? To answer these questions, we have to go very, very far back into Azeroth's history. Azeroth was created by a group of creatures known as the Titans, a group of almost god-like giants that roam from world to world for a very distinct purpose -- to create and make order. There are a lot of conflicting stories surrounding the Titans, their origins, and the creation of Azeroth -- however, one story stands out above all others; the story of the corruption of Sargeras, champion of the Titans.
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!
WoW 5th Anniversary Giveaway: World of Warcraft novels
For our final contest celebrating World of Warcraft's 5th anniversary we have four, count them, four novels from Pocket Books' WoW fiction line to give away. Well, two novels and two compilation books. So whether you're a Christie Golden or a Richard Knaak fan enter for your chance to win one of these great lore-filled books. 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 Thursday, November 26th, at 12p ET (noon), and please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact you should you be one of the winners. You may enter only once and a winner will be selected randomly for each one of the following prizes: Arthas:Rise of the Lich King retail value of $25 Night of the Dragon retail value of $16 Warcraft Archive retail value of $17 War of the Ancients Archive retail value of $17 Click here to read the official contest rules. EDIT: Contest closed. Thanks so much for participating!
BlizzCon 2009: WoW.com interviews Christie Golden
During Day One of BlizzCon this past weekend, I was given the opportunity to sit down and talk with author/novelist Christie Golden, the woman behind the best selling Warcraft novel Arthas and the upcoming Cataclysm novel(s) which we learned about in this very interview. I asked her questions about her personal background in Warcraft, her writing process, and what it's like to work with Blizzard's worlds. WoW.com: If you don't mind, we'll kick things off with a question I pretty much ask everyone... Horde or Alliance? Christie Golden: Yes. WoW.com: Good answer! Golden: Seriously, I play both, and I love them both. I have characters on both sides, I don't prefer one over the other. WoW.com: That definitely comes through in what you've written in the universe, starting with Horde material and then moving onto Arthas. When you say you've played both, how far? Are any of them level 80? Golden: I've been so busy with all of the writing I've been doing lately that I haven't been able to hit 80, I haven't seen as much of Northrend as I've wanted to. Around 70 is where I'm stuck for now.
The Queue: All your fault
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.You know, I was getting bored of that whole musical intro thing, but having it around certainly made these preambles easier to write. What do you write here every day about a daily Q&A column? Guess what, guys! We're A'ing more Qs! Shock! Awe!So you've broken me. Congratulations. I am now a hollow husk of a man that can do nothing but uphold the status quo. I hope you're proud of yourselves. Here it goes again. WootZoot asked... "Any word on if Blizzard is working on a new novel or RPG book?"
Christie Golden signing Saturday in Long Island
Warcraft book author Christie Golden (who, you'll probably remember, wrote Arthas, the book our guys loved so much) will be signing copies of that book at a bookstore called the Book Revue in Huntington, NY this Saturday at 7pm. In a quick interview with Newsday there, she also talks about both her background in fantasy and sci-fi (she remembers the days when sci-fi and fantasy were seen as silly diversions rather than premises for multi-million dollar movies and videogames, as do most of us older nerds, probably) and her experience with WoW. She says that having the chance to jump in and virtually visit the actual setting of her books is a real plus when doing research -- if she has a question about the layout of Stormwind, she can go over to that city and check it out herself.If you're in or near Long Island and are a Christie Golden fan or are looking for something Warcraft-y and fun to do on Saturday, there you go. She's got more information on her blog about the signing (looks like she'll be reading as well). If you do go, let us know how it went.
Ask a Lore Nerd: It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, where each week blogger and columnist Alex Ziebart answers your questions about the lore and history of the World of Warcraft. Ask your questions in the comments section below, and we'll try to answer it in a future edition.I didn't intentionally choose today's Scourge theme. Really. These things just happen. That Dragon-specific one I did all that time ago? I didn't plan that, either. I'm just awesome enough that these things come together all by themselves. Yep. It's my pure, radiant awesome.What? What do you mean current game content dictates what topics are hot or not? Pssh, that's crazy talk. That can't be it. It's all me, y'all.Briz9 asked... "Who built Icecrown Citadel and the accompanying structures? Did Arthas build it after he became the Lich King, or was it already there?" The massive Saronite structures that make up Icecrown as it is today is all fairly new, from what I understand. Most Scourge architecture is based on Nerubian architecture (as you can see in Ahn'kahet) but the Saronite structures in and around Icecrown seem more styled after the Lich King himself. You certainly didn't see that stuff in Warcraft III either, but I suppose that's not always a good indicator.
The Daily Quest: Podcasts galore
We here at WoW Insider are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. HolyPaladin.net takes a good look at the balance between WoW and life and how to find it. The Rawrcast spoke with Curse's ckknight on the WoW Matrix controversy, Curse's premium client, and much more this weekend. Give it a listen! The Hearthstone Tavern has put out the first edition of their brand new World of Warcraft podcast focusing on RP and lore. This week they discuss Arthas: Rise of the Lich King and how it can bolster your own roleplay. The Twisted Nether Blogcast has posted episode number 44, this time with Dezdemone from Will Tank For Healz. Can't afford to go to BlizzCon? No worries, Spooncraft's got your backs. Well, the back of one of you. Just one back. They're running a contest to design a Spooncraft t-shirt, and the lucky Grand Prize winner gets a BlizzCon ticket, a free hotel stay, and $500 towards their airfare. Pretty sweet? Yeah, pretty sweet. Click here to submit a link to TDQ
BlizzCast episode 9 released
BlizzCast #9 was released very recently, and it's quite short this time around, only about 11 minutes long. It's short because it only covers one thing. It contains Chris Metzen reading the prologue to Arthas: Rise of the Lich King.The prologue is centered primarily on the native races in Northrend and how they react to the unnatural storms brought on by the Lich King's inner turmoil; the Tuskarr through community and the Taunka through defiance. We also see the exact nature of that turmoil, catching a glimpse of just how much of Arthas is left in there (or Ner'zhul for that matter), and we see it all to the tune of Metzen's sultry voice.
Reminder: Win WoW Insider's stuff!
Dear readers, you've probably noticed that WoW Insider is downright eager to give you guys free things the last few weeks. To give everyone the best possible chance of winning, here's a reminder for our two current, ongoing contests for those that may have missed them. Your window of opportunity is closing quickly if you want to enter our Arthas: Rise of the Lich King giveaway. It's 3:00 PM Eastern as of this posting, and that contest ends at 6:00 PM Eastern. That's three hours! Head over there and throw your name into the ring! Our Fan Art contest is still ongoing, and you only have until Monday night to enter that. Remember. creativity is more important to our judges than anything else, so even if you think you're a bad artist, you probably have a chance to win if you can make us laugh! Remember to go through the official rules for each contest (linked on their pages) before entering, and note which regions are able to enter. Good luck to everyone who participates!
Blizzard's Arthas: Rise of the Lich King quiz contest
Blizzard announced a brand new contest yesterday, and it's quite possibly their most simple contest yet. Read an excerpt from Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, answer three questions about what you read to enter the contest, and then you're given a chance to win a collector's edition of the Arthas novel. Pretty sweet and, as I said, really easy to enter.Blizzard's official contest isn't the only one running, either. Fan sites around the blogosphere (good gosh I hate that term) are giving them away like crazy, and we even have a nice stack of our own that we'll be giving away soon. Keep an eye out, and seriously- enter these contests, whether it's ours or Blizzard's or someone else's contest. This book is worth the effort, and the collector's edition is pretty classy. Remember, this is coming from someone who thinks many of the Warcraft novels are pretty terrible.
BlizzPlanet hosts a chat with Arthas author Christie Golden [Updated]
Our friend Medievaldragon over at BlizzPlanet is going fan-crazy about the new Arthas, Rise of the Lich King book, due out in bookstores any day now. And with good reason, too -- apparently both Alex and Dan are also nuts about the book, and it's basically a must-read if you're at all interested in the lore behind Arthas, Jaina, and the creature we all know as the Lich King. And Medievaldragon has set up an awesome opportunity for anyone interested in the novel: they're having a live public chat with author Christie Golden on Thursday evening, April 9th, at 9pm Eastern. She'll be sitting down in the CoverItLive widget there to talk with you about the lore behind the book, how she worked with Blizzard to figure out where Arthas is and where he's going, and whatever else you'd like to ask.Sounds like fun, but if you are in the EU you'll have to stay up late if you want to see it all happen live. It begins at about 3am in Paris, so it'll be a late night if you have questions you want to ask. The good news is that the CoverItLive widget logs the chat, so even if you can't make it to see everything go down live, you can scroll back through it later and read up on what happened.The book itself is due out April 21 -- you can preorder a collectible version of the novel if you want to right now for $32, which isn't cheap, or you can pre-order the non-collectible version from Amazon.com for $16.50. You can also support your local fantasy bookstore and wait until later in the month to pick it up there.[UPDATE: Corrected the live chat date to April 9.]
Blizzard Insider Issue 30 released today
Issue 30 of Blizzard's newsletter, the Blizzard Insider, is hitting inboxes this afternoon. These newsletters don't come often, but when they do, there's always some good stuff the comes along with it. On the World of Warcraft front, beyond the screenshots and fan art, we have a few new pages to check out: A primer for the upcoming World of Warcraft content patch, Secrets of Ulduar A chapter out of the upcoming Warcraft novel Arthas: Rise of the Lich King that you can preview online A reminder and a few notes about the ongoing Arena Tournament For our general Blizzard fans among our readership (which is a pretty large number of you/us), we have a couple of Diablo III and Starcraft II items from the community:
BlizzPlanet reviews upcoming Arthas novel
One of the Warcraft novels I've actively been looking forward to is Arthas, Rise of the Lich King. It's set to be released to the world on April 21, 2009 but BlizzPlanet.com has gotten its hands on a few bound galleys of the book early. Some of them are being given away, but he's also reading one on his own and has gifted us with a quick review.The review makes the book sound incredible, though perhaps a bit too cluttered. The novel is roughly 300 pages in length (I believe) and the first 100 pages covers his childhood from the arrival of the Stormwind refugees in Lordaeron to the beginning of Warcraft III. That covers about fourteen years, and that's potentially a lot of territory to cover!
