The World of Warcraft: Chronicles of War is now available for a savings-deal of $19.99 at a bookstore near you or online store. It features an intro message by Blizzard Entertainment Senior Vice-president of Creative Design: Chris Metzen (The Thundergod, Bourbon Cowboy).

This big tome by Gallery Books, a division of Simon & Schuster (part of CBS Corporation), is a Trade Paperback of 784 pages and contains a collection of four World of Warcraft novels.

This tome basically covers the entire storyline of the first three games prior to World of Warcraft. The Last Guardian comes out of a mission in Warcraft: Orcs and Humans (Warcraft 1 — November 1994) telling the story of Medivh, Aegwynn, Khadgar, King Llane, Sir Lothar, and Garona Halforcen.

Tides of Darkness is a recap of the lore within Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (RTS — December 9, 1995). Beyond the Dark Portal is a recap and retcon of the lore within the expansion Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal (RTS — April 30, 1996). Retcon in the sense that the battle against Deathwing took place at Deathwing’s Lair (an island to the east of Shadowmoon Valley, but the novel shows this scene happening at Blade’s Edge Mountains with … Gruul (the Gronn Lord) helping Khadgar and the Alliance battle Deathwing.

Rise of the Horde introduced most of the main questlines surrounding World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade. Some of the expansion’s lore was designed around what the novel introduced. It begins with the story of Velen the draenei leader in planet Argus, twenty-five thousand years in the past. Later, how the draenei reached planet Draenor (now Outland) and the Burning Legion’s first contact with Ner’zhul, up to the point prior to Medivh opening the Dark Portal. A very very good read. Get this World of Warcraft: Chronicles of War when you get the chance.

  • Warcraft: The Last Guardian (by Jeff Grubb — November 26, 2002)
  • World of Warcraft: Rise of the Horde (by New York Times Bestselling author Christie Golden — December 26, 2006)
  • World of Warcraft: Tides of Darkness (by Aaron Rosenberg — August 28, 2007)
  • World of Warcraft: Beyond the Dark Portal (by Aaron Rosenberg and Christie Golden — June 24, 2008)

ISBN: 1439172722

Description
Over the eons, an endless struggle between the forces of order and chaos has shaped the world of Azeroth and its inhabitants. The orcish Horde’s violent invasion of the Eastern Kingdoms stands as one of history’s most tumultuous periods. Through the Burning Legion’s demonic machinations, the once-noble orcs were transformed into a nearly unstoppable foe and let loose upon Azeroth’s unsuspecting denizens. Yet even in the face of the Horde’s unparalleled fury, brave heroes risked everything to rise up in defense of the . . .

Rise of the Horde: Before the savage orcs began their rampage across Azeroth, they were a proud shamanic race native to the world of Draenor. The cunning demon Kil’jaeden saw lethal potential in the clan-based orcs, and thus he set about molding them into the Horde—a single, brutal force driven by an all-consuming thirst for destruction. But the foul demonic magic that granted the Horde its immense strength began consuming the orcs from within, ultimately threatening to destroy everything that they once were.

The Last Guardian: Long ago a group of magi known as the Council of Tirisfal was formed to fight a secret war against the sinister demons of the Burning Legion. To this end, the council imbued a single champion with enormous power to act as the world’s guardian. Medivh was one such Guardian of Tirisfal, and he was expected to be the greatest who had ever lived. Yet he was destined to follow a much darker path. From birth a mysterious evil had tainted the core of his being, and his subsequent struggle against the darkness within himself would precipitate the orcish Horde’s invasion of Azeroth . . . and change the world forever.

Tides of Darkness: During the First War, the orcish Horde laid waste to the once-great human kingdom of Stormwind. From the ashes of this terrible defeat, however, hope emerged. Anduin Lothar, Champion of Stormwind, rallied the survivors of his ruined homeland and valiantly led them to Lordaeron in the hopes of uniting the human nations into a mighty Alliance that could stand against the Horde and its ruthless new leader, Orgrim Doomhammer. Yet as formidable as Lothar believed the Alliance would be, many humans feared that no force would ever be capable of stopping the Horde’s merciless onslaught.

Beyond the Dark Portal: In the aftermath of the Second War between orcs and humans, the Dark Portal, a gateway connecting Azeroth to Draenor, was destroyed. The orcs, however, did not abandon their lust for war. Led by the mysterious orc shaman Ner’zhul, a fresh wave of Horde fighters flooded into Azeroth. Even more unsettling was that small bands of orcs intent on something other than mere conquest began scouring Azeroth for powerful artifacts desired by their sinister leader. To counter the Horde’s dark schemes, only one option remained for the Alliance: a suicide mission into the orcs’ ruined homeworld of Draenor.)