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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
During this book you get more insight on what was going through arthas' head when he did what he did. You also get to see the relationship between arthas and jaina, along with other things during arthas' childhood.. some scenes are directly from warcraft III, which made it, for me, more fun to read. the first half of the book was more fun for me, as the second half was almost fully recycled from the game. decent book, though the horse is mentioned too much.
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is an Adult Fantasy novel.
Book Cover: 3* - I'm not going to be an a** and pretend the cover is badly done. The art is beautiful, I just don't like that it is a close up of Arthas's face as the Lich King. I much prefer full bodied or at least half bodied drawings of the character on the cover in a pivotal setting in the story. Maybe even add what they can or may be able to do on the cover as well, not just a face with glowing blue eyes, even if that part is cool lol.
Summary/Tagline: 2.5* - I mean, the summary decided to let me know that this book will be on the villain from Expansion 3 of World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King, how else are they going to let people know that there is an MMORPG out there for people to play . . . and pay money for. Anyway, after the game bit it did let me know exactly what this book will be about which is meh. Too bad I was disappointed on how the story was executed.
Characters: 2.5* - This was really hard for me to figure out. Although I didn't mind the characters and how they turned out, from what I was shown, I suppose, this book didn't solely have 1 POV, it had 3. Arthas, Jaina, and Sylvanas. I found it odd that this book wasn't only on Arthas when the title and summary make it out as so, and although I understand how connected these 2 characters are to Arthas, their POV chapters served as nothing but reaction chapters to what Arthas did the chapter before or as expositions when Arthas isn't there. I will bring up more in the story segment of this review.
World Building: 2.5* - I need to let everyone know right now, if you have no idea what Warcraft or World of Warcraft is and/or you've never played either games, this book will automatically assume you have. There isn't much explanation in the world nor their inhabitants. There is some but it is very small and brief, same for the history of this world. Thankfully I knew enough by playing WOTLK and after and from my husband and lore based videos on YouTube, but if you aren't looking to spend time in learning of what the games have created then you might feel frustrated with this book, keyword is might. I've never been a fan of this kind of world building. The way how I see it, books should be written as though it may be everyone's first. The first of a series, standalone, branch offs, etc. When going into this book, it will expect you to know what and where Lordaeron and Silvermoon is. It will also expect you to know certain regions importance such as the Night Elves World Tree. As I said, some moments it will explain briefly or not at all.
Story: 2* - I was very, VERY! Disappointed in how the story was written. I am aware of the author's work, I know she has some really good books out there with beautifully written stories that flow wonderfully. That being the case, this book was written more like cliff notes than anything else. The books, compared to many High Fantasy books, is short, just under 400 pages with 2 extra POVs. I'm also sure that there is a chance that Blizzard probably gave the author very specific things to write about, that being the case . . . AGAIN! Lol. I think this book should have been longer and ONLY focus on Arthas. His life was going by so fast that what was supposed to be months or years later, seemed MUCH less than that. Not to mention his sudden mood changes throughout the book was jarring and really annoying. One moment he is confident, looking forward to his future, and the next he is terrified and unsure, then obsessed to pissed off. Not to mention we are barely given any time inside these characters heads. There is way too many telling instead of showing, and I was just fed up with this book. Now, when we do come upon a moment and FINALLY being showed it, they were really nice and I enjoyed it . . . suddenly I'm taking out when we are suddenly days, weeks, months, or years later or we are just suddenly somewhere else. I'm also going to add this, although the epilogue made me cry for how beautifully written it was and heart wrenching at what happened, this is another sudden moment because I never really got to see Arthas change to what he became in the games. No why, no reason, he's just . . . the Lich King now, and I was very, VERY disappointed.
Over All: 2.5* - Now, no lie I am still stuck between 2 to 3 stars so I will settle for a 2.5. I really did enjoy some of moments in the book ACTUALLY shown to me but I can't forgive this book for the cliff note like story telling and the sped up timeline and the tell instead of show. I think this book would have been great if Blizzard allowed the author to just let her write the book, maybe fill in any holes not given, make this book longer or multiple books, no more than 2 or 3 maybe, and only been shown Arthas's perspective, but alas, this is what I am given instead. Because of how WOW has been turning out recently, this book will probably be my first and last book from Blizzard. I just don't care how they have been doing their storytelling recently. Who knows, maybe they will come around and actually put real efforts instead of just sticking to obvious tropes, but all I can say is we will see.
Book Cover: 3* - I'm not going to be an a** and pretend the cover is badly done. The art is beautiful, I just don't like that it is a close up of Arthas's face as the Lich King. I much prefer full bodied or at least half bodied drawings of the character on the cover in a pivotal setting in the story. Maybe even add what they can or may be able to do on the cover as well, not just a face with glowing blue eyes, even if that part is cool lol.
Summary/Tagline: 2.5* - I mean, the summary decided to let me know that this book will be on the villain from Expansion 3 of World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King, how else are they going to let people know that there is an MMORPG out there for people to play . . . and pay money for. Anyway, after the game bit it did let me know exactly what this book will be about which is meh. Too bad I was disappointed on how the story was executed.
Characters: 2.5* - This was really hard for me to figure out. Although I didn't mind the characters and how they turned out, from what I was shown, I suppose, this book didn't solely have 1 POV, it had 3. Arthas, Jaina, and Sylvanas. I found it odd that this book wasn't only on Arthas when the title and summary make it out as so, and although I understand how connected these 2 characters are to Arthas, their POV chapters served as nothing but reaction chapters to what Arthas did the chapter before or as expositions when Arthas isn't there. I will bring up more in the story segment of this review.
World Building: 2.5* - I need to let everyone know right now, if you have no idea what Warcraft or World of Warcraft is and/or you've never played either games, this book will automatically assume you have. There isn't much explanation in the world nor their inhabitants. There is some but it is very small and brief, same for the history of this world. Thankfully I knew enough by playing WOTLK and after and from my husband and lore based videos on YouTube, but if you aren't looking to spend time in learning of what the games have created then you might feel frustrated with this book, keyword is might. I've never been a fan of this kind of world building. The way how I see it, books should be written as though it may be everyone's first. The first of a series, standalone, branch offs, etc. When going into this book, it will expect you to know what and where Lordaeron and Silvermoon is. It will also expect you to know certain regions importance such as the Night Elves World Tree. As I said, some moments it will explain briefly or not at all.
Story: 2* - I was very, VERY! Disappointed in how the story was written. I am aware of the author's work, I know she has some really good books out there with beautifully written stories that flow wonderfully. That being the case, this book was written more like cliff notes than anything else. The books, compared to many High Fantasy books, is short, just under 400 pages with 2 extra POVs. I'm also sure that there is a chance that Blizzard probably gave the author very specific things to write about, that being the case . . . AGAIN! Lol. I think this book should have been longer and ONLY focus on Arthas. His life was going by so fast that what was supposed to be months or years later, seemed MUCH less than that. Not to mention his sudden mood changes throughout the book was jarring and really annoying. One moment he is confident, looking forward to his future, and the next he is terrified and unsure, then obsessed to pissed off. Not to mention we are barely given any time inside these characters heads. There is way too many telling instead of showing, and I was just fed up with this book. Now, when we do come upon a moment and FINALLY being showed it, they were really nice and I enjoyed it . . . suddenly I'm taking out when we are suddenly days, weeks, months, or years later or we are just suddenly somewhere else. I'm also going to add this, although the epilogue made me cry for how beautifully written it was and heart wrenching at what happened, this is another sudden moment because I never really got to see Arthas change to what he became in the games. No why, no reason, he's just . . . the Lich King now, and I was very, VERY disappointed.
Over All: 2.5* - Now, no lie I am still stuck between 2 to 3 stars so I will settle for a 2.5. I really did enjoy some of moments in the book ACTUALLY shown to me but I can't forgive this book for the cliff note like story telling and the sped up timeline and the tell instead of show. I think this book would have been great if Blizzard allowed the author to just let her write the book, maybe fill in any holes not given, make this book longer or multiple books, no more than 2 or 3 maybe, and only been shown Arthas's perspective, but alas, this is what I am given instead. Because of how WOW has been turning out recently, this book will probably be my first and last book from Blizzard. I just don't care how they have been doing their storytelling recently. Who knows, maybe they will come around and actually put real efforts instead of just sticking to obvious tropes, but all I can say is we will see.
I had been a big Warcraft fan for years now and I got even more into it when World of Warcraft hit the scene. My favorite thing is to look at the backgrounds of everything, finding out why certain things are the way they are in the game is fascinating. This was the first Warcraft book I have ever actually read and I thought it was amazing. Knowing the background already going into it was interesting to see how Christie Golden told the story, she stayed completely true to the tragic tale of Arthas and that was one thing that really sold me on this book. One of my favorite story lines to read is the path to damnation types, and this story is definitely one of those cases and I ate up every word of it. Definite recommendation for and WoW nerd out there.
How can a Hordie rate an obviously Ally book? How about this: It begins with Arthas as a child, and somewhere around halfway through the book you finally begin the Warcraft 3 campaigns but skip the Orc and Night Elf Campaigns. It skips right from Kel'Thuzad summoning Archimonde to Warcraft 3 Expansion. The whole defeat of Archimonde was three sentences. In my opinion it could have been better and I definately didn't like the idea that Jaina was a love interest for Kael'thas. Read it, make your own opinion.
Arthas: Rise of the Lich King tells the story of Arthas Menethil from his childhood to his eventual role as the Lich King. It does this in a brief yet decently written manner, though seems to rely on the reader knowing enough about the world of Azeroth that the lack of worldbuilding can be ignored. It's fine - I like the Warcraft lore, so reading this was fun for me, though I suspect anyone who hasn't played any Warcraft game would be a bit lost. It tried too hard to bring in game tie-ins, though, with certain spells and abilities outlined in such a way that was too "gamey" for me. In addition, it shoehorns in a few lines of dialogue, particularly from Sylvanas, that come right from the game. This ends up just seeming sort of silly, but I get it. I'll read more of them for the lore, but unless you are attached to Azeroth already, I'd probably pass.
Although best appreciated by avid players of the game, a harrowing falling-from-grace story that stands on its own.
It was good. It got me caught up on a lot of backstory that I only vaguely remembered from Burning Crusade - tons of things that made me go "oh right, that's when that happened!" But as far as the writing goes, it was just okay.
So far this is the best World of Warcraft book I have ever read
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes