World of Warcraft: Wolfheart by Richard A Knaak*New Review

Gallery Books, 2011

ISBN: 978-1451605754

Available:  Hardback, paperback, e-book

 

When approaching this book, the first thing I thought about was whether I needed any knowledge of World of Warcraft to enjoy the book. Thankfully, as I love Richard A. Knaak’s work, you do not, though it would certainly help. In most instances, if there is a term the reader might not know because they aren’t familiar with World of Warcraft, Knaak provides at least a sentence or two to explain, in a way that doesn’t detract from the main tale or flow of the story.

 

The book follows the Horde amassing of an army to overcome and destroy the Alliance. Three main characters take on the majority of the story, each well characterized and properly detailed. The action sequences are tight and well described while story build up is just as detailed and flowing. Appropriate for ages 13 and up.

 

Contains: Violence, blood, gore.

 

Reviewed by: Stephen Lerch

 

 

 

 

Gears of War: Coalition's End by Karen Traviss

Gallery Books, 2011

ISBN-13: 978-1439183953

Available: New

 

Gears of War: Coalition’s End is a bridge book between the storylines of the video games Gears of War 2 and Gears of War 3, with Gears of War 3 due to be released in fall of 2011. In this book, the members of the Coalition with Delta Squad ends up on the island Vectes, thinking that they have found a safe haven from the Locust and the deadly Lambent.  Delta Squad find all too quickly that the Lambent have found a way onto Vectes and seem to be evolving. The Coalition must determine if they can hold Vectes or again search for another safe location.

 

Coalition’s End is an engaging read with plenty of action and some great character development. Traviss delves into the background of some of Delta Squad’s members, endearing them to the reader and the action keeps one turning pages to see what happens next.   There is an element of mystery as well, as everyone is trying to figure out the plans and motivations of Prescott, the chairman of the Coalition.  

 

Gears of War: Coalition’s End is highly recommended.  While the book is set in the Gears of War world, and having a basic understanding of the story helps, there is enough background in the book that it is possible to get a good idea of what is going on.  The book is a solid science fiction tale that even non-game players will enjoy: a brief stop at the Wikipedia entry for the first two games can get someone up to speed rather quickly.   This is the fourth Gears of War book, and there is a series of graphic novels as well.   The first Gears of War game sold over five million copies and Gears of War 2 sold over four million copies,  so there is a good chance that your library will have patrons who have played the game.   The Gears of War game is for the XBOX 360 platform. Highly recommended 

The Gears of War books are:

Gears of War: Anvil Gate by Karen Traviss released in 2010

Gears of War: Jacinto's Remnant by Karen Traviss released 2009

Gears of War Aspho Fields by Karen Traviss released in 2008

 

Gears of War Games:

Gears of War Triple Pack

Gear of War 3 (To be released 9/20/11)

Gears of War special XBOX Bundle

 

Review by the Monster Librarian

 

 

Contains: Violence and some minor gore

 

 

Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects by Christie Golden

Gallery Books, 2011

ISBN: 978-1416550884

Available: Hardcover, ebook, paperback

 

 

Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects continues the adventures of Thrall, a character Christie Golden created in the World of Warcraft universe some 10 years ago. In this book, we see how far Thrall has come, from being a bloodthirsty war chief to a healer, a spiritual orc dedicated to healing the world. This book comes in the wake of a big World of Warcraft event, ‘The Cataclysm’, in which the Black Dragon went insane and damaged the world of Azeroth badly. Thrall and his fellow mystics must heal the damage caused to Azeroth, but Thrall is not capable of it because there are too many issues within himself that he has not faced. What follows is an intimate adventure in which he wanders off to figure himself out, and along the way finds a big problem brewing with the other elemental forces, or aspects.

 

This is a very good book for the World of Warcraft crowd. If you’re not one of the millions of people across the world who play this game (and Dear Reader, I definitely am NOT), this is a very hard read to get through. However, World of Warcraft has a huge following, so if you belong to that, or you enjoy reading about magic or dragons, or fantasy adventures of a Dungeons and Dragons sort, you will greatly enjoy this book. Recommended for fantasy readers and World of Warcraft fans.

 

Contains: Violence, Profanity.

 

Reviewed by: Benjamin Franz

 

 

 

 

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