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Wolfheart (2011)

by Richard A. Knaak(Favorite Author)

3.85 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1451605757 (ISBN13: 9781451605754)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Gallery Books

series

World of Warcraft

review 1: The title's a bit misleading, as I was expecting the story to revolve around the worgen, when in fact this was a very heavily Night Elf-based story..even though it's technically about King Varian Wrynn. I'm mixed on whether I actually liked this novel, versus liking it purely because of its rich involvement of the Night Elves (of whom I'm very fond of). While I enjoyed the overall concept of the story, I feel Knaak majorly lacked ability at portraying the characters' personalities. Being a long-time World of Warcraft player, I know these characters. I know their feats, their capabilities, their weaknesses..I played by their side for many years..and I was not impressed with Knaak's representation of them. It did many characters little justice - especially the fabled Malfuri... moreon Stormrage and King Varian Wrynn.I found it mildly irritating that Knaak constantly kept referring back to Illidan Stormrage, who had no involvement in the story itself, besides a little history behind several characters. It felt he was stretching to gain the audience's attention by mentioning a well-like character over and over, regardless of their actual contribution to the story.I mentioned I enjoyed the concept of the story, but I think it could have been better written. There were too many out-of-character ocurrances by many key individuals, actions/dialog that didn't fit the situations, and parts that just sounded downright childish.I feel Knaak's talent lies more in writing from ancient lore versus more modern storyline. I enjoyed his "War of the Ancients" trilogy as well as "Day of the Dragon" - stories in which did not take place in the game itself, but attributed to later playable storyline - and find much to be desired with his modern storyline works such as "Stormrage" and "Wolfheart".Overall, would I read it again? Sure. Would I recommend it for other fantasy readers? Possibly. Would I recommend it to other WoW players? No.
review 2: A solid tale let down by the writing especially in the pacing of the tale. In reality there was precious little that took place of any interest to the reader until as late as chapter 12 which is ridiculous at time the writing just went on and on and I spent the first half of the book feeling like I made a huge mistake it even picking this book up in the first place.As a geeky fan of World of Warcraft I also must show my disgust at the way they shoe horned in a mention of the Blood Elves in the final battle could not seem like more of a throwaway moment.I can't recommend this book and would instead just encourage you to read the lore online. less

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