General Lore Discussions

Post by morginar

You should. You REALLY should. Specially now that we're gonna hit draenor. The book lets you get acquainted with many prominent figures that will likely play a large role on the next expansion.Then I will read it. Beats trying to kamikaze read wolfheart.

it doesn't dominate the entire book
But does the romance subplot dominate the characters?
What does turalyon sees in her?
T,A and figure? Doesn't seem like a ship that will float for long.
(one of the best ones though)
Eyup.

Post by Rankkor

Totally canon.

Post by morginar

Totally canon.

The Big Ragu...

LoL.

What even is Ragu.

Post by Adamsm

This thing, longest running boss I know of from an RPG series.

Post by H3Knuckles

This thing, longest running boss I know of from an RPG series.

Or, you know, it's a reference to Laverne & Shirley. It was a sitcom from the late 70's/early 80's, set in Milwaukee. With a character with the exact name Afrasiabi used. The nickname was just a play on his last name, IIRC.

Post by Rankkor

=O new excerpt from War Crimes.

I dunno about you guys but this one seemed better to me at least. (I will admit the dialog is not as polished as previous Golden works however)

*Excerpt – Chapter 13*

“Are you afraid?”

“What?” The water splashed. Anduin’s bones suddenly ached.

“Are you afraid?” Garrosh repeated. The question was casually posed, as if the orc were simply making conversation. Anduin knew it for a verbal grenade. To either answer truthfully or to lie would blow open a door to things Anduin had no desire to discuss.

“There’s no reason to be. You are restrained by chains and enchanted prison bars. You’re quite unable to attack me.”

“Concern for one’s physical safety is only one reason to fear. There are others. I ask again: Are you afraid?”

“Look,” said Anduin, deliberately placing the glass on the table, “I came here because you asked me to. Because Baine said that I was the only person you agreed to talk to about . . . well, about whatever it is you want to talk about.”

“Maybe your fear is what I want to talk about.”

“If that’s so, then we are both wasting our time.” He rose and went for the door.

“Stop.”

Anduin paused, his back to Garrosh. He was angry with himself. His palms were damp and it took every effort he could summon to refrain from shaking outright. He would not let Garrosh see fear in him.

“Why should I?”

“Because . . . you are the only person I wish to talk to.”

The prince closed his eyes. He could leave, right this minute. Garrosh was almost certainly going to play games with him. Perhaps trick him into saying something he shouldn’t. But what, possibly, could that be? What could Garrosh want to know? And Anduin realized that afraid on some level though he might be, he didn’t really want to go. Not yet.

He took a deep breath and turned around. “Then start talking.” Garrosh pointed at the chair. Anduin shifted his weight from one foot to the other, then took the seat with deliberate, casual movements. He lifted his eyebrows, indicating he was waiting.

“You said you believed I could change,” Garrosh said. “What in this world or any other could make you think that, after what I have done?”

Again, no real emotion, only curiosity. Anduin started to answer, but hesitated. What would Jaina . . . no. Jaina was no longer the sort of diplomat he wished to emulate. He felt a flicker of amusement when he realized that for all his threats of murdering Garrosh, Varian had now become more of a role model for Anduin than Jaina. The realization was both sad, for he loved Jaina, and sweet, for he loved his father.

“Tell you what. We’ll take turns.”

An odd smile curved Garrosh’s mouth. “We have a bargain. You’re a better negotiator than I expected.”

Anduin let out a short bark of laughter. “Thanks, I think.”

The orc’s smile widened. “You go first.”

The first point goes to Garrosh, Anduin mused. “Very well. I believe you can change because nothing ever stays the same. You were overthrown as warchief of the Horde because the people you led changed from following your orders to questioning them, and finally rejecting them. You’ve changed from warchief to prisoner. You can change again.”

Garrosh laughed without humor. “From living to dead, you mean.”

“That’s one way of doing it. But it’s not the only one. You can look at what you’ve done. Watch and listen and really try to understand the pain and damage you’ve caused, and decide that you won’t continue down that path if given another chance.”

Garrosh stiffened. “I cannot change into a human,” he growled.

“No one expects or wants that,” Anduin answered. “But orcs can change. You better than anyone should know that.”

Garrosh was silent. He looked away for a moment, pensive. Anduin resisted the impulse to cross his arms, instead forcing his body posture to seem relaxed, and waited. A bright-eyed, coarse furred rat poked its head out from under the sleeping furs. Its nose twitched, and then it ducked back out of sight. The warchief of the Horde once . . . and now his cellmate is a rat.

“Do you believe in destiny, Anduin Wrynn?”

For the second time Anduin was blindsided. What was going on inside Garrosh’s head?

“I-I’m not sure,” he stammered, his carefully maintained image of coolness dissolving immediately. “I mean—I know there are prophecies. But I think we all have choices too.”

“Did you choose the Light? Or did it choose you?”

“I—I don’t know.” Anduin realized he had never asked himself that question. He recalled the first time he considered becoming a priest, and had felt a tug in his soul. He craved the peace the Light offered, but he didn’t know if it had called him, or if he had set out in pursuit of it.

“Could you choose to deny the Light?”

“Why would I want to do that?”

“Any number of reasons. There was another golden-haired, beloved human prince once. He was a paladin, and yet he turned his back on the Light.”

Outrage and offense chased away Anduin’s discomfort. Blood suffused his face and he snapped, “I am not Arthas!”

Garrosh smiled oddly. “No, you are not,” he agreed. “But maybe . . . I am.”

So what do you guys think?

Also, the cover seems pretty nice

Post by Stabhorn

Grr, Rank! You beat me to it!

In all seriousness though, this excerpt seemed much better to me. There were just a couple of parts that seemed meh, but overall it was good. The cover is awesome regardless. (Sylvanas has a nice smug smile...)

Post by 355559

This post was from a user who has deleted their account.

Post by oneforthemoney

Although this excerpt looks far better, I hate to admit but so far it seems rather rife with cliches.

Post by 355559

This post was from a user who has deleted their account.

Post by Rankkor

See what I told you about judging an entire work based on just a fragment of it? I learned my lesson, I saw only a fragment of cataclysm during beta and auto-assumed it was gonna be awesome, not realizing that it would be the worst expansion I had ever played, to the point it made me quit raiding, and quit the game for almost a year.

Yes the first excerpt was kinda "meh" but that isn't an automatic indicator that the entire book is gonna suck, we have to wait and see.

Grr, Rank! You beat me to it!

You can't deny it looks a lot nicer when I post it :P (Ahh the privileges of the staff team *wink*)

The cover is awesome regardless. (Sylvanas has a nice smug smile...)

I noticed that too, she has quite a grin in there. She's still upset of being called a she-dog by garrosh I bet :P

But what did they do with Velen's face? O_o its all swollen like he was stung by an army of bees.

I hate to admit but so far it seems rather rife with cliches.

/shrug

Tides of Darkness had a billion and one cliches, and that didn't stopped it from being an enjoyable book. Don't even get me started on how many cliches were in War of the Ancients.

A lot of warcraft books indulge on overused tropes and cliches (both the good kind and the bad kind) but they still can be enjoyable if they tell a good story, and tell it well enough. Frankly the only book that had the clishe count down to a minimum for me was Rise of the Horde and even then, it couldn't escape quite a few.

Post by oneforthemoney

Although this excerpt looks far better, I hate to admit but so far it seems rather rife with cliches.

You can't dodge them forever. Sometimes you just have to work with them.

I can't deny they exist and do for a reason, but when one chooses both excerpts for the book to be such scenes, it bodes ill. The thing about cliches is that you have to make them work in original ways to keep interest, but save the Arthas line, so far I am not seeing much originality here.

Post by 470415

This post was from a user who has deleted their account.

Post by Adamsm

Still not convinced and still seems like a stinker.

Post by Skreeran

Still not convinced and still seems like a stinker.We know what you think, Adams.

Post by Adamsm

Post by Skreeran

I had the same thought as Morg and Rank, intending to post the excerpt...and it hasn't changed my view on the book. I've said I'll be purchasing the book to continue my collection of the Lore books, but I never realized that opinions are not allowed on the board anymore, who knew.Opinions are most certainly allowed on the forum. There's a difference between stating an opinion and reminding everyone you have an opinion already stated.

Post by Adamsm

So if something new comes up, a post in response to it can't be made then?

Edit: As that was what I was going for; even with this new excerpt, I still don't see this book being anywhere as good as her great novels, and probably going to equal Tides of War for relying more on cliches then on trying to make the stories that good.

Edit 2: And that doesn't seem to stop people from constantly complaining about how horrible the Knaak books, or complaining about Jaina/Garrosh/*insert whatever character here*.

Post by morginar

...no. Jaina was no longer the sort of diplomat he wished to emulate...
Looks like Anduin consider Jaina to have changed to the worse.

Hmmm the cover is nice. Jaian facepalms, Velen is there, Tyrande.... Looks short, and:
(Sylvanas has a nice smug smile...)

I hate to admit but so far it seems rather rife with cliches.
Hope it doesn't have Vereesa, Valeria or Sylvanas hooking up to a human.

Hmm, if there is a third excerpt to be released. I think it is going to be Varian so that they have shown all the relevant characters. First Jaina, then Anduin. And people assume there is a horde bias :P

Post by Rankkor

Hmmm the cover is nice. Jaian facepalms, Velen is there, Tyrande.... Looks short, and:
(Sylvanas has a nice smug smile...)

I hate to admit but so far it seems rather rife with cliches.
Hope it doesn't have Vereesa, Valeria

Who's Valeria?

...no. Jaina was no longer the sort of diplomat he wished to emulate...
Looks like Anduin consider Jaina to have changed to the worse.

He's not the only one.

Sylvanas hooking up to a human.

HA! That's as likely as Varian marrying an orc.

if there is a third excerpt to be released. I think it is going to be Varian

SHHHHH they could hear you man, don't say that out loud.

And people assume there is a horde bias :P

Its all in the eye of the beholder. There's an old saying (and it applies to me just as much as it applies to anyone else): if you want to find bias somewhere, chances are, you WILL find it. Whether its actually there or not is irrelevant.

General Lore Discussions

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