World of Warcraft: Wolfheart

Written by Richard A. Knaak

Narrated by Scott Brick

Now in paperback—New York Times bestselling author Richard A. Knaak continues the thrilling story begun in the record-breaking MMO game expansion World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

In the wake of the Cataclysm, conflict has engulfed every corner of Azeroth. Hungering for more resources amid the turmoil, the Horde has pressed into Ashenvale to feed its burgeoning war machine. There, acting warchief Garrosh Hellscream has employed a brutal new tactic to conquer the region and crush its night elf defenders, a move that will cripple the Alliance’s power throughout Azeroth.

Unaware of the disaster brewing in Ashenvale, the night elves’ legendary leaders, High Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind and Archdruid Malfurion Stormrage, conduct a summit near Darnassus in order to vote the proud worgen of Gilneas into the Alliance. However, resentment of Gilneas and its ruler, Genn Greymane, runs deep in Stormwind’s King Varian Wrynn. His refusal to forgive Genn for closing his nation off from the rest of the world years ago endangers more than just the summit: it threatens to unravel the Alliance itself.

Varian’s animosity is only one of many unsettling developments in Darnassus. An uneasiness creeps over the once-immortal night elves as the first of them fall victim to the infirmities of age. While they cope with their mortality, tensions flare over the reintroduction of the Highborne, formerly the highest caste of night elf nobility, into their society. Many night elves are unable to pardon the Highborne for the destruction unleashed millennia ago by their reckless use of magic.

When a murdered Highborne is discovered on the outskirts of Darnassus, Malfurion and Tyrande move to stop further bloodshed and unrest by appointing one of the night elves’ most cunning and skilled agents to find the killer: the renowned warden Maiev Shadowsong. Yet with all that is transpiring in Darnassus, the Alliance might be powerless to stop the relentless new warchief Garrosh from seizing the whole of Ashenvale.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Sep 13, 2011
• ISBN: 9781442348240

Richard A. Knaak

Richard A. Knaak is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of The Legend of Huma, World of Warcraft: Wolfheart, and nearly fifty other novels and numerous short stories, including “Black City Saint” and works in such series as Warcraft, Diablo, Dragonlance, Age of Conan, and his own Dragonrealm. He has scripted a number of Warcraft manga with Tokyopop, such as the top-selling Sunwell trilogy, and has also written background material for games. His works have been published worldwide in many languages. His most recent releases include Shade—a brand-new Dragonrealm novel featuring the tragic sorcerer—Dawn of the Aspects—the latest in the bestselling World of Warcraft series, and the fourth collection in his Legends of the Dragonrealm series. He is presently at work on several other projects.

Reviews for World of Warcraft

[irishkitsune · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

You would probably have to be familiar with the Warcraft universe from Blizzard's games to truly appreciate this series, but the story stands on its own. The plot is somewhat predictable, but the characters are diverse and interesting. The artwork is gorgeous.

[Sen Flashwitt · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An excellent story, well-told, and well-read. I'm somewhat biased, I admit, but I feel as if Wolfheart could easily be followed and enjoyed by listeners or readers who are complete newcomers to anything "Warcraft", and that it would, in fact, be an excellent introduction to that world. For established fans of that world's lore, there is even more to love and enjoy.

[jadedlioness · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed the book and highly recommend it to WoW players as it fills in some blanks regarding Varian's sudden personality turn around, Anduin's progress with the Light and also Tyrande's behaviour in the novel War Crimes.

[jeremypreacher · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is not the weakest of Knaak's WoW novels. That's probably about the nicest thing I can say about it. His writing is never great, and his fondness for describing everyone's outfits in minute detail drives me a little nuts. And the reliance on mysterious visions to drive what would otherwise be a fairly compelling plot undercuts most of the tension. But at least this book focuses on some genuinely interesting characters and events, even if it's a pretty minor piece of the milieu.

[stefferoo · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I'm sure I've said before that I would never read another World of Warcraft book by Richard A. Knaak, and yet here we are once again. I guess I just never learn my lesson.Of course, I had my reservations, but my interest in the game's lore and characters won out in the end, especially since I discovered from the title and description that this book was going to be focused on King Varian Wrynn. I never really cared much for him as an in-game NPC, but after reading the World of Warcraft comics he started to really grow on me. I was curious what this book would add to his character.I really shouldn't have bothered. I have to say he's pretty unlikeable in this book -- petty, arrogant, pig-headed, annoying...the list goes on and on. The worst part is, it was done in such a ham-fisted way in order to make the flimsy plot work.This whole book also reads like a very bad piece of fan fiction. I know I shouldn't expect that much from game tie-in novels, but I've actually read some pretty decent ones in recent years and I think my standards are pretty realistic and I'm not demanding too much. The problem, I think, is Richard A. Knaak; I'm just not a fan of his writing. Guess I'll just stick with WoW books by other authors from now on. Christie Golden, for instance, has written some that I thought weren't too bad.