The Battle For Theramore is a week and a half away yet, but if you’ve read Tides of War then you have an idea on what we might be up to as heroes. Actually, having read the book I can’t fathom what the Alliance will be doing. I can think of one point in the book that translates well into the game itself (for both factions), but that’s about it. Still, I’m looking quite forward to the event, though I’m disappointed we only get a week to do it. But then, I was actually disappointed in the book as well (Spoilers ahead).Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t think the book was terrible. In fact, Christie Golden continues to have a great grasp on the characters of Azeroth. At the end of the book, though, I just felt a sense of underwhelmed. Perhaps it’s just compared to Arthas and The Shattering but I just didn’t feel like much happened over 352 pages. The book also has more questions than answers. Obviously the reader is left wondering what’s in store for Garrosh, which the player base knows is the “last boss” in Mists of Pandaria. But more than that, I’m still wondering how Garrosh got his new right hand man, Malkorok. How did he even get out of Blackrock, let alone become the Horde political hit man, so to speak? Who actually stole the Iris from the Blue Dragonflight? And how did they actually defeat five dragons? We’re just left to understand “well, it happened.”
My biggest annoyance of all with the book was Jaina’s relationship with Kalecgos. Let me say this, I have no problem with the relationship, but who. The blue dragon could’ve been anyone in the Dragonflight with the same personality and quirks…but that it had to be the former Aspect just felt forced to me and it gnawed at me through the whole book. But I also recognize the relationship was a protagonist for the plot in several instances and wouldn’t have worked without it. But all the more reason it feels like a crutch instead of a natural progression.
Now, the book isn’t all bad by any stretch. There are a number of things I really liked and none more than Jaina letting loose power wise. The little conflict with Varian and Anduar was a bit cliched, but it worked to show how far she’d gone. Still, nothing impressed me more than this moment in the book:
“Your people are despicable cowards,” she hissed. “You are nothing more than rapid dogs, and you should be put down. You spit on mercy? Then you will have none. You want carnage? Garrosh will get more blood than ever he bargained for.”
How she then disposed of the orcs with ease and vengeance is how I wanted her to react. I’ve wanted to see her let loose, and it’s great that it happened. Still, after all that Theramore and her peace efforts have meant I did expect more. Not the eye for an eye that we nearly got, but just more of her wielding her power.
I absolutely loved the tie-in of Windle Sparkshine. If you’re not familiar with him, Windle is the Gnome that goes around Dalaran basically going all “Dumbledore” on the lights at night. Not only do he and his wife appear in the book, but we get a lovely explanation of why he ignites the lights at night…so much so that you’ll disregard in-game continuity for it. Though, perhaps it’s just me, but (Windle, aside) I knew from the onset what that character’s fate would be and why she was in the book in the first place.
I like what Golden did with Rohan and how the Kirin Tor leadership has naturally progressed as a result. Jaina makes complete sense, particularly given her longstanding effort towards peace and being relatively neutral. Plus, for all purposes she’s the most powerful Mage in Azeroth so leading the mages just makes sense. Whether that means we’ll see more from the Kirin Tor in Mists or the finale involving Garrosh is hard to say.
All in all, I don’t think Tides of War was bad. It obviously was good enough that I sat and read it in two days because the story moved at a good clip and did keep my interest. I guess in my case I just had higher hopes and expectations for it, and for Jaina. As such, I was underwhelmed. The negatives I cited stood out for me much more than the things I enjoyed – save for the Sparkshine tie-in. As I’ve said, I very much liked that and it might have something to do with me having visited Windle a few times over the years and buying his lighter.
Do I recommend Tides of War? I think I still do. For those who enjoy the lore, it explains Theramore quite nicely and gives you a backdrop to what we can expect in a few weeks in-game, both with the event and the Mists patch. It could also be that your expectations aren’t nearly as lofty as mine were going in and that could make the book as a whole a much better read for you. I may have just held the combination of Christie Golden’s writing and the possibilities of this event in too high regard that it was destined to come up short.
(spoilers in comment, careful reading!!)
My biggest problem with Tides of War was that … I knew how it was going to end. There’s a point after the first skirmish where someone thinks “hey! We won! We drove off the Horde!” And I’m reading it thinking …. no, there’s not nearly enough destruction here. There is very little you can do to hold narrative suspense when you know who’s going to lose. It’s to Golden’s credit that she did, in fact, keep me turning the pages.
The fate of the Sparkshine tie-in character had me nearly in tears. Yes, I knew what that character’s fate would be as well, but it was so refreshing to read a WoW novel that treated gnomes with some respect and dignity. When she said “no, I don’t like being perky” to Pained, I about lost it. I very nearly went and rolled a gnome mage on the spot.
I didn’t actually have a problem with the romance subplot, though I saw it coming from miles away. I actually quite enjoyed it. Here you have a male dragon Aspect who has wondered about (and been called out for) not being fierce enough, or not enough of an autocrat. Not, in other words, “manly” enough. And he’s contrasted with Jaina, whom I thought Golden did a magnificent job with. Jaina had *agency,* all throughout the novel. She grieved, she cared, but she still acted. So between the two of them, you have a male who is shown as being very compassionate and thoughtful, with a woman who is incredibly intelligent, resourceful, and doesn’t hesitate to take action when it’s necessary. Throughout the book, they were both *thinking* so much. I think it was a brave place for Blizzard to go, and I appreciated it – both as a regular fantasy reader who would like Blizzard to tackle some more difficult plots, and as someone who dearly cares about social justice.
The ending, however, I was significantly less pleased with. NOTHING changes. The Alliance celebrated a victory over a few wingriders, and it isn’t a victory. Not really. You know the Alliance can’t actually win in the novel, because of the narrative constraints of the game itself. You know the leaders can’t be deposed. You know things can’t substantially change. So in the end, we’re left with the exact same story we started with, with the addition of one new smoking crater. It wasn’t satisfying.
It was, however, affecting. I almost quit playing WoW due to the knowledge that atrocities in game will never, ever be settled or called for accounting. Having Garrosh as an end boss seems like a pitifully small recompense for *irradiating* a city. If Blizzard wanted to ignite the fires of faction war, they did with me – but it almost backfired on them as I had to take quite awhile to figure out if the story they wanted to tell was actually a game I wanted to play.
Sorry, forgot to mention. This is Sona, Shoryl’s girl.
SONA! ZOMG!
*faints*
As I said, I had no problem with the relationship itself, and mostly for the exact reasons you mentioned (and Blizzard’s willingness to go there). It just feels like they used Kalecgos BECAUSE it’s Jaina and given her past relationships anything less wouldn’t quite measure up.
I will say this much, though, I’m so glad they did “Mary Sue” her to death like they did with Thrall.
I think this might be the “superhero’s girlfriend” issue. If you have amazing cosmic powers, and the responsibility for a significant chunk of your race in an intergalactic war … how much can you relate to a farmer from Westfall, regardless of how wonderful they might be? Not to tread too close to classism here, but I think the relationship developed as it did due to similar concerns with a similar magnitude. The fact that it happened so dang fast … well, I chalk that up to the word count Golden had to work with. in my head, I imagine them studying the iris for weeks, and we just don’t get to see that.
The books do tend to suffer from some significant Mary Sue-ism, to be sure. I’m not sure if it’s because that’s the directive from on-high, or if it’s just hard to write something objective for what’s a really subjective experience in-game. (On the other hand, I seem to recall hearing not all of the writers play, so maybe there’s something else at work, there.)
I just think Thrall really suffered from it. Part of it was in The Shattering, and a LOT of it was in-game.
Nice write up. I really need to read some of these books so I would have a clue about what you just wrote…lol. But I still enjoyed your post.
I really enjoy The Shattering and I’m actually one of few people I know who liked Stormrage (about Malfurion and the Druids). If you like the WoW lore, I definitely recommend the books.
I enjoyed it but then I’m pretty easy to please as long as I get more story. I’m a little worried about the upcoming scenarios as Alliance, am I going to go up in arcane smoke puff?
I suspect our involvement will be more post-nuking.
Finally coming back to your review after posting my own thoughts. These questions — “How did [Malkorok] even get out of Blackrock, let alone become the Horde political hit man, so to speak? Who actually stole the Iris from the Blue Dragonflight? And how did they actually defeat five dragons?” — yeah, I really wish we had the answers to them, too!
The quote you cite from Jaina really impressed me, too. I was so glad to actually *hear* Jaina saying it in the Alliance scenario, and I think the voice actress did it justice quite well.
I agree on the voicework.
I just don’t get how we’re supposed to simply go “five dragons were beaten by some Horde forces? OH OK!”