In the 1990s, the American company Blizzard created a series of computer strategies for Warcraft. The plot of the game line was built around the fictional fantasy world of Azeroth, in which the struggle between people and orcs unfolded. Gradually, the fictional universe expanded and acquired new details. The success of computer games led to the appearance of the official book series.
"Revenge of the Orcs"
Warcraft novels do not have one author. These books were written by a variety of recognized fantasy feathers: Christie Golden, Jeff Grabb, Aaron Rosenberg, etc. The order of publication of works did not always correspond to the chronological order of events within the universe itself.
The very first in 2001 appeared on sale the book "Revenge of the Orcs", written by science fiction writer Richard Knaak. The plot of the novel tells the story of the Horde. So Blizzard called the union of orcs who decided to conquer Azeroth with the help of red dragons.
āLord of the Clansā and āRise of the Hordeā
Readers warmly welcomed the first novel about the Warcraft universe. The chronology of books has since been steadily replenished with new editions. The second official work was The Lord of the Clans, written by Christy Golden in the same 2001. In this book, the name of the leader of the orcs of Thrall is first encountered.
āLord of the Clansā was to become the basis for the new Blizzard game. Developing the concept of release, the developers of the company decided to abandon the previous venture. The plot of Thrall, however, was not forgotten. He was included in the next Warcraft III strategy. So the literary and computer side of the Blizzard universe began to complement each other.
āLord of the clansā was for Golden only a breakdown. The writer continued her collaboration with Blizzard and in 2006 finished the book The Birth of the Horde (in another translation, The Rise of the Horde). It describes the story of an Orc war with another fictional race, the Draenei, during which the Draenei suffered a crushing defeat. Golden described in detail one of the most interesting storylines in the entire franchise - the relationship between the demons of the Burning Legion and the Horde.
"The Last Guardian"
Orcs are just one of the factions of the Warcraft world. The chronology of books based on the Blizzard universe also consists of works dedicated to people. Their union with dwarves and dwarves is simply called the Alliance. The fight of this faction with the Horde is the key storyline linking all the games and books about the world of Warcraft.
The alliance is described in detail in the novels āBlood and Honorā by Chris Metzen and āThe Last Guardā by Jeff Grubb. Both books were written and published in 2001. What did Jeff Grubb talk about in his work? "The Last Guardian" is a story about Medivh. This powerful magician of the human race opened a portal to another world, from where he called the orcs to Azeroth. The invasion led to the outbreak of war between the Alliance and the Horde.
āStreams of Darknessā and āBeyond the Dark Portalā
The direct plot continuation of The Last Guardian is the novel Streams of Darkness. There is also a Warcraft game of the same name. The chronology of books in this case is the tracing-paper of the events of the computer strategy of the 1990s. For the first time, the Alliance managed to repel the Horde invasion. Now, descendants of those orc enslaved demons began to threaten Azeroth.
The next book - āOn the Other Side of the Dark Portalā - tells about the campaign of people in the world of Draenor - the historical homeland of the orcs. This time, the Horde is led by marginal shaman Ner'Zul, who practices necromancy and black magic. "On the other side of the Dark Portal" wrote the same Aaron Rosenberg. āStreams of Darknessā show the orcs from their bad side, the second book reveals the secret of their tragic fate, which led the proud people to the service of the calculating demons of the Burning Legion.
The Rise of the Lich King and War of the Ancients
The most successful Blizzard game in the fantasy strategy line was Warcraft III, released in 2002. A few years after the release on personal computers on bookshelves appeared novelization of its plot. The novel āThe Rise of the Lich Kingā tells of the fate of Artes, the prince of the kingdom of mankind. Crazed by demons, he turned into an evil necromancer, after which he led the undead army of the Burning Legion, which became a threat to the whole world.
Against Artes, the remnants of the Alliance, the Thrall Horde, and the night elves merged. This war is dedicated to the plot of the third strategy of Warcraft. The chronology of books is a detailed and fascinating retelling of those events. The elven backstory of Azeroth (night elves are the most ancient people of this world) appears before the reader in the trilogy āWar of the Ancientsā. It consists of the novels Source of Eternity, Demon Soul, and Split. Although the War of the Ancients was far from the first to be published, it is this series from a chronological point of view that is the starting point of events created by the Blizzard fantasy universe.
Subsequent novels
The Alliance, Horde, and Night Elf alliance defeated the Burning Legion. The orcs moved to the western mainland of Kalimdor. A new world order came when the Horde and the Alliance began to remain in a state of fragile truce. Fans of the fantasy universe were able to learn about new events in Azeroth, on the one hand, with the help of the role-playing multiplayer game World of Warcraft, and on the other hand, with the help of all the same literary works.
For example, Thrall, who refused to become a leader and became a shaman, appears in Twilight of the Aspects. In this novel, the brave and wise experience orc will encounter Chromagus - an ancient dragon who encroached on the peaceful life of Azeroth. The sorceress Jaina, who found herself the leader of the Alliance during the war against the Burning Legion, also did not enjoy the world for long. Constant border conflicts with the Horde put people on the brink of a new war. The book Tides of War talks about Jaina's attempt to maintain a fragile, but much-needed alliance with the orcs.
Subsequent Warcraft series of novels focus the reader on other peoples of Azeroth. For example, the novel "Wolf Heart" tells of a race of worgens that have much in common with werewolves. Another book, Shadows of the Horde, dwells on the story of Vol'jin's troll, a skilled hunter and head of a small tribe. This novel also features the lost mainland Pandaria. Finally, the book āSplit: Preludeā weaves all the old storylines into a new tangle. This time, Azeroth is faced with a terrible natural phenomenon that completely changed the map of the fantasy world.