World of Warcraft: Illidan: A Novel

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Illidan by William King. It helped me better understand the lore behind the Warcraft: Burning Crusade game expansion.The characters pull you into their story, their passion, their drive for what they do what they do. It's not all cut and dry good vs.bad. There is not a good guy here. Everyone is deeply flawed in their ideals. In the end, if you have played the game, you're going to likely thing - "Yikes, we made a big mistake here." Or perhaps not. Even so, you will get to meet new characters. Very interesting, very flawed, very damaged characters. You'll know and understand the path of the demon hunter. It's not all cut and dry. There is more to them than meets the eye. Needle fascinated and yet creeped me out. Vandel's story nearly stole the book. Akama, Maiev, and others are in there. One one brief mention of Khadgar. There is no one runaway shining hero. Nope. None. This is a dark story of vengeance, despair, sacrifice, retribution, bitterness, desperation, hopelessness, arrogance, and hail mary's. In the end, you may be surprise who you will want to root for. Illidan lays down some of the framework going into the "Legion" expansion for World of Warcraft coming up in late August 2016. If you play Warcraft and you're considering RP'ing a demon hunter on the roleplay servers, READ THIS BOOK. It will give you the gist of what it takes to be a demon hunter and create your own original character that falls in line with the lore. I know that I went from - nope, not rolling a demon hunter - to - there is no way I'll ever play a demon hunter - to - UGH HELL NO - to - well, maybe - to - YES, I'M ROLLING A DEMON HUNTER! BRING IT! I truly enjoyed reading this book. If the rampant spoilers got you down, please, do yourself a favor. Read the book and see the story in context. Warcraft friends of mine who have also read the book have praised it highly. Kudos to William King for writing a great story for Warcraft. I truly hope he writes more. Thank you, Mr. King, for crafting a great story regarding Illidan, the Betrayer.

As a fan of World of Warcraft I was happy to get my hands on Illidan, and it is easy to see why this book is released now. This book does explain the first expansion The Burning Crusade but from more another perspective and it is the start of Legion, who soon will be released. The story itself is very interesting and is focused on Illidan and the fight to recapture The Betrayer. It was great to see Maiv and Akama and their part and vision on Illidan along side with himself and everything he has been working on. Sometimes on the other hand, I felt it was more about Maiv and not as much about Illidan, even if it was her crusade. This made me loose interest in the book and this parts is, according to me, not as necessary for the story as you may think. They really dont tell you anything and it is a lot of repetition about Maiv and how obsessed about Illidan she is and how she hates how everyone not want to help her. It is good to some part but it is to much for me in the book. The language and word use is sometimes a bit awkward and weird. It sometimes felt like the author didnt really know how to drive the story and use the language to drive it on its own. If you dont know anything about World of Warcraft and haven't played the game, then you shouldn't really read this book because it is really written for fans and fans who has knowledge from games and other books in the lore. This is not a good high fantasy book as it is and not the best in the books written with World of Warcraft in focus but I still enjoyed the book and the second part was much better even if there is plenty of loose thread that could have been better. If you like World or Warcraft and want some background reading before Legion, then this is a good book for you but to get the full story about Illidan you have to look at other books. This start with him being freed after ten thousand years in imprisonment and ends where Legion is about to start. Overall I enjoyed the book and I dont regret buying or reading it. it is a must for WoW lovers.

I've been really skeptical about WoW books in recent years and had a great deal of nervousness about what they'd do when actually presenting Illidan's story. The Burning Crusade screwed up Illidan's character so much that I didn't know if they'd really be able to bring him back to the antihero he's supposed to be. Others will accuse the book of 'whitewashing' him and trying to make him too noble - No, Illidan is still single-minded here, refuses to consider less destructive options, and still narcissistic about his goals. We even discover some things we WEREN'T aware he did that are pretty dark during the BC time period. The book does not excuse Illidan - it explains him. Whether the explanations are enough to make you side with him or not is up to the individual reader, but I thought it even gave a more nuanced view of Akama and Maieve as well that has been missing. None of them are perfect, none of them are completely evil. All of them make mistakes. The writing isn't genius or profound but it's very readable and doesn't belabor points. It is just descriptive enough to let you clearly envision what is going on without waxing poetic about things any player of the game has seen multiple times. I could barely put it down. I highly recommend it to lovers of lore and those who want more understanding about what's going on in Legion. Legion is doing a good job of giving everyone the basics even if they hadn't read the book, the book presents backstory to more fully 'get' it. Over all, it's pretty much everything I could want in a companion novel to a game. The back knowledge is just that - back knowledge. Finally, we have a book that doesn't completely leave those who DON'T read it stumbling in the dark as to what's going on, but those who do read feel like they understand the story a bit better.

AMAZING! This book will take hold of your attention and will not let it go. >>>>NOTE<<<< This review assumes that the reader plays / played World of Warcraft and is familiar with the content of the Burning Crusade Expansion. In the Event the reader is new to the game or has not played before, This book will still act as a great intro to the game. First, if you are like me, then read about as fast as a herd of turtles charging through an ocean of peanut butter, but you still read. With that said, This book will take you and send you to another world, and then another, and then to an infinity of worlds! This book will bring a chill to the imagination, make the heart pump faster and send the blood coursing through your veins. Normally, a book of this thickness would take me a month to finish if I was dedicated to reading daily and a hour or more to finish a single chapter of the book (Chapter length on average is about 10 pages (5 pieces of paper front and back)). Such was not the case with this book. I finished this book in a week and completed around 4 chapters a day within about 90 minutes (about 12 minutes per chapter). This book is an easy and fast read, but this does not take away from its entertainment capabilities; however keep the dictionary app on your phone readily available. BOTTOM LINE: Very Well Written. Very Entertaining / Addicting. Character development is very well organized. Story line is very well organized and laid out to the reader. BUY IT NOW!

I'll start off by saying that I didn't sleep last night. I was reading Illidan. :) As someone who has played World of Warcraft for 10 years, and the RTS games before that, this book was a fantastic read. It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane as King brought Illidan back to life in preparation for the Legion expansion of WoW. The story takes place from Illidan's point of view. It starts with Illidan's initial release from millenia of imprisonment. Character development is spot on, and shows one of Warcraft's greatest villains in a different light. Illidan does things for the right reasons, but in the wrong way, leading him deeper and deeper into darkness. Attention to detail is deep, but fast enouigh that the reader can continue enjoying the story. When I read a really good book, my imagination turns the detail into a movie in my mind. Not every book can do that, but King made it possible in this one. Having read other Warcraft novels, I was surprised at some of the more graphic scenes in this one. Eyes are gouged out, skulls are crushed, etc. Most readers will be fine, but consider reading somewhere other than the dinner table. I would describe these scenes as "crunchy, yet strangely satisfying". I definitely give this book 5 stars. If you play WoW and plan to play a Demon Hunter class in Legion, this book will introduce you to characters you will meet in-gmae.

I have read most of the Warcraft books, and this is definitely one of the best. I will say that it is a bit darker than I expected (not a problem though) as it portrays some of the more troubled, violent characters in the Warcraft universe. This book really shines however when it goes into detail unraveling the complex personality that is Illidan Stormrage. In fact, the book does an amazing job depicting this character, and shows just how misunderstood he is by others in the universe. Just as a spoiler-free example it shares how he uses dark magic and demonancy as necessary tools to fight greater evils than himself, and basically save the world. That doesn't mean he is a noble or ethical hero- indeed he has some tragic flaws that make him even more interesting... But it was fun to read a book from the "villain's perspective" only to learn the truth... that he was one of the good guys all along! It's tragic to see how unappreciated and disrespected he is by other characters whose world he fought to save from the shadows. I can't say this book is 5 stars, but it is an excellent book and I give it a solid, solid A grade. I WOULD warn readers however, that it may be a bit difficult to get into this book if you are not already heavily versed in the lore from this universe. Some of the character examinations will be hard to fully appreciate (let alone know who some of these people are) if you aren't familiar with the events of Warcraft 3 PC Title from 2002. You ALSO know a bit about the current World of Warcraft lore that has occurred since then. That's because this book spans a period of many years, ultimately leading up to current World of Warcraft/PC events. In summary, this is hands down a great read for serious fans, but not a good entry point into the books or games. I am very glad I read this book! :-)

As a World of Warcraft player who started shortly before the release of The Burning Crusade, this book struck a very nostalgic chord in me from good times with good friends. Without going into spoilers, the book often mentions places and people from the expansion, including events that happened. When the fall of Lady Vashj and her Serpentshrine Cavern or Kael'thas and Tempest Keep are mentioned, I smiled. I was there. The Black Temple questioned is mentioned. He even describes the progress of a group of "Azerothian Adventurers" as they make their way through the temple and battle Illidan. I was there too! The details in the book show the amount of research that went into its creation. The characters are very well written and believable. They fit as portrayed in the game. The story of the demon hunters and the truth of Illidan Stormrage was well told. I had a hard time putting this book down. I hope William King writes more Warcraft books. For Warcraft fans, this is a must read that goes right on the shelf with the War of the Ancients trilogy.

Excited for the release of demon hunters and eager for a bit more background lore, I picked this up as it seemed to be highly recommended and well reviewed. What I got was a book that's barely adequate if you've read anything above a 6th grade level in recent memory, and lore-wise it barely does anything to fill in the gaps in a meaningful way compared to what you'll find in the game itself. Having already played the demon hunter story in Legion's beta, there's no real revelations here and nothing particularly noteworthy aside from the short snippets of story devoted to Vandel. The writing is in short rapid fire sentences, which works fine for the fight scenes but makes reading the rest of the book a chore. It seems to meander from location to location just to drop the names of characters or zones from the game, counting on recognition or nostalgia to provide any feeling for what's happening rather than providing any emotion or character of its own. Toward the end of the book, it's actually quoting directly from encounters in the game itself with only the barest hint of adding any new thought or exposition to the story. Ultimately, the book is a waste of time and money and very difficult to recommend. It attempts and provides very little of value even to the most ravenous fan eager for any part of Illidan's story, and if there's a betrayer to fear here it's the near-5 star reviews this book has as of now. I'll give it 3 since I still finished it, but if you choose to read it don't go in expecting much. This is not a good book.