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Posts with tag Novels

Dalaran's coins reveal the wishes of Azerothians

BlizzPlanet has already found a fun little set of Easter Eggs hidden in the fountains around the new city hub of Dalaran -- apparently with a little Fishing skill, you can bring up the wishing coins of some of Azeroth's famous inhabitants. Some of the coins are spoilers (so be careful clicking through if you want to avoid that kind of thing), but others are just in there for fun -- Arugal has apparently wished for his own estate (with some doggies to keep him company), and Attumen would like a much more comfortable saddle.

There are some good references to the extended universe in there as well, as apparently a few characters from the Warcraft novels have made appearances and throw wishing coins in Dalaran. It's this kind of stuff that is going to make exploring Northrend so much fun -- while Outland was relatively unexplored territory, Dalaran and the rest of Northrend are already well-traveled in the Warcraft universe. It'll be a really good time retracing the footsteps of all the characters we already know.

Thanks, Gurluas!

Night of the Dragon - Richard Knaak interview


Our friends at Blizzplanet have a video interview up with Richard Knaak, author of the Warcraft novels Day of the Dragon, the War of Ancients trilogy and the upcoming Night of the Dragon, as well as the Sunwell Trilogy and upcoming Burning Crusade manga. For those of us who can't watch video due to work or other issues, they've even thoughtfully presented a transcript of the interview here.

What I found especially interesting are the little hints Knaak dropped in the interview about Malygos, Rhonin and his role with the Kirin Tor, what effects the characters of the upcoming Burning Crusade manga have on Wrath of the Lich King, and the sputtering response to the Diablo 3 question. Is there something fishy going on there? (Probably not.)

Additional tidbits of note: we will probably see Vereesa again, and no, she's not big on the Blood Elves (may we dream of a sisters Windrunner family reuinion?), Knaak would like to use a Draenei in the upcoming book, no word yet on if Hakkar the Houndmaster was an eredar or what relation he has to Hakkar the Soulflayer (perhaps identical cousins?) and finally, Knaak's contracts with Blizzard keep him from saying too much, which for a lore junkie like myself is very maddening.

Savor the interview and let the rampant speculation commence.

Warcraft novel author Richard A. Knaak will be at Blizzcon

Blizzplanet got word from Richard A. Knaak himself that he's going to be at Blizzcon next weekend. Knaak, you may know, is the author of the War of the Ancients series of Warcraft books, as well as the author of other Sci Fi and Fantasy books, including a few books set in the Diablo universe.

He'll be hanging at the Tokyopop and Pocket Star books booth showing off their Warcraft Manga book, the Sunwell Trilogy, as well as promoting the upcoming release of the reprint compliation of the WotA trilogy. Knaak's blog also says he's going to be at Comicon this week, if you're in San Diego for that one, and has another interesting little tidbit: apparently the first book of the Sunwell Trilogy has been picked up as an SAT study book. So you can read about Warcraft and study for the SAT at the same time.

Anyway, no word on whether Knaak will be actually signing or not, but he seems like a nice enough guy, and will probably be happy to discuss any of the ins and outs of Warcraft lore with you. And if you are going to Blizzcon, don't forget-- we'll be happy to discuss them with you too!

Thanks, Chadwick!

Breakfast Topic: Lore and fantasy comparisons

You've been reading Know Your Lore for a long time now, and since then, you've started checking out the WoWWiki's lore information. You've read the World of Warcraft encyclopedia and history. You've even gone out and bought all the Warcraft novels, comic books and table-top roleplaying games, and previous Warcraft games, just so that you could go through and feast your eyes on more WoW lore.

Or... maybe you've just read some of the quest texts every now and then. Everyone's got at least some idea of Warcraft lore just from playing the game, with some sense of what the story is about. Chances are you've also encountered many other fantasy stories of one sort or another, and perhaps started thinking about how WoW is different, or how it is the same.

What are some of the similarities and differences you see between the Warcraft lore and the lore of other great fantasy stories? Do you think it's just a cheap ripoff of Lord of the Rings? Or do you think it brings its own unique contribution to the genre of fantasy storytelling and cannot be fairly compared to any other story lore? Perhaps it even draws the most inspiration from a certain religion or philosophy! What do you think?

Countdown to Burning Crusade: Just. One. More. Contest.

Now that the expansion is out we've been able to access the Master Contest Trainer, and in the interest of leveling up our contest skill beyond 300 we've got one final Burning Crusade giveaway for you. Plus, we had such a good time counting down to Burning Crusade that we're going through a bit of withdrawal. This contest is yet another very simple /Need roll affair, and we're going to pick one winner and one runner-up from the needy, undergeared commenters. The winner will receive a copy of Burning Crusade -- we realize many of you already pwn own the expansion, but for those who haven't or have been waiting, or who want to give the gift of WoW to a friend or S.O. (pushers!), this contest is for you. The runner-up will receive a copy of The Rise of the Horde novel by Christie Golden. You must leave your comment in this thread by 3pm EST tomorrow, Wednesday January 24 to be eligible to win one of the prizes. Good luck to everyone!

Finding Your Way Through Azeroth Lore

Garst from Stonemaul has a really interesting question on the forums: where can a lore newbie go first for information?

Recently, I've been trying to get more and more into the lore of Azeroth-- instances especially are much more fun to play when you know exactly who you're fighting and why they're doing what they're doing. In the thread, Neth recommends a few books-- Day of the Dragon, Lord of the Clans, and The Last Guardian, and I agree with her in recommending scanning through (it's long and sometimes boring) the timeline of the WoW universe over on the website. For all of my interest in it, the only thing I've really done outside of the game is go back and replay Warcraft III (or just watch a few cinematics from it). Both Wikipedia and WoW Wiki have lots of good lore info. And one thing Neth doesn't mention is that there's lots of lore inside the game itself. Don't laugh, but especially in Scarlet Monastery and Scholomance, reading through a lot of the books laying around will give a really good background on what's happening in Azeroth.

You're laughing, aren't you? Ok, well, a lot of players may just say "lore lol," but believe me when I say that giving the history a read definitely fills out the game a little bit, and shows you even more deeply the care Blizzard has taken in putting this universe together. Wielding Ashkandi is fun, but it's even moreso when you know who that sword used to belong to.


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