The Well of Eternity (WarCraft: War of the Ancients, #1)

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The Well of Eternity (War of the Ancients Trilogy #1)

by Richard A. Knaak (Goodreads Author)

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 1,902 ratings · 76 reviews

Many months have passed since the cataclysmic Battle of Mount Hyjal, where the demonic Burning Legion was banished from Azeroth forever. But now, a mysterious energy rift within the mountains of Kalimdor propels three former warriors into the distant past -- a time long before orcs, humans or even high elves roamed the land. A time when the Dark Titan Sargeras, and his dem...more

Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages

Published March 30th 2004 by Pocket Star (first published 2004)

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Nov 14, 2009 Leeanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: i-own

Warcraft, War of the Ancients #1: The Well of Eternity, by Richard A. Knaak

"The Well of Eternity" is the first in a trilogy of books based on the bestselling game series World of Warcraft. It's a fun and informative read for fans of the game - you see plenty of game characters fleshed out, and by the end of the first book you'll know them better.

The book starts a little slow, setting up the main characters and settings, but quickly picks up pace. Krasus, a dragon who spends much of his time in...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Michael Hall rated it 5 of 5 stars

Michael Hall War Craft 2-4-13
Well Of Eternity
This book revolves around the popular video game World of Warcraft. In the game much of the history is told but not in details. The player either ignores the lore or goes and research about it some other way. The book introduces the reader to Krasus and Rhonin who were summoned to investigate a strange phenomenon. When they get there they are transported back in time to the time when humans weren’t even around yet. To a time where night elves ruled an...more

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Sep 20, 2012 Dylan Woods rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: All fans of World of Warcraft and Warcraft III

This book was great for me because I love the lore, and I'm not picky whatsoever. While I may be generous on the rating, I thought it was only fair, yet I still have mixed feelings about this book. First off, I have nothing against this author at all. I thought his writing style was well suited. Yes there may have been a few times where he over embellished a sentence, but it never stopped me from reading on. The book takes place way before the wars between Orcs and Humans. Our story takes place...more This book was great for me because I love the lore, and I'm not picky whatsoever. While I may be generous on the rating, I thought it was only fair, yet I still have mixed feelings about this book. First off, I have nothing against this author at all. I thought his writing style was well suited. Yes there may have been a few times where he over embellished a sentence, but it never stopped me from reading on. The book takes place way before the wars between Orcs and Humans. Our story takes place during a peaceful time, mainly focusing on the Night Elves, and their upbringing of society. Until the demonic Burning Legion ambush them. The book switches perspectives every chapter or so, which is something I thought was a great incorporation to the book. We then go over to our three other important characters: Rhonin, Krasus, and Broxigar. Rhonin is a human wizard from the city of Dalaran who misses his family. Krasus is a half-human, half-dragon mage who seems to have lost a huge chunk of his memory. Broxigar is a brutish Orc looking to die a glorious death in battle. Like I said before, this is before the conflict between Orcs, so the other races have never seen or heard of them. Generally the Night Elves are very protective of their home, but later they accept Brox. And of course I couldn't forget the enemies in the book. Powerful demigods and dragon aspects plot the destruction of Azeroth. I thought the author did a great job with details about the Burning Legion. I certainly learned a lot. So our time traveling friends are caught up in all of this, and they too are skeptical of this strange land. These three heroes go on to be a great team. I'm itching to read the last two books in the series. I couldn't be more satisfied for a Warcraft book. If you haven't read this by now, and are a huge fan of the games, please read this. Don't judge the book from other reviews you read on the net. You will never know if the author really is as they say "terrible", unless you give it a try. (less)

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Jun 24, 2012 Jack rated it 1 of 5 stars

I didn't expect amazing writing from a Warcraft novel, but no one could really predict just how terrible this is. The first thing you'll notice is that the writing style is atrocious. Most sentences are structured awkwardly for the sake of pseudo-sophistication - the most pretentious hack move out there. The prose is as purple as it gets. Don't expect a single noun without a minimum of two repetitive adjectives; don't expect a verb not to be padded with unnecessary description.

The style of 'tell...more I didn't expect amazing writing from a Warcraft novel, but no one could really predict just how terrible this is. The first thing you'll notice is that the writing style is atrocious. Most sentences are structured awkwardly for the sake of pseudo-sophistication - the most pretentious hack move out there. The prose is as purple as it gets. Don't expect a single noun without a minimum of two repetitive adjectives; don't expect a verb not to be padded with unnecessary description.

The style of 'tell, don't show' is best summed up by the author's overuse of the word 'ominous'. Ominous, in its context here, says "hmm, I want to convey that the reader should feel trepidation and anxiety here, but I can't be bothered to make them do it, so I'll just write that they should." This is just one example. Prepare for many more redundancies in the actual novel.

If you manage to overcome the hurdle of the dire prose, you will soon discover an even worse side of the novel: characterisation. The novel focuses on an ensemble cast of characters - some familiar old names, others newer. They are all incredibly boring. If you cared about any of them before, you won't after reading this novel.

When Rhonin's perfect elven wife was first introduced through a cringeworthy filter of male gaze description I knew I was in for a bit of casual sexism, but it wasn't until I got past Azshara and Tyrande that I realised the author is physically incapable of writing a female character outside of the context of how desirable they are to the strong males. The characterisation is just shocking and it's impossible to read this book without coming to the conclusion that the author is a raging misogynist. Tyrande, one of the best, strongest, independent characters in Warcraft 3, is reduced to a vapid damsel in distress. She is literally moral support who exists to lend strength to the hero, Malfurion. This is unforgivable. Any other author and I could maybe give them the benefit of the doubt and assume she'll develop throughout the rest of the trilogy, but when you read the description of Azshara in her sheer dresses, and Vereesa with her 'enticing mouth', you will agree that's impossible.

Let's get onto the original characters, because if anything this is where the author should shine? No. Rhonin exists to narrate the story. He is completely bland, has no flaws, time travels, is invulnerable, and is the most incredibly gifted mage in the warcraft universe. When he tries to do a snarky one-liner after casting a spell, it is cringeworthy. I imagine it in this flat, empty tone of voice. Rhonin has no soul. He is the worst one-dimensional character in Warcraft, and that's saying a lot. Oh, and there's Krasus too. He's exactly the same as Rhonin, but doesn't do any fighting so he's completely forgettable. Skip over every chapter about Krasus and the dragons, and you won't miss a single relevant piece of plot. The characterisation is the worst part of the opening of this trilogy, which is especially criminal because the opening novel only exists to introduce the characters.

As you may have guessed, the time travel adds absolutely nothing to the story. If anything, it detracts from it. The war of the ancients had the potential to be the single most compelling historical event to write a story about. The author had so much potential for introducing night elven characters, revolutionaries. He had so much room to expand on the key events and go into some real detail about the war. Instead he squandered the limitless creative potential on the time traveling characters who add nothing whatsoever to the story, but he spends so long writing about them he doesn't have any space to explore the war of the ancients beyond the basics that we already know! It's just the same story, told through the most boring narrator you could ever conceive of. He didn't just squander his chance, but he actually ruined what already existed such as Tyrande once being a strong and interesting character.

I suppose no one should be surprised that the masses of WoW players are perfectly ready to laud sexist, bland, power-level stories and call it a good book when you consider how poor the lore is in-game, but even so, you would expect Blizzard to be able to afford better writing than this with the size of their fanbase.

If you're anything like me, you might think, say, Okay, I have heard how bad the novels are, but I used to be a fan of the Warcraft story so I think I should read it just to pick up the references to things I once liked. To this, I can only tell you: No, don't do it. Everything you once enjoyed about the story will turn to ashes in front of your eyes. This novel is - to put a few author-style superlatives into a sentence - insultingly, offensively, disgracefully bad. It is a vast, dark, ominous abyss into which anything interesting about the night elf species and the war of the ancients is sucked. Awful parsing intended. Just imagine the war of the ancients as the cool thing it once seemed, so the author can't ruin it for you. Do not read this book. IMO.(less)

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Oct 26, 2012 Marco rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: english, fantasy

Rhonin and Krassus (previously featured in "day of the dragon") and Broxigar (an orc working under Thrall, previously featured in "the lord of the clans") separately start investigating a strange and potentially dangerous magic anomaly. The three heroes end up being thrown back in time (just in time to catch the first attempt of Sargas to destroy the world with his burning legions). The book brings together familiar characters from some of the previous Warcraft books. While it is not necessary t...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Dane rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Well of Eternity is difficult to rate fairly for two reasons. First, I loved the game for such a long time that I was probably a bit of a fanboy reading about the familiar characters and events. Secondly, I already knew the whole story, having played through the game content.

For a fan of fantasy novels who doesn't already know the story from having played the games, this is probably a pretty good read. For a gamer who has played through all of the expansions, there aren't a lot of surprises...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Hollins rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

This book is absolutely terrible. I picked it up off my ex bf's floor when I had nothing else to read; it came for free with his Special Edition World of Warcraft: The Burning Legion. The writing is abysmal, but it does tell the lore of WoW, which I found interesting enough to go out and buy the other two books in the trilogy. I know that I'm going to hate them, but I do want to know all of tne lore, and as of now, that's really my only viable option, as even the game excludes some of it.

Worth t...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Sean rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books

Alike of Lord of the Rings, this book makes clear that it really is one long book separated into three. As such, it probably is best to grab all three (or the combined version) and read them back-to-back.
Alas, a review has to evaluate only this book. And it isn't pretty.
This book is mostly just one long first act. There isn't much story to it. Running with six main characters, it doesn't give good service to any one of them. Both Rhonan and Krasus mostly mull and do very little. Actually, this b...more

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Jan 02, 2009 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is for the whole trilogy...
The story was of course awesome because the developers at Blizzard do a great job of creating the lore behind the game. It helped me to understand and enjoy the game a lot more. I get to talk to, do quests for, or kill some of the characters while playing. However, not too impressed with the writing itself. Lots of repeated words and waaay too many editing errors. I am excited to continue the series because I am wrapped up in the story and I like to find out why...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: warcraft

I've been a casual player of World of Warcraft since 2008, and have spent my fair share of time in that "world" questing, flying around, farming, running dungeons, battling pets, etc.

Over time, though, it just wasn't enough to just roam around the world doing stuff. I really wanted to know the lore - the history of everything, the backgrounds of the characters I was playing. So I started picking up the novels...and boy, are they ever fun.

And fun is all I think they are really meant to be. I gue...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Levi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Now that I have finished the book I can say it is one of the best books I have read in recent memory. The author's writing style is superb and the way he is able to tell three different stories but weave them together towards the end of the story is fantastic. The overall plot of the story tells the tale of some of the most dominant lore characters in the Warcraft universe including Illidan and Malfurion Stormrage. It starts simply with the story of Rhonin, a mage that fought in the war against...more

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Oct 30, 2012 FREEBIRD rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: alternate-universe, dragons, high-fantasy, mythical-creatures, sci-fantasy, warcraft, witches-and-wizards

I love World of Warcraft. I am a huge fan of the video game and started playing during Cata in Sept. 2011. That being said, this book meant a lot more to me and resonated with me because I could relate the characters to their in-game selves. This review may in turn be a bit biased because of that recognition with the characters and eagerness to learn more about the lore. If you don't play the game and have never heard of any of the characters mentioned in this book, I am not sure what experience...more I love World of Warcraft. I am a huge fan of the video game and started playing during Cata in Sept. 2011. That being said, this book meant a lot more to me and resonated with me because I could relate the characters to their in-game selves. This review may in turn be a bit biased because of that recognition with the characters and eagerness to learn more about the lore. If you don't play the game and have never heard of any of the characters mentioned in this book, I am not sure what experience you will have when reading it.

It was so interesting for me to read about a time before Illidan became the Lord of Outland, before Alexstrazsa was made a slave by the Orcs, before Malfurion was trapped in the Emerald Dream and before Tyrande took over as leader of the Night Elves and High Priestess of Elune. I knew that the Night Elves had been the ones to cause the first invasion of the Burning Legion, but I didn't know how they had done it. I had heard of Azshara before, of course. I knew she was Queen of the Naga and I knew that there was a place in Kalimdor called Azshara, but I really had no idea who she was in the past. To find out that she had been the beloved queen of the Night Elves was shocking. I had also never heard of Broxigar or Xavius, so a lot of these characters were new to me and it was fun to fit them into the games current history.

I think Knaak did an excellent job with the battle scenes. I felt as if I were there while Rhonin was casting his spells against the Eredar warlocks of the Burning Legion and that I could feel the hands of Xavius around my neck as he tried to throttle Malfurion. I really think that when it came to the battle scenes and more epic scenery scenes that Krasus experienced on the back of Korialstrasz, Knaak did a fantastic job. He really has a knack (ha ha) for creating epic pictures in the reader's mind and I felt like I could see and feel Kalimdor with the characters.

I would recommend this book to all World of Warcraft fans who are interested in the lore. As for those of you who don't play the game, I can't be sure what your experience would be because I already knew most of the characters going into the book, but I would encourage you to try it out if you're a fan of high fantasy to see what you think!(less)

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Sep 25, 2010 April rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: action, female-pov, magic, male-author, male-pov, plain-fun-hilarious, series, witches-wizards-casters, dragons, world-5-stars

The Well of Eternity is my fourth warcraft book. It was very interesting, especially because I played World of Warcraft for 3 or 4 years on and off. Currently off, but who can stay away from WOW when the new expansions come out? :) So I'll be going back on again. My brother also greatly encourages me to read them. He thinks it's the only worthwhile books to read. That all the other books I've read can't be better than the warcraft books. :D Well don't believe that, though being able to read a bo...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Dan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Only read the first few chapters, but I agree with most of the other negative reviews on here. I've never read a Warcraft book, I didn't expect it to be "good", but I expected it to be entertaining enough. It's not. I felt like I was reading one long, badly written quest log. I agree with the reviewer that pointed out how sexist each description of a female character is. I feel like I can review this book because the beginning sucks, so I can only assume the rest of the book sucks.

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Jul 21, 2011 Nichole rated it 4 of 5 stars

I give this book 4 stars because I really am a huge fan of WoW lore. That being said, I can understand how someone who doesn't know anything about the games would dislike this book. Like many other people have said, there are mistakes in the writing, and yes, it tends to be choppy at times. However, I didn't feel like the writing was atrocious, it definitely did not keep me from reading this book. If you're a WoW lore fan, this book will definitely be of your liking.

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Mar 02, 2013 Boyya rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-kindle-books

This is a good starting point to get into the Warcraft books, it is always good to learn about the lore. I enjoy reading about the history of the Warcraft world. It amazes me how much thought has gone into creating this world. Seeing Rhonin before he was in Dalaran, learning the honor of Broxigar, and especially seeing the corruption of Illidan, and the beginning story of Malfurion and Tyrande was cool. Really looking forward to the next book in the series.

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Apr 07, 2010 Daley rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: easy-read-fantasy

Why is this so bad? The author wrote my favorite Warcraft book and now he has written the worst. This saddened me since I adore the Warcraft world and books.

Used "and the latter" phrase at least three or four times per chapter and sometimes even more. Lovely characters, but he constantly repeated himself and dragged the story out as long as possible while ending abruptly leaving main plot points completely unresolved. Disappointing.

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Aug 03, 2012 Aik Koh rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another great book by the author, the start of the trilogy explains a story that happens thousands of years before what most gamers know about the story of Warcraft lore. Explains more about the Night Elf race and their internal struggle with power hungry members of their race. Also connected with the author's earlier work where he brought some old characters in to make it even more exciting.

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Jun 11, 2012 Sian rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am sure I was very generous on my stars but I did enjoy this book mostly because I enjoy learning more about WoW lore. It was a quick read and I was interested in finding out what was going to happen next. The transitions could have been smoother and the overall story was a little repetitive in spots but I will read the rest of the series.

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Jul 10, 2010 Ahmad rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, novel

هیجان خواندن اندیشه های و رویاهای ساخته شده، خود لذت بخش است، هرچند برای سن من شاید کمی خنده دار باشد ولی من عاشق داستانهای علمی تخیلی هستم و البته فیلم ها نیز. این جلد را من دوبار خواندم تا حوادث را بهتر درک کنم میخواستم میتولوژی انتخابی نویسنده را مقایسه کنم با اونهائی که میدانستم، ترکیب خوبی را انتخاب کرده، البته بازی پسرم در کامپیوتر مرا با این اسم آشنا کرد تا ترجمه ی فارسی کتاب را تهیه کنم برای نویسنده های توانای این داستان های فانتزی آرزوی موفقیت دارم

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Jan 20, 2013 Filip rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-sf

This book could have been awesome, it opened up numerous possibilities for expansion of Warcraft universe. But it didn't do well. From the leading characters who were complete mistake and unneccesary up to time-travel theme, this whole story was titled with one big, flashy 'WRONG'. Knaak's weaker sides experienced in 'Day of the Dragon' also showed up here, such as gaming-experience-feeling or need to focus on action, rather on characters.

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Jan 03, 2011 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was an overall good book. I read it twice to get a better understanding of it, because it constantly switches back and forth between characters and situations. The only that bothered me about this book, was that the phrase "of the latter" , and "__ was all but ___ ". In short, a good read if you play the game.

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Jun 03, 2009 Nyssa rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you played World of Warcraft and enjoyed it, you'd probably be interested in the lore behind the game. These books do more than what a wiki could offer you in painting a pretty vivid picture. Front row seats to original characters like Cenarius, Illidian, Malfurian, Tyrande is pretty awesome.

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Apr 29, 2009 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars

Knaak has a, well, knack for using unnecessary florid language at times, but overall his books are an enjoyable read. I also do enjoy his characterization of Krasus, but Deathwing/Neltharian seemed somewhat flat during this entire trilogy. He was much better in Day of the Dragon.

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Oct 26, 2012 Khayra Bundakji rated it 2 of 5 stars

I just read a well-written book and changed the rating to a 2.
*****
I really really wish I could love this more than I do. It opened up the whole world of WoW to me, and I'm emotionally invested in all the characters, but the writing wasn't what I needed. Knaak is a big shot fantasy writer, but it isn't a work of art. I would've easily given him 3 stars if it was his concept because I liked the story. However, I'm disappointed in WoW. If I had a huge franchise with a story & needed to commis...more

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May 25, 2012 Hannah Pauls rated it 3 of 5 stars

I never thought I'd read game-based books, even though I read sci-fi and fantasty regularly. I was surprised at how much I liked this-you don't have to know anything about the game to be able to follow and enjoy the story. Planning to read the rest of the series.

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Nov 21, 2011 Peter Dolezal rated it 3 of 5 stars

Regular boook, not much story in there, kinda boring. I started reading this serie from the second volume but I needn't to read this because everything but the story at the end, how malfurion destroyed the portal was in the second book in the opening.

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Oct 20, 2011 flickr rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, series, trilogy, warcraft

As an on/off WOW-player I was somewhat interested in the lore of Azeroth, and thought to give this trilogy a try (after all, my first ever toon was a night-elf and I loved hopping around the beautiful woods of the starting zone, questing and listening to the great background music).

The trilogy is an ok read, but not that captivating or fantastic, like it could have been (the lore is good and interesting) and wasn't as good as I expected. You want to know how the story ends, so you'll read it thr...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Scraggy rated it 3 of 5 stars

While this wasn't the best written book ever - It managed to suck me in. I found certain parts horribly slow, mainly when it was focusing on Rhonin.

I would recommend it for any Warcraft Lore buff out there.

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Dec 26, 2012 Tyler rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

This book had a slow start, but picked up considerably after introducing Malfurion, Tyrande, and Cenarius as characters. I enjoyed it, and I think the War of the Ancients is an awesome warcraft setting to have a book series in because prior to this story the history was only so vaguely outlined.

The final battle was decent, but after reading so much Bernard Cornwell lately I feel like it wasn't done as well as it could have been.

6/10

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About Richard A. Knaak

Richard A. Knaak is the bestselling author of Dragonlance novels, Dragonrealm (his own creation), six novels for Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo series, and six works in the Warcraft universe. He has also written five non-series fantasy books.

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Books by Richard A. Knaak

The Legend of Huma (Dragonlance: Heroes, #1)

Kaz the Minotaur (Dragonlance: Heroes, #4; Heroes II, #1)

The Demon Soul (WarCraft: War of the Ancients, #2)

The Sundering (WarCraft: War of the Ancients, #3)

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Quotes from The Well of Eternity

“*You are not yet in the Emerald Dream. First, you must remove your earthly shell...* the voice in his head instructed. *As you reach the state of sleep, you will slip your body off as you would a coat. Start from your heart and mind, for they are the links that most bind you to the mortal plane. See? This is how it is done...* - Chapter 4” — 1 person liked it

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The Well of Eternity (War of the Ancients Trilogy #1)

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