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The Well of Eternity

(War of the Ancients Trilogy #1)

Richard A. Knaak (Goodreads Author)

4.01 · Rating details · 6,857 ratings · 218 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

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Paperback, 384 pages

Published March 30th 2004 by Pocket Star

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Aug 13, 2009 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, novels, warcraft, united-states, 21th-century

The Well of Eternity (War of the Ancients Trilogy #1), Richard A. Knaak

The Well of Eternity: War of the Ancients Trilogy is a book trilogy written by Richard A. Knaak set in Blizzard Entertainment's popular video game universe, Warcraft.

This series contains three books: The Well of Eternity (2004), The Demon Soul (2004), The Sundering (2005)

Book One - The Well of Eternity: Many months have passed since the cataclysmic Battle of Mount Hyjal, where the demonic Burning Legion was banished from Aze ...more

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Sep 20, 2012 Dylan Woods rated it really liked it

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 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. ...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Jack rated it did not like it

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 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. ...more

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Jul 11, 2016 Madalina Iuliana Mocanu rated it liked it

Recommends it for: Warcraft Lore Junkies

Recommended to Madalina by: The Warcraft Movie... damn :/

Shelves: others

My sister said: Don't waste your time with the Warcraft Novels! They are poorly written fan-fiction of a game... No game novels are worth reading. Including Assassin's Creed!

I am well aware of that. I know they are poorly written, but here's the thing. If I do not start now to read them, I will never... ever start. I've been meaning to for the past 3 years and just couldn't find the method to. And by method I mean the thoughtful pondering of the fact that I have to read 20 novels and a lot of sh ...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Michelle rated it really liked it

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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Feb 06, 2013 Michael Hall rated it it was amazing

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 r ...more

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Nov 14, 2009 Leeanna rated it really liked it

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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Aug 13, 2010 April rated it it was amazing

Shelves: action, pov-male, pov-female, plain-fun-hilarious, witches-wizards-casters-superheroes, author-male, magic, series, 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 13, 2015 Crystin McDaniel rated it it was amazing

I've played World of Warcraft for years, and one of the first things that made me fall in love with the game was the incredible storyline underlying everything. The rich histories of the various races, the interaction between faction leaders ... I hadn't played anything like it before. I'm one of the few people I know who actually reads quest text - because you're never sent off to do something without being told WHY you're doing it.

So when I found out there were actual NOVELS written in the War ...more

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Feb 01, 2017 (shan) Littlebookcove rated it it was amazing

Shelves: world-of-warcraft-novels

This book is everything I thought it would be and more.

I'm not really one for fantasy book's but I Knew this was going to be good and deliver everything I wanted as an avid world of warcraft fan that I have been since I was 20. The game is steeped in history, if your a player to the new expansion 'Legion' then I highly recommend you read this book as it will place you on what now are parts of the broken shore in teams of the night fallen and The highborne as well as ravensBrook and the moon gua ...more

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Jan 14, 2011 Holly rated it did not like it

Shelves: type-fantasy, type-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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Jun 26, 2009 Shay rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: Warcraft lore fans

Recommended to Shay by: Mark

I couldn't finish this. I'm used to a much higher quality writing style. This came off as trash you find hidden in the back shelves of the used book store. One of those terrible, thin paperbacks with a cover from the 60's that you know is going to be awful before you even read the plot synopsis.

I managed about the first 50 pages and just couldn't go any farther, the author is horrible. The other books may be better, or you may find inspiration from a deep interest in the lore behind the Warcraft ...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Dan rated it it was ok

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. ...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Aik Koh rated it it was amazing

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. ...more

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Jun 03, 2009 Nyssa rated it it was amazing

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. ...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Thomas Thunbo rated it it was amazing

As a fan of the Warcraft universe, I thought that this was a great book. I wouldn't recommend people who are not familiar with the Warcraft lore to read it just yet. One has to know the basics of the World of Warcraft. ...more

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Mar 22, 2009 Diane Krawczak rated it it was amazing

As a rabid WoW player, I wanted to learn more about the background lore and I found it very engrossing, very epic

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Oct 25, 2010 Krista rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

Amazing book that I would recommened for anyone who loves the Warcraft universe, fantasy, and action.

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Aug 26, 2013 Amanda Jarbeau rated it it was amazing

Shelves: warcraft

The War of the Ancients trilogy was my first Warcraft books. OMG it got me so hooked on them.

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Sep 20, 2013 Jovanni Bello rated it it was amazing

Despite being written by Knaak, this whole series is pretty wonderful.

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Oct 09, 2013 Julie rated it it was amazing

I am a sucker for lore. I love reading this stuff. It does get dry at times but it's totally worth it and these stores are the backbone of all the other lore ...more

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Feb 28, 2014 Majki rated it it was amazing

Shelves: warcraft-books

I RECOMEND

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Mar 05, 2018 Suzanne Berget rated it it was ok

More like 2, 5. Not really my cup of tea, had some good moments, should probably have read some thing else first, or played WoW :P

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Feb 25, 2020 Dunja MacAlister rated it it was amazing

These books are such great adventures!

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Aug 30, 2016 rivettca rated it liked it

When I made the decision to read the Warcraft books, I knew that I would be stepping away from what most people deem as being "proper literature". I expected it to be childish and simple, and faster-moving than I would like. However, I hoped that I would come away from it with a better appreciation of Warcraft lore.

The Well of Eternity by Richard A. Knaak is the first such book I've read, with the exception of Durotan by Christie Golden, as that is set in the cinematic universe rather than the When I made the decision to read the Warcraft books, I knew that I would be stepping away from what most people deem as being "proper literature". I expected it to be childish and simple, and faster-moving than I would like. However, I hoped that I would come away from it with a better appreciation of Warcraft lore.

The Well of Eternity by Richard A. Knaak is the first such book I've read, with the exception of Durotan by Christie Golden, as that is set in the cinematic universe rather than the game universe. Nonetheless, it is hard to avoid comparisons between these two stories, particularly as I do not read a lot of video game books. And the reason for this review is that I felt the need to point out that these stories are almost the exact opposite.

Where Durotan was lush with effortlessly flowing prose, The Well of Eternity struggles under the weight of Knaak's "tell don't show" policy, in which he makes effort to ensure the reader is aware of how they should be feeling, and makes little effort to actually position the reader in such a way that they might actually have an emotional investment in the story. In fact, most of my investment into the characters was due to my experience with Warcraft III and World of Warcraft.

That said, some aspects of the story were interesting. As an avid sci fi and fantasy fan, I am highly familiar with the time travel subgenre, and I appreciate Knaak's attempts to avoid using it as a mere framing device. There are two ways in which I thought this was best exemplified, and the first is simply that the protagonists did not return to their own time at the end of the story. I am aware that this is the first book in a trilogy, but it would have been easy to include some resolution to the time travel plot at the end of the story to give our protagonists as much of a reward as the characters in the historical setting enjoy. Secondly, I admit I particularly enjoyed Krasus' interaction with Neltharion, where he is forced to confront becoming an accomplice to Deathwing's future genocides and massacres by not taking advantage of his temporal displacement to warn the other dragons - but before he can even make a decision, Neltharion reveals that even at this early stage, he already carries the beliefs of Deathwing and prevents Krasus from revealing what he knows about Neltharion's future.

Aside from that, it was nice to see the start of Tyrande and Malfurion's relationship. Most of the female characters in this story were underwritten, and I'm not sure why. Azshara is sexy and evil, but instead of carrying out her own plans she delegates to Xavius so in reality she does very little. Tyrande is sexy and good, but instead of carrying out her own plans she delegates to Malfurion so in reality she does very little. Veereesa is the only other female character, and she serves as a mere character motivation for the protagonist. Coincidentally, she's also described as sexy. In fact, by far the best-written female character was Alexstrasza, and I think Knaak managed to convey a sense of her deeper wisdom and knowledge, not least of all through the fact that as the story takes place in the past, Alexstrasza must have kept knowledge of these events secret for thousands of years.

All in all, it's a decent read for someone already interested in the lore of Warcraft, however Knaak lacks Golden's knack (kek) for writing in a universal manner which invites the reader to be interested, despite the low brow content. ...more

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Apr 07, 2010 Daley rated it it was ok

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. ...more

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Aug 27, 2014 Mihai rated it it was amazing

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A fine piece by the author Richard Knaak, the book does justice to the lore. As a fan of Warcraft, I salute the author as I eagerly hold the next book in hand. A good read indeed.

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Jan 24, 2008 Farhad rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-and-like

fantastic!

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Apr 29, 2011 Vincent rated it it was amazing

Praise the Aspects..lol

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Sep 01, 2011 Anna Popławska rated it it was amazing

Amazing book, the whole trilogy:) There are only few books I could recommend so fierecly!:)

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About Richard A. Knaak

Richard A. Knaak

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

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“*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” — 4 likes

“I already have. Not at all that far from where we were, but far enough away. Actually, we’re both fortunate and unfortunate.” — 1 likes

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The Well of Eternity

(War of the Ancients Trilogy #1)

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