Tides of Darkness

World of Warcraft #3

by Aaron Rosenberg

After killing the corrupt Warchief Blackhand, Orgrim Doomhammer was quick to seize control over the Orcish Horde. Now he is determined to conquer the rest of Azeroth so that his people will once again have a home of their own in the...WORLD OF WARCRAFT

Anduin Lothar, former Champion of Stormwind, has left his shattered homeland behind and led his people across the Great Sea to the shores of Lordaeron. There, with the aid of the noble King Terenas, he forges a mighty Alliance with the other human nations. But even that may not be enough to stop the Horde's merciless onslaught.

Elves, dwarves, and trolls enter the fray as the two emerging factions vie for dominance. Will the valiant Alliance prevail, or will the Horde's tide of darkness consume the last vestiges of freedom on Azeroth?

Genres: Fantasy, Warcraft, World Of Warcraft, Fiction, High Fantasy, Video Games, Games

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 28, 2007

About the author

Aaron Rosenberg is an award-winning, bestselling novelist, children’s book author, and game designer. He's written original fiction (including the NOOK-bestselling humorous science fiction novel No Small Bills, the Dread Remora space-opera series, and the O.C.L.T. supernatural thriller series), tie-in novels (including the PsiPhi winner Collective Hindsight for Star Trek: SCE, the Daemon Gates trilogy for Warhammer, Tides of Darkness and the Scribe-nominated Beyond the Dark Portal for WarCraft, Hunt and Run for Stargate: Atlantis, and Substitution Method and Road Less Traveled for Eureka), young adult novels (including the Scribe-winning Bandslam: The Novel and books for iCarly and Ben10), children's books (including an original Scholastic Bestseller series, Pete and Penny's Pizza Puzzles, and work for PowerPuff Girls and Transformers Animated), roleplaying games (including original games like Asylum and Spookshow, the Origins Award-winning Gamemastering Secrets, and sections of The Supernatural Roleplaying Game, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and The Deryni Roleplaying Game), short stories, webcomics, essays, and educational books. He has ranged from mystery to speculative fiction to drama to comedy, always with the same intent—to tell a good story. You can visit him online at gryphonrose.com or follow him on Twitter @gryphonrose.

Reviews

[Markus · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

The grand city of Stormwind has fallen. The dark tide of orcs sweeps over the lands of Azeroth, while the survivors of the war flee across the sea to seek aid in Lordaeron. But change is being made among the orcs. The Warchief of the Horde, Blackhand the Destroyer, has been betrayed and killed by his second-in-command; Gul'dan and the Shadow Council have been taken completely by surprise. And the Horde marches on under the command of its new Warchief... Orgrim Doomhammer.

This book explains a lot. From what I've heard, it's apparently mostly a novelisation of the game Warcraft II, and it definitely filled in a lot of holes for me.

From the viewpoint of Anduin Lothar, Tides of Darkness tells the tale of the Second War and the formation of the Alliance. Characters I had heard mention of but never encountered are introduced here, like Turalyon and Alleria Windrunner. And while reading, you also get to witness the origins of both the paladins and the death knights, among other things.

The most interesting part is that Orgrim Doomhammer, one of my favourite Warcraft characters and an overall pretty nice guy, is the main antagonist. And the word antivillain immediately comes to mind. Imagine Ned Stark as a bloodthirsty orc, and you have Orgrim. Honourable, traditional and respectful. And unfortunately also a guy who's main goal is to raze your homeland to the ground.

The first half of the book was unfortunately boring as hell. The second half was surprisingly good. Like the other books in the series, it's poorly written and remarkably shallow, but it does the job of presenting more of the backstory rather skillfully.

[Pedro António Carvalho · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5⭐
EN~🇬🇧
I was needing this shot of epic MMORPG fantasy.
This is the best Warcraft book so far! Everything I love about this universe is here.
Tides of Darkness really gave me a big big sense of nostalgia maybe because I hold many good memories when playing this game. That WoW feel of Horde Vs Alliance; humans elves and dwarves Vs orcs and trolls; mages and warriors Vs warlocks and shamans. All this was much more present. The story this time happens in the Eastern Kingdoms so I was instantly transported again to all the zones and cities where I virtually walked so many times.
Many important characters appear in story and I am glad to have met them because in game most of them are dead thus I was able to connect with them. I loved King Terenas.
A lot more epic fights, epic scenes *sigh*
Not much more to say, my gamer reader heart is full! 🎮❤️.
.
.
PT~🇵🇹
Estava a precisar desta injeção de fantasia épica ao estilo MMORPG.
Este é o melhor livro WarCraft que li até agora! Tem tudo o que adoro sobre este universo.
Tides of Darkness deu me um sentimento muito profundo de nostalgia talvez porque guardo muito boas memórias quando jogava este jogo.
Aquele sentido WoW de Aliança contra Horde; Humanos , Elfos e Anões contra Orcs e Trolls; magos e guerreiros contra shamans e feiticeiros. Tudo isto esteve muito mais presente!
Desta vez a história acontece nos Reinos do Este por isso fui instantaneamente transportado mais uma vez para todas aquelas zonas e cidades que tantas vezes visitei virtualmente.
Muitas personagens importantes aparecem na história e fico contente por as ter conhecido pois no jogo estão mortas ou desaparecidas e assim pude conectar-me melhor com elas. Adorei o Rei Terenas!
Muitas mais batalhas épicas, cenas épicas *suspiro*
Enfim, não há muito mais para dizer, o meu coração de gamer leitor está cheio! 🎮❤️

[Tyler · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel like 200 pages of
- the orcs are coming!
- it's time for us to have another meeting
- now the orcs are having their own meeting. let's hear their side of things
- uh oh, it's gonna be bad when the orcs get here!
- we orcs must destroy the humans!
- now let's check in on the orcs. are they really coming? let's have a meeting about it

is enough of a good faith effort to safely close this one out early

DNF at 200/371 pages

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is a good book and one of the best ive ever read it is about the human civilazation and the sons of lothar defending their home kingdom against the horde. Anduin Lothar is the leader of the alliance defense and his close allies help him defend against the orcish horde that treaten the kingdom of azeroth and its capitol Stormwind City. The kingdom of Arathi is far up north and it is farther away and safer than the kingdom of stormwind. the kindom of lordaeron is the kingdom that has created the alliance of lordaeron and will help aid the kindoms in thier fight against the horde. its a good book for World of Warcraft fans. i just finished it tonight and overall it was a very decent book.

[Kramer Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another pretty enjoyable Warcraft novel. Pretty simple writing, but good enough to get the point across. The story was fun, as usual, and I enjoyed learning about the lore of the Second War and Lothar, Turalyon, and Khadgar.

[Pinkerton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno dei romanzi originali da cui - secondo me - più di ogni altro è stato attinto materiale per la realizzazione del film, dove, oltre alla medesima situazione ritroviamo anche molti dei personaggi. Come un Orgrim Doomhammer qui davvero parecchio fico…

Le differenze però non sono poche, tanto nello svolgimento quanto nel ruolo giocato da alcuni contendenti.

Molto bello, non ho dato il voto massimo perché certe cose sono state lasciate troppo in secondo piano a mio avviso (tipo gli orchi che si fanno largo nel Khaz Modan), d’altronde per descrivere il tutto con dovizia di particolari credo non sarebbero bastate il doppio delle pagine; però la fondazione dell’ordine dei paladini della Mano d’Argento così in sordina mi ha davvero lasciato l’amaro in bocca T_T
Per il resto questa guerra si legge con gran trasporto: fieri condottieri, loschi traditori, acute strategie… tutto questo e anche di più nell’Orda che incalza l’Alleanza dei popoli di Azeroth - Con quel “anche di più” mi riferisco ad alcune presenze eccellenti aggiuntive che fanno sempre la loro porca figura, tipo: Khadgar, Alleria Windrunner, Zul’jin, e altri ancora; gente che al solo sentirla nominare vado su di giri ^_^ c’è stata persino qualche fugace apparizione di Uther <3 che in quest’occasione si è guadagnato il titolo di Lightbringer, il portatore di luce *_*

P.S.
Inoltre così mi spiego la statua del “leone” Anduin Lothar nelle Steppe Ardenti di WOW che finora mi era sempre sembrata fuori contesto :P

[Peter Simko · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about Tides of Darkness . It had the potential to be the best book of the series (out of 3, as I read them in chronological order), but unfortunately it turned out to be far from flawless. The best thing about this novel is that it shows us how the races of Warcraft started to form the Alliance and the Horde as we know them now. We see how the orcs and the trolls start to work together, Gul'Dan brings us the first set of death knights, and on the other side Rosenberg tells us how the elves and the dwarves became members of the Alliance. As these two groups are growing in numbers, and the confrontation between them become inevitable, we get to see some great battles, which is nice for sure, but unfortunately these battle scenes have some flaws. I understand that it makes a fight more exciting when a new element is added to the mix that changes the tides of battle, but if this happens too often in a short period of time, it becomes somewhat lame. Like the battle of Quel'Thalas. At first the Horde is winning, then the elves and the Alliance unite their forces and they are winning, then the the two-headed ogres show up, and the Horde is winning again, then the dwarves arrive on the back of the gryphons, guess what, the Alliance is winning, but then come the dragons and they finally win the battle for the Horde. In my opinion it's not very good writing, especially when something similar happen later on again, on the seas but that time the gryphons triumphing over the dragons.

Another thing that bothered me was how Rosenberg managed the question of messaging between forces. Sometimes they message each other sometimes they don't, and I don't really understand what's the difference between these two type of situations. Just an example: When Lothar realized that the Horde was on its way to Quel'Thalas why didn't he send a messenger to the elves? Either a bird, or a gryphon. I know the surprise factor is bigger this way, but the lack of logic undermines the credibility of the story.

And last, but not least I have to mention one more thing I have mixed feelings about. I really liked the duality in writing. I mean it was really nice to view the events from the view of both sides, but my problem with that was when it came to the great battles between the two factions, Rosenberg always showed them from the view of the Alliance. Of course it's his choice, but as this novel is based on World of Warcraft where the Horde and the Alliance are both playable factions and both have many "fans" all around the world, I think it's an unfortunate decision to show all the battles from the view of one side. I'm pretty sure that there are some/many Horde players out there that felt offended by that. I wouldn't have problem with that if the whole book was written that way.

Ok, so I mentioned mostly negative things, but it doesn't mean I didn't like this book. It only means that I'm a bit sad because it could have been an awesome Warcraft-related book, but instead of that it was only decent.

[John Da Cruz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gotta say that I quite enjoyed the book overall. The escapades of the early Horde and the early Alliance provide some of the lore-defining details that are background to World of Warcraft.

Orgrim Doomhammer is an interesting antagonist, not quite a good guy, per se, but not an evil savage by any means. His code of honour when coupled by his plan of hostile invasion and complete disregard for the lives of his enemies made him a more complicated villain than you usually get within the Warcraft universe. Orcish Warlock Gul'dan fits into the more distinctly evil category, though his final fate in this book (perhaps dictated by pre-established lore?) is a bit abrupt and feels like an appendage to the general story.

I wouldn't go so far as to say the heroic characters are less defined, but they are certainly a little less engaging. We do get some interesting first glimpses of characters who will later take a bigger role in Warcraft lore, such as a younger Lothemar Theron and a pre-banshee Queen Sylvannas.

While I enjoyed this outing, it felt a bit like one long, protracted fight scene once the orcish invasion got underway. But still a fairly good read.

[Leeanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

World of Warcraft: Tides of Darkness, by Aaron Rosenberg

I read this immediately after finishing "Rise of the Horde," by Christie Golden, and as such it provides a continuation of what happens after the orcs entered the Dark Portal. It is the story of the Second War, when the orcs tried to take over Azeroth but were stopped by the Alliance of humans, dwarves, and elves.

"Tides of Darkness" is a novelization of Warcraft II, and so is good background information for players new to the Warcraft universe.

I don't have much to say about this book. It's a quick read, despite its length of 374 pages; it felt to me like Rosenberg was writing to a juvenile audience. While he has some key figures of the Warcraft universe starring in the book, such as Turalyon, Khadgar, Lothar, Doomhammer, Gul'dan, and Zul'jin, the novel as a whole feels pretty flat and uninspired. Part of that could be because it is a direct tie-in novel to a video game and the author likely didn't have much leeway, but I still wish the book just had that special something to it. Je ne sais quoi.

2/5.

[Cheri Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, imo, this is the best book of the warcraft series...but I can say that about most of them.
Except this one made me tear-up , and that always gets a huge 5+ stars from me. Great, Great book.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Rise of the Horde tells the unfortunate story of the corrupt creation and madness of the Horde, Tides of Darkness tells the glorious tale of the rise of the Alliance in response to the massive Horde forces rushing towards Lordaeron from the Dark Portal. Great cast of characters: King Terenas Menethil II; Lord Anduin Lothar, Champion of Stormwind and Commander of the Alliance; Khadgar of Dalaran; Turalyon, Knight of the Silver Hand; Uther the Lightbringer; High elf Alleria Windrunner (and her sisters); Thane Kurdran Wildhammer and Sky'ree of Aerie Peak; and the Bronzebeard brothers. Orgrim Doomhammer is a poignant character foiled by the villainous Gul'dan. Fun read, especially if you played Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness or Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (when you enter the ruins and read Gul'dan's bloody messages in the Tomb of Sargeras).

[Bob Biegun · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a story describing the continent-spanning war between The Horde and The Alliance featuring combatants from several different races from two different worlds, there are a grand total of only three female characters in this whole book - the Windrunner sisters. Of those three, two have only a single brief appearance and the third exists only as a half-hearted love interest for a male protagonist. All three characters disappear without explanation as the story approaches its climax.

Frustrating as this is, I think it actually serves to show how the Warcraft franchise has evolved over the past decade in its treatment of women. There are many major female characters in the franchise now (though many of them are still scantily-clad elves).

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The epic battle between the blood-thirsty orcs and the lion-hearted humans has been beautifully depicted in this book. Action packed, this book provides entertainment, even more so if you are a WoW player. The lore is also abundant in this book and explains several things found in the game. It also links the previous books, including the Warcraft novels.
All in all, it is well written, eloquent and is truthful to the game version of the characters described, as well as the places and landscapes featured in the game.

[Justin Halsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

World of Warcraft, the greatest game that existed, i have been playing this online sensation for 3 years now. Aleeze: Relm Fenris. Every since the start of the game, its lore sparked my interest, i cant get enough. I have read most of the books and this one has to be my favorite out of the bunch. For the Alliance!

[Mohamad Gholamzadeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتابی فوق العاده و بسیار زیبا و خوندنش برای کسانی که علاقه به خوندن ژانر فانتزی شدیدا توصیه میشه. من که عاشقشم.

[Dawid Grzyb · Rating 4 out of 5]

NoJako fan uniwersum Warcrafta muszę przyznać że to jedna z lepszych pozycji dla każdego, kto chce zainteresować się tematem Warcrafta, a przede wszystkim zrozumieć i poznać konflikt Hordy oraz Przymierza. Znając lore naprawdę dobrze, wielokrotnie napotykałem się na ciekawostki i szczegóły, o których nie miałem pojęcia.

WADY:
-Osobiście jako fan Hordy, uważam że brakuje czasem więcej wzmianek o poszczególnych klanach i hersztach, których w samej hordzie było naprawdę mnóstwo, a które brały udział w inwazji na Azeroth - choć w innych książkach jest na ten temat więcej informacji (przede wszystkim Narodziny Hordy).
-Kolejnym małym minusem w moim odczuciu jest powtarzalność opisów bitew, które były... Świetne! Czytając naprawdę czułem się jakbym stał u Boku Lothara i widział walkę na śmierć i życie, ale... Przez ilość tych bitew miałem wrażenie, że są one schematyczne i niektóre wręcz identyczne - mam tutaj na myśli głównie powtórzenia pewnych słów, zwrotów, formacji i sposobu walk.
-Niezgodność co do mapy - jako iż bardzo lubię analizować mapy, za każdym razem gdy pojawiały się nazwy krain musiałem weryfikować gdzie znajdują się orkowie czy też ludzie Przymierza. Porównując to z dostępnymi mapami utworzonymi w Warcrafcie III, a przede wszystkim World of Warcraft niestety kilkukrotnie napotkałem się z sytuacją, że opis wędrówki przez poszczególne regiony nie miał żadnego sensu. JEDNAKŻE przy odpowiednim naciągnięciu kilku faktów całować zdawała się składać w całość.

ZALETY:
-Dużo postaci (głównie po stronie Przymierza), z czego wiele z nich poznajemy naprawdę dobrze co pozwala lepiej chłonąć świat i rozumieć pewne decyzje bohaterów
-opisy krain, świetne i naprawdę potrafiłem dzięki temu lepiej zwizualizować sobie świat
-wiele epickich i ważnych momentów dla świata Warcrafta: Bitwy, sojusze, zdrady, śmierci, zwroty akcji, nowe rasy i wiele wiele innych elementów które bez wątpienia zapadają w pamięć.
-świetny sposób na kontynuację! Orkowie dalej mogą kiedyś być zagrożeniem i nie można ich lekceważyć, co jeszcze pokażą w późniejszej historii
-wiele wątków, historii poszczególnych postaci czy wydarzeń pociągnie za sobą ogromne skutki w przyszłości i będziemy do nich wracać co jest puszczeniem oka dla tych, którzy temat znają lepiej (dzięki tej książce). Pozwala to również przyjemniej i lepiej poznawać świat Warcrafta w innych książkach czy też grach
-Autor, Aaron Rosenberg wykonał kawał świetnej roboty i książkę czyta się nie bacząc na mijający czas. Kilka razy, w przerwie między czytaniem wracałem myślami do tego, na którym momencie zakończyłem i rwałem się do tego by pójść z akcją dalej. Brawa również dla tłumaczki Dominiki Repeczko, choć mogła dodać również nazwy z języka angielskiego przy nazwiskach i regionach/miastach.

[Marian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Те, що криги по всесвіту Варкрафт пишуть різні автори - додає велику різноманітність у сторітеллінг цілої саги. Ця книга, зовсім не схожа на попередню, чи книгу до неї як по настрою, так і по наративу.

Це не погано. Просто по-іншому. Книга має величезний обсяг подій, які потрібно не тільки донести як факти, але й передати настрій того чи іншого табору. Це приводить до перенасичення подіями, що укладені в такій малій кількості сторінок. Тому враження від книги - як від човникового бігу - ти постійно міняєш курс і не залишаєшся з героями до кінця, бо в наступному абзаці починається арка іншого героя.

Як я і казав - від того новела не дуже страждає, бо ця частина подій - надзвичайно важлива в Другій Війні. Але постійно враження ніби ти кудись спішиш, аби нічого не пропустити. Попередня новела про Кадгара і Медіва була розмірена, спокійна і йшла своїм ходом до кінця книги. Тут же, зовсім протилежні відчуття.

[Diz Lenihan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second war. An intense battle between the remaining people of Stormwind after the death of their king and the take over of their city. And interesting tale of the orcs once again on this land foreign to them, only after a new home to finallt he able to be at peace but at the price of killing all who inhabit the land already. A very good read for more insight into the lore of the warcraft universe and the end of some brilliant characters, and the start of others.

[Χρήστος Κούτσιανος · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ένα ακόμα απολαυστικό κεφάλαιο για έναν λάτρη της κοσμοπλασίας του Warcraft σαν και μένα. Μικρές ασυνέπειες στην πλοκή αφαίρεσαν ένα αστέρι, μα δεν μείωσαν την απόλαυση. Πρόταση μου να διαβαστεί με ανοιχτό χάρτη δίπλα.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

there is no limit to my love toward world of Warcraft, I love all the characters, I love the story, and I love the familiar creatures...
can't wait to see what happens next...

[Oleksandr Khoma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Як фанату ігор мені дуже зайшло: розкривається багато моментів, яким в грі не приділяв уваги. Також дуже цікаво було дізнатися як і звідки з'явились деякі класи та раси. Читається дуже легко, рекомендую.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Details the aftermath of the First War and the events of the Second War. Was a quick read. Awesome introducing some iconic characters in the WoW universe! Alleria and Turalyon <3

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I just finished this book and I'm in shock I have to admit the first half was a bit slow but then it all comes together in a powerball. Rosenberg's masterful storytelling brought me to the edge of my seat many times, and at the end...it also brought tears to my eyes. Great writing, pace, character development and ending. I'm just wowed and I can't wait to read more from Rosenberg.
This book also did a really good job in explaining some lore, characters and connections that are missing.

[James Howlet · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible book...
This is the worst book I have read so far in the collection.
All the previous ones were badly written, but this one is another level.

I hate that it is full of "coincidences". Example: there is a fight where a side is losing and suddenly some help appears and the tables turn in their favor, so now the other side is losing, but miraculously, this side gets help, and the tables turn again... and this keeps happening all the time.

I mean, COME ON! This is just bad, dull, lazy writing.
I know Blizzard is a monster company and the writers working on these books do not have a say in the matter, but that does not mean that the books, as literature pieces, must be a pain to read.

Additionally, the trolls' participation in the war and Zul'Jin not following Orgrim were completely left out.

On the other hand, if you like the lore and the game(s), then of course you will read them even if it is a calvary to go through them.

[Konstantinos · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my attempt to familiarize myself better with the Warcraft lore, I picked Tides of Darkness up.

In terms of chronological order, this is one of the first books that you want to be reading, right after the events at Karazhan and the unveil of Sargeras' scheme through Medigh. The book picks up right after the Horder enters Azeroth and is focused around their efforts to take over the known world to them. Some of the noteworthy characters that make their 'debut'(or have their spotlight moments) in this one include Turalyon, Luthar, Uther, Kudran, Alleria and Terenas.

After the events in Draenor and the Horde's corruption, Doomhammer climbed to the top of the food chain and became the Warchief of the Horde. Given the preceded events, he wants to re-establish the honor of his kin and discard the taint of the ways that Gul'dan instilled upon them. On the blue corner, Luthar along with Turalyon and Khadgar jump start what is later known as the Alliance and try to drive back the Horde from whence they came from.

There are a lot of battles in this one as well. I was really pleased by how the author described them and how I was able to visualize them at times, really vividly in fact.

A small warning to Horde fans; you may want to skip this book if you genuinely dislike Alliance books. If you like to read fantasy books objectively though then I think that you will like this book and the kind of spectrum it provides on the initial state of the Horde.

PS. You also get to known who's is the erected statue on the base of the Blackrock Mountain and why its there of all places.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm thinking this book may be what most people play the game for. Lots and lots of fighting and descriptions of fighting. Not my cup of tea at all.

I'm in it for the characters. Turalyon and Alleria delivered for me. I loved how real everything was through them. Even though they were about to fight for their very lives, they still had a strange attraction going on. And that really is how life is, regardless of what is going on, our "human-ness" still creeps in. I really enjoyed Turalyon's struggle to be second in command and renew his faith in the light.

This book was hard on me, because I love the orcs and there wasn't much to love in this book. Thry were mostly just kill or be killed. With the exception of Gul'dan who is as evil as Dolores Umbridge. Orgrim Doomhammer did show that the orcs weren't all bloodlust. He never drank from the cup, and he was there only to save his people. Yes he was going to kill the humans, but it wasn't just to spill blood. He wanted a place to be normal once more.

[Arthur Levandoski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tides of Darkness for me was an interesting read because I've played World of Warcraft for so long it was easy to vision the places and some of the people in the book. I have not paid much attention to a lot of the lore in the game (I know the top level stuff) so getting deeper into the history of Warcraft and seeing certain things like the development of the Alliance and the first sittings of the Horde develop in the book were fun.

Some have said the beginning was slow but I enjoyed the back and forth chapters between the Horde and Alliance and the faster pace of that story early on. The mid portion slowed for me a bit as it focused more on the battles, but the book gets exciting as it draws to a close.

Overall the book made me a bigger fan of Khadgar and proud to play a Paladin in the game and I look forward to continuing to read more of the novels most likely choosing Beyond the Dark Portal next.

[Subbu Lakshmanan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an entertaining book in warcraft series. I have been playing the warcraft game for years and that led me to read the book series. It was wonderful to get to know the story of the game characters, for example in this book Alleria the windrunner, Guldan the warlock. The story begins with the arrival of orcs to the human world via the dark portal and continues with the attack on the human cities. It finally ends with the victory of humans over the orcs and the twist of the eye of sargaraus. One thing which I found missing is the story of duraton of frostwolf clan who was the main hero of the prequel book. No word was there about what happened to him once they crossed the portal. I guess I'd read about it in the sequel. so far in the series I read about the Story of orcs. Guess the Story of human and elves will present in the sequels.

[Jeremy Blum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tides of Darkness is a straight-up Warcraft II novelization, the sort of thing that you probably could have found on Fanfiction.net back in the day with 500 reviews and tons of people requesting more chapters about Ogrim Doomhammer in the comments section.

As you might have guessed with a description like that, the writing is kinda shoddy. But if you were one of those Warcraft fans who clicked on your little orc peons a billion times until they stopped saying "Zug Zug!" and started yelling "Stop poking me!" back in the day, you'll get a kick outta this. Worth a read for WoW heads because it also features some cameos from characters who later play a notable role in the post-Second War landscape of Azeroth, like Zul'jin, Alleria Windrunner and Lor'themar Theron, leader of the future Blood Elves.

[Sebastián Posada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book of the big war of orcs and humans. Good to tell the story of Ogrim Doomhammer and Anduin Lothar.

It tells and early story of the global history of warcraft, mainly how the hatred for the orcs started in the high elven society, the first conflicts of the human kingdoms of the north (lordaeron, gilneas, and so on).

There are also important parts regarding Gul'Dan and its twisted plans. For any warcraft fan it's a must read.

Nevertheless I would council to start reading warcraft novels in order. Before this book any fan should read Rise of the Horde and The Last Guardian, so the plot of this book can be better understood and even become more exciting as you will know why this or that is happening.