Customer Reviews
Bland and Uninspiring - By: George Chernikov, 10 Aug 2008 
As an avid World of Warcraft player, I was rather looking to picking up Richard Knaak's trilogy, mainly because I was interested in alll the lore & background, but also because I heard quite a few positive reviews about his Dragonlance novels.
Unfortunately, while the trilogy fully satisfied my craving for the former, it was an utter disappointed in terms of the latter. Knaak's writing isn't just horrible - it's downright atrocious, to the point where you honestly start to wonder whether the book was dumbed down to suit a more juvenile audience or whether it reallly takes that little to become a NYT bestselling author. Character exposition is, well, exposed - there are absolutely no subtleties & Knaak has no qualms about reaching into his characters' heads & presenting their most complex motivations with just a few lines. His description of Broxigar's survivor guilt was so bland & in-your-face that it made be cringe. At no point does Knaak ever leave you guessing about his characters or asks you to think for himself - explanations for even the most complex emotions are presented in an oversimplified, overexposed manner that literallly leaves nothing to imagination.
Bottom line is, if you like World of Warcraft & want to familiarize yourself with its lore, then by alll means read this book. If, however, you just finished reading the Wheel of Time or Song of Ice & Fire (I'm not even mentioning LOTR), please, do yourself a favor & give it a miss. Your literary taste will thank you for it.
Or, to put it differently, if you thought Terry Goodkind's earlier SoT books were the masterpiece of literary talent, then you will most likely enjoy Knaak's WoW books.
Great read. - By: Lord Mordicai, 14 Nov 2007 
First off I would like to say that this is an excellent book to read even if your not a fan of the games. I found it very hard to put it down & had to force myself to stop reading so I could get some sleep.
The trilogy is based around the Time when the Night Elves & Dragons were at their height of power, when the Burning Legion (an seemingly infinite army of Demons whose soul purpose is to destroy worlds) first invades the world of Azeroth, leading to the cataclysmic explosion of the Well of Eternity that tore the continent apart.
In this first book, we are re-introduced to three heroes from the book "The Day of the Dragon", Krasus the Dragon Mage, Rhonin a human wizard & Vereesa the Elven Ranger. Unfortunatly due to circumstances i cannot reveal for fear of spoilers, Vereesa does not accompany the two Mages on their journey to discover the cause of the Energy Rift in the mountains of Kalimdor.
Also, two orcs, an veteran named Broxigar who seeks a glorius Death in battle, & a young warrior are sent on a similar mission as the two mages when a Shaman forsees the Rift in a vision. Once alll there, the rift suddenly becomes unstable & propels the two mages & the Veteran Orc into the past.
In the past itself, the Highbourne, the upper class Night Elves favoured by their beloved Queen, work in secret drawing the powers from the well of eternity to open a portal that will eventuallly lead the burning legion into their world. The Legions leader, Sargeras, has promised the queen that once the world is cleansed of its lesser races, he will aid her in crafting a new world in her image.
Once the heroes are in the past, a chain of events leads the three from being prisoners, to escapee's & eventuallly unlikely alllies who must persuade the "Lesser" Night Elves of their Queens trechery.
Other notable characters we are re-introduced to are Tirande, Illidan & Malfurion, alll at a very young age & not in their high standing positions. Others are a memorable few from the burning legion but i shalll leave them unnamed.
In alll regards it is an excellent first book & the next two just get better. The only things that I find wrong with the story, is that the energy rift, though explained more in detail in the book, is given no origin or explaination of being. Also a slight annoyance is the piece on the back of the book where is mentions that "Rhonin, whose thoughts are divided between his family & the seductive source of his new growing power". It is not once mentioned in this book or the next two that Rhonin values his power over his family, his only thoughts & worries are that he will never see them again. Apart from that, i have no quarrel with the book. It has a great story, the characters are very well done & the battle scenes are excellent.
Average - By: Mr. L. Parker, 08 Dec 2005 
This book will give a lot to people who like the game, but as a fantasy book it can be a little weak.
Rather than being an entertaining read its more a point of interest for those who have played the game & want to know more. That said it is a thousand times better than the poor excuse for literature that is 'The Day of the Dragon'.
Average
First Part Of The Trilogy - By: , 20 Apr 2004 This is the fisrt part of a trilogy & i must say that it is a good firstpart.
This book has alot more action in it than Richard A. Knaak other book the"Day Of The Dragon" but only in the later chapters but it is a good buildup to that.
The book features Rhonin the human mage, Krasus an ancient dragon/mage andBroxigar an old orc looking to die a glorius death in battle. Tounderstand Rohnin & Krasus better i suggest reading "Day Of TheDragon".
This book also has alot to do with the first coming of the Burning Legion,how the Night Elves are involved & how the future changes even thoughthe main characters shouldnt change it because it may ruin there owntime.
Anyway im surprised this is a trilogy because it seems like the first is acompletely separate story to what i think the rest will be but hey i cantwait till the next book.
