Bookworm Speaks!- World of Warcraft: Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde

Bookworm Speaks!

World of Warcraft: Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde 

by Michael A. Stackpole

****

The Story: War is coming. Vol'jin, courageous leader of the Darkspear tribe: his strength and cunning are unmatched even among the Horde's most exalted champions. Now on the legendary continent of Pandaria, the troll chieftain faces his greatest trial yet, one that may redefine his purpose in the World of Warcraft. Warchief Garrosh's assassins strike at Vol'jin, leaving him at death's door. But fate smiles on the wounded Darkspear leader when renowned brewmaster Chen Stormstout transports him to the safety of an isolated mountain monastery. There, Vol'jin wrestles with old hatreds between the Alliance and the Horde as he struggles to recover alongside a mysterious human soldier. Yet this is only the beginning of Vol'jin's worries. Soon, he becomes embroiled in an invasion of Pandaria launched by the Zandalari, revered trolls driven by dreams of conquest and power. This ancient tribe offers Vol'jin a chance to seize the glory that is the birthright of all trolls . . . an offer made even more tempting after Garrosh's brazen treachery. Amid these troubling events, Vol'jin is rocked by intense visions depicting his race's grand history. As he questions where his loyalties lie, he knows he must make a choice about his own destiny that could save his people or damn them to languish under Garrosh's heel in the Shadows of the Horde.

The Good: A recurring theme, not only in this novel, but in the variety of short stories and other that surround the Mists of Pandaria expansion is the theme of change. Characters travel to Pandaria looking for something and they end up experiencing some deep insight that changes their outlook on life. Part of this extends that Pandaria and the Pandaren been absent from the world at large for quite some time and as a result have no knowledge of the alliance and the horde and their worldview has not been tainted by the perpetual war between the two. We see this in the novel about how Vol’jin experiences things quite differently from his past. 

That leads to another of the book’s strengths. With all of the game’s races, one of the main criticism of the books and comics is that they tend to focus almost exclusively on either Night Elves, Humans, and especially orcs. The expansion Warlords of Draenor, is practically proof of Blizzard entertainment’s fetish for orcs. That being said, it is great to see the focus lying on two different races such as the Pandaren and the Trolls. We are treated to an exploration into the character of Vol’jin, which we have not seen a lot of, the focus largely being on Thrall, the former leader of the horde. The book show’s the reader that Vol’jin is a much deeper character than previously suggested and it is nice to see a character be treated with such respect. 

Another great thing about this book is the motif of the Pandaren. World of Warcraft utilizes a variety of cultural motif’s in its various races, cultures, and environments, and Asian cultures have been notably absent. To see a race and land influenced by Ancient China, a rich and wonderful culture is extremely refreshing and breaks away from a lot of modern fantasy tropes. 

The action, of course, is excellent. The character’s utilize realistic tactics that take into account the enemies superior numbers and the terrain. The fact that the defenders of the monastery know they are outnumbered and will probably die lends all the more poignancy to the narrative. 

The Flaws: A common flaw in many World of Warcraft novels is that there a simply too many characters. A phenomenon called head hopping occurs frequently where the perspective hops between different characters, sometimes in the same chapter. This can get very confusing at times and make it hard to keep track of the plot. A little more restraint in the future would be greatly appreciated. 

As stated above, the theme of personal changes and experiences is common in Mists of Pandaria, as a result, much of the text takes place inside the character’s heads or when they are sitting around talking with other characters. This makes a great amount of the book very much about feeling rather than action. While this is not a deal breaker, abstract concepts such as thought and feeling can seem out of place in a media franchise known for its action. Characters sitting around talking about life and love can get boring if the writer is not careful.  

Finally, we have the problem of the character of Li Li Stormstout, Chen Stormstout’s niece. We have seen her several times in comics and in short stories but she is demoted to a background character in this novel. It is given a good explanation but Li Li is a personal favorite and to see here treated as such is a big disappointment. 

Final Verdict: Shadows of the Horde is unique among Warcraft books and is definitely worth a read by any fan of the franchise. 

Four out of Five Stars

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