Bruce Von Stiers

There is a new version of the WarCraft game out. I thought that after playing and reviewing the game, that there ought to be something else to the WarCraft saga. I found out that there is. There are a couple of novels that are based on the WarCraft franchise. I just finished reading the first one. The title of the book is WarCraft Day of the Dragon. It was written by Richard A. Knaak. It is a paperback book and was published by Pocket Books.

The central character in this book is a human wizard named Ronin. He somehow has become an outcast among his peers. As a consolation, Ronin is given a mission. This is a mission that is sure to fail. Ronin is to try to free the Dragonqueen Alextraza from her captors. She is being held by a faction of Orc’s, the sworn enemies of the humans.

Ronin is to be guided on the initial phase of his by an elf ranger named Vareesa. She can’t understand how come she has to guide this mage named Ronin. What did she do to deserve this assignment? Vareesa reluctantly starts her trek with Ronin.

In the meantime, we find out that there are some underhanded things going on. A prince is set to take charge of the human kingdom. But is he really who the people think he is? The wizards who sent Ronin on his journey are fighting amongst themselves and each has their own agenda. And in the background is a being that is known as Deathwing.

As Ronin and Vareesa go forward, the end up getting help from a group of Paladins. These men are distrustful of the elf and wizard. Especially when Ronin disappears after an explosion at the wall of the Paladin’s town kills a man.

The story goes back and forth between Ronin’s quest, Vareesa’s effort to find him after he disappears and the detention of Alextraza the Dragonqueen. There is also the infighting of the wizards who ordered Ronin on his trek and the villainous Deathwing to deal with.

Day of the Dragon is a nice complement to the WarCraft games. You get a storyline that involves races of creatures from the games but aren’t held to the confines of them. Mr. Knaak does real well at descriptions of the dragons and other characters in the book. The plot wasn’t too bad either. You end up hoping that Ronin can really rescue Alextraza and maybe get something going with Vareesa a little later on.

WarCraft Day of the Dragon is sold at stores like Barnes and Noble.