A well-crafted installment in the World of Warcraft saga.
Golden (Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi: Ascension, 2011, etc.), who has also previously written novels set in the Star Trek, Star Wars and Starcraft II universes, returns with another World of Warcraft entry.
Set in Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft massive multiplayer online role-playing game world, this novel largely follows Lady Jaina Proudmoore, a human sorceress and the leader of the city of Theramore. As the novel opens, it is discovered that the Focusing Iris, an ancient magical artifact, has been stolen from the blue dragons by unknown enemies. The leader of the dragons, Kalecgos, in his humanoid form, approaches Jaina to help recover it, claiming that nothing less than the fate of the world of Azeroth is at stake. Meanwhile, the orc Garrosh Hellscream, leader of the Horde, has a plan to attack the Alliance and specifically, to target Theramore as an early step in an all-out war of conquest. Jaina gathers allies to aid in her city’s defense, but Garrosh has a horrific surprise planned that will change everything. The novel, as part of a long-running fantasy series, assumes some back story knowledge on the reader’s part, but attentive newcomers should have relatively few problems getting their bearings. Though the prose style tends toward the verbose at times, and some names (Bloodhoof, Sparkshine, a battle-ax named Gorehowl) may be distracting to the uninitiated, the plot and action are straightforward. The grand and sweeping battle sequences in particular—featuring rampaging molten giants made of rock, a wide range of other creatures and plenty of magic—will likely satisfy World of Warcraft newbies and aficionados alike.
A well-crafted installment in the World of Warcraft saga.Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4165-5076-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 31, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012
Once again, a highly impressive must-read.
Second part of an alien-contact trilogy (The Three-Body Problem, 2014) from China’s most celebrated science-fiction author.
In the previous book, the inhabitants of Trisolaris, a planet with three suns, discovered that their planet was doomed and that Earth offered a suitable refuge. So, determined to capture Earth and exterminate humanity, the Trisolarans embarked on a 400-year-long interstellar voyage and also sent sophons (enormously sophisticated computers constructed inside the curled-up dimensions of fundamental particles) to spy on humanity and impose an unbreakable block on scientific advance. On Earth, the Earth-Trisolaris Organization formed to help the invaders, despite knowing the inevitable outcome. Humanity’s lone advantage is that Trisolarans are incapable of lying or dissimulation and so cannot understand deceit or subterfuge. This time, with the Trisolarans a few years into their voyage, physicist Ye Wenjie (whose reminiscences drove much of the action in the last book) visits astronomer-turned-sociologist Luo Ji, urging him to develop her ideas on cosmic sociology. The Planetary Defense Council, meanwhile, in order to combat the powerful escapist movement (they want to build starships and flee so that at least some humans will survive), announces the Wallfacer Project. Four selected individuals will be accorded the power to command any resource in order to develop plans to defend Earth, while the details will remain hidden in the thoughts of each Wallfacer, where even the sophons can't reach. To combat this, the ETO creates Wallbreakers, dedicated to deducing and thwarting the plans of the Wallfacers. The chosen Wallfacers are soldier Frederick Tyler, diplomat Manuel Rey Diaz, neuroscientist Bill Hines, and—Luo Ji. Luo has no idea why he was chosen, but, nonetheless, the Trisolarans seem determined to kill him. The plot’s development centers on Liu’s dark and rather gloomy but highly persuasive philosophy, with dazzling ideas and an unsettling, nonlinear, almost nonnarrative structure that demands patience but offers huge rewards.
Once again, a highly impressive must-read.Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7653-7708-1
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
An enjoyable, worthwhile end to an immersive series.
Cerúlia takes back her throne, but her troubles are just beginning in Kozloff’s (A Broken Queen, 2020, etc.) fourth and final Four Realms novel.
It only takes five chapters for Cerúlia to successfully overthrow Matwyck and take her throne. At first it feels a bit pat for a four-book series to resolve its main plotline so early in its final volume, but it turns out there’s more to successfully ruling a kingdom than putting a crown on your head. Queen Cerúlia has to root out the network of people who supported Matwyck’s coup; she must discern which people genuinely wish to serve her and which are liars waiting to end her reign before it gets going. What’s more, she must address political issues like the growing resentment among the common people toward the aristocracy and deal with thorny issues of international diplomacy. All the while, she has to figure out how to finally be herself when she was forced to spend almost her entire life pretending she was not the rightful queen. Kozloff has great instincts when it comes to pacing, and the novel flies by with a good mix of action sequences and emotional, character-developing beats. Her villains are never one-note, and her heroes are complicated and fallible. Still, it all starts to feel a little paint-by-number. It’s not that there are never any consequences or losses, but eventually it feels a bit too certain that Cerúlia will get it right and things will go her way. Even so, the series ender is just as much fun as the rest of the books.
An enjoyable, worthwhile end to an immersive series.Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-16896-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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