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
A fun, contemporary adventure that cares about who we are as humans, especially when faced with remarkable events.
A young graphic artist inspires worldwide hysteria when she accidentally makes first contact with an alien.
Famous multimedia wunderkind Green is brother to that John Green, so no pressure or anything on his debut novel. Luckily, he applies wit, affection, and cultural intelligence to a comic sci-fi novel suitable for adults and mature teens. It’s endearing how fully he occupies his narrator, a 20-something bi artist named April May who is wasting her youth slaving at a Manhattan startup. On her way home late one night, April encounters an armored humanoid figure, which turns out to be alien in nature—“And I don’t mean alien like ‘weird,’" she says. She phones her videographer friend Andy Skampt, who posts on YouTube a funny introduction to the robot she dubs Carl. April’s life is turned upside down when the video goes massively viral and immovable Carls appear in cities around the world. After they discover a complex riddle involving the Queen song “Don’t Stop Me Now,” the mystery becomes a quest for April; Andy; April’s roommate/kind-of-sort-of girlfriend, Maya; a scientist named Miranda; and April’s new assistant, Robin, to figure out what the Carls are doing here. “None of us older than twenty-five years old, cruising down Santa Monica Boulevard, planning our press strategy for the announcement of First Contact with a space alien,” says April. April and her friends are amiable goofballs and drawn genuinely for their age and time. Meanwhile, the story bobs along on adolescent humor and otherworldly phenomena seeded with very real threats, not least among them a professional hater named Peter Petrawicki and his feral followers. Green is clearly interested in how social media moves the needle on our culture, and he uses April’s fame, choices, and moral quandaries to reflect on the rending of social fabric. Fortunately, this entertaining ride isn’t over yet, as a cliffhanger ending makes clear.
A fun, contemporary adventure that cares about who we are as humans, especially when faced with remarkable events.Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-4344-4
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
SEEN & HEARD
Visionary speculative stories that will change the way readers see themselves and the world around them: This book delivers...
Exploring humankind's place in the universe and the nature of humanity, many of the stories in this stellar collection focus on how technological advances can impact humanity’s evolutionary journey.
Chiang's (Stories of Your Life and Others, 2002) second collection begins with an instant classic, “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate,” which won Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novelette in 2008. A time-travel fantasy set largely in ancient Baghdad, the story follows fabric merchant Fuwaad ibn Abbas after he meets an alchemist who has crafted what is essentially a time portal. After hearing life-changing stories about others who have used the portal, he decides to go back in time to try to right a terrible wrong—and realizes, too late, that nothing can erase the past. Other standout selections include “The Lifecycle of Software Objects,” a story about a software tester who, over the course of a decade, struggles to keep a sentient digital entity alive; “The Great Silence,” which brilliantly questions the theory that humankind is the only intelligent race in the universe; and “Dacey’s Patent Automatic Nanny,” which chronicles the consequences of machines raising human children. But arguably the most profound story is "Exhalation" (which won the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Short Story), a heart-rending message and warning from a scientist of a highly advanced, but now extinct, race of mechanical beings from another universe. Although the being theorizes that all life will die when the universes reach “equilibrium,” its parting advice will resonate with everyone: “Contemplate the marvel that is existence, and rejoice that you are able to do so.”
Visionary speculative stories that will change the way readers see themselves and the world around them: This book delivers in a big way.Pub Date: May 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-101-94788-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
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