Book Recommendation: "Jaina Proudmore: Tides of War"

Should be sub-titled:
"What happens when
Jaina gets Mad"

WARNING: THIS POST TALKS ABOUT THE "FALL OF THERAMORE" SCENARIO - POTENTIAL SPOILERS. (I try not to give any details of the book away though, except briefly where it links with the scenario)



I signed up for the Theramore Scenario when it was initially released, and found myself wondering just what on Azeroth was going on. The brief cinematic which played before it started did little to help explain anything. In short, Goblins dropped a bomb on Theramore and supposedly, everyone died) All in all, the whole thing was a bit of a disappointment and from what I heard, a lot of other people felt similar about it. Shortly after running the scenario for the first time, I read the latest lore/bridging novel for Warcraft.

"Jaina Proudmore: Tides of War" by Christie Golden. is the story of what happened before that scenario, and what happened after. While some of what happens in the book isn't reflected in game, it explains almost everything. I wont go into too much detail about what happens, just in case anyone decides (or is in the process of) reading it, however I will say this about it:

This novel explains what the bomb (referred to as the "Focusing Iris" during the scenario) is, where it came from, what happened before it hit, and what happened after Jaina "secured" it. 

"Tides of War" is a very intense and emotionally charged book. It touches briefly on Jaina's history, along with the difficult decisions she has had to make in her lifetime and how they have shaped her as the person she is now, as well as how she copes with a personal tragedy of epic proportions.

I read a review where someone said that Christie Golden gets better with every Warcraft novel she writes, and I have to agree - this one is her best Warcraft novels yet and I loved it. It's not often that a book (especially a book based on a game) will trigger strong emotional responses out of me, but this one did. Christie has done a fantastic job of writing Jaina and has managed to portray not only Jaina, but the other major characters, wonderfully. As well as really showing you just how devastating and thorough the destruction of Theramore really was.

I came away from this book with several points:

1. If you didn't already hate Garrosh before reading this book, you will afterwards. I disliked him before (having had read "The Shattering" - the pre-cata novel also by Christie Golden), I utterly despise him now.
 
2. I do not want to ever make Jaina mad. Ever. Jaina gets MAD - and I do mean mad with capital "MAD"

It looks like in future patches the aftermath of the destruction of Theramore will get some game time - I certainly hope so. If only to find out more about Jaina and what she is capable off. 

So, if you like reading about game history/lore, want to know more about what happened to Theramore and why, or even just want to learn more about Jaina, then definitely read this book.

Happy Reading! (And Hunting)