Blood Ties (World of Warcraft: Midnight)

De: Christie Golden

Narrado por: Yuri Lowenthal

An official prequel novel to World of Warcraft: Midnight

Arator the Redeemer was born to heroism. The son of High Exarch Turalyon and the legendary Alleria Windrunner, Arator has long borne the weight and expectations of their legacy . . . a legacy he inherited as a babe, the day his parents disappeared through the Dark Portal.

Alleria and Turalyon’s journey took them farther afield than they’d intended. While their absence spanned mere decades on Azeroth, the heroes experienced a thousand years at war against the Burning Legion—a demonic army seeking the destruction of all worlds. When at last they reunited with their son, Arator was a man grown, pledged to the very order of paladins for which they had once fought. The Legion fell quickly in a decisive final battle, yet the millennium of distance between the family was less easily conquered.

Now, on the other side of recent events in Khaz Algar, Arator embarks on a new journey, investigating rumors of a strange glow emanating from the ruins of a long-abandoned Legion base. Turalyon and Alleria volunteer to assist, eager to eliminate their ancient enemy before it can threaten their world anew. As the family delves further into the mystery, Arator works to reconcile his parents’ heroic legacy with the flawed people he has come to know. He sees both of his parents in himself: his father’s high standards, his mother’s intellect, their unwavering commitment to the defense of Azeroth. But Arator exists at the conflux of their greatest strengths and weaknesses—weaknesses that are revealed as the demonic threat proves to be a former lieutenant of the Burning Legion, intent on using Azeroth to launch a new campaign of destruction.

One of my new favorite Warcraft books

I really enjoyed this one, loved the callbacks to earlier locations and the characters that remained there, especially the Outland part. I really enjoy Alleria's story since the Thousand Years of War so every continuation is a must read for me. I am a little disappointed at how the Ren'dorei are not at all mentioned though and she is regarded as a high elf, but other than that, loved it.

Golden once again makes an exceptional pre-expansion novel.

The worldbuilding was great, especially all the iconic legion areas we revisit in the novel. Had some nostalgia just listening to it. Really great book. Top 3 Christie golden books for me.

Best Warcraft Novel since “Illidan”

I don’t know where to begin about how much I enjoyed this book. It gives a spotlight to many normally overlooked characters and aspects of Azeroth while expanding on familiar characters. Christy Golden does her thing of taking high fantasy and larger than life characters and making them feel real and relatable, using the fantastical elements as metaphors for relatable topics. A good dose of humor, wholesomeness contrasts with the visceral and tragic. Also props for being more familiar with the actual game aspects than most wow authors. Yuri (who voices Arator in the game) did a spectacular job not only with his character but also the rather large cast. Overall my only issue is that I want more!

My favorite book from this world by far!

The tone set for this familial journey was so heart warming it genuinely felt as if I was a part of the group. Laughed at some of their jokes, felt for them in their low moments. It even made me nostalgic and wish to revisit some of the mentioned zones in the game. I was captivated from prologue to epilogue!