Warcraft: The Official Movie Novelization

By: Christie Golden

Narrated by: Toby Longworth

Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's Summary

The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilisation faces a fearsome race of invaders: Orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another.

As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction, and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, two heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their family, their people and their home.

©2016 Christie Golden (P)2016 Audible, Ltd

Spot-on story, strange orc voices

This novelization is spot-on to the movie, with the added benefit of getting the extended cut not shown in theaters. However, you have to deal with orcs that come from all corners of Europe, where Blackhand is Scottish, Garona is Russian, etc., and a few notable names are pronounced differently from the movie. One particular problem I had, and can imagine others having, is how the narrator pronounces King Llane's name as, what sounds to me, like "Clane" or "Jane" at almost every point his name comes up.
All aside, I loved the movie enough to spend a credit on this, and I'm starting my second listen immediately.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Fast paced but good book

Overall the story of the book is great. The way it was written is a bit fast paced for a book but wasn't bad. One thing to mention is that the book jumps from character to character very fast so be sure you listen closely.

6 of 7 people found this review helpful

Flawed, but worth it.

What did you like best about this story?

I enjoyed the added details that you don't see in the movie. Lore nerds will enjoy the titles of the books that Khadgar was checking out in Karazhan, for instance.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

The Orc accents were unnecessary. He seemed to pronounce King Llane differently every time he said it. Claine, Thane, Lilane, Hilane... it was distracting. Moro-ez? No... A little research to see how the names were supposed to be pronounced would have been nice.

Any additional comments?

There seemed to be an error in production because there were hardly any pauses between chapters. There might have been a few times where it paused and said the chapter number, otherwise one chapter bled right into the next and caused some confusion.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Its kinda the story.

Basically everything was rewritten and ruined the entire story. Lothar didnt kill Blackhand Doomhammer did. Not even mentioning the destruction of Stormwind or how the Alliance was formed in Lordaeron. Also the pronunciation was terrible.

Slightly altered for the movie but great story

This explains the movie so much better than it did for itself. Great story! If you're a warcraft fan, this is a good listen.

Great book well done but

I only had a few small qualms with this book, that being, a few mispronunciations of names and places and there were a couple change of scenes with no break and you didn't realize there were changes seen until a few sentences later which was a little confusing at first. Beyond that, it was well done and would definitely recommend it.

WoW player

I love the stories and lore of World of Warcraft. But I don't believe there's anyone from the streets of Great Britain living there! And I know of no Orc who lives in Europe either!
Also, the beginning of several chapters are cut of and hard to hear.
Other than that, it kept me entertained on my trip from Hays Kansas to Richfield Utah. 👍👍👍

Things in the book that's aren't in the movie.

there are surprising reveals in this book that are not covered in the movie. a must listen if you a warcraft fan.

One really boring book

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Have a story. I tried my best to pay attention and listen to see if there was anything that I could get from this listen, but I gave up about half way through. About the only thing this book is useful for is helping you fall to sleep at night. I haven't watched the movie yet but if the movie is as slow as the book, I don't think I will watch it.

Really good storytelling and plot twist.

The narrator for this book did an awesome job. Now I'm going to go see if there a book two. Can't wait to hear how it ends.

Literally the movie script.

Title. Not sure what I was expecting. Helped me power wash the garden, can't complain.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Well spoken and clear, but butchered names.

Positively loved this reading, enjoyed from start to finish with minor faults. I wasn't sure whether I've been pronouncing certain names wrong this entire time or not but I felt like I was entirely tugged out of the universe and immersion everytime I heard Scott mispronounce a name I knew from lore, while this is only a minor gripe it did have some effect on my listening experience. Other than that, his portrayal of characters was sincere and well placed and I felt right amongst the action throughout the story. The book stayed true to the film it was adapted from while still adding details you wouldn't have had watching it's silver screen counterpart. if you're a Warcraft fan this doesn't quite stick to the lore established in the games but that's not an issue that can be laid at the feet of this book's.

good story but

a fairly good story but there was no space between the diffent acts, the narratior just read the entier story as if it was one long paragaph

How I'd imagine a Barbara Cartland novel to be!

If this book wasn’t for you, who do you think might enjoy it more?

If you care about what characters are daydreaming about, how that reminded them of something that happened a week ago, reminiscing about their childhood, pondering what a raised eyebrow might mean, speculating who might be behind an opening door, how an action might affect their relationships, this might pass a few hours when you haven't got any boiling kettles or drying paint to watch.
If you've seen the film you don't need this book, and if you haven't seen the film (like me) you could be lost by the lack of story & lack of geography or physical setting - it might as well have have taken place on a barren tabletop.

What will your next listen be?

Not movie merchandise

What three words best describe Toby Longworth’s performance?

Working with nothing

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Promotes daydreaming, just let it wash over me after the umpteenth time the characters drifted off on their internal monologues

Any additional comments?

As an old-skool Dungeons&Dragons fan I thought I'd enjoy a story about orcs, but it seems the movie must have covered all the story, the visual imagery and action, this rambling novel seemed to be the dregs that are left after you remove all that.

An amazing fantasy story

Christie Golden has brought to life the story of the Warcraft Cinematic Universe in such a way that this read is better than the movie was. The descriptions used by Golden make it impossible to not escape to Azeroth.

Only complaint is that the narrator doesn't pronounce a lot of the names correctly, but this is something easily overlooked.

Prefer the film

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I wouldn't recommend reading this book as it is exactly the same as the film

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The story needs a bit more in-depth. The story line is not developed into more depths.

What about Toby Longworth’s performance did you like?

I really enjoyed his performance his voice is pleasing to listen to.

Do you think Warcraft: The Official Movie Novelization needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

I don't think it should have follow up book.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed the film and I think it's a good beginning of a series. I enjoyed reading it just expected a bit more in a book than the film.

gives that extra bit of depth to the movie

If you could sum up Warcraft: The Official Movie Novelization in three words, what would they be?

Iv watched the movie twice and read the Durotan novel and this book was still a good read to me. It gave some real insight that the movie could not and some scenes were in here that were cut from the movie.

Great movie better book

Gives some more insight into the movie. Good for any warcrat/wow fan. Christie is definitely the Best writer when it comes to Warcraft.

0 of 1 people found this review helpful