WoW Chronicle Vol 1 Thoughts: Spoiler Free

If you are interested in World of Warcraft Lore at all, you need to get WoW Chronicle Volume 1. No ifs, ands, or buts. You need it! Seriously it is an amazing book. I have read it twice since getting it last Wednesday.

I knew I was going to write about it even before it arrived. The hard thing for me was deciding what I would write about. Ultimately I’ve decided to do a spoiler free write up about what I enjoyed the most.  I’m going to say things like, “you will find out why X has happened” but I will not directly tell you what happened in this post.

First off, WoW Chronicle Volume 1 is a beautiful book. It is hardcover and a nice coffee table size. It is written more like a history book or an encyclopedia instead of like a novel. There are beautiful paintings and maps. I don’t usually like maps, but these maps are cool as hell. I know it is also available on kindle, but I think getting the hard copy would be a better use of your money because sometimes maps and such don’t show on kindle very well. That said, I have not seen the kindle version and it could also be awesome.

So, let’s get to the meat of the Chronicle. It covers an incredible amount of time within the Warcraft universe. Basically it starts with the beginning of all things and runs up to right before the opening of the Dark Portal.

The book opens with Cosmology. This will tell you a lot about the basic beings and forces in the Universe. There are some neat charts that show where the various realms such as the Twisting Nether and the Emerald Dream exist in relation to the “real world” or physical realm.

Did you ever wonder what a Titan is?  Or why they order planets in the first place? What about those weird machines they leave everywhere?  WoW Chronicle Volume 1 answers all of this.

We’ve known for a while that Sargeras is a fallen Titan. Now I know why he fell and it has really interesting implications. Also there is new Burning Legion information including stuff about Mardum.

We learned a bit about Y’Shaarj and the Sha during Mists of Pandaria. WoW Chronicle Volume 1 goes more into detail and you will find out exactly how the only known Old God to die actually died.

Remember the elemental planes from Cataclysm? You get to find out why they exist. Also what the elementals are and why they seem so angry most of the time.

What exactly was the Well of Eternity? How was it similar to the water in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms? Oh and here is a big one, the Sundering didn’t happen exactly like you probably think it did.

I always wondered about the Keepers you find all over Azeroth. Now I know what they are, why they were created, and why all the other created races were made. Speaking of races on Azeroth, I also know where all the bug guys come from.

A lot of the lore about trolls and night elves is fleshed out. I’m not sure if it will be new to everyone because I haven’t read every WoW novel, but it was new and interesting to me. Human lore is also explored and we even learn new stuff about the Val’kyr.

There is so much lore that I can’t even mention it all. I wrote about the parts that really stood out to me. It is so hard to be subtle about it and not scream excitedly about all the spoilers.

So many spoilers, Y’all. The need to geek out is almost impossible to suppress.

I love this book. It shows that World of Warcraft as a whole really does have a cohesive story. Sometimes it is hard to tell with various expansions, but WoW Chronicle Volume 1 shows how every expansion–including Legion–fits in really well. The only one that doesn’t seem to fit is Warlords of Draenor, but I bet Chronicle Volume 2 will shed light on it as well.

In my opinion, this book is totally worth the money. Stay tuned for some spoilers if you are into that because I must talk about them! I’ll put that post up–and it will be clearly labeled as spoilerific–later this week.