We Review War of the Scaleborn: the Latest World of Warcraft Novel
The latest World of Warcraft novel, War of the Scaleborn by Courtney Alameda, details the origin of the enmity between the Aspects and the Primal Incarnates, the growth of power in dragon societies and the decisions that caused the schism between them, and the alien forces that meddled in, manipulated, and used dragons for their own purposes.
Courtney Alameda is a YA horror writer. She has acclaim in that field — she was nominated for the coveted Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel in 2015 — and has also written for Blizzard's Diablo franchise. Ms.
Alameda is a fine writer and a good storyteller. Unfortunately Blizzard seems to take a heavy hand with its franchise writers, resulting in somewhat choppy prose in places, and an assumption that the reader is a current player, requiring foreknowledge of events and situations. The characterizations and balance between making dragon protagonists relatable but also very much not human is excellent.
The purpose of this book seems to be an explanation of the relationship between Alexstrasza and the enigmatic Vyranoth.
Like an in-game cinematic, this novel does not stand alone. The reader is assumed to have historical and geographical knowledge of Azeroth and the Dragonflights, which can make it somewhat inaccessible to a new fan. To a new player, or a player new to lore and history, the geography of the world that the book is set in makes no sense.
This story is set pre-Sundering, but the reader is expected to know this. Is that fair? Possibly. Many readers will be those who have read every one of the previous books and who know this history perhaps better than the writer herself.
Read more on wowhead.com
