Damn you Blizzard.
Return to Warcraft

August 24, 2009
HookrsAndSpdrMn@sicklygazelle.com

Just as I thought I was getting out of the World of Warcraft for good, I quickly found myself being drawn back to the wonderful world of Azeroth. It started innocently enough, a casual game of the World of Warcraft boardgame, just to get a fix. Then the itch started.

My roommate signed back up the next day, and I soon found myself in a bookstore looking for a new tale to ride out the growing need to quest grind. Then, like the spirit of Ner’zhul called out to Prince Arthas, I was drawn to the World of Warcraft book selection. It was here I couldn’t but help linger, and on this title in particular, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden. It was like Frostmourne itself staring me in the face. I had to have it, and with the purchase, WoW had succeeded again in claiming my soul.

The book itself was a good story of Arthas’ journey through Blizzard’s hit computer games, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.  Golden’s use of big name drops of popular characters from the Warcraft lore, the Alliance taking a good beating, and all the talk of sweet mageweave cloth, helped fuel the desire to hop back on the proverbial WoW-wagon.

So, here I am, signed back up, gearing up my level 70 for the Craft’s latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, when Blizzard announces the next expansion for their hit role playing franchise, Cataclysm. It looks pretty incredible, and it’s promising to shake up the entire World as players know it. Guess I might as well get that year’s subscription after all.

In addition to Arthas, I picked up two other books in the fantasy genre. The first being Dragons of Autumn Twilight, the Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s lead story to the Dragonlance trilogy, the other book was Homeland, the leadoff of the Dark Elf trilogy by R.A. Salvatore.

Sidenote 1: The Dark Elf trilogy is part of the Forgotten Realms world, which like Dragonlance, are worlds based off of popular role playing game Dungeons & Dragons.

Sidenote 2: Forgotten Realms is also behind the successful Baldur’s Gate video game series.

Sidenote 3: Salvatore also wrote Vector Prime, the Star Wars novel in which everyone’s favorite wookie Chewbacca bites the big one.

Apart from my newly reacquired WoW subscription and some hefty reading ahead of me, I will be making time to forsake my love for Marvel Comics by fraternizing with the enemy. Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Asylum comes out tomorrow and has been receiving rave reviews, some calling it an instant classic. If the demo is any indication of the final product, then the reviewers look to be spot on.