When I first heard about Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak, I was very excited. Longtime lore-junkie of the Warcraft universe, I couldn't wait to see what had become of Malfurion and get some answers to long held questions.
With that said, my excitement soon turned to disappointment while reading this book. Stormrage tells of Azeroth's struggle against the Emerald Nightmare, an area of corruption within the Emerald Dream, which has steadily been growing over centuries and will soon consume the entirety of the Emerald Dream and Azeroth itself. Behind the Emerald Nightmare, a Nightmare Lord stands, spreading its taint upon all that it can, even to the mightiest druid Azeroth has ever know, Malfurion Stormrage.
After being trapped by the Nightmare Lord in the Emerald Nightmare for years, Tyrande Whisperwind has taken it upon herself to find out just what has happened to her love. Accompanied by Broll Bearmantle, a mighty druid, Tyrande must enter the Emerald Dream to seek Malfurion and find a way to free him from his imprisonment. Upon entering the dream, Tyrande soon learns of the chaos that has ensued in this realm and finds that a war lead by the green dragonflight is underway against the Nightmare Lord. With the help of the green dragonflight and a few unlikely companions gained along the way, Tyrande is able to free her love; however, Yesera, leader of the green dragonflight, is captured by the Nightmare Lord, empowering him like never before.
In the wake of this newfound power, Malfurion must realize his own true power and lead Azeroth's inhabitants against this mighty threat, lest all of Azeroth will fall.
While fans of the Warcraft Universe might enjoy this book, most will not. I, being a huge far of Warcraft, found myself just wanting this book to end, but forced myself through it. Unlike most of the Warcraft books, this one was painfully long. Where I thought this book failed the most though, was that the book felt like it was written just to tie some loose ends for the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm. Every other Warcraft book I've read so far felt like it truly was written as the backbone for the games, this book, however, felt dependent on World of Warcraft. If you were to change the names and setting of this book, I doubt anyone would give it so much as a second glance.
tl;dr crappy book, avoid unless you're a huge Warcraft fan (even then, I would suggest just spoiling yourself instead)
