A.D. 999

As promised back in my preview of Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm, I plan on reviewing a few of Christie Golden's books before the release.  The first of which I thought I would cover is, what Golden believes, to be her best work: A.D. 999.

After looking at this picture you're probably thinking to yourself, "Hey, I thought you were reviewing Golden's works!"  Well the truth is, Jardrien Bell is one of Golden's pen names used to attract a different audience to her writing.

A.D. 999 is an apocalyptic fantasy in which the prophecy foretold in the book of Revelations has come to fruition.  Satan's plans to dominate the Earth are at hand in the novel and it falls to two unlikely heroes, a crippled monk and a midwife, to save humanity.  These heroes, however, have been blessed by God with abilities that could be enough to save the world from its encroaching doom.

This is an excellent read; weaving the plot with both medieval history and bible prophecies makes for a very authentic world and engages the reader.  Golden does an absolutely wonderful job of making you care for the characters and will leave you wanting more.  The book has gained high critical acclaim over the years and even won the Colorado Author's League Top Hat Award for best genre novel in 1999.

tl;dr: A must read, go check it out.

Release Reminder: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm

Hey guys for you Warcraft fans I just thought I'd remind you that in just under two weeks, on October 19, the next Warcraft book is coming out: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm, by Christie Golden.

Here is a preview of the book, taken from Golden's website: "Long ago, Azeroth's destructive native elements raged across the world until the benevolent titans imprisoned them within the Elemental Plane.  Despite the titan's intervention, many elementals have ended up back on Azeroth.  Over the ages, shaman like Thrall have communed with these spirits and, through patience and dedication, learned to soothe roaring infernos, bring rain to sun-scorched lands, and otherwise temper the elements' ruinous influence on the world of Azeroth.  Now Thrall has discovered that the elements no longer heed the shaman's call.  The link shared with those spirits has grown thin and frayed, as if Azeroth itself was under great duress.  While Thrall seeks answers to what ails the confused elements, he also wrestles with the orcs' precarious future as his people face dwindling supplies and growing hostility with their night elf neighbors.  Meanwhile, King Varian Wrynn of Stormwind is considering violent action in response to mounting tensions between the Alliance and the Horde, a hard-line approach that threatens to alienate those closest to him, including his son, Anduin.  The conflicted young prince has set out to find his own path, but in doing so, he risks becoming entangled in political instability that is setting the world on edge.  The fate of Azeroth's great races is shrouded in a fog of uncertainty, and the erratic behavior of the elemental spirits, troubling though it is, may only be the first ominous sign of the cataclysm to come."


I can't wait for this to come out and have it pre-ordered.  I plan on reading this and getting a review up asap(hopefully I have Wednesday off to sit down and read it :) ) until then, I plan on reviewing a few other of Golden's works after I finish what I'm currently reading, so you can expect to see those up shortly.

Christie Golden is a New York Times bestselling author and has written other Warcraft books such as Rise of the Horde, Lord of the Clans, and Arthas: Rise of the Lich king, as well as, a few original fantasy novels and short stories, several Star Trek novels, and even the StarCraft Dark Templar trilogy.  You can learn more about Golden and her works at her website here.