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The Bookish Owl – Lord of the Clans by Christie Golden

Lord of the Clans by Christie Golden

Given the amount of World of Warcraft I’ve been playing over the past couple of months, I think it’s fitting that the last Bookish Owl post of the year will be Lord of the Clans by Christie Golden.

I’m not even joking. All this social distancing has resulted in me developing a WoW addiction more severe than back in 2008, where I simply hated people.

However, the tie-in novels are quite good. And despite Lord of the Clans being one of the first Warcraft novels ever to be released, this was my first time reading it. It’s possible I delayed because it’s about Thrall, who was never one of my favorite characters. But that doesn’t mean his backstory doesn’t make for a good book.

But it was Thrall’s mother, Draka, who stole my heart when her husband, Durotan, ‘forbade’ her from following him on a dangerous trip… causing her to scratch up his face and then spit in it.

Draka is my kind of gal. I’m glad she gets the recognition she deserves in the latest World of Warcraft expansion.

Oh, and Blackmoore is the biggest arse on Azeroth.


Lord of the Clans
by Christie Golden

Slave. Gladiator. Shaman. Warchief. The enigmatic Orc known as Thrall has been all of these. Raised from infancy by cruel human masters who sought to mold him into their perfect pawn, Thrall was driven by both the savagery in his heart and the cunning of his upbringing to pursue a destiny he was only beginning to understand — to break his bondage and rediscover the ancient traditions of his people. Now the tumultuous tale of his life’s journey — a saga of honor, hatred, and hope — can at last be told….


Lord of the Clans by Christie Golden

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Do I Play Too Much Heroes of the Storm? Why Yes. Yes, I do

Not many think much of Heroes of the Storm after Blizzard pulled the plug on its eSport’s scene – throwing in the towel and admitting to League of Legends that they win – but it’s still my MOBA of choice. Possibly because it’s less popular, meaning I have less 12-year olds shouting at me than if I went to LoL…

But I play too much. Waaay too much. Fair enough, I have been playing ever since the alpha, but as of writing this, I’m level 1167. 1167. You don’t even have to know anything about Heroes of the Storm or similar games to know that that’s too much.

But what can I say? It’s my go-to game whenever I just want to kick back and not think too much.

Heroes of the Storm

My favorite hero is Nazeebo. He’s at level 133 for me at the moment. You get to trap people with a ring of zombies, and then throw spiders at their head when they can’t move. It’s lovely.

But Nazeebo doesn’t have the best voice lines. And that’s one of the greatest things about trying different heroes in this game: the hilarious comments they make if you click on them. I’m “only” level 46 with Brightwing, but he’s my favorite adorable psychopath. He’s a small fairy dragon with a really cutesy voice, and he says things like this:

“I like happy things. Like puppies, and rainbows, and… Dead enemies.” (Voice going from cute to a ominous whisper at ‘dead enemies’)
“I will be very happy to tear you limb from limb if you continue.” (Said all cutesy)
“Let us make their insides, outsides.”
“It’ll only hurt untill you die.”

Adorable, right?

Johanna (level 49) is great as well. She’s my kind of sarcastic:

“Jokes? You’re expecting jokes? Fine, I believe I can accommodate.”
“A crusader, a paladin, and a templar walk into a tavern…and they all have a drink.” (laughs) “No?”
“Oh Akarat, bless this, thy holy flail, that with it, thou mayest smite thine enemies into tiny, tiny, unfathomably tiny bits, in thy mercy. Let it be so.”
“Some fellow mistook me for a templar yesterday. I asked him: have you ever heard me shout ‘GLORIOUS!’ He answered, ‘I have now!'” (chuckles) “He was a witty fellow. Shame he’s dead now.”

I’ve even gotten my friends to play with me now (they’re all League of Legends players, so it took a LOT of convincing), and I keep telling them they need to play with the sound on so that they can enjoy the voice lines.

That has now resulted in our healer being miffed that Imperius – who another in our team plays as his main – merely says “Do you expect thanks for fulfilling your duty?” every time she heals him. She’s now trying to get him to play a more polite character…


I just realized that, by now, I have a whole series of rambling posts about my favorite games. So if you enjoy my utterly random way of talking about games, I have posts on:

A Newbie Demon Hunter’s Search For Pants in Diablo III 

The Witcher 3 – A Few of My Favorite Quests 

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and the Powerful Desire to Punch Sokrates in the Face

and Favorite Companions in Dragon Age

The Witcher one very nearly makes sense… but you’re on your own with the rest.

 

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The Bookish Owl – Arthas by Christie Golden

Arthas by Christie Golden

It’s Warcraft time, with Arthas by Christie Golden!

I read this when it was first released, many years ago, but it was nice to revisit the story of Prince Arthas Menethil, and his transition into the Lich King, the leader of an undead army set on erasing all life on Azeroth. It’s one of the main storylines in both Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft, and I have played the franchise since I was 10 years old, so I might be a little obsessed with its lore.

Plus: Zombies.


Arthas: Rise of the Lich King
by Christie Golden

His evil is legend. Lord of the undead Scourge, wielder of the runeblade Frostmourne, and enemy of the free peoples of Azeroth. The Lich King is an entity of incalculable power and unparalleled malice — his icy soul utterly consumed by his plans to destroy all life on the World of Warcraft.

But it was not always so. Long before his soul was fused with that of the orc shaman Ner’zhul, the Lich King was Arthas Menethil, crown prince of Lordaeron and faithful paladin of the Silver Hand.

When a plague of undeath threatened all that he loved, Arthas was driven to pursue an ill-fated quest for a runeblade powerful enough to save his homeland. Yet the object of his search would exact a heavy price from its new master, beginning a horrifying descent into damnation. Arthas’s path would lead him through the arctic northern wastes toward the Frozen Throne, where he would face, at long last, the darkest of destinies.


Arthas by Christie Golden

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Hail Hydra! – HydraCon 2015

Alliance postsign WarcraftHorde postsign Warcraft

I’m home from yet another convention and even though I for once didn’t attend as an author, you’re going to get a post about it anyway!

Mostly because I got some pretty pictures taken.

I have mentioned HydraCon briefly before. It’s a new Danish gaming and comic convention that opened its doors for the first time this weekend.  We can all be honest and say it’s been having some start-up problems, resulting in it being a very small convention this year, but hopefully it will improve next year.

But it’s not all bad. It has never been so easy to find an empty changing room or getting through the line in the cafeteria.

I didn’t attend Artist Alley at this convention, so what did I do instead? Well, I banded together with a group of my geekiest friends (and that’s saying a lot) and hosted HydraCon’s Warcraft Corner.

Warcraft Corner Hydracon

It should come as no surprise to anyone following this blog that I’m into cosplay, gaming cosplay in particular. So are many of my friends and quite a few of my friends are also to be found among the Danish convention organizers, so we were able to get our very own space at HydraCon to display our various props and costumes.

It couldn’t have been better timing either, as the new expansion for World of Warcraft was announced at Gamescom the day before. Several attempts at going to bed were foiled by sudden, passionate discussions about lore or new class mechanics.

I faintly remember launching into a tirade about warlocks Saturday night…

I did cheat a bit on my fellow Warcrafters (the name was totally Steffan’s, our resident Lich King/Medivh, idea) though. Friday I participated in the Cosplay Showcase contest with my Morrigan (Dragon Age) cosplay. I won the Best Look-Alike category, while my fellow Warcrafter Lisa (Namalyn Cosplay) blew everyone else out of the water and won Best Craftmanship with her amazing female Deathwing cosplay!

Showcase Winners Hydracon

Another thing that was both good and bad about the small number of convention guests was that all the photographers had plenty of time. Normally they only have time to snap a couple pictures of each cosplayer, if they even have time for you at all, while at HydraCon, you were basically kidnapped before you were done putting on your costume and then photographed from every possible angle.

Which is awesome, but at some point you just want to lie down and cry from exhaustion!

Also, outdoor photos are nice and all for male characters, but female game character were not designed for the Danish weather… Luckily, Medivh didn’t mind sharing his cloak.

Now I intend to melt into my couch and not move at all for about a week. I’m also going to pretend I don’t have a book deadline before Koyocon in November, while I wait for photographers to upload some pictures of this weekend’s craziness.