review | Superior Realities

Review: Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects:

Being a big fan of Warcraft books in general and Christie Golden’s in particular, I was very eager to get my hands on her latest, “Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects,” which is a semi-sequel to the recent “The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm.”“Twilight of the Aspects” disappointed me in some ways, but it exceeded my expectations in others. It was oddly inconsistent.

One thing that stays true through the entire novel is that it is extremely fast-paced. This is, for the most part, a good thing, though there are some times when things happen so quickly that your head might spin just a little bit.

Otherwise, the book feels as if it’s split into two parts. The first is definitely the more enjoyable, and features Thrall traveling across Azeroth and through time itself in attempt to aid the dragonflights in stopping a mysterious catastrophe known as the Hour of Twilight.

This part of the book is epic, thrilling, and emotional. If it has any flaw, it’s that it too closely parallels the Elemental Bonds chain that was added to the game in the last patch, but it also includes some major revelations–not just about Thrall, but about the Warcraft universe as a whole–that weren’t in Elemental Bonds, so that still makes it more than worth reading for every lore fan. I don’t want to give anything away, but this is a very important installment in the greater Warcraft storyline; questions fans have had for years are finally being answered.

I found the second half of the book to drag a bit, though. I’m not entirely sure why I felt this way–it was still fast-paced and action-packed. Perhaps it’s that I’m starting to agree with the people who think Thrall has become too perfect–by the halfway point of the book, I fully expected him to bring all the Forsaken back to life, turn Tanaris into a garden, put Outland back together, and one-shot Sargeras with a dirty look. I think Christie Golden may also have tried a bit too hard to make things emotional. If I had to read one more description of some profoundly beautiful and moving epiphany…

I also found the villains underwhelming. One is a chromatic dragon, and I always thought the chromatic dragons were a silly concept–and doubly so now that we have the twilight dragonflight, which is supposed to be the more evolved alternative to chromatic dragons, the more refined model. The other is a mysterious figure called the Twilight Father–a confusing position, considering we have a pretty good idea of how the twilight dragons came to be, and he has nothing to do with any of it. There’s a twist at the end about the Father, but if you’re a hardcore WoW fan, it won’t come as much of a surprise.

Although this is more a of an inherent issue of shared universes than any blunder of Christie Golden’s, I found she didn’t quite capture the personalities of certain characters usually written by other authors, particularly Kalecgos and Deathwing. The cold, calculating Deathwing in this book bears little resemblance to the screeching headcase we’ve come to know and love to hate in Richard Knaak’s books and the game itself. As for Kalecgos, I’m not sure why he didn’t feel right to me, but I suspect it has to do with the fact no real mention was given of his grief over the loss of Anveena. I find it hard to believe an immortal being would get over so big a loss in so short a time.

Finally, (vague spoiler ahead–you’ve been warned), this book kills off a very major Warcraft character, and although his ending was rather spectacular, I still found it far too quick and abrupt for someone who has been so important for so long. It’s almost as distressing as the random deaths of Illidan, Magni, and Cairne.

Still, I don’t wish to give the impression “Twilight of the Aspects” was a bad book. It may have had its share of low points, but it also had some amazing highs. I’ve been intentionally vague about its better points because I think people will most enjoy them if they come in fresh.

Overall rating: 7.5/10

You can buy “Twilight of the Aspects,” as well as the rest of the Warcraft novels, on my Amazon Affiliate.

Retro Review: Genesis of Shannara:

If you’re a fan of fantasy literature, you’ve probably at least heard of Terry Brooks, if not read some of his books. He’s one of the biggest names in the fantasy field, a bestseller and author of no less than three large fantasy series: the high fantasy Shannara, the urban fantasy the Word and the Void, and the satirical the Magic Kingdom of Landover.

The Genesis of Shannara trilogy–“Armageddon’s Children,” “The Elves of Cintra,” and “The Gypsy Morph”–is both a prequel to the other Shannara books and a sequel to the Word and the Void. That said, it doesn’t draw too heavily on the other series, and you could easily read it and enjoy it even if you’ve never read a Terry Brooks book before.

Set in the late 21st century, Genesis of Shannara depicts a world utterly destroyed by war and environmental disaster. Diseases and radiation blight the landscape, creating various strains of mutants, and armies of nightmarish Once-men ravage all in their path. Worse still, Demons lurk in the shadows, working tirelessly to extinguish what life remains in the name of the Void. The few survivors that remain are forced to cram into tiny, Spartan fortress-cities where the weak and infirm are cast off, lest they divert resources from the more worthy, or eek out a meager existence on the streets, where disease, Once-men, and other gangs are a constant threat.

It’s hammered home early in the series that our world is dead. Not dying. Dead. Those few who still survive know they won’t for much longer.

It’s this bleak feeling–even more so than it’s utterly different setting–that sets this apart from the other Shannara books, which had frankly become rather dull and formulaic up until Genesis. Whereas the other recent Shannara books had tended to be lacking in character and emotion, Genesis is haunting, rich with feeling, and has a stellar cast of characters.

Most memorable of these for me are the Ghosts, a gang of street children trying to survive in the ruins of Seattle. They sum up the books’ sorrowful feeling perfectly with the ritual greeting they give when meeting other gangs: “We are the ghosts. We haunt the ruins of the world our parents destroyed.”

Every Ghost came to their little family with a tale of tragedy. But it’s not all misery with them. There are lots of quiet little moments of peace that contrast wonderfully with the horror that occupies the rest of the books. Some of the best scenes in Genesis are the more familial moments, such as Owl, the “mother” of the family, reading bedtime stories to the younger children.

And that’s what really makes Genesis of Shannara so brilliant. If it were all sadness and doom, it would simply be depressing. But remember this is a prequel. It’s not just about the death of our world; it’s about the hope that a new world might rise from its ashes. It’s this mix of hope and sorrow that makes these books so special.

Now, the series does a lag a bit in the middle with “The Elves of Cintra.” Brooks’ Elves have never been anything special–they always just come across as humans with pointy ears, and the parts of Genesis that focus on them feel as tired as his previous Shannara books. And if I have to read about the Blue Elfstones one more time, I’m going to punch Terry Brooks in the face.

Luckily, the story picks up again in “The Gypsy Morph,” and overall, the books maintain a high level of quality.

One other nit to pick is that it is somewhat confusing that this series features two largely unrelated groups of creatures that are both referred to as Demons. It makes a little more sense if you’ve read his other books, but only a little. But once you figure out which Demons are which, it’s not much of an issue.

Genesis of Shannara combines a lot of different elements in very unique ways: fantasy and science fiction, high fantasy and urban fantasy, hope and despair, epic scale and intimate character moments. It’s a very moving and intriguing series that I highly recommend to anyone with an interest in science fiction or fantasy.

Overall rating: 9.4/10

You can buy the Genesis of Shannara books on my Amazon Affiliate.

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