World of Warcraft: Rise of the Lich King

A Book Review Presented to Professor Dianne Siriban

In partial fulfillment Of the Requirements for HUMALIT A.Y. 2013-2014

Gaverza, Justine Stefan M

September 2, 2013

I.

Introduction

Early in the term when I was looking for a book to borrow in the forum, I was not sure that I would find a book that would interest me. I am very picky about what kind of books that I read. As I was scrolling through the choices, I saw the one word that caught my eye and interest. Warcraft instantly it clicked in my mind that I love this series and that this was the book that I wanted to borrow no matter which part of the World of Warcraft set it was. Thomas John Naval, was the one who posted the book and I messaged him right away if I could borrow it. Luckily it was a pdf file so I could start reading it right away. My first thought about the book was that, it would be and easy read and most of it would be old news since I already played the game that the story in the novel covered. I was dead wrong. Playing a game and reading a book with the same story are two very different experiences. I would not like to give out much detail as to what I have learned from reading the book since that will be in the latter part of this book review. Although in comparison of the two experiences, playing the game and reading the book with the same story, playing the game is like watching the story unfold and you get to somewhat partake in the actual story but upon reading the book with the same story it is as if I was the main character in the book and my mind took control of my reality, my imagination went wild and it was a very enjoyable and intellectual experience. I can honestly say that reading a book is an out of this world experience. The book that I borrowed and have chosen to review is World of Warcraft: Rise of the Lich King written by Christie Golden. This specific novel is part of the whole World of Warcraft set and all of the books are set in the World of Warcraft. Each book in the set tells of a different place and time in that world, and each book holds an abundance of different characters, settings, and stories. I chose this book because since my childhood I have been interested in the Warcraft series. The stories in the books did not originally start off as novels, they were originally video games produced by the company Blizzard. This specific novels plot, World of Warcraft: Rise of the Lich King, takes place in the expansion pack of the third installment in the Warcraft series, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The novel is made up of many chapters but mainly divided into three parts; The Golden Boy, The Bright Lady, and The Dark Lady. The first part in short is the coming of age story of the main character in this book, Arthas. Starting from his childhood as a boy of royalty, his relationship with Jaina Proudmoore, all his hardships and trials, and finally his induction to the holy order, the Silver Hand. The second part of the book, The Bright Lady, covers the downfall of Arthas. He sacrifices his relationship with Jaina, his friends and mentors, and ultimately his very own soul for power to vanquish his enemies and to protect his loved ones. The word protect is encased in quotation marks, because in the end the way of Arthas protecting his loved ones eventually kills most of them and destroys himself and his soul. The third and final part of the novel, The Dark Lady, is Arthas ascension into dark power, killing all those around him to increase his power and further his own goals of domination over the lands.

II.

Author

Award- winning author Christie Golden has written over thirty novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Golden launched the TSR Ravenloft line in 1991 with her first novel, the highly successful Vampire of the Mists, which introduced elven vampire Jander Sunstar. To the best of her knowledge, she is the creator of the elven vampire archetype in fantasy fiction. She is the author of several original fantasy novels, including On Fires Wings, In Stones Clasp, and Under Seas Shadow (currently available only as an e- book) the first three in her multi- book fantasy series The Final Dance from LUNA Books. In Stones Clasp won the Colorado Authors League Award for Best Genre Novel of 2005, the second of Goldens novels to win the award. Among Goldens other projects are over a dozen Star Trek novels and the well- received StarCraft Dark Templar trilogy, Firstborn, Shadow Hunters, and the forthcoming Twilight. An avid player of Blizzards MMORPG World of Warcraft, Golden has written several novels in that world (Lord of the Clans, Rise of the Horde) with three more in the works. She has also written two Warcraft manga stories for Tokyopop, I Got What Yule Need and A Warrior Made. Golden is currently hard at work on three books in the major nine- book Star Wars series Fate of the Jedi, in collaboration with Aaron Allston and Troy Denning. Her first book in the series, Omen, is slated for publication in July of 2009. This is taken directly from the book World of Warcraft: Rise of the Lich King, page 210, about the author. Her writing of this novel, is another addition to her many achievements. Like many of her novels the book that I am reviewing is alo in the genre of fantasy and science fiction. The author does not exactly remind me of any of the authors that were taken up in class. The closest author that I can compare Christie Golden to from all of the authors that we took up, is Socrates. This whole movie from my perspective is a giant tragedy befalling Arthas. From his once great role as a holy paladin and heir to the throne, he has now fallen from grace, sacrificing his men and his soul for power and even killing his own father.

III.

A Study of the Elements

1. Setting The setting of the novel is in a fiction world namely, the World of Warcraft. There is no definite time or date that the book gives us, the only definite settings that we can get from the book are the names of the cities and provinces. I will list some of the major cities and provinces that the book provides. (Note that they are in by no means in order of appearance or in order of mention in the book) Lordaeron The territory of the human kingdom, ruled by king Terenas Menethil. Dalaran City within the territory of the human kingdom, home to the Kirin Tor, the archmages, and their leader Antonidas. Northrend Winter continent to the north of Lordaeron, desolate and almost devoid of any life. A land with many secrets and mysteries. QuelThalas Home of the high elves and also home to the sunwell, a mysterious monument that houses and gives off large amounts of magical energy. Startholme The city that Arthas burned down and slaughtered all its people to stop the plague of undeath from spreading, also the area in which Arthas and Malganis meet for the first time.

Since there are many settings in the story, each one has its own purpose and each affects the other elements in their own ways. Take for example Lordaeron here we have the human kingdom something relatable to the readers, this sets the mood for the normal doings of humans such as farming, politics, and royalty. When the story reaches the setting of QuelThalas, the mood and atmosphere is changed into one of war and battle, where Arthas and his army start slaughtering the elves and breaking down their walls. I cannot say that if the setting is changed the whole story would be different since the book takes the advantage of using many different settings each having their own mood and atmosphere. 2. Plot Exposition The bulk of part one, the Golden boy, in my opinion is the entire exposition for the book. It consists of about five plus chapters and introduces the main character Arthas and some of the other very important characters such as Jaina Proudmoore, Uther the Lightbringer, and Muradin Bronzebeard. Rising Action The rising action is the bulk of part two, the Bright Lady, in which we see Arthas downfall as he quests for revenge and power. Some very important events for the rising action are as follows; o While ridding his steed, Invincible, during a snowstorm Arthas and his steed fall into a ditch and the horse becomes injured and dying, Arthas has no choice but to preform a mercy killing on his horse. o Arthas comes of age and is inducted into the Silver Hand. o The relationship between Arthas and Jaina is short-lived as Arthas break them up due to him being not read for marriage. o Arthas, his men, and Jaina go to Lordaerons countryside to investigate strange phenomenon. o Arthas finds Kelthuzad a necromancer and kills him in rage, but before dying the necromancer tells Arthas that he is too late he had sent a large amount of infected grain to Startholme. (The first of many conflicts.)

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

Upon reaching Startholme Arthas does not want to take chances and decides to slaughter everyone and burn the city to the ground, Uther the Lightbringer and Jaina disagree with Arthas and refuse to take his command. Arthas in a fit or rage disbands the Silver Hand, the group of holy paladins that he was inducted to, and sends Jaina off as he feels she has betrayed him After burning the city to the ground and killing all its inhabitants Arthas is confronted by MalGanis a dreadlord and states that he had masterminded everything. The dreadlord challenges Arthas to follow him to Northrend if he wants revenge. Arthas follows MalGanis to Northrend and finds Muradin Bronzebeard, one of his mentors. Arthas hires mercenaries to aid him in finding and killing MalGanis When Arthas father, the king sends men to tell Arthas that he is being ordered to go back home, Arthas burns all the ships and blames it on the mercenaries he hired. His men in anger kill all the mercenaries. Arthas camp is attacked by the undead and MalGanis. Muradin tells Arthas that there is a powerful runeblade hidden in Northrend and it might be able to aid them. Arthas and Muradin set out to find the runeblade, which is named Frostmourne. Upon finding Frostmourne, the blade speaks to Arthas and says that sacrifices must be made for power. Arthas accepts and the blade starts glowing and vibrating the ice that the blade is encased in explodes and large and deadly shards shoot out into the air. Muradin takes an icicle to the chest and is instantly killed. Arthas brings back the runeblade to his camp, that is being attacked by MalGanis and his undead. Arthas manages to slay all the undead. MalGanis revealed that the whole plan was just to bring Arthas to Northrend to corrupt his soul by acquiring Frostmourne and sacrificing his friends and his soul. The sword speaks to Arthas telling him to kill MalGanis. Arthas is happy to do so and he kills MalGanis.

Climax The climax of this whole book is when Arthas returns home from Northrend and having acquired Frostmourne and wearing armor adorned by black metal and skulls, kills his father and sucks his soul into the runeblade. This is the turning point in the book, there is no going back for Arthas now, he has killed his father and sold his soul to the sword. Falling action- The falling action is the bulk of part three, the Dark Lady. We see here Arthas ascension into dark power and fall, into further evil and bloodshed. Very important events for the falling action are as follows; o Arthas is tasked by a voice speaking through his sword, who is now revealed to be NerZhul the lich king, to resurrect Kelthuzad the necromancer. o Arthas kills Uther the Lightbringer, his former mentor, to steal his fathers urn, which Uther is protecting. o Arthas, attacks and destroys QuelThalas home of the high elves to gain

o o o o o o

o o o o o o o o o o

access to the sunwell. While attacking and destroying QuelThalas, Arthas kills Sylvanas Windrunner a general of the high elf army, she was one of the main reasons why Arthas found it difficult to invade and destroy QuelThalas. Arthas resurrects Sylvanas as a banshee and is put under Arthas control, she has no choice but to follow all the commands of Arthas. Arthas uses the sunwell to resurrect KelThuzad, and KelThuzad tells them they need to acquire a certain spellbook that is very old and very powerful, the spellbook of Medivh the last guardian. Arthas and his undead army invade Dalaran and slaughter all its inhabitants, and acquire the spellbook. KelThuzad, using the spellbook summons a powerful demon named Archimonde to their world, Archimonde is defeated by Malfurion, Illidan, and Tyrande (this is not mentioned in the book, this is from a different book in the world of warcraft series, I thought it would essential to add this since the next events start after the defeat of Archimonde) After the defeat of Archimonde, Arthas starts losing power and control over the undead. Sylvanas, now a banshee, finally has control over herself and starts a munity on Arthas. KelThuzad saves Arthas. NerZhul the lich king summons Arthas back to Northred stating that he is being attacked and because of this Arthas is losing his powers. Arthas reaches Northrend and is greeted by Anuberak, a giant beetlelike creature that serves the lich king. Arthas and cohorts are ambushed by elves led by KaelThas, angry at Arthas for destroying his homeland and killing his father. KaelThas tells Arthas that he is too late and that he and and army led by Illidian are fastly approaching the ice crown citadel, the place in which NerZhul the lich king is trapped. Arthas and Anuberak take a shortcut through a network of underground tunnels leading straight to the ice crown citadel. Upon reaching the citadel Arthas battles Illidan and KaelThas separately and barely manages to defeat them. He makes his way up the citadel and shatters the ice prison of the NerZhul the lich king and puts on his the lich kings armor.

Resolution Arthas becomes one with the NerZhul the lich king and has complete and total control over the undead.

I honestly dont see a comparison of this story to any of the other stories we have taken up. The reason for this, I think, is because it follows a very non-traditional storyline. It is true that this story is full of great tragedy, but what sets it apart from most tragedies is that evil wins in the end. The main character, Arthas, started off as royalty and slowly became the most evil and hated person in all the lands. And yet, he rose to power, evil power and thats how the book was ended, by placing Arthas at the command of a vast and powerful undead army and fused together with a very powerful entity, NerZhul the lich king.

3. Character It is clear to me that the main character in this novel is Arthas and I choose him to be the only main character, but there are many secondary and supporting characters and I will give a list of the important ones and their relationship to Arthas and what kind of character they are. Secondary Characters. Antonidas Leader of the Kirin Tor and the mentor or Jaina Proudmoore, he is a static character and symbolizes a wise old man. He dies fighting against Arthas and up to the very end believes that Jaina is his brightest student . Anubarak A beetle-like creature, and servant of the lich king. He is a very static character, he just follows everything that is commanded to him by the lich king. He is later put under the command of Arthas. Muradin Bronzebeard Envoy to the dwarvish empire and former mentor of Arthas Menethil. He is a dynamic character, he changes at the very when he and Arthas are about to acquire Frostmourne, he believes that the sarifce required to obtain Frostmourne is too much. Falric Captain of Arthas men and second-in-command. A very static character that even in death still follows the orders of Arthas. Lich King/ NerZhul A very powerful orcish shaman, trapped in the ice crown citadel. He guides Arthas the whole way upon Arthas acquiring Frostmourne. A very static character, manipulating everyone for his own goals and purposes. Jaina Proudmoore A very powerful mage and love interest of Arthas Menethil. A dynamic character, realizing that the killing of everyone in Startholme and the burning of the city is a too much she denies Arthas and turns her back on him. Sylvanas Windrunner An elf general who tried her best to defend the city QuelThalas against Arthas and his undead army, but to no avail. She was later resurrected as a banshee by Arthas , and even under full control of Arthas powers she still hated him to her very core making her a very static character. Malganis Powerful dreadlord and reason why Arthas went to Northrend in the first place. A static character, manipulating Arthas from the very beginning to corrupt him. Terenas Menethil II Father of Arthas and king of Lordaeron. A static character, believing his son, Arthas, to be good and in the end being killed by Arthas atop the steps of the throne. KaelThas Sunstrider High elf prince whose homeland was destroyed by Arthas, and love of his life, Jaina Proudmoore, was stolen by Arthas. He by far is one of the most static characters, even before Arthas fall from glory he hated him to his very core. Uther the Lightbringer Leader of the silver hand, and former mentor of Arthas. A dynamic character, the same time and for the same reason that Jaina had for turning her back on Arthas so did Uther, he realized what Arthas was becoming and he wanted no part in that.

Main Character Arthas Menethil The main protagonist and later becomes the main antagonist in the book. He is a very dynamic character, he started off as a budding young boy who wanted to fight for good and save lives, and in the end become the destroyer of lands and the slaughterer of cities all in the quest for ultimate power and control.

4. Conflict There are so many conflicts in this book and almost all of them are Human Vs. Human, they are all Arthas against a certain enemy, the only different conflict that I can gather from the book is the battle between Arthas and himself which is Human Vs. Self. I will list down all Human Vs. Human and give their resolutions. Human Vs. Human Arthas Vs. KelThuzad Arthas kills KelThuzad and later resurrects him to serve him. Arthas Vs. MalGanis Arthas follows MalGanis to Northrend and kills him there. Arthas Vs. Illidan Arthas defeats Illidian in battle, but does not deliver a killing blow. Arthas Vs. Uther Arthas kills Uther. Arthas Vs. Antonidas Arthas kills Antonidas. Arthas Vs. KaelThas Arthas defeats KaelThas in battle but KaelThas manages to teleport away before receiving the killing blow. Arthas Vs. Sylvanis - Arthas kills Sylvanas and later resurrects her to serve him.

Human Vs. Self The Human Vs. Self conflict is the battle that Arthas has within himself. The battle for his soul. Should he choose to give in to evil he will have sold his soul for power and domination. Should he choose to change and try to change all the wrongdoings he has done. Obviously he chose evil and gained power and domination for damnation.
The closest this conflict comes to the other conflicts that we have come across in our studies is the conflict in Conscience by Italo Calvino, it is a Human Vs. Human conflict. Where the conflict in the short story is resolved by killing of the opposing human. 5. P.O.V The story is told from the omniscient point of view. The whole book the author dictates the thoughts, emotions, and actions of the characters. All facts are revealed by the author making this point of view omniscient.

While we all pray your coronation day is many years distant, I daresay that a royal wedding would be welcomed, Antonidas continued. Have any young ladies caught your eye, or are you still Lordaerons most eligible bachelor? Kaelthas turned his attention to his plate, but Jaina knew he was following the conversation keenly. She kept her own face carefully composed. Arthas did not look in her direction as he laughed and reached for the wine. Ah, that would be telling, would it not? And wheres the fun in that? Theres plenty of time left for such things. Mixed feelings washed over Jaina. She was a little disappointed, but also somewhat relieved. Perhaps it was best if she and Arthas remained only friends. After all, she had come here to learn how to be the most accomplished mage she could become, not flirt. A student of magic needed to be disciplined, to be logical, not emotional. She had duties, and needed to perform them with her full attention. These lines are taken from a dialogue between Arthas and Jaina. The author knows the emotions and thoughts of both Arthas and jaina and this clearly shows that the point of view is omniscient. If the story was told through a different point of view it would affect the story very much. If say for example it was told through a 3rd person limited point of view, we would not have an in-depth analysis of the characters, how they think and how they feel. We would only have the opinions and emotions of the 3rd person that the point of view uses. Some of the stories we have taken up also use the omniscient point of view like, the Sotry of the Eldest princess. 6. Theme and Symbolism Although the story is very long and there are many chapters the main points of the story can be taken from the three parts that is divided into. The Golden boy, The Bright Lady, The Dark Lady. Arthas coming of age in the first part, Arthas fall from grace in the second part, and Arthas fall into total and complete corruption in the last part. The theme of this story is that no matter who you are or how high you think of yourself there is always that danger of corruption and fall from grace, for the lust of power. The greatest symbolism that encompasses the whole story is the runeblade that arthas acquired Frostmourne. For every living thing that Frostmourne kills it sucks their soul into the blade and traps them there adding to the power of the user of the blade. Due to the nature of this sword, we can see a symbolism as Arthas acquired the sword. Arthas acquired the sword by sacrificing his friend Muradin and while he not noticing it he sacrificed his very soul which was taken by the blade itself. The title of the book World of Warcraft: Rise of the Lich King hints the main point of the book. As Arthas became the lich king in the end, the whole book is dedicated to all the evil trials and all the evil things he had to do to become the lich king. Hence the title Rise of the lich king. It is not indicated in the title who the lich king or how he came into power, this helps add to the mysterious effect that the book has. You dont know what will happen next. I mentioned earlier that I played the game that has the same story as the book and I thought I wouldnt learn much from reading the book. I was dead wrong, the book taught me so much that the game didnt I honestly had a better experience reading the book. I cant really compare the names and title of this book to the other literary works we have taken up. This book is set in a whole different world and doesnt really follow the rules of this world it is totally different, it is the World of Warcraft.

III. The Definition of Literature

Literature is not bound by definition, we do not define literature by mere ideas or concepts. Literature is defined by those who write it, if what is written makes sense to someone and it teaches something then that for me is literature. This course has taught me that literature comes in so many forms that you cant really say what literature really is. I applaud writers, because just from writing this book review I know inspiration is hard to come by and writers block is very common and happens a lot. Terry Eagleton separates literature into two fiction, and non-fiction. The book that I have chosen falls under fiction because it is imaginative and well written, and this helps it get into the category of literature. It is hard to conceptualize what literature really is from the essay of Terry Eagleton he honestly doesnt give one. He gives the ideas and opinions of many literary specialists but doesnt give a definite definition. He does give some very logical points that, if something is literature it must be well-written and it must be bale to teach something. I find those two qualities in this book World of Warcraft: Rise of the Lich King so I am calling this book literature.

IV. Conclusion This book has taught me so much about how people who rise to power can become so easily corrupted. Apart from the moral lesson learned from the theme of any book, I have learned something else. I have learned that reading is an experience incomparable to any other and literature is an art form of its own. I mentioned several times that I knew about the story of the lich king from playing the game, but now I understand fully the story of the rise of the lich king, something I dont think I would have understood if I didnt read the book. If one truly wants to understand a book they have to put their total attention and focus to it. If one truly wants to analyze a book down to the smallest detail one should make a book review. I am very grateful for this class, it has taught me so much about how I should understand literature and has opened my mind and my eyes to the world of books that I have been neglecting all my life.