A Look Inside World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1

Have you ever been wandering the hallowed depths of Uldum or exploring the burning deserts of Tanaris and thought to yourself, “I have no idea what’s going on here”? Maybe you’ve been closely following Hearthstone‘s newest expansion, Whispers of the Old Gods and you want to learn more about who or what these “Old Gods” actually are.

World of Warcraft has an almost overwhelmingly rich story, with hundreds of non-playable characters with their own agendas and histories, and World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 does its best to try to compile all that information in one tidy package.

Written by the master of Warcraft himself Chris Metzen, this book travels to a time long before any previously explored in other World of Warcraft media. Using several detailed maps and beautiful artwork by Blizzard’s own Peter C. Lee, the book establishes an easy to follow timeline of events that shaped Azeroth into how we know it in game today.

The attention to detail in the artwork is phenomenal, and falls under everything you would expect from Blizzard’s demand for perfection. Not content merely an artbook, this book also reviews the history of a variety of the races of Azeroth over the several hundred millennia of the world’s existence. Some of these races have never before been covered in a World of Warcraft book, including the history of the Vyrkul, (those big angry viking guys in Northrend) the Aqir, (those sentient bug monsters from Ahn’Qiraj and Ahn’Khanet), and the Burning Legion (who the upcoming World of Warcraft: Legion is titled after.)

This book is excellent for anyone who has always wanted to learn more about Warcraft’s rich lore but doesn’t know where to start. Priced at $23.99 on Amazon, the book is surprisingly cheap given its size and artwork. There are also contributions from acclaimed authors who have lent their skills to the Warcraft universe before, including Christine Golden and Richard A. Knaak. 

This book is an excellent gift for anyone you may know who enjoys Warcraft, or for yourself if you just want to get ready for the next expansion. For those of you eager for more story and less history, you can look forward to Blizzard’s first book with publisher Random House — Illidan: World of Warcraft, which is releasing next month.