A philosophical postcard from Pandaria – a review of the book “World of Warcraft. Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde “

Insignis publishing once again gives us the opportunity to move to Azeroth. This time we will visit the mysterious Pandaria, and our guide will be the famous troll Vol’jin! We invite!

Further conflicts

Vol’jin has been betrayed. The current Warchief of the Horde, Garosh Hellhorich, fearing the troll, set a trap for him. Fortunately, the Shadow Hunter escaped and ended up in Pandaria, where his old friend Chen Thunderbolt found him. Now the hero has to heal wounds in a nearby monastery. Much to his displeasure, he is looked after by a man, a member of the Alliance, Tyratan. However, this is not the end of his worries. It turns out that there is not much time to recover. Pandaria will soon be attacked by the Zandalars, and Vol’jin must stand up for her. Before that, however, he has to deal with his own weaknesses, reflect on the future and make difficult decisions. The mighty Loa, led by Bansamdi, are mixed up in everything.

Science and fighting

The author of World of Warcraft. Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde is Michael A. Stackpole – a writer who is famous primarily for a series of books from the Star Wars universe , as well as for the Era of Great Discoveries series. This title, based on a Blizzard game, is his first – and at the same time the only – literary journey to Azeroth. At the outset, I can reveal that he coped with the task set before him quite well. The plot unfolds slowly, but this is not a downside. This is to take the reader to the mystical Pandaria, show the culture of the pandaren and bring the main characters closer to us and establish a relationship between them. It is also a time for Vol’jin’s own inner dilemmas. All the time we are accompanied by the philosophical arguments of the monastic abbot Taran Dzu. Thus, people less familiar with the universe will quickly discover how strongly the country of pandaren is modeled on ancient China and Japan.

When we reach more or less half of the book, the action will significantly accelerate. The Zandalar and the mogu will enter the stage and the war will begin. Blood will spill over the drifting island once hidden by the mists, and the monks will have to fight back. Although here too, between the skirmishes, there will be stoppages and war consultations, as well as moments to show and strengthen the ties between individual heroes. We’ll also be looking deeper into Vol’jin all the time and watching the troll reborn again. Thus, we will know the birth of the future Warchief of the Horde.

For the initiated

As you know, Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde is another position belonging to the Blizzard Legends series , which was transferred straight from the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft . This is what fans of WoW -aare the target group and will certainly reach for this title. If, in turn, someone is not a player, it may be more difficult for him to find himself in the presented world. The author, like his predecessors, does not focus on the descriptions of the characters themselves, because he assumes in advance that the reader knows what trolls, pandaren, mogu or individual Loa look like here. Only Pandaria itself has been presented in detail and here our imagination will be able to work, although probably people who spent a lot of hours in front of the monitors will skip some fragments, because they know the island and its buildings inside out.

Another thing newbies won’t fully understand is troll speech. Both Vol’jin himself and his fellows often use the words “żem” or “we”, and “sobom” or “wienzi” is the norm for them. Often, the sentence order is incorrect, somewhat reminiscent of Master Yoda’s speech. In the game, this breed has a rather distinctive accent, and grammar errors are the norm for them. The Polish publisher tried to render this dialect, even though it was a difficult art. If someone has a Polish version of Hearthstone “and it is easier to tell him in my head all the way it should sound. It may seem strange and even a bit annoying to an outside reader.

The last point that needs to be made is the story itself. Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde is the next volume of the tales of Azeroth. We are dealing here with a chronological sequence of events. So if someone did not know the previous volumes and did not use Warcraft either, many things may simply not be understood and it is easy to get lost in the vast Blizzard universe.

Invite the troll home

Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde is another must-see for all World of Warcraft fans . Although the Mists of Pandaria expansion may not be one of the most liked by players, the book about the island of pandaren is definitely worth recommending. We have beautiful descriptions of the world here, building relationships between the characters and a lot of action. Besides, the story of one of the Warchiefs of the Horde cannot be ignored. Once again, unfortunately, this is not a position for people less related to the universe. The publisher has released another title aimed primarily at fans of the series. However, the target group is so large that they do not have to worry that the book will return to the magazine.