Atypical biography – a review of the book “World of Warcraft: Sylwana”

God Save the Queen

Sylvanas Windrunner (known in the Polish version as Sylwana Bieżywiatr) is a character known from the Warcraft series published by Blizzard Entertainment. We met her in 2002 as the leader of the elven rangers of Silvermoon in Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos . It had a rather minor role, but the players managed to remember it anyway. Apparently, the creators noticed the sympathy she aroused among fans and paid a little more attention to her in The Frozen Throne expansion pack . Then she was moved to World of Warcraft and we can meet her since The Burning Crusade. Over the years, the heroine has undergone an unusual metamorphosis. From the Ranger General, to the Queen of the Forsaken and the Warchief of the Horde, to the traitor of Azeroth. Her story is considered by many to be the most interesting of all the characters in the universe. No wonder that it was decided to write down her story and publish it in the form of a novel, so that we could take a close look at the events that had been brought about by her fate.

In good hands

For World of Warcraft players , Sylwana is an iconic character. Whether or not someone liked her, it would be hard to imagine Azeroth without her. Because it’s so important to the universe, it is entrusted to the best Blizzard-writer Christie Golden to tell its story. It was she who was previously responsible for such titles as, for example , The Birth of the Horde , War Crimes or Jaina Proudmoore: The Tides of War. So it could be assumed in advance that this time it would also be up to the task and satisfy the fans. And I can tell you right away that it also happened. The book is a pleasure to read from the very beginning. The plot is at a good pace. The writer can sometimes slow down a bit, give a little more descriptions or thoughts of the title character, only to speed it up in a moment and throw us into the middle of the events. In this way, we can get to know the Queen of the Forsaken better, her internal dramas and what she was guided by when making the most important decisions in her life (and in non-life). We can better see how dramatic this character is. In the world of Warcraft , of courseThere is a constant war going on, so there is also a lot of action here. By the way, many other, equally famous people stood in her way. Golden very skillfully shortens the threads that we could get to know in other novels. The entire story of the Dark Lady with the Lich King is told in Arthas , so this time it was given a cursory note and some stories were added that were not included there. Thus, there are no repetitions, but the titles combine beautifully, which encourages you to get to know them even more.

Different than all of them?

World of Warcraft: Sylvanas is somewhat different from the rest of the books set on Azeroth. The previous titles were typically intended for fans of the universe. The lack of more detailed descriptions of places or depictions of characters meant that people not related to the famous RPG had no chance to find their way here and probably did not readily read it. You had to know the game world or read all the books published by Blizzard. Silvanusthis is the exception to the rule. Especially the early years of the protagonist’s life, before she became undead, were told in a way that is accessible to everyone. Thanks to the explanations, we can get to know her and her friends and enemies better and read the continuation. Only the fragment where the Dark Lady is still held captive by the Lich King may be a bit of a problem for beginners, but it is a minor inconvenience that we can make up for by reading Arthas . Another novelty is the glossary at the end of the book. This, in turn, is a tribute to the players who complained about the Polish language in the text on more than one occasion. World of Warcraftit was never released in our language, so fans know the names of the heroes or the most important places in English. Then comes wondering what the Concilium is, the Arm of Vengeance, or who the Mossy Raiders are. Now you just have to look into the dictionary to find the original names and it is easier to see what is going on. The voices of dissatisfaction will probably not go away, but it must be admitted that this is a pretty good solution.

Is it worth it?

If we judged a book by its cover, Sylwana could be reached without thinking. The book is very nicely published and is decorated with graphics with the main character as an elf and the Forsaken. It was made like the movies from the Warbringers series created by Blizzard. The content, in turn, equals the setting. It is an extremely addictive, dynamic and exciting novel. Many people will look at the heroine thanks to her in a completely different way. Several of her decisions were explained, which until now were unknown to the players. Because the action goes all the way back to the Shadowlandsand Anduin’s imprisonment by the Overseer, we can know the story of Queen Banshee up to the present time. It is also worth adding that this time the style of writing means that even people who have not yet visited Azeroth should have no problem understanding the sequence of events. Fans, on the other hand, will be delighted with how brilliantly presented the complicated fate of the Dark Lady.