Insignis has been publishing books from the Blizzard Legends series for some time . This time we got World of Warcraft: The Last Guardian by Jeff Grubb. Can fans be happy with the latest title?
The story of Medivh. And Khadgar
The story told in World of Warcraft: The Last Guardian is set on Azeroth, shortly before the arrival of the Horde and the Burning Legion in this world. Its main character is a great mage and the last Guardian of Tirisfal – Medivh. In addition to how he behaved and what happened to him just before his death, we also learn a lot about his childhood, youth, as well as the fate of his mother Aegwina and the entire Tirisfal secret society. Although the novel focuses mainly on the already mentioned owner of the Karazhan tower, we constantly observe the activities of his student, the young Khadgar, who through visions, books and assisting get to know his master exactly. By the way, and about him, we learn a lot of interesting things.
This is what Khadgar looks like today.
A bit different than usual
When I review subsequent books that take place in the World of Warcraft universe , I can usually use the same words. Most of them were perfect for fans of the game and readers of previous titles, and not particularly adapted for those who would like to start their adventure with the Blizzard universe. This time, however, is different. Let me start by saying that this part was not written, like most of the others, by Christie Golden. The author of The Last Guardianthere is Jeff Grubb, who has long been associated with the world of Warcraft, but only now we have the opportunity to get to know him better. The Insignis publishing house decided to resume his novels, which appeared on the Polish market years ago and were currently very difficult to obtain. Golden’s books to date have always been great, and fans aren’t used to complaining about it. So I was concerned that another writer would be up to the task. I was not disappointed. Blizzard has never done a mess and this time also picked someone who apparently has quite a lot of knowledge about WoW. You can see that the author knows the described heroes, locations and history very well. In addition, he skillfully leads the story. It does not bore you, it can increase or decrease the pace of the action, but it shows the relationship between characters best. You can immediately feel the bond between Medivh and Khadgar, but also the influence of Lothar or the interesting approach of Morios. So there is no shortage of both humor and serious tensions, dilemmas or mutual help. And so the reader gets not only great dialogues, but also descriptions of places and events.
What is also noteworthy is the fact that, unlike the previous parts of The Last Guardian, it can safely be read as a separate item. Of course, it is closely related to all of Azeroth’s history, but it is somewhat separate from it. So far, we’ve been getting the history of the Horde, Draenor, and events that take place after passing through the Dark Portal. This time, however, we learn about the beginnings of the war from the side of the Alliance and Azeroth itself. We learn more about Medivh, who we will never see alive in the future, and Khadgar, whose big role in the whole conflict is just beginning.
Medivh’s Tower, or what’s left of it …
And it is worth recommending again
World of Warcraft: The Last Guardian is another Blizzard-themed novel that any WoW fan will ever lovehe should know, but it is also worth recommending to all fans of fantasy. We have a captivating story, fast-paced action, well-presented interactions between characters and a lot of humor introduced by Morios. So the author rose to the occasion and gave us what we expected from the next story about Azeroth. Additionally, the book is an introduction to well-known events. Told from a different angle, it makes it possible for readers who do not know this world yet. Once again, however, I must mention a drawback that readers have been complaining about for years. Are translations of proper names and introducing us to Stormwind in place of Stormwind necessary? It still hurts the eyes of fans who probably never get used to these changes. Besides, there is nothing to complain about, just read.