Synopsis:
From deep beneath the surface of Azeroth, a mysterious voice cries out for heroes. But before these brave souls heed the call, they must answer to their own voices within . . . .
• Anduin’s wanderings at last lead him to the solitude he seeks, until his peace is shattered in a heartrending tale by Christie Golden.
• Andrew Robinson takes Gazlowe to a struggling goblin city, where he aims to inspire its citizens to more worthy ambitions.
• Thrall grapples with his son’s coming of age in a heartfelt story by Jonathan Maberry about what it means to love and let go.
• Delilah Dawson gives voice to Alleria Windrunner, desperate to connect with her son in a tense, bittersweet journey home.
These tales―besides more from Catherynne M. Valente and Courtney Alameda―portray the poignant, introspective moments set to proceed World of Warcraft’s highly anticipated The War Within expansion.
As these larger-than-life heroes grapple with their next steps, a greater threat looms, one that will lead them to raise arms again to fight for the fate of Azeroth. Despite the chasm of varied backgrounds, allegiances, and choices that divide them, these tales prove that even in the darkest times, home unites us all.
Enhance your experience of The War Within, the first expansion in World of Warcraft’s World Soul Saga, with this immersive short story anthology featuring an all-star cast of bestselling, award-winning authors.
Review:
I was sent a copy of The Voices Within in exchange for an honest review.
I’ve been playing World of Warcraft since the launch of Burning Crusade, it was the game that defined my teenage years. I haven’t read nearly as many of the books as I should have, and I’m now actively trying to change that.
Anyone who is playing The War Within likely agrees that WoW has lost a little of it’s ‘war’ identity recently, and is delving more into it’s feelings. So, The Voices Within follows this trend, giving this collection some stand out stories and some that I’m not sure did.
Before we get into talking about the individual stories I just want to take a moment to say that visually this is a stunning book. The naked hardback features some gorgeous stylised art, and each story is proceeded by a stunning full-colour illustration. It’s literally a heavy book and it feels so premium.
Okay, let’s talk a little about each story.
First up is Trials by Jonathan Marberry. Personally this is one of my favourites of the collection. It features Thrall and his children, and the story looks at the trials that Horde children go through. It features a fan-favourite boss from Vanilla and I was very happy with Thrall talking about ‘for all I’ve sought peace, sometimes I fear a world free from war… I can hardly remember the last time I hefted a weapon.’ I loved that it was set in Orgrimmar and Durotar/the Barrens, an area that is always nostalgic. I’m always up for stories that look at earlier lore & this one fit the bill for me.
The Calling by Christie Golden. Christie Golden has written so many incredible books for World of Warcraft and I think she was definitely the best choice for a story about Anduin. This one follows him between the events of Shadowlands and The War Within, when he’s just wallowing in his sadness. This was a fine story exploring the effects of war and mental health, but I’m honestly just not a fan of Anduin in his current state. It’s well-written and emotional, and I really enjoyed the setting and look at the lives of ‘normal’ people.
A Whisper of Warning by Delilah S. Dawson. I did enjoy this one, it’s a lot of walking and talking but it follows Alleria, and as she’s so important to the current story it was nice to learn some of her backstory. This one is set in Sivermoon, a fan favourite city, and the city was written so well and so on brand for the city we know in game. Again this one is a lot about feelings BUT it did give an insight into the void and how it’s affecting Alleria which I really loved.
The Lilac and the Stone by Catherynne M. Valente. This one examines Moira and Dagran, another couple of characters we’ve seen often in The War Within. I found this one to be good but not stand out, basically a relic has been found and all of the Dwarven Clans are arguing over it, interesting in theory but the main focus is on Moira worrying that Dagran won’t be able to lead them properly if we won’t even face the clan leaders. The writing is good, but I think the story focus just falls too much into feelings.
The Goblin Way by Andrew Robinson. With the whole Undermine patch being about goblins I was interested to see more of their society. This book came out before the Undermine patch and it’s clear that Robinson was given a brief of the goblins no longer being a ‘get profit at all costs’ group, and now starting to work together in unions group. Again not my favourite lore change, but Robinson did a great job with what he had.
Little Spark by Courtney Alameda. This story finishes The Voices Within on a high. This follows Faerin before she joins the Lamplighters. I really loved this as I genuinely think the lore of the Arathi and Hallowfall is fascinating. Alameda does an incredible job of making Faerin a real paladin, using skills that are so recognisable from the game itself. This was such an incredible story and a real highlight of the collection. It’s also the story that contains the most action.
Overall, if you’re a WoW fan this is worth picking up for the backstory and the lore. Yes, it falls into a lot of the issues that WoW is currently facing with it’s story telling, but even if you only read a few of the stories you’ll get some enjoyment from this collection.
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