World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 Hardcover – Illustrated, 17 Mar. 2016

As a player, I did a little endgame content during MoP, and have recently got back into WoW. I was very much enjoying the lore, but found it all confusing, and hearing it described on YouTube wasn't very exciting. After watching the movie (acting & dialogue isn't great, but it got me more into the lore), I decided to buy just this book, while playing through the starting areas in-game.While this book is just a chronological list of events, it is well-written, and has intriguing story-lines. I often found myself eager to find out what happened to certain characters, and got through it relatively quickly. It takes you right up until where the movie starts. If you plan on watching the movie after reading, I suggest skipping over the last 2 pages, and returning after watching it to avoid spoilers. The only downside to it is the ridiculous amount of names you are required remember. The book does attempt to remind you of certain things when they are relevant, but much of the time it expects you to remember what everything is, and what happened before, which is no small feat. Fortunately the index is very helpful at finding the relevant information.As a player who never took paid much attention to the lore/story (due to it being all over the place in-game, plus the game pushing you through the levels so fast you can't experience it), this book had so many "aha!" moments I couldn't count. It really made me excited to dig through more of the lore, and explore the world in-game as well. My current plan is to read through some of the novels, starting with "The Last Guardian", then read the other chronicles, all while playing the game.Overall I would highly recommend this if you're at all interested in the lore of Warcraft. It's a high quality book that explains a lot about the Warcraft universe in a straightforward fashion.

I originally bought this product sometime last year and only briefly read some of it. I decided to give this another shot since Shadowlands hype was building and I ended up getting through the entire book in a day and a half.Honestly, this book is pretty much a perfect start to get into the Warcraft lore. It details the very beginning of creation of life in the Warcraft Universe, from the Titans to the Old God's, all the way down to how the majority of the main races came to be on Azeroth. This book essentially details right up to about 45 years before the opening of the Dark Portal (which would lead perfectly into Rise of the Horde). Now what does need to be said is that this book does take some other novels, such as Dawn of the Aspects, and basically narrows the story of that down to a few pages at most, so I'd say be wary of the spoilers if you plan to read the novels, but it's a VERY watered down version of events and I'm sure the novels themselves tell a grander story than the Chronicle.Id give this a 4.5/5 instead of 5 stars only because I wish there were just a few more illustrations on some of the events that occur. Also I wish the book was a little smaller; having to hold a huge chunky hardcover book made it a little awkward for reading, but I do kind of get why they did it.Still, this is a must have for anyone wanting to start getting into the WoW lore.

I don't normally review on Amazon but this was an absolutely fantastic read. I read it from cover to cover in a matter of days and when I was done, I had a much deeper understanding of the lore presented within the text. This book gets straight down to business, chronologically listing the events that unfold from the creation of the universe, to the goings on in Azeroth. Different accounts are highlighted with subheadings for quick location and there's also an index. The index was immensely useful for finding information I was directly interested in, or to quickly find something I needed to revisit when I'd forgotten the lore behind it, and it was important to the event I was reading. Additionally, and this is not a criticism, do not expect this book to share the characteristics of a novel. It is much more of a recount, which focuses on facts and timeline above all else. Finally, the quality of the book is sublime: reading it cover to cover has not degraded it in any way, the paper is of a high quality, the artwork is amazing (and also really helps you visualise what the text is discussing) and it feels heavy. Very well made. 10/10

This book is amazing! If you like the Warcraft series of games and the lore of it, than this book is a must have. I have so far read 2/3 of the book and all I can say is WOW! It explains so much and makes so much sense. As a player of World of Warcraft, and a fan of the lore, this book helps fill in so many gaps.I love how they integrated and explained Pandaria, the Old Gods, the Titans and the Titan forged. And to think the entire planet of Azeroth is another Titan. What will happen if and when the world soul awakens? Will all life on Azeroth cease? Only time will tell for the answer to these questions, but this book should keep you sated until that time.The art work is beautifully done, and adds a vibrant illustration to the text. The maps are also well done. Maps through the ages, help explain Azeroth's constantly changing empires over the countless decades.Good job Blizzard, this one is a keeper!

Bought this as a gift for my Boyfriend whos a big WoW fan and he absolutely loved it. Its presented really lovely, awesome art art work. Defintely a good buy!

A brilliant retconning of the disparate creation stories and early-years stories of Azeroth that Blizzard and associated writers have created over the years, woven together into a brilliant narrative, all accompanied with some beautiful artwork.It also looks great on the shelf thanks to the quality binding. Would recommend for fans of WoW, and I have the subsequent volumes on my wishlist!