World of Warcraft: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm
Christie Golden · 2010
After the war in Northrend, Thrall leads a Horde that's cracking at the seams, and Azeroth's elements are going wrong: tremors, storms and drought. As he turns to his shamanism for answers, he has to decide who runs Orgrimmar in his absence. On the Alliance side, Anduin Wrynn clashes with his father and goes to Ironforge to live with his grandfather, Magni Bronzebeard.
What this adds if you've played the games
Cataclysm changed the world in ways the game never fully explains, and this book covers them: how Garrosh ended up as warchief, why the tauren and Ironforge have new leaders, and what happened to the Undercity and Darnassus on the way. If you came back for Cataclysm and felt you'd missed a chapter, this is it. Golden ties a lot of threads together and it reads quickly.
Where it fits
- Read afterWorld of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Opens right after the war in Northrend and assumes you know how it ended. Finish Wrath of the Lich King first.
- Read beforeWorld of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Ends just as Deathwing breaks loose, which is where Cataclysm starts. Read it first; it explains the new leaders you meet in the expansion.
- Comes beforeWorld of Warcraft: Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects
Follows Thrall on from The Shattering and gives away its ending. Read The Shattering first.
Editions
Paperback
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