Which WoW book first?

[Melisity-draenor]

Heya! So I want to start reading the WoW novels as i’m interested in learning more about the lore. I didn’t realise there was so many different books!
Can anyone recommend which one I should buy first?

[Mellinora-argent-dawn (Mellinora)]

There are several tomes of Warcraft Chronicle, they contain the most up to date material (and have most information density), so if you only want to read a single thing, read that (well, those).

In general, here’s a reasonably recent guide to all books:

https:// umren .tv/warcraft-books

(But honestly, I wouldn’t bother if I were you. The lore is quite illogical, repetitive, way too pompous and grandiose, and in the end, not very interesting. But that’s just my opinion.)

[Croecell-argent-dawn (Croecell)]

Depends, do you want to start chronological? The dates they were released or the easiest to read?

I mean, I’d start with Christie Golden’s earlier works on the series with; lord of the Clans, Rise of the horde or my personal favourite; Arthas, Rise of the Lich king

[Punyelf-draenor (Punyelf)]

I haven’t read them myself, I’ve linked this list before. Not sure how up to date it is now.

World of Warcraft Forums

[Melisity-draenor]

Thank you!

[Linura-kult-der-verdammten (Linura)]

I’d suggest starting with the Chronicles At least that’s what i did and i don’t regret it one bit. There are 3 Chronicles ranging from the first war to the Cataclysm and all 3 of them are fantastic, especially the first one. You should have a pretty good understanding of the Warcraft lore after you’re done with all 3.

And if you want to get more into the Story of BFA i suggest reading “Before the Storm” as it covers important details about some things which aren’t covered in the game

[Meristu-azjolnerub (Meristu)]

Unless you start reading trilogy backwards it absolutely doesnt matter, literally every book is building on the fact that you know at least something and you will read some things literally in every book.

[Senden-ravencrest (Senden)]

As already mentioned, the warcraft chronicles are a good starting place as they retcon previous books. Outside of them I’d say it’s entirely up to you based upon your own personal preference. Seeing as you’re posting on an undead character, Before the Storm would be a great choice as it offers a lot of insight into the race.

If you loved the Legion expansion and/or Illidan/Demon Hunters, Illidan is a great choice. If you liked Arthas/WOTLK, the Arthas novel is a great choice. Honestly, anything Christie Golden gets my vote, I found her novels to be the best.

[Jito-turalyon (Jito)]

I would recommend Before the Storm to begin with. It doesn’t require any pre-existing lore knowledge or anything, but it’s super relevant to the plot of Battle for Azeroth, so reading the book adds some perspective to many of the events in the expansion.

And afterward, if you then find that reading Warcraft novels is awesome, then you can give a crack at reading the books in a cronological order from the beginning.

But you may as well start with the most relevant story to begin with. I mean, if you end up only reading one book, it may as well be the one that’s most worthwhile reading!

[Gálmar-argent-dawn]

As the others have said, Chronicle if you want the lore in general. Most of the other books are pretty self-contained. I also agree with Jito, even though it’s the most recent book, Before the Storm might be best to start off with, because you’ll get most out of it. The other books tie in to past expansions, so all that can wait. They’ll offer plenty of insight on what you’ve seen during past expansions, but they don’t offer much going forward. Knowing what’s in Before the Storm really offers a boon to the currently ongoing storylines in-game, and as more story comes out, you’ll have insights that others might not, which is always nice for the players who do care about the lore.

[Melisity-draenor]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I’ll pick up the first chronicle book and before the storm and go from there. Looks like i’ll have lots of reading to do

[Laffey-kirin-tor]

I’m too late since you already took your decision but I’d also vouche for “Before the Storm”, like that you’ll get content relevant to our current state of the game.