Sylvanas (World of Warcraft)

For those reading or listening to Sylvanas novel, do the quest in Oribos for her trial before you read the Epilogue, trust me the way it will line up will be worth it! (Possible Spoiler) The epilogue takes place after the in game events of World of Warcraft 9.2 : Eternity's End, If you are curious about the missing context, I recommend you play through the story content of Shadowlands. For those wondering if the novel has any major lore implications, no It's just a very well written story as a companion piece about Sylvanas for Shadowlands, and it's by far 100% better than most of the writing for the expansion. I'd give the novel a strong 8/10, with the only bits pulling the score down being pacing for the back half of the story.

This was deeply disappointing in practically every way. First of all, the book is Sylvanas telling Anduin her life's story. And yet, for some reason, it's told in third-person. Sylvanas, telling Anduin her story says things like, "Sylvanas walked across the room" instead of, "I walked across the room". It may not sound like much, but it makes it feel so impersonal. Also, and Sylv has always been one of my favorite characters in the lore, the author makes her sound like a complete psychopath. One chapter she'll talk about how she has no room for love in her heart, and then on the next page she talks about how much she wishes she could reconcile with her beloved family. She mentions how proud she is about saving and providing for the Forsaken, and then immediately flows into how she doesn't care about them. The in-game story made Sylvanas look ridiculous. This book cleared some things up, but absolutely does not do her justice. Such a thing for her indeed seems forever out of reach.

Very well written for a character many have divided over hating and loving. You breathed credence to both sides of the rift while reminding us that we all have parts of us to hate, and parts to love. You gave her a character we can relate to, which was never really a thing a player could do in game. She was too different, outside of our human experience until you wrote this.