Over the eons, an endless struggle between the forces of order and chaos has shaped the world of Azeroth and its inhabitants. The orcish Horde's violent invasion of the Eastern Kingdoms stands as one of history's most tumultuous periods. Through the Burning Legion's demonic machinations, the once-noble orcs were transformed into a nearly unstoppable foe and let loose upon Azeroth's unsuspecting denizens. Yet even in the face of the Horde's unparalleled fury, brave heroes risked everything to rise up in defense of the . . . Rise of the Horde Before the savage orcs began their rampage across Azeroth, they were a proud shamanic race native to the world of Draenor. The cunning demon Kil'jaeden saw lethal potential in the clan-based orcs, and thus he set about molding them into the Horde—a single, brutal force driven by an all-consuming thirst for destruction. But the foul demonic magic that granted the Horde its immense strength began consuming the orcs from within, ultimately threatening to destroy everything that they once were. The Last Guardian: Long ago a group of magi known as the Council of Tirisfal was formed to fight a secret war against the sinister demons of the Burning Legion. To this end, the council imbued a single champion with enormous power to act as the world's guardian. Medivh was one such Guardian of Tirisfal, and he was expected to be the greatest who had ever lived. Yet he was destined to follow a much darker path. From birth a mysterious evil had tainted the core of his being, and his subsequent struggle against the darkness within himself would precipitate the orcish Horde's invasion of Azeroth . . . and change the world forever. Tides of Darkness: During the First War, the orcish Horde laid waste to the once-great human kingdom of Stormwind. From the ashes of this terrible defeat, however, hope emerged. Anduin Lothar, Champion of Stormwind, rallied the survivors of his ruined homeland and valiantly led them to Lordaeron in the hopes of uniting the human nations into a mighty Alliance that could stand against the Horde and its ruthless new leader, Orgrim Doomhammer. Yet as formidable as Lothar believed the Alliance would be, many humans feared that no force would ever be capable of stopping the Horde's merciless onslaught. Beyond the Dark Portal: In the aftermath of the Second War between orcs and humans, the Dark Portal, a gateway connecting Azeroth to Draenor, was destroyed. The orcs, however, did not abandon their lust for war. Led by the mysterious orc shaman Ner'zhul, a fresh wave of Horde fighters flooded into Azeroth. Even more unsettling was that small bands of orcs intent on something other than mere conquest began scouring Azeroth for powerful artifacts desired by their sinister leader. To counter the Horde's dark schemes, only one option remained for the Alliance: a suicide mission into the orcs' ruined homeworld of Draenor.
Author
Award-winning author Christie Golden has written over thirty novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror. She has over a million books in print. 2009 will see no fewer than three novels published. First out in late April will be a World of Warcraft novel, Athas: Rise of the Lich King. This is the first Warcraft novel to appear in hardcover. Fans of the young paladin who fell so far from grace will get to read his definitive story. In June, Golden’s first Star Wars novel, also a hardcover, sees print. Star Wars: Fate of the Jedi—Omen is the second in a nine-book series she is co-authoring with Aaron Allston and Troy Denning. Also in June comes the conclusion of Golden’s StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga with the release of Twlight, the third book in the series. The first two are Firstborn and Shadow Hunters. 2004 saw the launch of an original fantasy series called The Final Dance, from LUNA Books. The first novel in the series, On Fire's Wings, was published in July of that year. The second, In Stone’s Clasp, came out in September of 2005. With In Stone’s Clasp, Golden won the Colorado Author’s League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel for the second time. The third book, Under Sea’s Shadow, is available only as an e-book Golden is also the author of two original fantasy novels from Ace Books, King's Man and Thief and Instrument of Fate, which made the 1996 Nebula Preliminary Ballot. Under the pen name of Jadrien Bell, she wrote a historical fantasy thriller entitled A.D. 999, which won the Colorado Author's League Top Hand Award for Best Genre Novel of 1999. Golden launched the TSR Ravenloft line in 1991 with her first novel, the highly successful Vampire of the Mists, which introduced elven vampire Jander Sunstar. Golden followed up Vampire with Dance of the Dead and The Enemy Within . In September of 2006, fifteen years to the month, The Ravenloft Covenant: Vampire of the Mists enabled Jander Sunstar to reach a whole new audience. Other projects include a slew of Star Trek novels, among them The Murdered Sun, Marooned, and Seven of Nine, and "The Dark Matters Trilogy," Cloak and Dagger, Ghost Dance and Shadow of Heaven . The Voyager novel relaunch, which includes Homecoming and The Farther Shore, were bestsellers and were the fastest-selling Trek novels of 2003. Golden continued writing VOYAGER novels even though the show went off the air, and enjoyed exploring the creative freedom that gave her in the two-parter called Spirit Walk, which includes Old Wounds and Enemy of my Enemy . Golden has also written the novelization of Steven Spielberg's Invasion America and an original "prequel," On The Run, both of which received high praise from producer Harve Bennett. On The Run, a combination medical thriller and science fiction adventure, even prompted Bennett to invite Golden to assist in crafting the second season of the show, if it was renewed. Golden lives in Loveland, Colorado, with her artist husband and their two cats.
