Every one hates Christie Golden because its hip and they saw someone else say she’s bad, but she is the author of this book and going through some of the quotes and excerpts it sounds like my kind a thing. So, for those of you who have actually read it, is it worth it? Is it good?
I haven’t read it, but even people who dislike Christie Golden’s other writing usually praise that particular book.
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Whatever strange feelings I might house for that novel and its author, I feel 100% confident you, the Spudster, will enjoy it.
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Yes. It is great. One of the better Warcraft books.
Eh. Take opinions for what they are.
I didn’t like Arthas. Or Warcrimes. Or most of her Warcraft books. But Rise of the Horde was good enough for me to cut her some slack even after all this time.
There is some good in there. Or maybe she used it all in Rise of the Horde.
I do not know you. But I found it enjoyable. It is no Candide by Voltaire… but its worth the read, imo.
Its one of the better wow books and probably Golden’s best but thats not saying much.
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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again I harbor no illusions about the literary quality of anything Warcraft related, yet still here I am interested in the lore.
I do find it funny that every one accuses Christie Golden of being biased towards the blue but so far in this thread the consensus seems to be her best novel is one about the Horde. I’ll probably try to pick it up.
[quote=“Spuddyc-wyrmrest-accord, post:6, topic:182486”]I do find it funny that every one accuses Christie Golden of being biased towards the blue but so far in this thread the consensus seems to be her best novel is one about the Horde.
[/quote]
They also say that bias makes her writing worse, so–checks out, I guess.
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Because some people have a narrow interpretation of the Horde and anything that detracts from that is some how her fault.
She is like Hillary Clinton of the WoW universe. Anytime something goes wrong she is somehow at fault.
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You should definitely check it out Spuddy. It has its flaws and there are bits that don’t line up neatly with retcons from years and years later, obviously, but it’s definitely one of the better Warcraft novels and very high up in my recommended reading list. I think you’ll be able to appreciate it.
Lord of the Clans is Golden’s best, no contest. Rise of the Horde is close, though.
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Please… Loa… give me the strength not to indulge…
just kidding, carry on.
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Oh come on it is all in good fun.
Legitimate question; was criticism towards Golden so extreme before she wrote Before the Storm? Cause I haven’t noticed it until recent times.
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I don’t think she was even on the radar for most people.
Most of the hate was for knaak exclusively.
But Golden went pretty hard on the evil horde theme and then had goblin shredders ambush night elves in ashenvale.
There are other examples but she kind of pissed off both sides inadvertently.
Oh and there is some reference to some white haired warlock woman she likes to easter egg sometimes but i don’t see anything wrong with that.
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I was on a different account and wasn’t active on the forums at the time, but I remember in Cataclysm a lot of people were hype about Tides of War, and those same people got excited when she was brought onto the story team proper.
I still am confused as to how all this works. Like, was all this Goldens decision? Or is it instead that she is given basic story/plot points and then must fill in the details? I’m assuming the latter.
Yeah, I heard about her self-inserts. Don’t see a problem with that either, I’d put Ben Grandblade in a novel as an off mention too if I wrote a book.
She also apparently plays on my server, so that’s neato.
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I agree, somewhat.
While I loathed Warcrimes and the Arthas book - I do not blame her, singularly, for Warcrafts lore problems.
/tin foil hat
My theory is she was a diversity hire. An Aunt Tammy, if you will.
I think Jaina, Anduin, Azshara, and Sylvanas were bubbling to the surface of the Male writers minds. Perhaps they felt a woman’s perspective would help round out their sausage fest. Perhaps they felt they needed a big name female on their proverbial staff.
So they can deflect concerns about “men writing crazy women”.
That is why I do not harbor much Golden-hate. I feel she has to work within the box she has been hired. She was hired to deflect the criticism about… “Toxic masculinity” and to add a different perspective. She does not command the entire story herself.
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I don’t think her warlock character played any roles besides being vaguely mentioned or shown here or there.
So its not fair to say its a self insert when you got the likes of Nathanos around.
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I think at most she would get some highlights like:
Night Elves get attacked.
Theramore blows up.
Baine is disgusted.
Jaina feels tremendous loss.
Now go make me a novel.
It was her job to make it all super convincing and compelling which she failed to do.
Yeah, that’s fair. More self-indulgence than a self-insert (not that the former is a bad thing).
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