Warcraft Novels Reading Order

Warcraft Novel Reading Order

If you’re a fan of World of Warcraft, whether you’re a reader or not, chances are that you’ve heard that there are a slew of novels set in the Warcraft universe that expand on the lore of Azeroth greatly.  Many of these novels feature some of our favorite prominent characters from World of Warcraft, like Thrall and Jaina Proudmore, and expand on their stories as well.

A problem one might run into with the extended universe novels of any fictional universe is both where to start and in which order one should read the stories.  It’s easy to get lost amid the vast library of stories, especially when you’re excited to read them.  Fortunately, for the Warcraft novels at least, there is both a starting place and a read order that will ensure your reading experience is fulfilling.

For best results, start with number 1 and keep going until you’re finished.  Have fun!

  1. Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden
  2. The Last Guardian by Jeff Grubb
  3. Tides of Darkness by Aaron Rosenburg
  4. Beyond the Dark Portal by Christie Golden & Aaron Rosenburg
  5. Day of the Dragon by Richard A. Knaak

Just a quick aside here – The War of the Ancients trilogy takes place LONG before Rise of the Horde.  That being said, to get a better handle on the story as a whole it’s wise to read them AFTER the preceding stories and start them immediately after reading Day of the Dragon. 

  1. War of the Ancients: The Well of Eternity by Richard A. Knaak
  2. War of the Ancients: The Demon Soul by Richard A. Knaak
  3. War of the Ancients: The Sundering by Richard A. Knaak
  4. Lord of the Clans by Christie Golden
  5. Of Blood and Honor by Chris Metzen
  6. Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden
  7. Illidan by William King
  8. Cycle of Hatred by Keith DeCandido
  9. Night of The Dragon by Richard A. Knaak
  10. Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak
  11. The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm by Christie Golden
  12. Wolfheart by Richard A Knaak
  13. Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects by Christie Golden
  14. Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War by Christie Golden
  15. Dawn of the Aspects by Richard A. Knaak
  16. Vol’Jin: Shadows of the Horde by Michael A. Stackpole
  17. War Crimes by Christie Golden
  18. Before The Storm by Christie Golden
  19. Shadows Rising by Madeleine Roux
  20. Sylvanas by Christie Golden
  21. War of the Scaleborn by Courtney Alameda

If you want to get the most economic bang for your buck when purchasing the novels, you might check out these collection volumes that feature multiple stories within the Warcraft Universe.

Warcraft Novel Reading Order Guide Images Collections

  • World of Warcraft: Chronicles of War – Includes Rise of the Horde, The Last Guardian, Tides of Darkness, and Beyond the Dark portal
  • World of Warcraft: Archive – Day of the Dragon, Lord of the Clans, The Last Guardian, and Of Blood and Honor
  • WarCraft War of The Ancients Archive – Includes War of the Ancients books: The Well of Eternity, The Demon Soul, and The Sundering

There’s a bit of an overlap here with The Last Guardian being in two collections, but you can get any of these for between $15 to $20 on Amazon.  So you can literally get almost half the series for under $60 if you bargain hunt.

Now, if you’re looking to expand your Warcraft lore, but aren’t necessarily interested in a strong narrative, then you might want to check into the Warcraft Chronicles Volumes.  These books are just filled with deep history and lore of the Warcraft universe, laid out (as one might expect) in chronological order.  Starting with the forming of the universe and the Warcraft Mythos, and ending with the Cataclysm, these texts are just bursting with interesting lore.

Warcraft Novel Reading Order Guide Images Chronicles Art

  • World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 1:  Chronicles the ancient, primordial history of the Warcraft universe and how it was created, along with the ancient history of the Night Elves
  • World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 2:  Chronicles the history of the Draenei, the Dwarves and of the beginnings of the wars between the Horde and the Alliance
  • World of Warcraft Chronicle Volume 3:  Chronicles the war between the Horde, the Alliance, the Scourge and the Burning Legion, along with the fall of Arthas Menethil

I can vouch for these volumes personally, having received the first as a gift and acquiring the others later.  The first volume, which details Warcraft’s cosmology, I found particularly interesting.  It also details some of the history of Pandaria.

Well, hopefully you found that helpful.  Now you can read the stories of Warcraft to your heart’s content and never worry if you’ve missed something, or are reading to far ahead.  Have fun, and have a wonderful day!

Warcraft Novel Reading Order Guide Images Book

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OrinDac

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carrie
carrie
2 years ago

Definitely recommend the audible book versions if you have a hard time getting the hard copies. The narrators are amazing at making you feel part of WORLD OF WARCRAFT

Pedro Gordo
Pedro Gordo
3 years ago

Great article! As a suggestion, you could include the short stories (most of them are here: https://www.icy-veins.com/forums/topic/20998-reading-order-of-warcraft-books-and-novels/), and also the comic books, including the Legion ones (https://play.google.com/store/search?c=books&q=world+of+warcraft+legion)

Narokuu
Narokuu
2 years ago

Can we get dark mirror, shadows rising and Sylvanas added to this list? thank you!

Last edited 2 years ago by Narokuu
Jeff Hill
Jeff Hill
4 years ago

I started reading these during lockdown and the guides are a great help.

There seems to be a gap in the books prior to Durotans death, and I think the idea is that this is addressed in WC1.

WKKevin99
WKKevin99
3 years ago

Anyone think there’s a *best book* to start with? Or author that is the best? It looks like there’s lots of different authors so I was wondering if any books are bad or skippable and which ones everyone liked the best. 

carrie ford
carrie ford
Reply to  WKKevin99
2 years ago

hey so yea I been reading the books, paperback, audible and kindle. if you have a good memory, it shouldn’t matter what you start with first, I started with Illidan by William king and I was shocked how great the book was I read some more out of order each author uses the same lore, so it doesn’t even feel like there are different authors writing them

Stew
Stew
Reply to  WKKevin99
1 year ago

I know you posted this a year ago man so you may not come back here, but I’ve heard one of the books that is quite terrible and all over the place is Richard Knaak’s: Stormrage. I haven’t read it yet but I know I will probably struggle going off the Good Reads Reviews.

Stew
Stew
1 year ago

Thanks for providing this great comprehensive list on what is quite a complex series to follow even if you’ve played all the warcraft games and WoW (I did at a younger age).

I followed this guide and it definitely makes more sense with how you’ve structed the books. I also read the World of Warcraft chronicles Volume 1 before delving deep in to the lore, and it gave me a better understanding of the structured lore of the Warcraft universe. It’s quite a deep and intricate system and reminded me of J. R. R. Tolkien’s works with how the universe was created through Music of the Ainur. I remember a passage in it and it really hit home reading that first part of the Volume 1 chronicle.

Anyway, I haven’t played WoW since WoD and I really appreciate this great reference tool with the lists and statements from OrinDac.

Thanks mate.

Jordan
Jordan
3 years ago

Is this just the WoW books, or does this include both the WoW and Warcraft books?

Curt
Curt
1 year ago

Thank you very much!

Masa
Masa
5 months ago

Hey. first i wanted to thank you for this amazing Article… I have a quick question that’s all… In some sites they put Lords of the Clan+Of Blood and Honor before the War of the Ancients… so I’m confused here that if i read those first will it effect my expeirnece? or its fine?

Also You may dislike my opinion but I still don’t get How people can put Beyond the Dark Portal Before Day of the Dragon

Spoil: Its Freaking obvious(Sorry) That Death wing in Beyond the Dark Portal is After Day of the Dragon.anyone who reads the story Once realizes that they are like… Reading the 4th one and then reading the third one… Again i apologize its my opinion but i believe “Day of the Dragon” should be Behind “Beyond the Dark Portal” Volume

Aronnax
Aronnax
Reply to  Kevin Gubernatis
1 month ago

Because if u read war of the ancients, its obvious it takes place after warcraft 3 while lord of the clans and of blood and honor happens before warcraft 3, thrall forming the new horde.

During entire trilofgy of war of the ancients, Broxxigar is traumatizrd by how he lost his platoon of military buddies to the legion and failed which means they were fighting agains the legion in wc3 before the book as a new horde.

So if u read the war of the ancients before lord of the clans or even before arthas you would get confused because Horde is still captured in the internment camp and they never fought against the legion yet.

Andreika
Andreika
1 month ago

Thanks for the updates my friend

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