- Author: OrinDac
- Date: June 6, 2020
- Updated: March 19, 2024
- Expansion: World of Warcraft
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!
- Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden
- The Last Guardian by Jeff Grubb
- Tides of Darkness by Aaron Rosenburg
- Beyond the Dark Portal by Christie Golden & Aaron Rosenburg
- 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.
- War of the Ancients: The Well of Eternity by Richard A. Knaak
- War of the Ancients: The Demon Soul by Richard A. Knaak
- War of the Ancients: The Sundering by Richard A. Knaak
- Lord of the Clans by Christie Golden
- Of Blood and Honor by Chris Metzen
- Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden
- Illidan by William King
- Cycle of Hatred by Keith DeCandido
- Night of The Dragon by Richard A. Knaak
- Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak
- The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm by Christie Golden
- Wolfheart by Richard A Knaak
- Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects by Christie Golden
- Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War by Christie Golden
- Dawn of the Aspects by Richard A. Knaak
- Vol’Jin: Shadows of the Horde by Michael A. Stackpole
- War Crimes by Christie Golden
- Before The Storm by Christie Golden
- Shadows Rising by Madeleine Roux
- Sylvanas by Christie Golden
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
About the Author
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
Can we get dark mirror, shadows rising and Sylvanas added to this list? thank you!
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)
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.
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.
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
Hey Masa, I wrote this article, but I’ve not been working for Warcraft Tavern for awhile. Still get the notifications on replies though, and since you asked a question, I figured I’d answer it.
I’ve personally read Blood and Honor, and Lord of the Clans, and neither has much to do with War of the Ancients at all, aside from taking place on Azeroth. War of the Ancients takes place long before the other two, I think that they were just written before it.
Hope that helps. Have a wonderful day.
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.
I completely agree, I just finished Day of the Dragon and it SHOULD definitely be read before Beyond the Dark Portal!
Is this just the WoW books, or does this include both the WoW and Warcraft books?
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.Â
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
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.
Thank you very much!
Thanks for the updates my friend
Thanks for keeping this updated! Keep going, it helps!