Our Dark Lady in her splendour

Wow. That’s what this book is. Patty reads it with all of the passion and time she has spent perfecting our beloved Dark Lady. Just amazing. Each word goes straight to your heart.

Excellent writing as we have come to expect from Christie.

Would thoroughly recommend even if you are not 100% a Warcraft lore nerd. The story is just beautiful.

Thank you.

In her Dark Majesty’s respect.

For the Horde.

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1 of the best wow books I heard

I enjoyed it very much, I would given it 5/5 if it had different voice actors

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Oh dear lord.

wow, where to begin? well firstly, Christie Golden, What an amazing job you have done writing this book, I am close to speechless for how well and good the book truly is.
Patty, your voice, empathy, for each and every character, the telling and performance, you do not only make Sylvanas a legendary character but you give the book so much love and turn it to life.

sadly there is an, however, and this is not something I will blame on Christie Golden. Her writing and storytelling are spotless.
but the way Blizzard has turned and changed Sylvanas constantly.

this review will be as spoiler-free as I can, will just say that my time frames here are based on the world of warcraft the game.
Up to the timeline where Lich King enters the PC world the story of Sylvanas is gripping at heart, so detailed, so loved you learn to know the character and the world so well, you don't need to play or watch the videos on YouTube to understand it.

up to Cataclysm in the PC world, the story is good, but here you start to notice cracks in the foundation and as time goes on, Pandaria almost skipped, Draenor skipped, Legion a 20min remark. Shadowlands. well... If you are not a wow player that has played up to Shadowlands and taken parts in raids new and old to follow the cutscenes or watched them on YouTube, You will be confused. the last w hours in this book leave gaps that only the game cinematics can fill. and that is annoying beyond all 7 hells. And this is not Christie's fault, Blizzard has toyed with Sylvanas and changed her a lot and constantly under the last 5 years, I am amazed Christie could make the story so so well for so long and justify all strange deeds and actions you see in the game. I understand her a lot, and she is a very kind-hearted character easy to love and care for, but she changes abruptly around Cataclysm. when Blizzard changed the character almost completely.

In all, I strongly recommend you this book if you love the world of warcraft world, or want to learn about a great Huntress in a world that is marvelous but gets a strong dose of evil spread upon it.

but for the book to make sense in the end, you need to see the cinematics about her, about the world on YouTube.

Christie, Patty. Thank you both for this amazing 15h experience.
///Traxton
Worgen Death Knight.
Since Cataclysm.

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Brings understanding to a shaky Shadowlands

I personally like Sylvanas as a character, but her story in game from roughly BFA really doesn’t do her justice like this audiobook does.

You understand why she “partnered” with the jailor and when they began working together, realise her true opinion of Anduin and ultimately give some narrative as to why the expansion ended the way that it did.

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A very in-depth look into Sylvanas

I've both read and listened to all the Warcraft stories over the years, and honestly I find this one to be high on my list of favourites already.

It's an incredibly detailed look into the history of Sylvanas, with a lot of new story into her younger years, her family and her connections with people that have rarely been shown before.

I feel like this was a labour of love from Christie Golden, there are so many details, big and small, that add more depth to an already famous/infamous character, and elements of Sylvanas I really didn't expect before going into this, I think she did a wonderful job writing this story.

Patty Mattson has always been a great voice actress, and her narration here was phenomenal in my opinion, the range of emotions during Sylvanas' living years were well delivered, as well as the usual cold, indifferent or angry tones of her undeath.
It really made this book something special and brought characters, especially the main one, to life and i'm extremely grateful she was the one to narrate this, although I believe I could listen to her tell any story and enjoy it.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the greater details of Warcraft characters without hesitation, especially character history unavailable anywhere else, I believe you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

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If you love Warcraft you’ll love this

Thoroughly enough this audiobook, I’ve played Warcraft since launch and have always had a fascination and interest in Sylvanas Windrunner.
The story charts her whole life and I wasn’t disappointed, and with the original voice of Sylvanas to read the story was brilliant. Hats off to her.
Enjoy. ‘For the Horde’

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An essential look into the mind of Sylvanas

This book sets out to do one key thing: show us the story from Sylvanas' point of view. She's a controversial character among the playerbase for sure, and I still have some reservations about whether a lot of her later thoughts and motivations align with her dialogue which had been written in years past (see "You'll be with your loved ones soon"). That being said, even if some of the later stuff was, as I suspect, rewritten to align with the final version of the lore, it was done as masterfully as could be expected, and is convincing, most of the time.

The above paragraph is just about my only gripe with the story, and it doesn't even rest on the shoulders of Christie Golden, for she is not the sole - or even original - director of Sylvanas' character. So, gripe aside, I must launch into the well of praise I have for this novel. Not only does it succeed in painting Sylvanas in a new light, but it also highlights her youth in vivid detail, and the myriad of tragedy which led to the Banshee Queen we knew her to be. Far from being a marching out of tragic moments, her youth is fully fleshed out and expanded upon; her relationship with her sisters and her brother shapes her long before the first tragedy hits. For a long time you're left wondering how this woman, full of kindness and love, could ever transition into the Sylvanas we see in-game. And throughout the course of the book, bit by bit, you begin to recognise her.

I'll also add that while Sylvanas is the key focus of this book, there's also plenty of High Elf / Blood Elf lore to enjoy. No character exists in a vacuum, so look forwards to lots of new dialogue from the Windrunner family, various Blood Elves, early leaders of the Horde, and more! I particularly enjoyed the War Council scene set during Legion.

Patty Mattson's narration is delightful. She obviously excels at voicing Sylvanas, being the original voice actor, but she's also a narrator who marries emphasis with emotion, to great effect. I've seen mention here of how "cringy" the "annoying squeaky voices they've done with the young versions" are, and hey, each to their own. For me, she emphasises youth and earnestness very well. The one objective criticism I'd point out with the narration is Mattson's difficulty with deeper, growlier voices such as the Lich King and the Jailer, but given that she's having to emulate voices we already know, we can hardly fault her for trying, and it's really not that distracting. I think she did a fantastic job!

If you're a World of Warcraft player who hates the direction they took Sylvanas in, this isn't a magical book that's going to fix everything that you need to spend 15 and a half hours with in order to "get it". But I would go so far as to say it may change your perception of her, if you can suspend your disbelief about whether her character arc was originally set on this path from the start. I was never the biggest fan of her, but this book has raised her in my estimation as a villain. And lest you be concerned that it's an exercise in justifying her actions - well, I'll leave that to the interludes, where you'll find someone with a like mind to you and I.

In short - superb stuff!

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Excellent Listen

This was a excellent listen.

It was my first audiobook and also the first time having any book from the world of warcraft universe.

The narration is superb as it is the same voice actor from the games.

I have played world of warcraft from legion and having played through the game, it certainly helped me picture the locations and characters more clearly.

A great book on its own. I am going to try some of the other books in the series. Very impressed.

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Read by the Banshee Queen herself!

was nice listening.. the story of Sylvanas Windrunner from her life to Shadow landau outcome

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One of my favourites

Was hooked from beginning to end. Amazing narration and writing. Easily worth it if you ask me.

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