All Warcraft Books In Chronological Order (2024)

World of Warcraft has steadily led the MMORPG genre for almost 20 years, remaining a consistent titan in the industry for as long as it's been open. While there have been some dips in interest and public opinion, the game has maintained its grip on the industry for quite some time - certainly long enough to spawn some books.

With so many books out, those of us curious about the lore are finding it tough to know where to start. If you're curious about the books, we're here to offer a bit of guidance. Here's the complete guide on how to read the books in chronological order.

What Aren't We Mentioning?

To start, let's trim the fat a bit. There are a few things we aren't going to mention in our list for simplicity's sake. Here are a few things we'll be skipping out on.

Short Stories

Nothing deep, those just aren't books. We're sticking to printed ink-and-paper books, and most of the short stories are available through online media. Most often, a short story is to show an off-screen event or to bridge pieces between expansions. For example, The Vow Eternal is a short story showing the off-screen wedding of Lor'themar Theron and Thalyssra and is only available as an online PDF.

Warcraft Legends and Visual Novels

Warcraft Legends is a set of graphic novels that show various stories throughout the Warcraft universe. These are hard to put down chronologically as they contain multiple stories which happen at different times in one volume. They also vary in importance, from a simple "one-shot" about a grieving father to a deeply-canon event depicting the creation of the Headless Horseman.

The comics also occur over long stretches due to being serialized. For example, World Of Warcraft: The Comic covers Varian Wrynn's disappearance and stretches from early Burning Crusade to a murky point in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Because of this hazy timeline, it's difficult to say where such things would land.

Chronicle Volumes

The Chronicle volumes are tricky. All four volumes pick a moment in time and dive deeper into it. However, they tend to stretch over long periods of time. We'll mention these around where they most fit, but know that it's difficult to perfectly timeline them out.

For example, Chronicle Vol. 1 starts at the beginning of the cosmos, yet stretches all the way up to the First War. That's quite literally untold eons, and several books occur during that time, so putting it on the timeline is hazy. The same is true for Vol. 2, which goes from the ancient history of Draenor, the First and Second War, and the destruction of Draenor.

The War of the Ancients And First War

Ten thousand years ago, when Azeroth was still together as one continent and the Highborne-slash-Kaldorei Empire ruled the majority of the planet, the War of the Ancients takes place. Hungry for power, Queen Azshara begins summoning the dark titan Sargeras and his demonic minions through the Well of Eternity. This story is told through Richard A. Knaak's trilogy of novels - The Well of Eternity, The Demon Soul, and The Sundering.

War of the Ancients is the foundation for a great deal of the story of the franchise. We see Sargeras's first assault, the Sundering, the corruption of Deathwing, and much more. This story is told from the point of view of Rhonin, Korialstrasz, and Broxigar, a trio who are hurled back through time to witness and partake in these events.

Rise of the Horde

Millennia later, on the planet of Draenor, we see the origin of the Orcish Horde. Written by Christie Golden, this novel shows the story of the Shadowmoon Orc Ner'zhul, a figure that would go on to cause quite a bit of strife for the denizens of Azeroth. Working under him is Gul'dan, an eager apprentice who's thirst for power vastly outweighs his loyalty to his mentor or people.

Some of this novel's canon is hazy. The Warlords of Draenor expansion rewrote some of the lore of these characters, such as refitting Gul'dan to be a spiteful outcast of an untold clan that he later genocided once he learned the ways of Fel. This story shows the original lore of how the Horde came to be.

The Last Guardian

From here, novels document the events of the franchise rather thoroughly. That's because we're entering the First War, which takes place during Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. As such, these books will begin documenting the games themselves, as well as the events between them.

The Last Guardian is our primary First War novel. This novel tells the story of Medivh and his young apprentice, Khadgar, as well as Medivh's relationship to King Llane Wrynn and Anduin Lothar. Read this story to see how the Orcs first came to Azeroth.

The Second War

We've got quite a few books to go over for the Second War! Taking place during Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness and its expansion Beyond the Dark Portal, this sets the foundation for much of what would become World of Warcraft.

Tides of Darkness

Tides of Darkness is a novelization of the original Warcraft 2 game. Told primarily from the Alliance perspective, this novel introduces two characters that would become paramount to the story: Alleria Windrunner and the future High-Exarch, Turalyon. If you're excited for The War Within, reading this novel is a great way to get to know those two characters.

Beyond the Dark Portal

Continuing the story of Tides of Darkness, Beyond the Dark Portal is the novelization of Warcraft 2's expansion of the same name. This story is told dominantly from the Horde perspective this time and looks at the events of the Alliance Expedition, the Shattering of Draenor, and a few other key events.

Day of the Dragon

Taking place just after the Second War (and therefor, just after the previously mentioned novels), Day of the Dragon takes us back to Azeroth. Captured and enslaved using the Demon Soul (remember War of the Ancients?) Alexstrasza is being used to birth new dragons to serve the Dragonmaw clan as weapons of war. Her consort, Korialstrasz, teams up with the hotheaded Human mage Rhonin to attempt to free her.

Lord of the Clans

Stranded on Azeroth and making their home in the snowy hills of Alterac, the remnants of the Frostwolf clan are barely clawing out a living. As Durotan and Draka travel with their baby Go'el to see an old friend, they're ambushed and slain by assassins in the middle of the forest, their baby left alive for the forest's wildlife to take.

Instead, the cruel-hearted Aedelas Blackmoore happens upon the murder scene, finding the orphaned Orc on the bloodied ground. Taking him in and naming him Thrall, Aedelas enslaves him to serve as a pit fighter, raised without ever knowing his true heritage. This story looks at the origins of Thrall, the history of the Orcish Internment Camps, and the reforming of what would become the Horde we know today.

The Third War

Taking place throughout Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos and its expansion The Frozen Throne, this is arguably the most famous and beloved section of Warcraft lore. You'll see familiar names like Arthas, Sylvanas, Jaina, and countless more.

Arthas: Rise of the Lich King

Showing the story of one of the most beloved characters in the franchise (and one of Villainy's most famous faces), this novel is a pseudo-novelization of some parts of Warcraft 3. This novel begins with Arthas, Prince of Lordaeron in his youth, riding his beloved horse and training to be a Paladin. As the story continues, we see his budding love with Jaina Proudmoore, his struggles with self-worth, and much more.

Parts of this novel show events from other pieces of media. For example, the story takes place at the same time that Deathwing was working to infiltrate and manipulate Human politics. Parts of the book also take place just before the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.

Fan Favorite

Christie Golden's Arthas: Rise of the Lich King

No king rules forever

This is likely the most popular Warcraft novel, so we've gone ahead and placed this here.

See at Amazon

See Also

World of Warcraft (WoW) Won't Launch? Here Is How to Fix It - MiniTool Partition Wizard

Chronicle Vol. 3

Just a quick mention - I didn't forget that I said I wouldn't put these on the timeline, I promise. But most of Volume 3 is focused on the events of the Third War. These events include the Rise of the Lich King, the first contact between Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, Illidan's consumption of the Skull of Gul'dan, the Scourge army, and much more. While this doesn't fit perfectly here on the timeline, most of its events are hazily in this period.

Cycle of Hatred

The final book before the beginning of World of Warcraft, this book takes place after the events of Warcraft 3. Thrall, now the Warchief of the Horde, has worked hard with Jaina Proudmoore for peace between the feuding Alliance and Horde. But the relationship between the two factions is a cycle of hatred, and that cycle threatens to break the two into all-out war again. This is a great book to read to understand the political setting of the original vanilla 2004 release of World of Warcraft.

Into World Of Warcraft: Vanilla Through Pandaria

From here on out, the novels will be taking place in one expansion or another. We'll keep it chronological, don't worry! It's only in one main category because some expansions had less to discuss than others.

Night of the Dragon

Written by Richard A. Knaak, this novel is a sequel to the Day of the Dragon novel we mentioned previously. It's also a follow-up to a manga series titled Shadow Wing.

Sensing a dark presence in the bleak, corrupted halls of Grim Batol, Korialstrasz journeys back to those haunted halls to confront the evil. Meeting with others that are being drawn by the same presence, this is a fantastic story for lovers of dragons, void, Old God corruption, and more. This story takes place around the events of Burning Crusade.

World of Warcraft: Illidan

This story is a bit of an oddity. Released during the Legion expansion of 2016, it still takes place during (and leading up to) the Burning Crusade expansion. That's because it re-tells the story of Illidan, a character that was painted as a vicious villain in Burning Crusade but who became an anti-hero later in the story.

If you've read War of the Ancients, this is a particularly poignant story, as it puts Illidan's actions in a different light. It also shifts around some of the events of Burning Crusade. Author William King does a great job of showing the twisted schemes of Illidan, as well as highlighting Maiev and Akama in the story.

Stormrage

Moving into the Wrath of the Lich King, we have Illidan's twin, Malfurion. This story focuses deeply on Malfurion Stormrage and his journey through the Emerald Dream. This novel is crucial for understanding the Emerald Nightmare, the long absence of Malfurion Stormrage, and much more.

The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm

I mean, it's in the name, right? The Shattering takes place during Wrath of the Lich King, but is meant to bridge the gap between the expansion and the then-upcoming Cataclysm expansion. Written by the legendary Christie Golden, this novel looks at the tortured, angered elements of Azeroth as they foreshadow a pain that the Shamans of Azeroth haven't yet come to understand.

No matter what you're into, this is a fantastic novel. The high-fantasy of the elemental lords, the political intrigue of Horde-versus-Alliance aggression, and the hatching plots of the former Earthwarder all collide in this piece.

Wolfheart

Cataclysm was a lore-heavy expansion, and it's also when Blizzard began putting a lot of attention into their short stories. Because of that, most of the stories from this expansion are online short stories, some of which are no longer available. Wolfheart is the main novel, focusing heavily on the champion of Lo'gosh himself - King Varian Wrynn.

Leading the Alliance once more, Wrynn is faced with the difficult choice to allow the Worgen into the Alliance. Not quite trusting the bestial Gilneans, Wrynn finds himself battling with his own inner beast as well. At the same time, the Kaldorei are experiencing societal tensions due to the return of the arcane practitioners of old, the Highborne of Eldre'Thalas.

Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects

Thrall has left his role as Warchief to help with the Maelstrom, but his time helping Azeroth is far from over. Tasked with helping the Lifebinder through untold grief as well as stepping into the shoes of the Earthwarder himself, Thrall faces his most crucial task yet as he helps to put the ailing world back together.

Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War

Joining the list of books named after a titular character, this book looks into the Daughter of the Sea, Jaina Proudmoore. Taking place around Mists of Pandaria, this story contains one of Jaina's most important story moments.

As Horde and Alliance tensions threaten to break into all-out war once again, the tyrannical Garrosh Hellscream is now in charge of the Horde. Setting his sights on ruling all of Kalimdor, Jaina's city of Theramore is the first territory he has in mind for wiping the Alliance off of the continent.

Dawn of the Aspects

This is another tricky one. Taking place in five parts, this story is focused heavily on visions being experienced by Kalecgos. These visions take part all the way back before the War of the Ancients, but present-day events in the stories are in the Mists of Pandaria timeline.

Vol'jin: Shadows of the Horde

Following an attempted assassination on his life, the leader of the Darkspear is spirited away to Pandaria to heal in secret. Encountering a Human in a similar situation, the two work to bury old hatreds as Vol'jin learns of several troubling developments - the return of the Zandalari, the rise of the Thunder King, and more.

War Crimes

Pretty straightforward name there, isn't it? War Crimes focuses on the deposing and defeat of Garrosh Hellscream. While most want him executed, it's instead decided that Hellscream will stand trial for his actions across Azeroth. But there's more at play than some court proceedings, and the events of this story directly set up the Warlords of Draenor expansion.

Warlords of Draenor & Legion

Warlords is actually a dead zone for novels. There were some short stories and comics, but those don't fit our current criteria. At any rate, Warlords of Draenor has some strange time travel stuff going on that would've made it hard to place on the timeline correctly.

Legion, too, mostly uses comics and online short stories. You can also place the previously-mentioned Illidan novel here, as some of it occurs during the Legion expansion.

Battle For Azeroth And Forward

From here, the novels weren't flowing quite as quickly. Blizzard had mostly transitioned to online short stories by now, but there's still a few great novels to take note of.

Before the Storm

The factions of Azeroth have bound together to fight against the Legion. Having staved off war since the end of Mists of Pandaria, it was just about time for another faction conflict, so the drums of war thundered once again.

Before the Storm takes place just after Legion. Sargeras has stuck his sword Gorribal deep into the planet of Azeroth, causing the eruption of the resource known as Azerite, the blood of the planet herself. This story takes place just before Battle for Azeroth and leads to the eruption of war between the two factions once again.

Shadows Rising

Taking place at the end of Battle for Azeroth, Shadows Rising leads directly into Shadowlands. This story follows the frantic aftermath of the War of the Thorns and the Fourth War. There's a lot to see here, from plots to assassinate the Loa of Death himself to attempts to take the life of Talanji, Queen of the Zandalari.

Exploring Azeroth: Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms

This pair of novels aren't as plot-driven as the rest, but they are still books, so we're making sure they're tossed in. Eastern Kingdoms follows Flynn Fairwind and Mathias Shaw, exploring the eastern continent during the time just before Shadowlands.

Kalimdor follows the characters Rexxar and Zekhan during the same time period. As the name suggests, they're covering the western continent of Kalimdor. These are great books to learn more about the world as a whole.

Sylvanas

Alright, you get three tries to guess which character this book is about, and the first two don't count. This book occurs during Shadowlands itself, taking place about halfway through the expansion during the 9.1 patch. If you've played the game, that's about when we started raiding Sanctum of Domination, which Sylvanas is the final boss of.

This story focuses deeply on Sylvanas and her life throughout the story. Because of that, some of this story takes place in the past. The bulk of events are during Shadowlands, taking place around when the book was released.

War of the Scaleborn

The only novel released for the Dragonflight expansion, this novel follows the War of the Scaleborn, which makes it a bit hard to put on the timeline. Chronologically, this should be first, as the war of the same name was fought 20,000 years before the opening of the Dark Portal. However, some of the book takes place during the Dragonflight expansion. Since it's the only book of the expansion, we've seen it fit to place it here.

FAQ

Are The Books Canon?

Most of the books are canon, but there have been some shifts and alterations from modern storytelling. Some of Arthas's story was changed slightly in Shadowlands, for example, as was some of Sylvanas. The Warlords of Draenor expansion reworked who many of the original Orcish chieftains and people-of-interest were as well.

What About The Warcraft 2016 Movie?

That movie also isn't canon, unfortunately. It takes place mostly during the First War and follows the story of Medivh, Khadgar, Garona, Durotan, and many more important figures from that period. Unfortunately, it veers very far from the established canon and is not considered to be part of it.