Feb 2025 Book Recommendation: World of Warcraft: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King

Intro

So, for those of you who might not know, this is a video game book, set in the universe of the World of Warcraft MMORPG. (We’re not serious readers here, if you haven’t noticed.) It’s the origin story of one of the game’s most iconic villains, the infamous Lich King, lord of the undead army known as the Scourge.

If you happen to be a WoW fan, you might already be familiar with a lot of the names and characters in the book. But, if you aren’t, don’t worry; you don’t need to know any of the in-game lore to understand and enjoy this book. Although I was technically already playing the game when I read this book for the first time, I was very new to it and didn’t know anything about the background lore or overall story. (I was just having fun running around as a werewolf with knives and an elf that could turn into a cat.) So you can trust me when I say you don’t have to know anything beyond what’s covered in the book to follow the story.

While all of the WoW books I’ve read have been great—probably actually some of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read, believe it or not—this one has always been one of my favorites. It’s loaded with action, drama, and interesting characters that are sure to keep you hooked till the end.

So let’s dive into it!

World of Warcraft: Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden Overview

Genre(s): Fantasy

Series: N/A (Standalone)

POV: Third-person past

Length: 416 pages

Arthas Menethil, prince of the mighty city of Lordaeron and paladin of the holy Light, is among the first to respond when a mysterious undead plague starts to threaten the people of his homeland and turn them into mindless zombies of the Scourge. Its cause is unknown, as is its cure.

As Arthas investigates the plague and tries to find a way to stop it, he learns of an ancient sword called Frostmourne, a magic runeblade lost somewhere in the frozen land of Northrend. He comes to believe that it’s the only thing that can stop the Scourge—and the plague by extension—and becomes obsessed with seeking it out so that he can use it to save his people.

But Frostmourne isn’t all that it seems to be and, in his quest to claim it, Arthas begins to turn down a dark path from which there will be no return.

Personal Thoughts

If you liked the Star Wars prequel trilogy, you’ll probably like this book too; Arthas is pretty much just Anakin in a fantasy setting. Like Anakin, he’s an innocent little kid at the start, and then, well…we’ve already discussed where he ends up.

Overwhelmingly, I generally prefer books about heroes, so it’s always pretty unusual when I read one about a villain, or even an anti-hero. Although the biggest reason for this is just that I’m usually not interested in reading about a jerk (if you don’t mind my frankness), another reason is that villains are just kind of hard to write well enough to have them be the main focus of a whole book, so a lot of writers don’t seem to pull it off very well. You’ve got to make them evil, obviously, but you also have to have some way of helping the reader connect with them, or at least be interested in them, so that they keep reading. Golden does a great job of this throughout, and this book is easily one of the best villain origins I’ve ever seen—in any sort of media, as a matter of fact.

Outro

I hope I’ve piqued your interest in this book and convinced you to check it out. Or, if you’ve already read it and are looking for something similar, feel free to check out some of the similar titles I’ve listed below. (All of them are more villain books for you.) Until next time, happy reading!