Before the Storm

Before the Storm is a novel written by Christie Golden taking place after the events of Shadows of Argus but before the Burning of Teldrassil. It serves as the lead-in novel for Battle for Azeroth and focuses on Anduin Wrynn and his role of High King of the Alliance, and Sylvanas Windrunner.

It is available as an audiobook and ebook.

Final description
An all-new, official prequel novel to The Battle for Azeroth, Blizzard Entertainment’s next expansion to the critically acclaimed World of Warcraft videogame.

Azeroth is dying.

The Horde and the Alliance defeated the demonic Burning Legion, but a dire catastrophe is unfolding deep below the surface of the world. There is a mortal wound in the heart of Azeroth, struck by the sword of the fallen titan Sargeras in a final act of cruelty.

For Anduin Wrynn, king of Stormwind, and Sylvanas Windrunner, warchief of the Horde and queen of the Forsaken, there is little time to rebuild what remains and even less to mourn what was lost. Azeroth’s devastating wound has revealed a mysterious material known as Azerite. In the right hands, this strange golden substance is capable of incredible feats of creation; in the wrong ones, it could bring forth unthinkable destruction.

As Alliance and Horde forces race to uncover the secrets of Azerite and heal the wounded world, Anduin enacts a desperate plan aimed at forging a lasting peace between the factions. Azerite jeopardizes the balance of power, and so Anduin must gain the trust of Sylvanas. But, as ever, the Dark Lady has her own machinations.

For peace to be possible, generations of bloodshed and hatred must be brought to and [sic] end. But there are truths that neither side is willing to accept and ambitions they are loath to relinquish. As Alliance and Horde alike grasp for the Azerite’s power, their simmering conflict threatens to reignite all-out war—a war that would spell doom for Azeroth.

Second description
An all-new, official prequel novel to The Battle for Azeroth, Blizzard Entertainment’s next expansion to the critically acclaimed World of Warcraft. In Before the Storm, Anduin Wrynn, king of Stormwind, and Sylvanas Windrunner, warchief of the Horde, are new to their positions of power, both ascending before they were truly prepared. As the Alliance and the Horde struggle to recover from the devastating war with the demonic Burning Legion, a terrible discovery will test both leaders, threatening to reignite the bitter enmity between their factions and shake the very foundations of the world of Azeroth.

First description
An all-new, official tie-in novel to Blizzard Entertainment’s critically acclaimed World of Warcraft, from New York Times bestselling author Christie Golden. Taking place after the climactic events of Shadows of Argus, World of Warcraft: Before the Storm tells the story of what awaits the heroes of the Horde and the Alliance in the wake of their struggle against the demonic Burning Legion.

Other

 * Anduin's Amber Ale
 * Azerite
 * Crunchola
 * Desolate Council
 * Gathering
 * Lightning Blast 3000
 * Peaked Dalaran Red
 * Spect-o-Matic 4000
 * Sword of Sargeras

Retcons and inconsistencies

 * Retcons
 * Arthas: Rise of the Lich King originally described Calia Menethil with blue eyes. Here, they are described as blue-green but also as sea-blue.
 * The book says that Galen Trollbane was killed at the site of what was later named Galen's Fall. In the game, Galen was killed in the Sanctum of Stromgarde Keep.


 * Mistakes and inconsistencies
 * During a meeting with Alonsus Faol, Genn Greymane is described with "his tail lashing the air". Genn, or worgen in general, do not have tails. This error was acknowledged by author Christie Golden who imagined worgen with tails. While historians had caught the mistake, one instance was missed.
 * Although Saraka the Lighteater was a void god, it was called a void lord in the book. The Void Lord and Shackled Voidlord share this trait, and the term is used rather loosely elsewhere.
 * The book says that on the Broken Shore, after Vol'jin killed the demon that stabbed him, he continued to fight. In the cinematic, he collapsed right after slaying it.
 * Despite Magni being able to sense Azerite, he only realized that Anduin had Azerite upon his person when the King of Stormwind revealed it.
 * During a meeting with Alonsus Faol, Anduin thought how Turalyon "had doubtless encountered dark things, including truly evil Forsaken". This is technically impossible because Turalyon was far away when the Scourge ravaged his homeland. On the other hand, Anduin could potentially refer to the death knights of the Shadow Council.
 * Netherlight Temple is supposed to be for followers of both Light and Shadow, the whole building being divided into two separate wings respectively dedicated to each force. But in the novel, it is depicted and described as a temple to the Light, whose inhabitants all serve the Light.


 * Other
 * In the Alliance's Legion epilogue cinematic, Anduin gave his speech in a sunny weather. He was bare-handed during the conversation with Shaw who showed him the Azerite in his bare hand as well. In the novel, it was raining (although it also states that the weather became better during the speech), Anduin had gloves and only removed them before taking the Azerite, which was wrapped in cloth. Anduin wasn't facing Shaw during the conversation in the book, and he is described with Fearbreaker with him, while no weapon is seen in the cinematic. Anduin speech itself is not identical to that of the cinematic and is, in fact, expanded. Similarly, the conversation between Anduin and Shaw is not identical as well.

Timeline
The novel's events start with the Legion epilogues, after Sargeras stabbed Silithus with his sword, and it predates the Burning of Teldrassil, and as such takes place before Elegy and A Good War. As it mentions that representatives of all the Horde races were present in the Undercity and it lists orcs, trolls, tauren, blood elves, goblins, and pandaren, with no mention of the nightborne elves or the Highmountain tauren. The book deals with the factions of the Horde and Alliance and the allied races are not mentioned at all, hinting the book happens before the opening of the embassies in Stormwind and Orgrimmar and the recruitment questlines for the allied races.

The book also happens after Windrunner: Three Sisters as its events are clearly referenced.

Notes and trivia

 * It seems that the novel's working title used to be "Lightning Crashes", as one could find by running the book's ISBN on the Random House website.
 * Christie Golden first announced on Twitter that she was writing a new Warcraft novel — after a three-year hiatus — on July 23, 2017.
 * After Golden was approached by Blizzard to write the novel, she was informed of what would happen in Battle for Azeroth. They wanted her to delve into the mindset of both Anduin and Sylvanas. Golden desired to look at the different leadership styles of both characters.
 * The audiobook version is read by Josh Keaton, Anduin's voice actor.
 * The novel reached #9 on the New York Times bestseller list. It has been stated to be one of the best received novels Blizzard has released.
 * The special edition of Before the Storm resembles an exquisite leather-bound book that one may stumble across in the great Dalaran library.
 * Sapphronetta Flivvers and Grizzek Fizzwrench were originally killed in the novel, however as Christie Golden felt that the book had so much sorrow & darkness she left it to the readers to decide if the pair survived.