The Dragons of Outland

The Dragons of Outland

dragons of the outland wow book

Short Desicription:

Trilogy set between Vanilla and TBC. This is the story of the end of the Sunwell Trilogy where blue dragon Tyrygosa and human paladin Jorad Mace, they travel to and through the dark portal where they find dragons that they have never see. While they study this and the dragons, the death knight Ragnok Bloodreaver watches on with a hidden agenda.

The Dragons of Outland- What Happens

Dragons of the Outland is the first volume of the Shadow Wing series, a sequel to Sunwell Trilogy, which was met with popularity. It is written by Richard Knaack the same author as Sunwell Trilogy and illustrated by Jae-Hwan Kim who is thought to be the best manga artist on staff. The illustrations of areas we became familiar with in Sunwell Trilogy are excellent and the attention to detail is second to none

The storyline in Dragons of the Outland picks up with the adventures of the Jorad Mace, the paladin, and the Tyrygosa, the blue dragon, in here elven form. Together they travel into Outland by way of the Dark Portal.

We last saw Jorad and Tyrygosa at the end of Sunwell Trilogy when they said goodbye to Kalecgos and Anveena when they parted to go their separate ways. Tyrygosa gave Jorad a ride back so he could confront Arthas. Tyrygosa was going to drop Jorad off and then he planned to report back to Malygos about the events that surrounded Anveena and the Sunwell.

At the beginning of Dragons of the Outland we see that Jorad wasn’t able accomplish his goad of defeating Arthas, which really doesn’t surprise too many, so instead he rejoins the paladins of the Silver Hand so that he can redeem himself from all of his past transgressions. Dragons of the Outland never really tells us whether Tyrgosa made it back to Malygos.

Instead we find Tyrgosa joining the high elf contingent of the army, then traveling through the Dark Portal along with everyone else, because she sensed there was something strange on the other side. On the other side they are met with a group of dragons that are very different than anything Tyrgosa has ever seen.

This leaves the rest of the manga to follow their travels in Outland, with regards to the Netherwing Dragonflight who originate there. The manga artwork is absolutely stunning, which is what you would expect from Jae-Hwan Kim who also illustrated the previous book in the series Sunwell Trilogy.

While both books are written by Richard Knaack don’t expect to see the normal cohesion in the timeline that you would normally get. This break in time line leaves readers a bit confused. Another issue that many are having is with netherwing who are presented as though they are children and they can barely speak in coherent sentences yet previous nether dragons in Shattrath and Shadowmoon Valley are portrayed as intelligent creatures. This difference in presenting the same character throws away the cohesiveness you expect to feel when reading a series.

Finally one last issue with the plot comes with a character named Ragnok Bloodreaver who is introduced in this book. However we are given little about his past and yet he imprisons the netherwing and he conquers the Dragonmaw orcs who are holding them hostage so that he can defeat Illidan and become Outland’s leader. It’s hard to grasp how this all fits into a story that is involving the Dragonmaw and the capturing of the netherwing. Once again there’s a timeline discrepancy.

That said, the Dragons of the Outland gets a thumbs up. The release timeline might have been better, but for those of you who have enjoyed the previous book, you’ll enjoy this one too. Just be prepared to let go of the little discrepancies that arise.