Frostmourne. It was caught in a hovering, jagged chunk of ice, the runes that ran the length of its blade glowing a cool blue. Below it was a dais of some sort, standing on a large gently raised mound that was covered in a dusting of snow. A soft light, coming from somewhere high above where the cavern was open to daylight, shone down on the runeblade. The icy prison hid some details of the sword's shape and form, exaggerated others. It was revealed and concealed at the same time, and all the more tempting, like a new lover imperfectly glimpsed through a gauzy curtain. Arthas knew the blade -- it was the selfsame sword he had seen in his dream when he first arrived. The sword that had not killed Invincible, but that had brought him back healed and healthy. He'd thought it a good omen then, but now he knew it was a true sign. This was what he had come to find. This sword would change everything. Arthas stared raptly at it, his hands almost physically aching to grasp it, his fingers to wrap themselves around the hilt, his arms to feel the weapon swinging smoothly in the blow that would end Mal'Ganis, end the torment he had visited upon the people of Lordaeron, end this lust for revenge. Drawn, he stepped forward.
The uncanny elemental spirit drew its icy sword. "Turn away, before it is too late," it intoned. * * *
His evil is legend. Lord of the undead Scourge, wielder of the runeblade Frostmourne, and enemy of the free peoples of Azeroth. The Lich King is an entity of incalculable power and unparalleled malice -- his icy soul utterly consumed by his plans to destroy all life on the World of Warcraft.
But it was not always so. Long before his soul was fused with that of the orc shaman Ner'zhul, the Lich King was Arthas Menethil, crown prince of Lordaeron and faithful paladin of the Silver Hand.
When a plague of undeath threatened all that he loved, Arthas was driven to pursue an ill-fated quest for a runeblade powerful enough to save his homeland. Yet the object of his search would exact a heavy price from its new master, beginning a horrifying descent into damnation. Arthas's path would lead him through the arctic northern wastes toward the Frozen Throne, where he would face, at long last, the darkest of destinies.

The ashes of the Cataclysm have settled across Azeroth's disparate kingdoms. As the broken world recovers from the disaster, the renowned sorceress Lady Jaina Proudmoore continues her long struggle to mend relations between the Horde and the Alliance. Yet of late, escalating tensions have pushed the two factions closer to open war, threatening to destroy what little stability remains in the World of Warcraft. Dark news arrives in Jaina's beloved city, Theramore. One of the blue dragonflight's most powerful artifacts-the Focusing Iris-has been stolen. To unravel the item's mysterious whereabouts, Jaina works with the former blue Dragon Aspect Kalecgos. The two brilliant heroes forge an unlikely bond during their investigation, but another disastrous turn of events looms on the horizon...Garrosh Hellscream is mustering the Horde's armies for an all-out invasion of Theramore. Despite mounting dissent within his faction, the brazen warchief aims to usher in a new era of Horde domination. His thirst for conquest leads him to take brutal measures against anyone who dares question his leadership. Alliance forces converge on Theramore to repel the Horde onslaught, but the brave defenders are unprepared for the true scope of Garrosh's cunning and deceptive strategy. His attack will irrevocably transform Jaina, engulfing the ardent peacekeeper in the chaotic and all-consuming tides of war.

The ashes of the Cataclysm have settled across Azeroth's disparate kingdoms. As the broken world recovers from the disaster, the renowned sorceress Lady Jaina Proudmoore continues her long struggle to mend relations between the Horde and the Alliance. Yet of late, escalating tensions have pushed the two factions closer to open war, threatening to destroy what little stability remains in the World of Warcraft. Dark news arrives in Jaina's beloved city, Theramore. One of the blue dragonflight's most powerful artifacts-the Focusing Iris-has been stolen. To unravel the item's mysterious whereabouts, Jaina works with the former blue Dragon Aspect Kalecgos. The two brilliant heroes forge an unlikely bond during their investigation, but another disastrous turn of events looms on the horizon...Garrosh Hellscream is mustering the Horde's armies for an all-out invasion of Theramore. Despite mounting dissent within his faction, the brazen warchief aims to usher in a new era of Horde domination. His thirst for conquest leads him to take brutal measures against anyone who dares question his leadership. Alliance forces converge on Theramore to repel the Horde onslaught, but the brave defenders are unprepared for the true scope of Garrosh's cunning and deceptive strategy. His attack will irrevocably transform Jaina, engulfing the ardent peacekeeper in the chaotic and all-consuming tides of war.

Though the young Warchief Thrall ended the demon curse that had plagued his people for generations, the orcs still wrestle with the sins of their bloody past. As the rampaging Horde , they waged a number of devastating wars against their perennial enemy -- the Alliance. Yet the rage and bloodlust that drove the orcs to destroy everything in their path nearly consumed them as well. Long ago, on the idyllic world of Draenor, the noble orc clans lived in relative peace with their enigmatic neighbors, the draenei. But the nefarious agents of the Burning Legion had other plans for both of the unsuspecting races. The demon-lord Kil'jaeden set in motion a dark chain of events that would succeed not only in eradicating the draenei, but forging the orc clans into an single, unstoppable juggernaut of hatred and destruction.

该书中文译名《星球大战：黑暗门徒》改编自动画《克隆人战争》（The Clone Wars）剧本，基于八集动画的剧本改编，这八集没有制作成动画，直接小说出版，原剧本作者凯蒂·卢卡斯（Katie Lucas），小说作者克丽丝蒂·戈尔登（Christie Golden）。
该小说讲述绝地委员会难以忍受杜库的暴行，决定派昆兰·沃斯刺杀杜库。同时，尤达建议沃斯去寻求阿萨吉·文崔斯的协助。沃斯打探到文崔斯的下落，前往潘托拉，找到了正在追逐赏金目标的文崔斯。经过一番冲突后，沃斯终于与文崔斯结为搭档，一同做了多单赏金猎人生意。文崔斯带沃斯来到达索米尔，指导他学习暗夜姐妹的驱使原力之道。在训练过程中，二人渐生情愫，终于互表心迹……该书交代了阿萨吉·文崔斯的最终归宿，详细讲诉了昆兰·沃斯坠入原力黑暗面后又重回光明面的曲折过程。

His eyes were open now, watching the path of the tiny flame. If you continue your path, little spark, you will cause great harm.I must burn! I must live!There are places where your glow and heat are welcome. Find them, do not destroy the dwellings or take the lives of my people!For a second, he seemed to wink out of existence but then blazed back with renewed vigor.Thrall knew what he had to do. He lifted his hand. Forgive me, Brother Flame. But I must protect my people from the harm you would cause them. I have requested, I have begged, now I warn.The spark seemed to spasm, and yet he continued on his lethal course.Thrall, grim-faced, clenched his hand hard. The spark flared defiantly, then dwindled, finally settling down to nothing more than the faintest of glowing embers. For now, he would no longer do anyone harm.The threat had ended, but Thrall was reeling. This was not the way of the shaman with the elements. It was a relationship of mutual respect, not of threats and control and, in the end, destruction. Oh, the Spirit of Fire could never be extinguished. It was far greater than anything any shaman, or even group of shaman, could ever attempt to do to him. He was eternal, as all the spirits of the elements were. But this part of him, this elemental manifestation, had been defiant, uncooperative. And he had not been alone. He was part of a disturbing trend of elements that were sullen and rebellious rather than cooperative. And in the end, Thrall had had to completely dominate him. Other shaman were now calling rain to soak the city in case there was another aberrant spark that persisted in its course of devastation.Thrall stood in the rain, letting it soak him, pour off his massive green shoulders, and drip down his arms. What in the name of the ancestors was happening?New York Times bestselling and award-winning author Christie Golden has written thirty-five novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Among her many projects are over a dozen Star Trek novels and several original fantasy novels. An avid player of World of Warcraft, she has written two manga short stories and several novels in that world (Lord of the Clans, Rise of the Horde, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, and The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm) with more in the works. She has also written the StarCraft Dark Templar Trilogy, Firstborn, Shadow Hunters, and Twilight. Forthcoming is Devils’ Due, a StarCraft II novel focusing on the unlikely friendship between Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay. Golden is also currently writing three books in the major nine-book Star Wars series Fate of the Jedi, in collaboration with Aaron Allston and Troy Denning. Her first two books in that series, Omen and Allies, are on shelves now. Golden currently lives in Colorado. She welcomes visitors to her website, www.christiegolden.com.***Thrall, wise shaman and the warchief of the Horde, has sensed a disturbing change . . . Long ago, Azeroth’s destructive native elementals raged across the world until the benevolent titans imprisoned them within the Elemental Plane. Despite the titans’ intervention, many elementals have ended up back on Azeroth. Over the ages, shaman like Thrall have communed with these spirits and, through patience and dedication, learned to soothe roaring infernos, bring rain to sun-scorched lands, and otherwise temper the elementals’ ruinous influence on the world of Azeroth.Now Thrall has discovered that the elementals no longer heed the shaman’s call. The link shared with these spirits has grown thin and frayed, as if Azeroth itself were under great duress. While Thrall seeks answers to what ails the confused elements, he also wrestles with the orcs’ precarious future as his people face dwindling supplies and growing hostility with their night elf neighbors.Meanwhile, King Varian Wrynn of Stormwind is considering violent action in response to mounting tensions between the Alliance and the Horde, a hard-line approach that threatens to alienate those closest to him, including his son, Anduin. The conflicted young prince has set out to find his own path, but in doing so, he risks becoming entangled in political instability that is setting the world on edge.The fate of Azeroth’s great races is shrouded in a fog of uncertainty, and the erratic behavior of the elemental spirits, troubling though it is, may only be the first ominous warning sign of the cataclysm to come.

Crafted to resemble a set of Abstergo case files, this immersive and interactive book provides a glimpse into the technology that allows characters to inhabit the lives of their ancestors—a cornerstone of the Assassin’s Creed narrative. In addition to Abstergo research, data, scientific breakdowns, and schematics, the book will also feature artifacts that tie directly into the game’s forays into history, scrapbooked in as if discovered and preserved by Abstergo centuries later. In-depth and beautifully illustrated, the Assassin’s Creed Unity will grant a never-before-seen look at the inner workings of the fictional corporation at the heart of the blockbuster franchise.

Q&A with Author Christie Golden
Award-winning and seven-time New York Times best-selling author Christie Golden has written over forty novels and several short stories in the fields of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Among her many projects are over a dozen Star Trek novels, nearly a dozen Blizzard World of Warcraft and StarCraft novels, and three books in the nine-book Star Wars series, Fate of the Jedi, which she co-wrote with authors Aaron Allston and Troy Denning. Her latest book, Assassin’s Creed IV® Black Flag™: Blackbeard: The Lost Journal, hits shelves on March 4, 2014.
We asked Golden questions about her incredibly impressive career thus far, her new Assassin’s Creed® book, and what she sees on the horizon:
1. You launched the TSR Ravenloft line with your first novel, Vampire of the Mists, in 1991. What inspired you to start writing fantasy? How did you break into the publishing world?
I’d been creating stories ever since I was old enough to hold a crayon and started my first serious attempt at writing a fantasy novel in high school. In my mid-twenties, I had been on the editing staff of magazines and gotten on the open audition mailing list of TSR, who gave the world Dungeons & Dragons. I gave it a shot at one point and was not successful. The next chance I got, I tried again—and I was chosen! I’d submitted an outline and a first chapter based on a rough idea they had presented, and next thing I knew, I had to write my first book . . . in three months! Baptism by fire, for sure!
2. What has been your favorite series or property to work on?
Oh my, oh my, that’s like asking which of my children I love best! I’ve been so fortunate in that I’ve worked in so many different worlds. Each one has had something wonderful to teach me and has been a valuable experience. How about I say why I love a few in particular? I love Ravenloft, because I got to create Jander Sunstar—perhaps my best-loved character by readers. I love Star Trek, because it was the first science fiction show I ever watched when I was a child. I love Star Wars, because it took me by the heart when I was thirteen and didn’t let go. I love Invasion: America, because it gave me the chance to work with Harve Bennett, who paid me the ultimate compliment when he said on a phone call, “You know what you’re doing.” I love all of Blizzard’s properties, because I’ve been with them so long and the blending between game and novel is so fluid, and they’re super to work with. I love Assassin’s Creed® IV Black Flag™ because Ubisoft really does their homework on history, and well—who wouldn’t be thrilled to write Blackbeard’s Journal? As for my favorite world to write in . . . I have to say, my own!
3. Where can fans expect to meet you next? Any book signings or appearances in the future?
I am a fixture at Colorado’s StarFest, where I will be selling and signing books on May 2–4 at the Marriott in the Denver Tech Center. I’m hoping to be a guest at Wyrd Con, May 22–26, at the Westin LAX. We’re still waiting on the results of a Kickstarter before I can confirm I’ll be attending. I am also a regular at BlizzCon, but I have no details to share as to when—if it’s happening, which I hope it is!—it will be this year.
You can follow me on Twitter @ChristieGolden, on Facebook, and at my website at www.christiegolden.com. (I am going to try to be better at keeping it updated!) I hope to do more signings this year with two exciting projects out, and my Twitter is where I’ll be posting the latest info.
4. Do you have any advice for gamers who want to write?
It’s nearly impossible to break into any sort of media fiction if you don’t already have publishing credits. That’s because it’s very deadline driven, and the companies and publishers want someone who has already demonstrated they can handle that sort of thing. What you can do to start getting that “track record” is look into getting your own original fiction out there in reputable markets. A great resource is www.writerbeware.org.
5. What’s next for you?
My next immediate project is doing a novel for Cryptozoic’s forthcoming HEX MMO trading card game. It’s exciting to be helping create so much of this world, as it is all so new. Then I’m doing another project for Blizzard, and in my copious spare time, I am working on seeing if I can’t get some original works published as well. I’m certainly busy, and I couldn’t be happier about that!

Niekończący się konflikt. Stary grzech. Nowe objawienie.

Simon Hathaway, członek Wewnętrznego Sanktuarium Zakonu Templariuszy, staje na czele wydziału Badań Historycznych Abstergo Industries, wnosząc do nowej pracy swoje analityczne podejście i chłodne spojrzenie. Ale Simon jest także głodny wiedzy i zafascynowany możliwością bezpośredniego doświadczania historii poprzez wspomnienia swojego przodka, Gabriela Laxarta, który walczył ramię w ramię z legendarną Joanną d’Arc.

Kiedy zaczyna korzystać z nowego modelu Animusa, odkrywa fakty, na które nie był przygotowany: dowiaduje się, jak głęboko sięgają źródła konfliktu templariuszy i asasynów, a także jak wiele gotów był zrobić jego przodek dla ukochanej kobiety. Poznając dawne tajemnice, Simon musi zmierzyć się z odpowiedzią na niebezpieczne pytanie: kto tak naprawdę jest heretykiem, a kto prawowiernym wyznawcą?

Slave. Gladiator. Shaman. Warchief. The enigmatic Orc known as Thrall has been all of these. Raised from infancy by cruel human masters who sought to mould him into their perfect pawn, Thrall was driven by both the savagery in his heart and the cunning of his upbringing to pursue a destiny he was only beginning to understand - to break his bondage and rediscover the ancient traditions of his people. Now the tumultuous tale of his life's journey - a saga of honour, hatred, and hope - can at last be told...

The ashes of the Cataclysm have settled across Azeroth’s disparate kingdoms. As the broken world recovers from the disaster, the renowned sorceress Lady Jaina Proudmoore continues her long struggle to mend relations between the Horde and the Alliance. Yet of late, escalating tensions have pushed the two factions closer to open war, threatening to destroy what little stability remains in the . . .

Dark news arrives in Jaina’s beloved city, Theramore. One of the blue dragonflight’s most powerful artifacts—the Focusing Iris—has been stolen. To unravel the item’s mysterious whereabouts, Jaina works with the former blue Dragon Aspect Kalecgos. The two brilliant heroes forge an unlikely bond during their investigation, but another disastrous turn of events looms on the horizon. . . .

Garrosh Hellscream is mustering the Horde’s armies for an all-out invasion of Theramore. Despite mounting dissent within his faction, the brazen warchief aims to usher in a new era of Horde domination. His thirst for conquest leads him to take brutal measures against anyone who dares question his leadership.

Alliance forces converge on Theramore to repel the Horde onslaught, but the brave defenders are unprepared for the true scope of Garrosh’s cunning and deceptive strategy. His attack will irrevocably transform Jaina, engulfing the ardent peacekeeper in the chaotic and all-consuming . . . TIDES OF WAR

The Hour of Twilight. She'd spoken of it at the meeting, tried to warn the others of it, but the warning had gotten lost; a little bright fragment of . . . something . . . had been briskly swept away like a broken bit of pottery beneath an industrious broom. It was-- She gnawed her lower lip, thinking.It was the greatest challenge the dragonflights would face, but she did not know against whom they would be fighting. It might come soon . . . or aeons from now. Could it have something to do with the return of Deathwing? Surely it had to . . . did it not? This breaking of the world was one of the worst things that had ever happened to Azeroth.How could she persuade others of the direness of the situation when she herself could not articulate it? She uttered a little noise of annoyance and frustration.One thing she knew for certain. There were many pieces missing from this puzzle, but there was one core piece that was necessary before any of the others could fall into place. It was a very strange piece, an unlikely one at best, and she was uncertain as to how he would fit in. She only knew that he had to.Ysera had seen him, floating in and out of her dreaming. She had thought she understood his role in things, but now, peculiar as it seemed, something--some inner certainty that even she did not fully understand--was leading her to think she had not seen the full breadth of his contribution to Azeroth.He was not a dragon. But he had the interests of the dragonflights in his heart--whether he knew it or not. He straddled worlds--but did not seek to rule or command or destroy them. He was unique.She tilted her head, let the wind play with her long green hair. Perhaps that was why he fit in. Even the Aspects were not singular beings, although each had unique abilities. Not one but five there had been at the beginning, when the titans had come and shared their power for the good of Azeroth. Four there were now, but there would soon be five again, when the blues determined how to choose the one who would lead them.But there was only one like this being.There was only one Thrall.

The New York Times bestselling tie-in to the World of Warcraft game expansion: Cataclysm .

Thrall, wise shaman and the warchief of the Horde, has sensed a disturbing change.

Long ago, Azeroth’s destructive native elementals raged across the world until the benevolent titans imprisoned them within the Elemental Plane. Despite the titans’ intervention, many elementals have ended up back on Azeroth. Over the ages, shamans like Thrall have communed with these spirits and, through patience and dedication, learned to soothe roaring infernos, bring rain to sun-scorched lands, and otherwise temper the elementals’ ruinous influence on the world of Azeroth.

Now Thrall has discovered that the elementals no longer heed the shaman’s call. While he seeks answers to what ails the confused elements, he also wrestles with the orcs’ precarious future as his people face dwindling supplies and growing hostility with their night elf neighbors. The fate of Azeroth’s great races is shrouded in a fog of uncertainty, and the erratic behavior of the elemental spirits, troubling though it is, may only be the first ominous warning sign of the cataclysm to come.

Though the young Warchief Thrall ended the demon curse that had plagued his people for generations, the orcs still wrestle with the sins of their bloody past. As the rampaging "Horde," they waged a number of devastating wars against their perennial enemy -- the Alliance. Yet the rage and bloodlust that drove the orcs to destroy everything in their path nearly consumed them as well. Long ago, on the idyllic world of Draenor, the noble orc clans lived in relative peace with their enigmatic neighbors, the draenei. But the nefarious agents of the Burning Legion had other plans for both of the unsuspecting races. The demon-lord Kil'jaeden set in motion a dark chain of events that would succeed not only in eradicating the draenei, but forging the orc clans into an single, unstoppable juggernaut of hatred and destruction.

The book World of Warcraft fans have been clamoring for--the true story behind one of the Warcraft universe's most terrifying villains, Arthas the Lich King. Author Christie Golden does for Arthas what she once did for the Orc Lord Thrall in the bestselling Warcraft: Lord of the Clans, in another epic exploration of one of the key characters from the eleven-million subscriber massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

The aging orc shaman Ner'zhul has seized control of the Horde and reopened the Dark Portal. His brutal warriors once again encroach upon Azeroth, laying siege to the newly constructed stronghold of Nethergarde Keep. There, the archmage Khadgar and the Alliance commander, Turalyon, lead humanity and its elven and dwarven allies in fighting this new invasion.
Even so, disturbing questions arise. Khadgar learns of orcish incursions farther abroad: small groups of orcs who seem to pursue a goal other than simple conquest. Worse yet, black dragons have been sighted as well, and they appear to be aiding the orcs. To counter Ner'zhul's dark schemes, the Alliance must now invade the orcs' ruined homeworld of Draenor. Can Khadgar and his companions stop the nefarious shaman in time to stave off the destruction of two worlds?

In the mist-shrouded haze of the past, the world of Azeroth teemed with wondrous creatures of every kind. Mysterious Elves and hardy Dwarves walked among tribes of Man in relative peace and harmony -- until the arrival of the demonic army known as the Burning Legion shattered the world's tranquility forever. Now Orcs, Dragons, Goblins, and Trolls all vie for supremacy over the scattered, warring kingdoms -- part of a grand, malevolent scheme that will determine the fate of the world of WARCRAFT

Slave. Gladiator. Shaman. Warchief. The enigmatic Orc known as Thrall has been all of these. Raised from infancy by cruel human masters who sought to mold him into their perfect pawn, Thrall was driven by both the savagery in his heart and the cunning of his upbringing to pursue a destiny he was only beginning to understand -- to break his bondage and rediscover the ancient traditions of his people. Now the tumultuous tale of his life's journey -- a saga of honor, hatred, and hope -- can at last be told....

‫نرزول، شمن سالخورده، کنترل هورد را در دست گرفته و درگاه تاریکی را بازگشایی کرده است. جنگجویان وحشی و بی‌رحمش بار دیگر بر ازراث دست‌اندازی کرده، قصد تصرّف دژ تازه بنا شدهٔ ندرگارد کیپ را دارندو جادگر اعظم، خادگار و فرماندهٔ متّحدین، تورالین، فرماندهی انسان‌ها و متّحدان الف و دورفشان را در این نبرد جدید بر عهده دارند.
‫در این میان نات نگران‌کننده‌ای وجود دارد. خادگار از هدف اصلی تهاجم جدید اورک‌ها آگاه شده است؛ گروه کوچکی از آن‌ها در صدد دسترسی به اهدافی فراتر از یک پیروزی نظامی هستند. از آن بدتر، اژدهایان سیاه نیز برای کمک به اورک‌ها وارد نبرد شده‌آند. برای مقابله با مقاصد شیطانی نرزول، متّحدین باید به جهان نابودشدهٔ اورک‌ها، درانور، نفوذ کنند.
‫آیا خادگار و همراهانش می‌تواندد به موقع، شمن شریر را از نابودی هر دو جهان بازدارند؟