If you're completely new to World of Warcraft you might find its lore somewhat hard to get in to, especially now that Blizzard has started dabbling in alternate realities, time travel, resurrecting story characters that have already died multiple times, and so forth.
Things are even rougher when you consider that the younger generations don't have over a decade of exposure to all things Warcraft, which would be the exact reason why the World of Warcraft: Traveler book series is currently being made. Here's the trailer (books apparently have those now) and the plot synopsis Blizzard has posted up:
"It’s been years since twelve-year-old Aramar Thorne, a clever boy who is never without his precious sketch book, has seen his father. So when Captain Greydon Thorne comes ashore and asks his son to join him at sea, it feels as if someone has redrawn Aram’s entire world. Before he knows it, Aram is aboard the Wavestrider with Lakeshire fading to a distant dot on the horizon.
But the thrill of adventure quickly fades, as Greydon relentlessly schools Aram on how to handle his cutlass and how to relate with the strange and diverse creatures of Azeroth. In addition, Aram struggles to get along with the Wavestrider’s crew—especially second mate Makasa, a tough teenaged girl who has been reluctantly placed in charge of him. Just as Aram starts to get his head above water, a band of vicious pirates attack the Wavestrider, turning his world upside down once again.
As Aram tries to find his way home with his father’s compass in hand, he’ll travel across Azeroth’s beautiful and hostile terrain, encountering creatures both terrible and wondrous. He’ll seek to understand Azeroth’s denizens as he draws them in his sketchbook, forming unlikely friendships along the way. But the journey is hindered by Greydon’s compass, which never points north. If the compass isn't leading Aram and Makasa home--to safety--to what destiny is it leading them?"
If that synopsis is leaving you with the distinct feeling that this book is a bit tame, you wouldn't be wrong as World of Warcraft: Traveler is being made for kids ages 8-12, with the idea being to slowly introduce them to the wast amounts of WoW lore, and eventually leave them addicted to collecting mounts for the rest of their lives.
The entire series is being written by Greg Weisman, creator of Disney's Gargoyles, and one of the leader writers behind Young Justice, Star Wars Rebels, The Marvelous Spider Man and more. Depending on your age this might not elicit much of an response, but I've spent far too many hours curled up in bed watching Gargoyles to not read about his involvement with a smile on my face.
The artwork for the first book is coming from two of Blizzard's own artists, Samwise Didier who was with the company since the early days, and Stephane Belin who I know little about, but she works at Blizzard and that tends to be enough.
World of Warcraft: Traveler will be out in November 2016, and even though I'm as far from its targeted audience as one can get, I'm still excited about the idea of an entire new generation of kids getting invested in the Warcraft universe I've spent well over a decade obsessing with.