Review: Dawn of the Aspects, Part 2


I want to thank Blizzard for sending me a review copy of the second part of Dawn of the Aspects by Richard A Knaak.

We now have the second part of the Dawn of the Aspects ebook, which began in part 1 by introducing us to four of the proto-dragons that would one day become the Aspects of the four of the five dragon flights, Alexstrasza, Ysera, Neltharion, and Malygos. The story is told through memories of the late blue Aspect Malygos that are stored in an ancient magical artifact that the former Aspect Kalecgos finds buried deep in the remains of the Father of all Dragons, Galakrond. Part 1 did not have us meet the bronze Aspect, Nozdormu, however by the end of part 2 we do meet the Aspect of time, and future leader of the his flight.

The second part sees only a few connections to the current timeline in game, with Kalec more often slipping into the memories of Malygos. We see a number of new proto-dragons, mainly seeing the proto-dragon Talonixa, who is an outspoken proponent of all-out war on the behemoth Galakrond. We also see Coros, a rival of Malygos, who continues in the untrustworthy ways that we saw from him in part 1. In that first part of the book, we found out some truly disturbing things happening to the proto-dragons, and some of the questions from that part are answered here, though I found myself in the end with more new questions, and some pretty solid guesses, than I ended part 1 with.

Proto-dragons are gathering in large numbers, larger than ever before, to combat a threat that risks the entirety of dragon kind. Some, like the future green Aspect Ysera, are speaking of peace, of wanting to end the violence and usher the dragons into a more peaceful era. Others, like Talonixa, are gathering to wage war, to attack and defeat that which preys upon them in order to rid the species of a threat that horrifies and terrifies them all.

Meanwhile, through the eyes of Malygos, Kalec sees mysterious cloaked individuals, much smaller than even the proto-dragons but that he senses could easy be his match. This figure, or figures, seem to have the ability to move very quickly from location to location, much faster than any normal being their size is able. Add to this a cave that Kalec finds, the exact cave that Malygos first encountered the cloaked individual in the past, with the remains of dragons who appear to have been experimented on and twisted into deformities of themselves.

The story of Dawn of the Aspects is only getting more and more intriguing, and ever curiouser as the parts continue on. As I mentioned, we do finally meet Nozdormu, and see some truly disturbing sights that no doubt will lead the lore hounds like Shade to have their tin foil hats firmly affixed to their heads by the time the last part is consumed.

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