Richard Knaak...
Yes, I am one of those who believe that Richard A. Knaak is an absolute hack, who not only has no gist of a clue on World of Warcraft's World-Building, but also makes characters on necessity, exactly like Christopher Paolini. His stories' design begins with:
A) What he would like to include: Races/Spells/Whatever,
B) Making Characters to work the plot out, mostly by requirement and a "I would need a character for X, thus I'll make Yorick, a funny compassionate guy who counters John."
C) Works with a bizzare combination of Rule of Drama and Rule of Cool,
D) Unfolds his stories, and pits his main characters (of his creation) under things Warcraft Lore wouldn't understand at all.
I will explain about these in due time, but here is an interview with him, and how I came to dislike him professionally. Text is small so that I could blog it. I have a few comments on the interview, which I could not hold back by honest immaturity.
On the second day of BlizzCon 2009, I got the chance to sit down with Richard Knaak, best selling author of countless novels, including many in the Warcraft universe, such as the War of the Ancients Trilogy, Day of the Dragon, and Night of Dragon. His upcoming projects include the Stormrage novel, as well as the Dragons of Outland manga trilogy. We talked about all this and more, and you can read our conversation below.
So of course, the big thing on everyone's mind is the new Stormrage book. How's it coming along? Is it near completion?
It's near completion, we're in the editing process, getting the OKs from Blizzard. You can find an excerpt in the latest volume of the Legends Manga, along with a story I wrote, sort of a Prologue that ties in with the book.
A few notes before we go balls-deep: Knaak is one of my least favorite writers in the Warcraft novel industry, and he is the least-favorite for many others I know well. Main reasons I dislike him include but are not limited to:
Bad portrayal of established Warcraft I, II, and III lore.
Cardboard characters that could be replaced with talking skeletons and the events won't change,
Rigid story structure,
A very large story scale on the account of characters who seem to be lost,
Inconsistency and going off too many tangents, while not keeping to a particular plot.
Now the brothers Stormrage are my favorite Night Elf lore characters, and I liked them when it was Warcraft III: They are all very honest characters who strike a cord with me. If Knaak portrays them in an inconsistent manner in comparison to their first appearances in Warcraft III under Chris Metzen's control, that would not help increase my points for him.
Can you give us a sneak preview of what to expect lore-wise?
You know Blizzard likes to keep these secret, so I am going to be very limited in what I can talk about. It is Malfurion. It is about the Nightmare. And it is very current. That's the three biggest things I can say about it right off the bat. You'll see characters you know from the game and obviously from other books, and places you know from the game, and it's very current, very relevant. Of course, that's about all I can say. You know Blizzard, they love their secrets!
I'll assume a few things that will come out: It's about the Maelstrom. It includes Cenarious. It includes Illidan, and (God forgive me), it WILL include Rhonin, thanks to his change in canon via his War of the Ancients. *Vomit*
So I know you've written for many different worlds, you've written for Diablo, for Warcraft, and for quite a few other various IPs-
I also wrote one manga story for Starcraft. When they did the first Starcraft anthology, they (TokyoPop) asked me if I wanted to do a story. I said, well, I haven't written for the series before, but let me talk to Blizzard. So I talked to Chris and the others, and they said they thought that'd be a great idea. I said I wanted to do something really techy, and they mentioned the Thor Machines. And I said, oh, I love war machines, give me war machines! So it's kind of a Kelly's Heroes sort of thing. Well, there's no heroes in there, really, but it was a fun story.
I hate his enthusiasm. When he's excited, he goes off tangents. The Sunwell Trilogy was entirely ONE HUGE TANGENT that is a critically poor product. I did like the manga-style in drawing, but the characters were poor. The storyline was (with every tangent) expected. Knaak tried to get his characters as much places as they could get before the story ends, and that lack of a central axis point is a very destructive and confusing habit.
So you have the Trifecta! But I'm interested to know, do you have a favorite world to work with?
Well, my most favorite world is one of my own, The Dragonrealm. Pocket's publishing the first three novels in an omnibus, coming out in about 10 or 11 days now. It actually got me off to a good start. Firedrake was my writing sample that I showed to the people at TSR, the people who originally published Dragonlance. They were in Lake Geneva and I was in Chicago, so I drove up there and walked in off the street. You can't do that these days, but I did.
And they liked the sample, but they were only doing Dragonlance at that time, so they asked me if I would submit to that based on my original sample and I came up with four ideas for short stories, and they said, "We'll take these three," and I'm like, "Ok!" And then, as I was finishing those up, they asked me if I'd do Legend of Huma. And of course, I make Noble characters, Knights and the like. I have a Paladin, Jorad Mace, who I like to use as an example of that. He's in the Sunwell Trilogy, and he's going to be in Dragons of Outland. I think he's in game too. I haven't run across him yet, but people tell me he's there.
He's not a paladin, writer. He's an ex-paladin who doesn't really have a respectable backstory. No, abandoning Prince Arthas will not make a paladin an Ex-Paladin: Only having the paladin do something against the Light's teachings or against his faith would make him an Ex-paladin. With such a central character and with no intention of a backstory (and a weak shadow of a backstory behind it), the odds are tough to consider Knaak's characters even somehow easy to relate to.
Here is something I addressed in Retribution is at Hand's first draft: Derrick Mace did abandon Arthas at Stratholme, and yet, he's not an Ex-paladin, nor is Uther, nor are the hundreds of other Knights of the Silver Hand.
And yes, he is in the game. He's in a half-destroyed planet, doing nothing but playing with his balls.
But other than that, I love all the worlds I work with. I've worked in some great worlds. I've worked in Conan's World, I've worked in Dragonlance, I worked in a world called Shattered Lights, which was a game project from years ago. The book did better than the game in that case! And of course, Blizzard.
I've got to say, Azeroth, let's face it. That's the most detailed world I've ever played with, and I cannot say enough good stuff about it. I know we've had to correct and change some lore over the years. I don't like to have to do that sometimes. Yes, sometimes we make mistakes, but altogether we're trying to give you a good game and world experience, but yes, definitely Azeroth is one of my all time favorite worlds. It's got that lush feel to it, the diversity.
I would forgive his ignorance of one of the most BASIC ALLIANCE ORGANIZATIONS OF ALL TIME AND THE ONE ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO THE ONE RELIGION OF MEN, but I just can't. The Order of the Silver Hand =/= the Scarlet Crusade. I would have loved Knaak if Jorad Mace was an ex-scarlet crusader, and his abandonment of the cruelty and controversy of that order would possibly result in him being an ex-paladin, but that isn't even whispered about. And Knaak likes to whisper.
Jorad Mace is a lacking character. Rhonin is a lacking character---heck, all of them are lacking characters.
I'm really hyped up on Cataclysm because I knew they were going to do something with Deathwing, but I didn't know what particularly because they kept that secret even from me, but when I heard, I told the Blizzard folks, you do anything with Deathwing in the books, I better be the first to have a chance at him! I've done the Day of the Dragon, I've done the War of the Ancients, and I like to think I've chronicled his growing madness over the millenia, and I should be there for the end of it.
No...please...no....
Lccorp2 has spoken volumes about Knaak, and if he read this, he won't be happy.
And then they got the Werewolves, and I was like, "Yes! Werewolf people!" I want to play one of them! My computer crashed, so I've had to reload World of Warcraft. I have a level 15 Mage stuck in Westfall fighting Harvest Golems, so he's going to be there for a while. If the Worgen are available, I'll jump in and try one of those guys.
They. Are. Not. Werewolves. They are closer to Shapeshifters in Twilight. The lore on them isn't even fully fleshed out, and he's labeling them already...
Once you start writing a story in Azeroth, how does the process work? How much do you talk with Chris Metzen and the rest of the lore team? How much free reign do they give you? How much do you have to stick to lore and how much can you fabricate yourself?
Well, they give me pretty free reign because they know I can stay in tune with what they're doing. I'll suggest things that I think fit in with what they've got. They'll come to me with a concept, say, we want you to do the War of the Ancients, and they'll give me details about it, but they'll say we want want you to give us more than just what the lore says here.
In the case of War of the Ancients, I immediately thought of Nozdormu. He's the Dragon of Time, of course he's going to have time travel. He couldn't help what he did, so a couple characters got flung back. I needed somebody that people knew back there. But I thought I still made the story very much about Malfurion, about Illidan, and Tyrande. As I wrote things, Blizzard asked me to do different things because they liked how certain things were going, so while I had a lot of use of my own imagination, I always tied it in with what they were looking for and what they wanted of the existing lore.
So he picked up his already lacking characters from another story, made up a plot device that is widely hailed as the worst cliche of all time, and -instead of making new main characters-, he just tossed in his own in a swirling vortex and began Day of the Dragon--10,000 Years Ago!
I would have appreciated it if he used already established characters and did his twist--but no--It's Rhonin we're talking about; he is in! Why is he the Kirin Tor's first choice? Plot reasons.
Why is he chosen to go back in time? Plot reasons.
I could go on, but I would have to refresh my memory on War of the Ancients, and I would NOT suffer to read it again.
So it's sort of a give and take between you and the lore team.
Right, and I worked that way with Dragonlance too, for example. If they tell me something has to be that way, I will make it that way.
-with Rhonin.
So did Blizzard first approach you about writing the novels, or did you approach them?
It actually happened right after that project I did where the books did better than the game. [Editor's note: Shattered Lights.] I was working with Simon and Schuster on that, and I got a call from the Editor who was working with Pocket Books at the time, and he told me my name was on a short list for novelists for working with Warcraft and Diablo and they asked me if I was interested. I had heard of the games and had contemplated getting one, but I said I was certainly interested because I knew what kind of worlds they were, and so, they sent me the games and material, I had a conversation with Chris Metzen and the editors at Pocket, and it felt like we all knew what we were talking about, like we had been talking for years, you know? Apparently a lot of people at Blizzard knew my Dragonlance work. I like to say I've been raising some of my employers these days. The people at Blizzard and the Senior Editor at TokyoPop both grew up with books like Legend of Huma. And anyway, I started on one series, and as openings came up, I signed for those also, so I ended up doing the first Diablo and Warcraft novels.
People seemed to like how they turned out. Some people felt [about Day of the Dragon] like, this is an independent story from the loreline, but that is what [Blizzard] wanted. They wanted to flesh out the story and the lore. It's sold very well, it has lots of foreign editions and it's part of the Warcraft Archive, and that was the start of it all!
So, in the future, do you have any subjects you'd really like to write about in the Warcraft Universe? Or are there any projects you're working on that you can tell us about?
Well, there's nothing I can tell you about as far as current projects, but if given a chance, Deathwing, again, I will take that, because I feel he and I work well together -- He hasn't burned me up yet! Worgen, yes, I want to do Worgen, they have a really good, a really tragic story, they struggle with the dark side. I always felt they had more a tragic story than vampires. Vampires are good, but werewolves are better! Those are probably my top two subjects. Of course, right now I'm working with the Dragons of Outland in the Manga.
Vampires? You mean Darkfallen? Elven princes that couldn't--wait, we know nothing about Darkfallen. Why not try that?
And did I mention that I hate Outland? I really can't bring up a reason for it--I think it's probably because of the fact that it is all suspended in the universe because of Rule of Cool and Rule of Fun...I mean, are there no more interesting places?
But it figures Knaak would like Outland and I the Plaguelands: We both have things to go back to.
I have a fallen kingdom riddles with ex-heroes and danger, and he has a barren land of floating rocks.
So it sounds like you're excited to go to Outland, which brings me to my next question. What's been your favorite Story to work on in the World of Warcraft? What's been the most challenging?
Oh wow. Well, I'd have to say the War of the Ancients was the biggest and most challenging. That trilogy was a really big concept. There was a lot of back and forth work on that, a lot of detail work with people, what we kept intact and what he had to adjust, and I'm really very proud with how that trilogy worked out. I've gotten some very good comments on that one. Amongst my Warcraft stuff, I think the trilogy has struck a lot of people, and I really have to say that it's my favorite so far.
It struck me with boredom and a friend with a heart attack.
Although I have to say that if I'm proud of anything more, it may just be Stormrage. It's been great working on the new book, there's been a lot of characters people will recognize from the game, there places people will recognize. The Nightmare's a significant part of it.
Yes. We sort of figured that out considering Malfurion was lost in the Emerald Dream for almost seven years now...
Interesting. I have to say, I was expecting Stormrage to tie in with the Cataclysm.
I never said it didn't! And I never said it did! It's one of those annoying parts where I can't confirm or deny, and the very fact I am saying that doesn't not mean I am confirming or denying. When I say that, people think, "Aha! This is what he means, but..."
But it's Stormrage with a side order of Rhonin!
I would be surprised if Rhonin doesn't act like a demigod (like he always does) and saves TAH DAI!
Right, Everyone wants to read just a little more into things.
Yeah, but I have to go with what Blizzard wants me to tell, and they can be pretty restrictive on that. But I can only emphasize that Stormrage will be very current, and you can take that for whatever you want it to mean.
Soon(TM)
That's Fair! Now, I know you've created a lot of original characters for the Warcraft universe. I'm curious as to what your creation process is like. Are these characters that come to you, or do you try to sculpt them to the story they're in, perhaps?
Well, first of all, I've always loved Dragons, and I've always loved shape shifting Dragons, so you'll find that in a lot of my dragon work, if there's intelligent dragons who are magical. I'm not the first one to originate that, of course, but I am one whose really pushed in that. If you read my Dragonrealms series, I started out with that sort of thing. Although in Dragonrealms, the males tend to look like these scaly armored figures. They can't quite get the human aspect out. Whereas the females can really get it down, but their powers are lessened because of it. But that's an example from my series.
Shapeshifting dragons = Special humans.
But I do try to build the characters based around the situation. So Korialstrasz - Krasus - seemed to be a logical character because the Red Dragonflight seems to represent life, so they would like to protect things, I think. And who better than the consort of the Aspect?
Characters from necessity. An undisputed mark of a bad author.
Also, I always like Mages, and I always like ones that are a bit argumentative with the upper brass, so to speak. (Yes, because magic isn't academic, am I right?) And I think red is a good color for a temperamental Mage, so Rhonin came about because I needed someone who was a bit of a do-it-himself guy who really gets on people's nerves (You won't believe how successful you are off-screen there). Krasus, while being at the opposite end of the scale, is aware of how capable and useful he is, and Krasus can't do everything. It's not that he wants to use other, lesser people, but he feels its a necessity. It's a dragon's point of view. Rhonin's not the first person he's used. As I hint in, I think, Night of the Dragon, Krasus has used other agents over the centuries, and some of them have died because of being involved with them. He feels bad about that, but the bigger picture demands the protection of the world. Again, a dragon's point of view. (And that differs from the supposed human leader mentality...how?)
For Vareesa, I wanted to have a counterpart to Rhonin who was a bit more of a stickler for detail and how things should be done, but yet ends up being just as rebellious as him in many ways. And the Villains depend on the situation. Deathwing was obvious, but we wanted to show his machinations behind the scenes, so we created Lord Prestor. And for a bit of comic relief, he had a Goblin who was assisting him.
Vareesa was made to be a romantic interest. A snarky one at that, who would talk down to him just to be his mule later. What does she see in him?
Deathwing...I can't talk about Deathwing. I'm not the dragon expert here.
And there's characters who just meld in depending on how the story runs. A lot of it depends on how the story runs. And I do try to come up with some different characters each time, like the Draenei in Night of the Dragon. And in War of the Ancients, I had to create a lot of different Night Elves in a lot of different positions to show how, if you're in this position, you're not as respected as if you were in this position.
The martial-arts Draernei? Who didn't fit in at all in the combat style of any known race so far? A Karate user with reverse knee design?
For example, Jerod Shadowsong is a Captain of the Guard, but he's not going to be as respected as many of the lords and masters until he proves he's the guy who can actually do something. Aristocrats always think they can run the wars better. (Knaak does like the trope Aristocrats Are Evil) Haughtiness unfortunately tends to be something you have to watch out for in Night Elf Society. The way Azshara was described to me, she was vain and a little bit mad, but I just knew that she had to be a manipulator in some ways too. Then there's Xavius, her advisor, who says I'll do what's best for my queen because that's my power too, and that's basically all the Highborne thought: The Queen is all, and as long as the Queen is all, we are all. Of course, some of them figured out at the end it wasn't quite like that all. But that's how it goes, you have to feel out the different hierarchy of the different races, and try to come up with characters who fit into the situation as it is.
That actually reminds me of my next question. I know you've created or fleshed out quite a few characters and cultures in your books, and we're seeing hints of them in game. For example, the Highborne are returning in the latest patch to rejoin the Night Elf culture. We're seeing Rhonin now as head of the Kirin Tor. Does the lore team consult you on putting your characters in to the game, or is it more of a pleasant surprise for you?
Well, sometimes its been a surprise, though they do often tell me, "So-and-So's going to be in the game eventually." They almost never say when or where though. But sometimes they'll tell me, "Oh, Rhonin's going to be head of the Kirin Tor." Fine by me! He's going to have to learn a little responsibility it looks like. But hey, he has kids now, so maybe he is learning it already. He's gotta get a good daytime job now, he has kids to raise. (I think I have only Chris Metzen to call out for this one, but I suppose they wanted a well-known sorcerer...for better or worse.)
Of course, Agents of Krasus turned up fairly quickly in the game. I had done some work with Alexstraza to develop her character, and they started doing more with her as well. And of course, a lot of my Manga characters showed up in game, like Anveena and Kalec. And Anveena had a pretty significant role. They were very happy with what I came up with for Anveena. They thought it was a great way to bring back what they wanted to bring back, so they said pretty quickly that they would use that situation in the game. Really, I've gotten to the point where if I put in a good amount of work on a character, there's a good chance they'll use it for something, and I'm very proud about that, I'm very pleased. I'm always trying to think of characters who are worthy enough and strong enough to make it in game. (Which is really pitiful, considering that the characters used without his consent do more heroic deeds than when under his pen. Did he ever consider the fact that another writer -Christie Golden, for instance- makes a new character, Blizzard would use her character to fill in gaps? It's funny that considering Jorad Mace's efforts in the Sunwell Trilogy, he is still smack-dab in the middle of Outlands, doing NOTHING, not even having a dialogue option.)
Trag Highmountain has shown up in game now, the first Tauren Death Knight. I honestly believe I'm the one who gave them the idea for Tauren Death Knights. As I recall, I told them I wanted to bring Trag back as an undead warrior type, and they said, "The only real undead warrior types we have are Death Knights," and I said that a Death Knight would be cool! And they started sending me illustrations and sketches of Tauren Death Knights, and I'm like, oh wow! And well, I can't say for sure, but I was definitely thinking this up pretty early on, and now they (Tauren Deathknights) are in game. If somebody else came up with the concept before me, I hadn't heard about it, so I certainly feel I was in there very close to the beginning, and now he's in there telling people he's going to join them in the final assault on Icecrown.(Yes. He inspired Tauren DeathKnights.)
Right, I've seen him around, but I'm only Alliance, so I don't know exactly what he says. (Interview fail)
Yeah, I'm Alliance and I haven't quite gotten that high level, but some of my Horde friends tell me that. But anyway, he's one of my favorites that they've put in the game. I love Minotaurs, so I love Tauren. (*Facepalm*)
Yeah, I definitely need to read more of the Mangas. It's probably my weakest area as far as keeping abreast of Warcraft literature and lore.
You've not gotten into the Manga yet? Let me introduce you to someone...
Let's put a few things straight out here: Knaak is a nice guy. He does like his characters and he will defend them against accusations of Suedom, but there is something every writer in an established canon should do:
Never, under any circumstances, unless absolutely imperative, use established canon characters in your work.
You see, dear reader, when reading through Retribution is at Hand, you will notice references to established characters in my work, but interactions are very limited and there won't be many screen time of them, for this reason: It is hard to breathe new life into another writer's characters.
A writer has a fingerprint that is on his characters. Putting another fingerprint above the first would require two things:
Having the new finger clearer,
Or holding the character by the edges, where the original fingerprint would be only scratched.
Why? A writer cannot vow or maintain another writer's attitude and be consistent with a character not of his own. When using Lord Leonid Barthalomew, he appeared in a total of three pages, and what he was doing was continuing his original job.
This is something in fanfiction that irks me: I could stand a writer using an original character, but there are limits, and those limits are very thin and fragile. For example: Torylltales provided an excerpt in Anti-Shur'tugal of a Harry Potter fanfiction where Harry was being used as a rape-dummy for his uncle's co-workers.
A) What he would like to include: Races/Spells/Whatever,
B) Making Characters to work the plot out, mostly by requirement and a "I would need a character for X, thus I'll make Yorick, a funny compassionate guy who counters John."
C) Works with a bizzare combination of Rule of Drama and Rule of Cool,
D) Unfolds his stories, and pits his main characters (of his creation) under things Warcraft Lore wouldn't understand at all.
I will explain about these in due time, but here is an interview with him, and how I came to dislike him professionally. Text is small so that I could blog it. I have a few comments on the interview, which I could not hold back by honest immaturity.
On the second day of BlizzCon 2009, I got the chance to sit down with Richard Knaak, best selling author of countless novels, including many in the Warcraft universe, such as the War of the Ancients Trilogy, Day of the Dragon, and Night of Dragon. His upcoming projects include the Stormrage novel, as well as the Dragons of Outland manga trilogy. We talked about all this and more, and you can read our conversation below.
So of course, the big thing on everyone's mind is the new Stormrage book. How's it coming along? Is it near completion?
It's near completion, we're in the editing process, getting the OKs from Blizzard. You can find an excerpt in the latest volume of the Legends Manga, along with a story I wrote, sort of a Prologue that ties in with the book.
A few notes before we go balls-deep: Knaak is one of my least favorite writers in the Warcraft novel industry, and he is the least-favorite for many others I know well. Main reasons I dislike him include but are not limited to:
Bad portrayal of established Warcraft I, II, and III lore.
Cardboard characters that could be replaced with talking skeletons and the events won't change,
Rigid story structure,
A very large story scale on the account of characters who seem to be lost,
Inconsistency and going off too many tangents, while not keeping to a particular plot.
Now the brothers Stormrage are my favorite Night Elf lore characters, and I liked them when it was Warcraft III: They are all very honest characters who strike a cord with me. If Knaak portrays them in an inconsistent manner in comparison to their first appearances in Warcraft III under Chris Metzen's control, that would not help increase my points for him.
Can you give us a sneak preview of what to expect lore-wise?
You know Blizzard likes to keep these secret, so I am going to be very limited in what I can talk about. It is Malfurion. It is about the Nightmare. And it is very current. That's the three biggest things I can say about it right off the bat. You'll see characters you know from the game and obviously from other books, and places you know from the game, and it's very current, very relevant. Of course, that's about all I can say. You know Blizzard, they love their secrets!
I'll assume a few things that will come out: It's about the Maelstrom. It includes Cenarious. It includes Illidan, and (God forgive me), it WILL include Rhonin, thanks to his change in canon via his War of the Ancients. *Vomit*
So I know you've written for many different worlds, you've written for Diablo, for Warcraft, and for quite a few other various IPs-
I also wrote one manga story for Starcraft. When they did the first Starcraft anthology, they (TokyoPop) asked me if I wanted to do a story. I said, well, I haven't written for the series before, but let me talk to Blizzard. So I talked to Chris and the others, and they said they thought that'd be a great idea. I said I wanted to do something really techy, and they mentioned the Thor Machines. And I said, oh, I love war machines, give me war machines! So it's kind of a Kelly's Heroes sort of thing. Well, there's no heroes in there, really, but it was a fun story.
I hate his enthusiasm. When he's excited, he goes off tangents. The Sunwell Trilogy was entirely ONE HUGE TANGENT that is a critically poor product. I did like the manga-style in drawing, but the characters were poor. The storyline was (with every tangent) expected. Knaak tried to get his characters as much places as they could get before the story ends, and that lack of a central axis point is a very destructive and confusing habit.
So you have the Trifecta! But I'm interested to know, do you have a favorite world to work with?
Well, my most favorite world is one of my own, The Dragonrealm. Pocket's publishing the first three novels in an omnibus, coming out in about 10 or 11 days now. It actually got me off to a good start. Firedrake was my writing sample that I showed to the people at TSR, the people who originally published Dragonlance. They were in Lake Geneva and I was in Chicago, so I drove up there and walked in off the street. You can't do that these days, but I did.
And they liked the sample, but they were only doing Dragonlance at that time, so they asked me if I would submit to that based on my original sample and I came up with four ideas for short stories, and they said, "We'll take these three," and I'm like, "Ok!" And then, as I was finishing those up, they asked me if I'd do Legend of Huma. And of course, I make Noble characters, Knights and the like. I have a Paladin, Jorad Mace, who I like to use as an example of that. He's in the Sunwell Trilogy, and he's going to be in Dragons of Outland. I think he's in game too. I haven't run across him yet, but people tell me he's there.
He's not a paladin, writer. He's an ex-paladin who doesn't really have a respectable backstory. No, abandoning Prince Arthas will not make a paladin an Ex-Paladin: Only having the paladin do something against the Light's teachings or against his faith would make him an Ex-paladin. With such a central character and with no intention of a backstory (and a weak shadow of a backstory behind it), the odds are tough to consider Knaak's characters even somehow easy to relate to.
Here is something I addressed in Retribution is at Hand's first draft: Derrick Mace did abandon Arthas at Stratholme, and yet, he's not an Ex-paladin, nor is Uther, nor are the hundreds of other Knights of the Silver Hand.
And yes, he is in the game. He's in a half-destroyed planet, doing nothing but playing with his balls.
But other than that, I love all the worlds I work with. I've worked in some great worlds. I've worked in Conan's World, I've worked in Dragonlance, I worked in a world called Shattered Lights, which was a game project from years ago. The book did better than the game in that case! And of course, Blizzard.
I've got to say, Azeroth, let's face it. That's the most detailed world I've ever played with, and I cannot say enough good stuff about it. I know we've had to correct and change some lore over the years. I don't like to have to do that sometimes. Yes, sometimes we make mistakes, but altogether we're trying to give you a good game and world experience, but yes, definitely Azeroth is one of my all time favorite worlds. It's got that lush feel to it, the diversity.
I would forgive his ignorance of one of the most BASIC ALLIANCE ORGANIZATIONS OF ALL TIME AND THE ONE ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO THE ONE RELIGION OF MEN, but I just can't. The Order of the Silver Hand =/= the Scarlet Crusade. I would have loved Knaak if Jorad Mace was an ex-scarlet crusader, and his abandonment of the cruelty and controversy of that order would possibly result in him being an ex-paladin, but that isn't even whispered about. And Knaak likes to whisper.
Jorad Mace is a lacking character. Rhonin is a lacking character---heck, all of them are lacking characters.
I'm really hyped up on Cataclysm because I knew they were going to do something with Deathwing, but I didn't know what particularly because they kept that secret even from me, but when I heard, I told the Blizzard folks, you do anything with Deathwing in the books, I better be the first to have a chance at him! I've done the Day of the Dragon, I've done the War of the Ancients, and I like to think I've chronicled his growing madness over the millenia, and I should be there for the end of it.
No...please...no....
Lccorp2 has spoken volumes about Knaak, and if he read this, he won't be happy.
And then they got the Werewolves, and I was like, "Yes! Werewolf people!" I want to play one of them! My computer crashed, so I've had to reload World of Warcraft. I have a level 15 Mage stuck in Westfall fighting Harvest Golems, so he's going to be there for a while. If the Worgen are available, I'll jump in and try one of those guys.
They. Are. Not. Werewolves. They are closer to Shapeshifters in Twilight. The lore on them isn't even fully fleshed out, and he's labeling them already...
Once you start writing a story in Azeroth, how does the process work? How much do you talk with Chris Metzen and the rest of the lore team? How much free reign do they give you? How much do you have to stick to lore and how much can you fabricate yourself?
Well, they give me pretty free reign because they know I can stay in tune with what they're doing. I'll suggest things that I think fit in with what they've got. They'll come to me with a concept, say, we want you to do the War of the Ancients, and they'll give me details about it, but they'll say we want want you to give us more than just what the lore says here.
In the case of War of the Ancients, I immediately thought of Nozdormu. He's the Dragon of Time, of course he's going to have time travel. He couldn't help what he did, so a couple characters got flung back. I needed somebody that people knew back there. But I thought I still made the story very much about Malfurion, about Illidan, and Tyrande. As I wrote things, Blizzard asked me to do different things because they liked how certain things were going, so while I had a lot of use of my own imagination, I always tied it in with what they were looking for and what they wanted of the existing lore.
So he picked up his already lacking characters from another story, made up a plot device that is widely hailed as the worst cliche of all time, and -instead of making new main characters-, he just tossed in his own in a swirling vortex and began Day of the Dragon--10,000 Years Ago!
I would have appreciated it if he used already established characters and did his twist--but no--It's Rhonin we're talking about; he is in! Why is he the Kirin Tor's first choice? Plot reasons.
Why is he chosen to go back in time? Plot reasons.
I could go on, but I would have to refresh my memory on War of the Ancients, and I would NOT suffer to read it again.
So it's sort of a give and take between you and the lore team.
Right, and I worked that way with Dragonlance too, for example. If they tell me something has to be that way, I will make it that way.
-with Rhonin.
So did Blizzard first approach you about writing the novels, or did you approach them?
It actually happened right after that project I did where the books did better than the game. [Editor's note: Shattered Lights.] I was working with Simon and Schuster on that, and I got a call from the Editor who was working with Pocket Books at the time, and he told me my name was on a short list for novelists for working with Warcraft and Diablo and they asked me if I was interested. I had heard of the games and had contemplated getting one, but I said I was certainly interested because I knew what kind of worlds they were, and so, they sent me the games and material, I had a conversation with Chris Metzen and the editors at Pocket, and it felt like we all knew what we were talking about, like we had been talking for years, you know? Apparently a lot of people at Blizzard knew my Dragonlance work. I like to say I've been raising some of my employers these days. The people at Blizzard and the Senior Editor at TokyoPop both grew up with books like Legend of Huma. And anyway, I started on one series, and as openings came up, I signed for those also, so I ended up doing the first Diablo and Warcraft novels.
People seemed to like how they turned out. Some people felt [about Day of the Dragon] like, this is an independent story from the loreline, but that is what [Blizzard] wanted. They wanted to flesh out the story and the lore. It's sold very well, it has lots of foreign editions and it's part of the Warcraft Archive, and that was the start of it all!
So, in the future, do you have any subjects you'd really like to write about in the Warcraft Universe? Or are there any projects you're working on that you can tell us about?
Well, there's nothing I can tell you about as far as current projects, but if given a chance, Deathwing, again, I will take that, because I feel he and I work well together -- He hasn't burned me up yet! Worgen, yes, I want to do Worgen, they have a really good, a really tragic story, they struggle with the dark side. I always felt they had more a tragic story than vampires. Vampires are good, but werewolves are better! Those are probably my top two subjects. Of course, right now I'm working with the Dragons of Outland in the Manga.
Vampires? You mean Darkfallen? Elven princes that couldn't--wait, we know nothing about Darkfallen. Why not try that?
And did I mention that I hate Outland? I really can't bring up a reason for it--I think it's probably because of the fact that it is all suspended in the universe because of Rule of Cool and Rule of Fun...I mean, are there no more interesting places?
But it figures Knaak would like Outland and I the Plaguelands: We both have things to go back to.
I have a fallen kingdom riddles with ex-heroes and danger, and he has a barren land of floating rocks.
So it sounds like you're excited to go to Outland, which brings me to my next question. What's been your favorite Story to work on in the World of Warcraft? What's been the most challenging?
Oh wow. Well, I'd have to say the War of the Ancients was the biggest and most challenging. That trilogy was a really big concept. There was a lot of back and forth work on that, a lot of detail work with people, what we kept intact and what he had to adjust, and I'm really very proud with how that trilogy worked out. I've gotten some very good comments on that one. Amongst my Warcraft stuff, I think the trilogy has struck a lot of people, and I really have to say that it's my favorite so far.
It struck me with boredom and a friend with a heart attack.
Although I have to say that if I'm proud of anything more, it may just be Stormrage. It's been great working on the new book, there's been a lot of characters people will recognize from the game, there places people will recognize. The Nightmare's a significant part of it.
Yes. We sort of figured that out considering Malfurion was lost in the Emerald Dream for almost seven years now...
Interesting. I have to say, I was expecting Stormrage to tie in with the Cataclysm.
I never said it didn't! And I never said it did! It's one of those annoying parts where I can't confirm or deny, and the very fact I am saying that doesn't not mean I am confirming or denying. When I say that, people think, "Aha! This is what he means, but..."
But it's Stormrage with a side order of Rhonin!
I would be surprised if Rhonin doesn't act like a demigod (like he always does) and saves TAH DAI!
Right, Everyone wants to read just a little more into things.
Yeah, but I have to go with what Blizzard wants me to tell, and they can be pretty restrictive on that. But I can only emphasize that Stormrage will be very current, and you can take that for whatever you want it to mean.
Soon(TM)
That's Fair! Now, I know you've created a lot of original characters for the Warcraft universe. I'm curious as to what your creation process is like. Are these characters that come to you, or do you try to sculpt them to the story they're in, perhaps?
Well, first of all, I've always loved Dragons, and I've always loved shape shifting Dragons, so you'll find that in a lot of my dragon work, if there's intelligent dragons who are magical. I'm not the first one to originate that, of course, but I am one whose really pushed in that. If you read my Dragonrealms series, I started out with that sort of thing. Although in Dragonrealms, the males tend to look like these scaly armored figures. They can't quite get the human aspect out. Whereas the females can really get it down, but their powers are lessened because of it. But that's an example from my series.
Shapeshifting dragons = Special humans.
But I do try to build the characters based around the situation. So Korialstrasz - Krasus - seemed to be a logical character because the Red Dragonflight seems to represent life, so they would like to protect things, I think. And who better than the consort of the Aspect?
Characters from necessity. An undisputed mark of a bad author.
Also, I always like Mages, and I always like ones that are a bit argumentative with the upper brass, so to speak. (Yes, because magic isn't academic, am I right?) And I think red is a good color for a temperamental Mage, so Rhonin came about because I needed someone who was a bit of a do-it-himself guy who really gets on people's nerves (You won't believe how successful you are off-screen there). Krasus, while being at the opposite end of the scale, is aware of how capable and useful he is, and Krasus can't do everything. It's not that he wants to use other, lesser people, but he feels its a necessity. It's a dragon's point of view. Rhonin's not the first person he's used. As I hint in, I think, Night of the Dragon, Krasus has used other agents over the centuries, and some of them have died because of being involved with them. He feels bad about that, but the bigger picture demands the protection of the world. Again, a dragon's point of view. (And that differs from the supposed human leader mentality...how?)
For Vareesa, I wanted to have a counterpart to Rhonin who was a bit more of a stickler for detail and how things should be done, but yet ends up being just as rebellious as him in many ways. And the Villains depend on the situation. Deathwing was obvious, but we wanted to show his machinations behind the scenes, so we created Lord Prestor. And for a bit of comic relief, he had a Goblin who was assisting him.
Vareesa was made to be a romantic interest. A snarky one at that, who would talk down to him just to be his mule later. What does she see in him?
Deathwing...I can't talk about Deathwing. I'm not the dragon expert here.
And there's characters who just meld in depending on how the story runs. A lot of it depends on how the story runs. And I do try to come up with some different characters each time, like the Draenei in Night of the Dragon. And in War of the Ancients, I had to create a lot of different Night Elves in a lot of different positions to show how, if you're in this position, you're not as respected as if you were in this position.
The martial-arts Draernei? Who didn't fit in at all in the combat style of any known race so far? A Karate user with reverse knee design?
For example, Jerod Shadowsong is a Captain of the Guard, but he's not going to be as respected as many of the lords and masters until he proves he's the guy who can actually do something. Aristocrats always think they can run the wars better. (Knaak does like the trope Aristocrats Are Evil) Haughtiness unfortunately tends to be something you have to watch out for in Night Elf Society. The way Azshara was described to me, she was vain and a little bit mad, but I just knew that she had to be a manipulator in some ways too. Then there's Xavius, her advisor, who says I'll do what's best for my queen because that's my power too, and that's basically all the Highborne thought: The Queen is all, and as long as the Queen is all, we are all. Of course, some of them figured out at the end it wasn't quite like that all. But that's how it goes, you have to feel out the different hierarchy of the different races, and try to come up with characters who fit into the situation as it is.
That actually reminds me of my next question. I know you've created or fleshed out quite a few characters and cultures in your books, and we're seeing hints of them in game. For example, the Highborne are returning in the latest patch to rejoin the Night Elf culture. We're seeing Rhonin now as head of the Kirin Tor. Does the lore team consult you on putting your characters in to the game, or is it more of a pleasant surprise for you?
Well, sometimes its been a surprise, though they do often tell me, "So-and-So's going to be in the game eventually." They almost never say when or where though. But sometimes they'll tell me, "Oh, Rhonin's going to be head of the Kirin Tor." Fine by me! He's going to have to learn a little responsibility it looks like. But hey, he has kids now, so maybe he is learning it already. He's gotta get a good daytime job now, he has kids to raise. (I think I have only Chris Metzen to call out for this one, but I suppose they wanted a well-known sorcerer...for better or worse.)
Of course, Agents of Krasus turned up fairly quickly in the game. I had done some work with Alexstraza to develop her character, and they started doing more with her as well. And of course, a lot of my Manga characters showed up in game, like Anveena and Kalec. And Anveena had a pretty significant role. They were very happy with what I came up with for Anveena. They thought it was a great way to bring back what they wanted to bring back, so they said pretty quickly that they would use that situation in the game. Really, I've gotten to the point where if I put in a good amount of work on a character, there's a good chance they'll use it for something, and I'm very proud about that, I'm very pleased. I'm always trying to think of characters who are worthy enough and strong enough to make it in game. (Which is really pitiful, considering that the characters used without his consent do more heroic deeds than when under his pen. Did he ever consider the fact that another writer -Christie Golden, for instance- makes a new character, Blizzard would use her character to fill in gaps? It's funny that considering Jorad Mace's efforts in the Sunwell Trilogy, he is still smack-dab in the middle of Outlands, doing NOTHING, not even having a dialogue option.)
Trag Highmountain has shown up in game now, the first Tauren Death Knight. I honestly believe I'm the one who gave them the idea for Tauren Death Knights. As I recall, I told them I wanted to bring Trag back as an undead warrior type, and they said, "The only real undead warrior types we have are Death Knights," and I said that a Death Knight would be cool! And they started sending me illustrations and sketches of Tauren Death Knights, and I'm like, oh wow! And well, I can't say for sure, but I was definitely thinking this up pretty early on, and now they (Tauren Deathknights) are in game. If somebody else came up with the concept before me, I hadn't heard about it, so I certainly feel I was in there very close to the beginning, and now he's in there telling people he's going to join them in the final assault on Icecrown.(Yes. He inspired Tauren DeathKnights.)
Right, I've seen him around, but I'm only Alliance, so I don't know exactly what he says. (Interview fail)
Yeah, I'm Alliance and I haven't quite gotten that high level, but some of my Horde friends tell me that. But anyway, he's one of my favorites that they've put in the game. I love Minotaurs, so I love Tauren. (*Facepalm*)
Yeah, I definitely need to read more of the Mangas. It's probably my weakest area as far as keeping abreast of Warcraft literature and lore.
You've not gotten into the Manga yet? Let me introduce you to someone...
Let's put a few things straight out here: Knaak is a nice guy. He does like his characters and he will defend them against accusations of Suedom, but there is something every writer in an established canon should do:
Never, under any circumstances, unless absolutely imperative, use established canon characters in your work.
You see, dear reader, when reading through Retribution is at Hand, you will notice references to established characters in my work, but interactions are very limited and there won't be many screen time of them, for this reason: It is hard to breathe new life into another writer's characters.
A writer has a fingerprint that is on his characters. Putting another fingerprint above the first would require two things:
Having the new finger clearer,
Or holding the character by the edges, where the original fingerprint would be only scratched.
Why? A writer cannot vow or maintain another writer's attitude and be consistent with a character not of his own. When using Lord Leonid Barthalomew, he appeared in a total of three pages, and what he was doing was continuing his original job.
This is something in fanfiction that irks me: I could stand a writer using an original character, but there are limits, and those limits are very thin and fragile. For example: Torylltales provided an excerpt in Anti-Shur'tugal of a Harry Potter fanfiction where Harry was being used as a rape-dummy for his uncle's co-workers.