All World of Warcraft books in order: Best reading order and publish dates

Few video game franchises have lore that runs as deep and immersive as World of Warcraft. The universe in which the game is set has well over 30 years of real-world history attached to it, as the game’s developers, writers, and “loremasters” have been constantly adding to and expanding upon the story-rich worlds of Azeroth and beyond. 

One of the best ways to tune up your WoW lore knowledge outside of playing the game and burning through its countless quests and storylines is by reading the official WoW novels. Blizzard has been publishing books set in the World of Warcraft universe since the early 21st century, and with over two dozen published works set in the world of Azeroth, you can easily get immersed in WoW’s lore. 

Below, you’ll find a table of every WoW book published, starting with Of Blood and Honor in 2000 and, most recently, War of the Scaleborn (2023). Additionally, a list of all of the WoW novels in the most ideal reading order based on their contents is found in the lower portion of this piece. 

All WoW novels by order of publication date 

Best WoW novel reading order 

• Rise of the Horde
• The Last Guardian
• Tides of Darkness
• Beyond the Dark Portal
• Day of the Dragon
• War of the Ancients: The Well of Eternity
• War of the Ancients: The Demon Soul
• War of the Ancients: The Sundering
• Lord of the Clans
• Of Blood and Honor
• Arthas: Rise of the Lich King
• Cycle of Hatred
• Illidan
• Night of the Dragon
• Stormrage
• The Shattering
• Wolfheart
• Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects
• Jaina: Tides of War
• Dawn of the Aspects
• Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde
• War Crimes
• Before the Storm
• Shadows Rising
• Sylvanas
• War of the Scaleborn

While many of the WoW novels are skippable, considering their contents are essentially just vignettes that were only relevant to whatever was going on in the game at that time, the order of the novels listed above will take you through the entire history of the game up into the present. If you want to dive feet first into WoW‘s history through books, the order listed above is the easiest way to do so. The early novels detail important lore events that predate the events of World of Warcraft, while the books published in recent years are considered supplemental materials to the ongoing story.