Novel guide

Interested in reading some of the Warcraft publications, but unsure where to start? Here's the answer! Your very own novel guide.

Warcraft imprint
These books were published using the WARCRAFT trademark.

Original Series
Despite being clearly numbered, The Last Guardian is set years before either Day of the Dragon or Lord of the Clans. These novels can be read in any order, as all contain spoilers for the events of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.
 * 1. Day of the Dragon by Richard A. Knaak
 * 2. Lord of the Clans by Christie Golden
 * 3. The Last Guardian by Jeff Grubb
 * Of Blood and Honor by Chris Metzen (unnumbered, not technically a novel)

War of the Ancients

 * The Well of Eternity
 * The Demon Soul
 * The Sundering
 * All by Richard A. Knaak

Though acting as a prequel to the events of all Warcraft games and novels, this trilogy involves characters from Day of the Dragon traveling through time, and thus has spoilers for that novel and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Though reading Day of the Dragon and Reign of Chaos are helpful for understanding events and characters, they are not required.

WoW imprint
The following novels were published under the WORLD OF WARCRAFT trademark (this is the publication order):
 * Cycle of Hatred by Keith R. A. DeCandido
 * Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden
 * Tides of Darkness by Aaron Rosenberg
 * Beyond the Dark Portal by Aaron Rosenberg & Christie Golden
 * Night of the Dragon by Richard A. Knaak
 * Arthas: Rise of the Lich King by Christie Golden
 * Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak
 * The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm by Christie Golden

In spite of the trademark and the slogan "based on the best-selling video game", most of these books are not set during the events of World of Warcraft. Cycle of Hatred is set in between Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and WoW; Rise of the Horde, though told through a series of flashbacks just prior to World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, is set almost a century earlier; Tides of Darkness and Beyond the Dark Portal relate the events of the Second War. Night of the Dragon is set prior to the events of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King and reveals the current state of the black dragonflight, and Stormrage is set after the defeat of the Lich King but shortly before those of Cataclysm. World of Warcraft: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm also takes place between Wrath and Cataclysm. Rise of the Lich King deals with the events of the Third War.

Chronological order: Tides of Darkness, Beyond the Dark Portal, Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, Cycle of Hatred, Night of the Dragon, Stormrage and World of Warcraft: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm. Rise of the Horde is set before all of these, but takes the form of an extended flashback, so it could be argued to be read between Cycle of Hatred and Night of the Dragon.