Upcoming Warcraft novel Before the Storm may link Legion to the next expansion

Over the weekend, a tie-in novel for the next World of Warcraft expansion appeared on Amazon. World of Warcraft: Before the Storm is now available for pre-order. Written by Christie Golden and scheduled for release on May 15, 2018, details of the novel are currently vague. Cover art is not yet available, and right now, the book’s description only outlines its place in the Warcraft timeline.

An all-new, official tie-in novel to Blizzard Entertainment’s critically acclaimed World of Warcraft, from New York Times bestselling author Christie Golden

Taking place after the climactic events of Shadows of Argus, World of Warcraft: Before the Storm tells the story of what awaits the heroes of the Horde and the Alliance in the wake of their struggle against the demonic Burning Legion.

Christie Golden herself has confirmed the novel’s upcoming release, telling fans to wait until BlizzCon to hear more:

Since the cat's out of the bag… :D And nope, can't say anything about it yet! You'll know more at Blizzcon! https://t.co/hY4unSr2E7

— Christie Golden (@ChristieGolden) October 22, 2017

In the absence of anything else, the release date is the only detail of significance right now: May 15, 2018. If this novel is meant to be a tie-in to the next expansion, it’s highly unlikely we should expect a new World of Warcraft expansion to release prior to the novel. Every previous expansion tie-in novel has released ahead of its associated expansion, though just how far ahead has differed from one expansion to the next. War Crimes released May 2014, but its partner expansion Warlords of Draenor didn’t release until six months later in November 2014. Likewise, Illidan released April 2016, but Legion released four months later at the end of August 2016. However, if we go back to Mists of Pandaria which released in September 2012, its associated novel Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War released only one month prior, in August.

In other words, we can safely assume the next expansion won’t release until at least May 2018. We could be playing it as soon June 2018, or as late as November 2018 — or even some point beyond. This is likely to leave some players frustrated, as the consistent release schedule of Legion content led some to believe the next expansion would release at a similar pace, give or take a few months. In addition, recent datamining discoveries in the live game reinforced the belief of a quick turnaround time. Surely, if expansion assets were already working their way into live game files, a release must be imminent. Apparently, that isn’t the case.