Blood Ties, the Midnight prequel novel, is now available for pre-order

Even though The War Within hasn’t yet reached its conclusion, the next chapter of World of Warcraft is rapidly approaching: Midnight. The expansion prequel novel, Blood Ties, is available for pre-order with a release date of November 18, 2025. That’s earlier than our Midnight release date prediction of February 2026, but it’s normal for these prequel novels to come out several months before their related expansions.

Written by fan-favorite Christie Golden, the book follows Arator as he investigates mysterious activity at an abandoned Legion base… and because it’s Arator, there’s some family drama thrown into the mix. Here’s the official novel description:

Arator the Redeemer was born to heroism. The son of High Exarch Turalyon and the legendary Alleria Windrunner, Arator has long borne the weight and expectations of their legacy . . . a legacy he inherited as a babe, the day his parents disappeared through the Dark Portal.

Alleria and Turalyon’s journey took them farther afield than they’d intended. While their absence spanned mere decades on Azeroth, the heroes experienced a thousand years at war against the Burning Legion—a demonic army seeking the destruction of all worlds. When at last they reunited with their son, Arator was a man grown, pledged to the very order of paladins for which they had once fought. The Legion fell quickly in a decisive final battle, yet the millennium of distance between the family was less easily conquered.

Now, on the other side of recent events in Khaz Algar, Arator embarks on a new journey, investigating rumors of a strange glow emanating from the ruins of a long-abandoned Legion base. Turalyon and Alleria volunteer to assist, eager to eliminate their ancient enemy before it can threaten their world anew. As the family delves further into the mystery, Arator works to reconcile his parents’ heroic legacy with the flawed people he has come to know. He sees both of his parents in himself: his father’s high standards, his mother’s intellect, their unwavering commitment to the defense of Azeroth. But Arator exists at the conflux of their greatest strengths and weaknesses—weaknesses that are revealed as the demonic threat proves to be a former lieutenant of the Burning Legion, intent on using Azeroth to launch a new campaign of destruction.

A short story published by Blizzard (and part of the The Voices Within short story collection), A Whisper of Warning by Delilah S. Dawson, probably sets up some of what we’ll see in this novel: namely the strained relationship between Turalyon, Alleria, and Arator. A Thousand Years of War by Robert Brooks will also give you some backstory, as it covers Alleria and Turalyon’s time beyond the Dark Portal with the Army of the Light. (It’s also available as an audiobook on YouTube: listen to part 1, part 2, and part 3 of the story.) For more lore (and potential backstory), check out our guide to Warcraft lore in print.

You can pre-order Blood Ties on Amazon or via your retailer of choice. There will also be an audiobook version, though there’s no information yet on who will read it (though they’re often read by Warcraft voice actors). You can pre-order the audiobook as well (though it isn’t presently listed on all platforms).

We’ll no doubt have a better idea of where the future of the Warcraft story is headed when WoW patch 11.2 comes out (likely over the summer), widely speculated to be the Ethereal homeworld K’aresh. But wherever the story takes us, we’ll find more about how the Legion ties into it with Blood Ties in November.