It's usually a good idea to think and to plan ahead. Tokyopop and Blizzard are doing precisely that, in fact. The two have a publishing plan for the World of Warcraft and StarCraft franchises that spans three years. More about what the two companies have in mind after the jump.

Warcraft and Diablo geeks in Europe, heads up: Fantasy author Richard A. Knaak is off to do a Blizzard book signing tour in Europe, and he's going to sign both Blizzard and non-Blizzard fantasy novels (such as the Dragonlance and Dragonrealm series).

Here's Knaak's itinerary for his Europe tour:

Germany:
Königstrasse 27-29
Stuttgart at Karstadt Stuttgart
September 4th at 2:30 pm

Slovakia:
ISTROCON / COMIC SALON 2007 (Special Guest)
SUZA in Bratislava, Slovakia
September 14-16

Czech Republic:
Arrakis bookstore
Veveri 24 (street address)
Brno
September 17th at 2-5 pm

Knaak certainly gets around in his involvement with Blizzard titles. Just so you know, he is also set to write two more Warcraft novels, entitled "World of Warcraft: Night of the Dragon" and an untitled manga for Tokyopop. Knaak is also the writer behind the Wii's Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire.

Fantasy novel genre fans in Europe shouldn't miss this event, so better grab your Warcraft or Diablo novels, plan your schedule ahead and make some time for the Knaak's Blizzard Tour!

 

Are you ready for BlizzCon? Well, you might have read the survival guide, but there is one other thing you might want to take note of.

Medievaldragon of Blizzplanet was kind enough to supply an album of pictures of the people who are going to be there. Of course, they're not the participants, but the Blizzard bigwigs and employees (*cough* own your soul *cough*) and the other guests. For what you say? Well, to eradicate the chances of you wandering at the Anaheim Convention Center and not know that you just bumped into Nethaera.

The compilation of pictures include the Blizzard heads (Mike Morhaime, Cris Metzen, Rob Pardo, and Paul Sams), devs (Tigole or Jeff Kaplan, Dustin Browder, Shane Dabiri, Chris Sigaty, and Tom Chilton), and the World of Warcraft Forum CMs (Eyonix, Nethaera, Coreiel, and Drysc). The special guests include various artists and writers. Included in the list are Christie Golden, who wrote Rise of the Horde, and Richard A. Knaak, who wrote War of the Ancients. The compilation also includes Michael Gough who voiced Tassadar in StarCraft, plus Jim Lee, Lodi Lullabi, Walter Simonson, Samwise Didier, and Rene Koiter.

Anyway, click on the Read link to check out their mugshots and take a good look. Once you do, you might not mind Coreiel closing your threads on the WoW Forums anymore. Enjoy!

Here's some news that's sure to delight Warcraft lore fans everywhere. According to Blizzplanet, Richard A. Knaak will be attending BlizzCon this year, which means folks will probably be flocking to Knaak's location to get autographs for their books.

For those not familiar with Knaak, he's the author of the War of the Ancients series of Warcraft novels, as well as novels set in the Diablo universe, among other notable worlds.

Knaak will be at the Tokyopop and Pocketstar Books booth promoting the Sunwell Trilogy manga book. They'll also be informing folks of the release of the compilation of the War of the Ancients trilogy, so you'll also want to take a look at that as well.

Blizzplanet also notes a possible surprise from Knaak, and we're hoping it means a new book is on the way. In any case, this is certainly one other reason that makes BlizzCon worthwhile.

Okay, let's just veer away for a while from guilds killing in-game bosses and Blizzard's continued nerfing of characters. Let's take the time to know the lore behind the World of Warcraft and the rest of the Warcraft universe through the TOKYOPOP comic book Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy.

Blizzard Europe is happy to announce that the brilliant creation of Richard A. Knaak is now available for free. The first volume of the series, Dragon Hunt, can be read online in weekly installments through the official WoW site's online comic reader feature. The whole trilogy ended back in February with Ghostlands.

Warcraft: The Sunwell Trilogy takes readers back to Azeroth and begins with the history of WoW. It then deviates from the main plot line and follows the character Kalec. He was a blue dragon who took the form of a human to escape from the Undead Scourge and a mysterious girl named Anveena.

The read link will take you to Blizzard's page for Dragon Hunt. Better start reading now because we're pretty sure that you don't want to go back to discussing the problems that are to be fixed by the latest patch just yet.

There are those who like World of Warcraft because of the gameplay. Others are attracted because of the rich story line. Most however find that both have their place and contribute to the mystique that is WoW. WoW: The Sunwell Trilogy published by TOKYOPOP is well made and executed with the final chapter of this epic as no exception.

Richard A. Knaak has once again crafted a captivating tale in the world of WoW. Jae Hwan Kim's stunning illustrations add to the further allure of this graphic novel. The climax of the story is not something to be missed if you've picked up the first two books. We highly recommend picking up a copy of all three chapters of the trilogy. If you do so, be warned that once you pick it up, you will not be putting it down until you finish reading the entire thing.