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Magic: The Gathering: Artifacts Cycle #4
Bloodlines: The Story of Urza's Destiny
Blood has been spilled. Battle lines have been drawn.
Time is getting short as Tolaria races to find the one who will wield the power of the Legacy. Deep in the inner circle, the dark lord Yawgmoth sends out an Kill Urza Planeswalker.
From the bloodlines of the Benalish plains, a hero is born.
Time is getting short as Tolaria races to find the one who will wield the power of the Legacy. Deep in the inner circle, the dark lord Yawgmoth sends out an Kill Urza Planeswalker.
From the bloodlines of the Benalish plains, a hero is born.
343 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 1999
54 people are currently reading
637 people want to read
About the author
Loren L. Coleman
106 books39 followersLoren L. Coleman (born 1968) is a science-fiction writer, born and grew up in Longview, Washington.
He is known for having written many books for series such as Star Trek, Battletech/Mechwarrior, Age of Conan, Crimson Skies, Magic: The Gathering and others. Former member of the United States Navy, he has also written game fiction and source material for such companies as FASA Corporation, TSR, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast.
In early 2010s, he began writing The ICAS Files series, science fiction short-stories. [wikipedia]
He is known for having written many books for series such as Star Trek, Battletech/Mechwarrior, Age of Conan, Crimson Skies, Magic: The Gathering and others. Former member of the United States Navy, he has also written game fiction and source material for such companies as FASA Corporation, TSR, Inc. and Wizards of the Coast.
In early 2010s, he began writing The ICAS Files series, science fiction short-stories. [wikipedia]
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
December 26, 2015
Bloodlines is exactly the reason I'm wary of series that are passed off from author to author, only being connected by large plot points while even those are muddied from book to book. Now, I'm not a major MtG fan but I've gotten into these string of Magic books collectively known as "The Weatherlight Saga" and I've really been enjoying them. However this book is clearly the black sheep when reading in chronological order, starting with "The Thran." If you're thinking about reading it, here's a quick recap: Urza wants to breed an inheritor to his fight with the Phyrexians. Someone who is capable enough to fight them with the drive to fight them but also possessing great enough empathy with the Phyrexians to understand how they think. To do this he must use genetic manipulation and experimentation, something that brings the master Artificer closer to the Phyrexian way than his principles ever allowed before.
The Good:
It progresses the storyline. Presents a little bit of moral ambiguity as Urza walks a fine line between this Bloodlines project and completely betraying his own principles to mimicking Phyrexia.
Also the conflict between Davvol and Croag over control of the Phyrexian realm, Rath, is fun to read. Davvol is allowed control of Rath for his wit but is clearly being used only for that. Davvol is clever, cautious, and seems to be aware he's having his strings pulled, but longs to be Phyrexian and hopes his Phyrexian masters will allow this if he can only prove himself enough. Croag is ruthless, powerful, and has the true final say on what happens in Rath but he also underestimates Davvol's capability.
The Bad:
One issue with this novel is that that is there simultaneously too much going on with too little actually happening. In the narrative there are many immortal or at least long lived characters that can survive for centuries. This is used interestingly to update the reader on on different parts of the world as Phyrexia gains a stronger foothold into Dominaria. We see the Phyrexian invasion of Keld, Phyrexian battles near a colony of Serran refugees, and the events that take place at Tolaria in the meantime. This *could* have been used effectively but the book fails to make any character save Gatha actually interesting to read about. Urza can also be interesting but he's so devoid of personality in this book that it's only by the grace of the previous Artifacts Cycle book that he still holds attention.
A lot of the times this book chooses to tell you about minor characters that are next to these Godlike semi-immortal beings and because of this they're left in the dust of time, not meaning a thing. Several times you will be reading about a character that just offers absolutely nothing to the narrative. Then you'll learn later long after their death about their great grandkid... who, again, doesn't offer anything to the narrative. You'd think with the name "Bloodlines" these generations that are followed would actually be, you know, important?? Most of them aren't though.
A better use of this book's concept would be to emphasize these generations MUCH heavier and show how these individuals are changing lives. It's mentioned by Urza towards the latter half of the book that many of the individuals in his many Bloodlines projects across the nations have shown extreme intellectual and magical capabilities. This alone is a majorly fascinating thread and had it been pulled could have led the novel in a much more interesting direction, showing how it might have affected the nations fighting back Phyrexian invaders. Instead it was used to reveal that many of Urza's brightest students were of the Bloodlines project, unbeknownst to them. Which, somehow, still fails to make any of those characters interesting.
So essentially we loosely follow groups of random people, likely in the scope of Urza's many generations long Bloodlines project with plotlines that fizzle out and are just riddled with uninteresting drivel. And when the long awaited "heir" is finally revealed as a baby at the end of the book you're left unsatisfied. I could take the heir being introduced as a baby at the end but as I've said, none of what you follow in the narrative save Gatha's character (with Kreig) and the conflict between Davvol and Croag are actually interesting. The baby is from the Capashen clan whose political significance is presented but left so vague it's just confusing... and they were utterly boring. One might be pleased to know there's finally an heir at some point but there's absolutely no reason to be interested in the individual who turns out to the heir.
It'st just so... dull.
The Ugly:
Despite all the bad I had to say, this is my real main issue with the novel: regressive characterization. This could be the result of how closely published the books are which shows they were almost certainly being worked on at the same time with Time Streams being published in May of 1999 and Bloodlines being published in August 1999. But if this is the case it really just illustrates that if you want to do something right you need to take your time doing it. Wizards of the Coast, in their eagerness to have these books out, really made the quality suffer. Some more time and some major rewrites could have saved this book with the concepts it rested on... But I'm slipping back into "bad." Back to "ugly."
I mention the publication dates because it's the only way I can justify the absolute butchering of Urza's established character. Urza is no saint but there was undeniable character growth in Time Streams that's absent here. Urza may be flawed and narrowed sighted in his own genius but during the events of Time Streams Urza not only proves himself sane but also gains empathy like he never had before. SPOILERS AHEAD FOR TIME STREAMS:
He was tortured several times and one of these was special because he was exposed to an ancient pain he caused in the events of the Brothers' War. He comes to know pain and experiences it through the eyes of others he's hurt. Urza also learns that his genius is not the only genius. In working so close with Barrin and his brightest students Urza seems to see that he's not the only one with good ideas and actually works with the ideas of others. He also often takes the risk of putting trust in others to get the important work done. Lastly, there is a huge significance at the end with how Urza treats Karn. Despite gifting a silver golem with sentience akin to true life he treats it like a machine. However, after Urza has his gemstone eyes ripped from his head and begins to die he has a revelation about how similar he is to Karn. Despite being a planeswalker, the powerstones in Urza's head are essential to his life... they've become his core. He's like Karn in that his core is something artificial, a stone of power, not based on anything organic. In a way they're both machines... and they both feel just as alone. After this event Urza comes to treat Karn less like a machine and more like a son. Not just like a "person," but like a son.
Of course, ALL of this is ignored for the sake of Bloodlines. Yes, the events of Time Streams still happened but any and all character growth Urza had (which, as you can read, is a lot) is neutered. He's presented less in this book than the last but when he is doing something he's back to being a self-obsessed genius with eyes only on his goal of eliminating Phyrexia while treating Karn like nothing more than a machine to be ordered.
Conclusion:
I really cannot fathom how so much character development can be established then followed with this book. The only saving grace is that they almost certainly were worked on at the same time so the lack of character consistency is at least understandable. But as you might be able to tell from both my bad and ugly portions, characters were never this book's strong suit.
The narrative is so busy trying to hit plot point after plot point like they're just bullet points on a list that it fails to make any characters used in the plot as interesting. As a result it's like everything you read is being viewed through a stain glass window, distant. Whereas in Time Streams you really felt the characters in the heart of the plot, especially as they grew. And this is seen in no greater form than Urza.
I'm still going to push on with this series. The book does advance the plot and had a few interesting things so it was okay but it just didn't hold up to its fellow MtG novels.
They really should have just given the entire Weatherlight anything to Robert King, writer of "The Thran" and "Time Streams" which have so far been the most shining gems of this series.
The Good:
It progresses the storyline. Presents a little bit of moral ambiguity as Urza walks a fine line between this Bloodlines project and completely betraying his own principles to mimicking Phyrexia.
Also the conflict between Davvol and Croag over control of the Phyrexian realm, Rath, is fun to read. Davvol is allowed control of Rath for his wit but is clearly being used only for that. Davvol is clever, cautious, and seems to be aware he's having his strings pulled, but longs to be Phyrexian and hopes his Phyrexian masters will allow this if he can only prove himself enough. Croag is ruthless, powerful, and has the true final say on what happens in Rath but he also underestimates Davvol's capability.
The Bad:
One issue with this novel is that that is there simultaneously too much going on with too little actually happening. In the narrative there are many immortal or at least long lived characters that can survive for centuries. This is used interestingly to update the reader on on different parts of the world as Phyrexia gains a stronger foothold into Dominaria. We see the Phyrexian invasion of Keld, Phyrexian battles near a colony of Serran refugees, and the events that take place at Tolaria in the meantime. This *could* have been used effectively but the book fails to make any character save Gatha actually interesting to read about. Urza can also be interesting but he's so devoid of personality in this book that it's only by the grace of the previous Artifacts Cycle book that he still holds attention.
A lot of the times this book chooses to tell you about minor characters that are next to these Godlike semi-immortal beings and because of this they're left in the dust of time, not meaning a thing. Several times you will be reading about a character that just offers absolutely nothing to the narrative. Then you'll learn later long after their death about their great grandkid... who, again, doesn't offer anything to the narrative. You'd think with the name "Bloodlines" these generations that are followed would actually be, you know, important?? Most of them aren't though.
A better use of this book's concept would be to emphasize these generations MUCH heavier and show how these individuals are changing lives. It's mentioned by Urza towards the latter half of the book that many of the individuals in his many Bloodlines projects across the nations have shown extreme intellectual and magical capabilities. This alone is a majorly fascinating thread and had it been pulled could have led the novel in a much more interesting direction, showing how it might have affected the nations fighting back Phyrexian invaders. Instead it was used to reveal that many of Urza's brightest students were of the Bloodlines project, unbeknownst to them. Which, somehow, still fails to make any of those characters interesting.
So essentially we loosely follow groups of random people, likely in the scope of Urza's many generations long Bloodlines project with plotlines that fizzle out and are just riddled with uninteresting drivel. And when the long awaited "heir" is finally revealed as a baby at the end of the book you're left unsatisfied. I could take the heir being introduced as a baby at the end but as I've said, none of what you follow in the narrative save Gatha's character (with Kreig) and the conflict between Davvol and Croag are actually interesting. The baby is from the Capashen clan whose political significance is presented but left so vague it's just confusing... and they were utterly boring. One might be pleased to know there's finally an heir at some point but there's absolutely no reason to be interested in the individual who turns out to the heir.
It'st just so... dull.
The Ugly:
Despite all the bad I had to say, this is my real main issue with the novel: regressive characterization. This could be the result of how closely published the books are which shows they were almost certainly being worked on at the same time with Time Streams being published in May of 1999 and Bloodlines being published in August 1999. But if this is the case it really just illustrates that if you want to do something right you need to take your time doing it. Wizards of the Coast, in their eagerness to have these books out, really made the quality suffer. Some more time and some major rewrites could have saved this book with the concepts it rested on... But I'm slipping back into "bad." Back to "ugly."
I mention the publication dates because it's the only way I can justify the absolute butchering of Urza's established character. Urza is no saint but there was undeniable character growth in Time Streams that's absent here. Urza may be flawed and narrowed sighted in his own genius but during the events of Time Streams Urza not only proves himself sane but also gains empathy like he never had before. SPOILERS AHEAD FOR TIME STREAMS:
He was tortured several times and one of these was special because he was exposed to an ancient pain he caused in the events of the Brothers' War. He comes to know pain and experiences it through the eyes of others he's hurt. Urza also learns that his genius is not the only genius. In working so close with Barrin and his brightest students Urza seems to see that he's not the only one with good ideas and actually works with the ideas of others. He also often takes the risk of putting trust in others to get the important work done. Lastly, there is a huge significance at the end with how Urza treats Karn. Despite gifting a silver golem with sentience akin to true life he treats it like a machine. However, after Urza has his gemstone eyes ripped from his head and begins to die he has a revelation about how similar he is to Karn. Despite being a planeswalker, the powerstones in Urza's head are essential to his life... they've become his core. He's like Karn in that his core is something artificial, a stone of power, not based on anything organic. In a way they're both machines... and they both feel just as alone. After this event Urza comes to treat Karn less like a machine and more like a son. Not just like a "person," but like a son.
Of course, ALL of this is ignored for the sake of Bloodlines. Yes, the events of Time Streams still happened but any and all character growth Urza had (which, as you can read, is a lot) is neutered. He's presented less in this book than the last but when he is doing something he's back to being a self-obsessed genius with eyes only on his goal of eliminating Phyrexia while treating Karn like nothing more than a machine to be ordered.
Conclusion:
I really cannot fathom how so much character development can be established then followed with this book. The only saving grace is that they almost certainly were worked on at the same time so the lack of character consistency is at least understandable. But as you might be able to tell from both my bad and ugly portions, characters were never this book's strong suit.
The narrative is so busy trying to hit plot point after plot point like they're just bullet points on a list that it fails to make any characters used in the plot as interesting. As a result it's like everything you read is being viewed through a stain glass window, distant. Whereas in Time Streams you really felt the characters in the heart of the plot, especially as they grew. And this is seen in no greater form than Urza.
I'm still going to push on with this series. The book does advance the plot and had a few interesting things so it was okay but it just didn't hold up to its fellow MtG novels.
They really should have just given the entire Weatherlight anything to Robert King, writer of "The Thran" and "Time Streams" which have so far been the most shining gems of this series.
December 15, 2017
This book seemed to be about nothing at all and having now finished it, I can't really figure out why it was written. This arc could easily have been told in a trilogy but here is a fourth book. I kept waiting for anything to start happening with Rath or Gerrard, but those stories don't start until a few more books down the line I guess.
I guess I can't say this was a terrible book. It was just rather aimless and seems to only have served the purpose of giving Rath a back story? Who knows.
I guess I can't say this was a terrible book. It was just rather aimless and seems to only have served the purpose of giving Rath a back story? Who knows.
August 27, 2020
The fourth book of the Artifacts Cycle feels more like the glue between two trilogies.
I think of Bloodlines as the Rogue One of Magic: the Gathering novels: The Artifacts Cycle was already nicely tied up, but it was evident at this time that the writers wanted to tie it into the several-thousand-years-later Weatherlight/Invasion storyline. Hence, this book feels like a sort of prequel to Weatherlight/Invasion, tying up all the loose ends and making sense of centuries that otherwise would have been dead space in the plot.
This book is especially fun for somebody who already has a wealth of knowledge about Magic: the Gathering lore because, once you already know where it's going, you'll be nodding along with excitement, thinking "Oh, that makes sense," or "I know what big event this leads to!" Many characters and event exist both before and after this book, and you get to see a sort of Rube Goldberg Machine of chain reactions as the events of the Bloodlines project inevitably lead directly into the lore of the early Invasion saga. It's uncanny how this story sets the entire stage for the next book, even going so far as to establish the births of a few major characters who will be relevant later on.
The book admittedly drags a bit, as it's covering the key beats over what I believe is a couple thousands years of Dominarian history. Expect a lot of historical battles, a lot of timeskips, and a fair bit of politics. If you didn't want to know what happened during the several centuries between Time Streams and Rath and Storm, you'll find this to be pretty insubstantial.
If you already know a lot about MtG lore, that can be a really cute "prequel" of sorts. I found myself getting very excited on my re-read because what I knew about what happened later gave new relevance to the text. However, if you don't have that wealth of knowledge, this book is very skippable. The lore of this story is (for the most part) covered in the background lore of almost every MtG book that discusses the future of Dominaria. Unless you want some "aha" moments as you watch an admittedly clever author play the "how can this be true" game by elegantly connecting two rather unrelated sagas, you wouldn't be missing much.
Good but forgettable. Looking forward to reading up on the Ice Age and Weatherlight books now!
I think of Bloodlines as the Rogue One of Magic: the Gathering novels: The Artifacts Cycle was already nicely tied up, but it was evident at this time that the writers wanted to tie it into the several-thousand-years-later Weatherlight/Invasion storyline. Hence, this book feels like a sort of prequel to Weatherlight/Invasion, tying up all the loose ends and making sense of centuries that otherwise would have been dead space in the plot.
This book is especially fun for somebody who already has a wealth of knowledge about Magic: the Gathering lore because, once you already know where it's going, you'll be nodding along with excitement, thinking "Oh, that makes sense," or "I know what big event this leads to!" Many characters and event exist both before and after this book, and you get to see a sort of Rube Goldberg Machine of chain reactions as the events of the Bloodlines project inevitably lead directly into the lore of the early Invasion saga. It's uncanny how this story sets the entire stage for the next book, even going so far as to establish the births of a few major characters who will be relevant later on.
The book admittedly drags a bit, as it's covering the key beats over what I believe is a couple thousands years of Dominarian history. Expect a lot of historical battles, a lot of timeskips, and a fair bit of politics. If you didn't want to know what happened during the several centuries between Time Streams and Rath and Storm, you'll find this to be pretty insubstantial.
If you already know a lot about MtG lore, that can be a really cute "prequel" of sorts. I found myself getting very excited on my re-read because what I knew about what happened later gave new relevance to the text. However, if you don't have that wealth of knowledge, this book is very skippable. The lore of this story is (for the most part) covered in the background lore of almost every MtG book that discusses the future of Dominaria. Unless you want some "aha" moments as you watch an admittedly clever author play the "how can this be true" game by elegantly connecting two rather unrelated sagas, you wouldn't be missing much.
Good but forgettable. Looking forward to reading up on the Ice Age and Weatherlight books now!
January 27, 2024
Another killer installment in the Artifacts Cycle. Bloodlines has a lot of things going for it, in particular, I think, is its execution of the "hundreds of years are passing between every chapter" concept that had been toyed around with a bit in the last two books. In regards to Urza's characterization, I see a lot of these reviews taking issue with how Urza is written in this book. To that I would say that I actually really like the take of "No matter how much character development a character gets, after countless millennia, they will eventually return to their core instincts". It makes Urza's madness feel like an inevitability, and follows through on some concepts from the Ice Age trilogy of what it means to be a Planeswalker and how that changes you as a person. I think it's far more interesting than saying "and now after 3000 years Urza finally learned morality and empathy, and that will be the new status quo for the next 3000 years to come". I think a lot of it is gonna depend on how they follow through with it. At some point during these books I need to see a "Karn stands up to Urza" moment, and I think that will really send it home. I also liked the Kjeld stuff. And the Rath stuff. Also love Rayne and Barrin. Next up in the pipeline we have an anthology book, Rath and Storm. Time to meet the crew of the Weatherlight!
June 18, 2021
If I would have to describe this book with one word it would be "forgettable." No seriously, I always get this book confused with Time Streams. Nothing really happens this book. Y'know how Batman vs. Superman was pretty much the worlds longest trailer for Justice League. That's pretty much all this book is. This whole book is leading up towards the Weatherlight Saga, but nothing happens in this book on its own. Literally the entire plot of the book is Urza doing research. No joke. That's literally the plot of the book. Then on the side there's some Phyrexian shenanigans that are, again, just leading up to Weatherlight Saga, and some other stuff about a Witch King that doesn't even matter in the long run. In summary, MTG's done worse... multiple times. This book isn't bad by MTG standards, but by actual book standers, it was pretty bad. If you like the lore you might find this interesting, but read at your own risk.
August 20, 2025
(English is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes in the following review)
Kind of cheating, because I didn't finish this book. I dropped it at 1/3 because I just couldn't keep reading.
I was on a roll, too. Read everything else in the Artifact Cycle in like a couple weeks, "The Thran" included. It was really entertaining and compelling, even the ones that people said weren't really good.
But this book...was really bad. And boring. And a complete waste of the progression of previous books.
I read some of the other reviews that this has, and this probably has to do with the fact this novel and the one before were written at the same time, but even still...after connecting with the development of the previous novel, this one made it all feel like a waste of time. The new characters aren't that good or memorable either, and the disregard for those who came before makes it even worse. So yeah, for the first time since I started reading this series, this is a book I can say you'd be better just searching for a summary of events.
Kind of cheating, because I didn't finish this book. I dropped it at 1/3 because I just couldn't keep reading.
I was on a roll, too. Read everything else in the Artifact Cycle in like a couple weeks, "The Thran" included. It was really entertaining and compelling, even the ones that people said weren't really good.
But this book...was really bad. And boring. And a complete waste of the progression of previous books.
I read some of the other reviews that this has, and this probably has to do with the fact this novel and the one before were written at the same time, but even still...after connecting with the development of the previous novel, this one made it all feel like a waste of time. The new characters aren't that good or memorable either, and the disregard for those who came before makes it even worse. So yeah, for the first time since I started reading this series, this is a book I can say you'd be better just searching for a summary of events.
February 6, 2023
This book had all the fingerprints of a "middle book." Some big events happen and the book takes place over both a sprawling timeframe and many locations, but there isn't really a crescendo. Most of the book is taken up with Urza's attempts at eugenics to create fitting heirs for his legacy weapon against Phyrexia, with the actual war with Phyrexia itself taking a back seat.
Also, it needed some editing. I noticed several misspellings and the prose itself wasn't particularly stunning.
Also, it needed some editing. I noticed several misspellings and the prose itself wasn't particularly stunning.
April 25, 2022
Terrible ending to a mediocre series
The writing in these books went downhill the whole way. This short and unsatisfying end to a series about a sociopath who didn't develop as a character across for books is not worth reading. I don't know if there is some following series that this was meant to shoehorn shallow characters into, but save your money.
The writing in these books went downhill the whole way. This short and unsatisfying end to a series about a sociopath who didn't develop as a character across for books is not worth reading. I don't know if there is some following series that this was meant to shoehorn shallow characters into, but save your money.
April 8, 2024
4 1/2 stars. This book, I am assuming, sets up the Rath And Storm Anthology. For those trying to read these in the cycle order, it will be tough. There is a specific order to get the Weatherlight Cycle going. That being said, the heir doesn’t one until the last 2 pages of the book. 341 pages leading up to that.
July 18, 2018
Maybe not the strongest of the 4, but definitely top 2. It suffered from having some stories that felt really disconnected from the main story, and just generally being less focused. Really, not a hell of a lot happened compared to previous books in this cycle.
August 3, 2020
Fairly weak compared to the proceeding three books. It's a lot of set up for the next set more so than a solid stand alone. While it was disappointing in a vacuum I'm hoping the follow up will make it worthwhile.
April 17, 2024
So far my least favorite of the Artifacts cycle. It does contain some important aspects of Magic lore but the ending was anticlimactic and seemed sort of thrown together.
February 6, 2025
Whole lot of not much, but some memorable moments, buries the best plot line with no impact.
December 28, 2014
The culmination of the Artifact Cycle just doesn't provide the epic finale hoped for.
Urza, having finished The Weatherlight and nearly died, decides he has a new idea for the legacy: The Bloodlines. He believes that he needs to find a successor to himself, but it is not that simple. His idea is to take a page from the Phyrexians and breed himself a successor. Using the slow and fast time zones created from the explosion, he is able to breed to create his successor.
The book, quite frankly, isn't that great. The book follows fourr stories, Urza and Barrin working on the bloodlines back at the academy, a former professor of the university who leaves to do his own work with a band of powerful barbarians, one group of people that are part of the bloodlines project and a Phyrexian who's goal is to take out Urza.
The prof that leaves the university's storyline isn't that great. It feels very disconnected from the book and only ties in to the book at the end. The Phyrexian is a forgettable character and isn't someone you'll enjoy learning about. The portion of the bloodlines project that the book focuses on isn't great either and is quite boring. For those that are aware of other things in the MTG universe, such as the successor to the Weatherlight, will recognize things during the book and will be able to predict certain things.
The end of the book is also very disappointing. There's a reason that Phyrexians are featured in other card sets after these and it'll be a long struggle still. The books often concluded in some sort of epic battle, but this battle is far from epic in any way.
The author, Loren L. Coleman didn't write a good book whatsoever. I found it difficult to finish the book, and had it not been for an improved reading speed, I would not have been able to bring myself to finish it. Simply put, it's disappointing. There was a lot of missed potential and she did no justice at all. She could not even do justice to the ending of the story lines that she brought about during the book.
Anyone that gets this far will undoubtably want to read this book just to finish the series, but will be amazingly disappointed in the finale. At least you can know that there are several books after it that feature the characters from the series.
Urza, having finished The Weatherlight and nearly died, decides he has a new idea for the legacy: The Bloodlines. He believes that he needs to find a successor to himself, but it is not that simple. His idea is to take a page from the Phyrexians and breed himself a successor. Using the slow and fast time zones created from the explosion, he is able to breed to create his successor.
The book, quite frankly, isn't that great. The book follows fourr stories, Urza and Barrin working on the bloodlines back at the academy, a former professor of the university who leaves to do his own work with a band of powerful barbarians, one group of people that are part of the bloodlines project and a Phyrexian who's goal is to take out Urza.
The prof that leaves the university's storyline isn't that great. It feels very disconnected from the book and only ties in to the book at the end. The Phyrexian is a forgettable character and isn't someone you'll enjoy learning about. The portion of the bloodlines project that the book focuses on isn't great either and is quite boring. For those that are aware of other things in the MTG universe, such as the successor to the Weatherlight, will recognize things during the book and will be able to predict certain things.
The end of the book is also very disappointing. There's a reason that Phyrexians are featured in other card sets after these and it'll be a long struggle still. The books often concluded in some sort of epic battle, but this battle is far from epic in any way.
The author, Loren L. Coleman didn't write a good book whatsoever. I found it difficult to finish the book, and had it not been for an improved reading speed, I would not have been able to bring myself to finish it. Simply put, it's disappointing. There was a lot of missed potential and she did no justice at all. She could not even do justice to the ending of the story lines that she brought about during the book.
Anyone that gets this far will undoubtably want to read this book just to finish the series, but will be amazingly disappointed in the finale. At least you can know that there are several books after it that feature the characters from the series.
December 30, 2016
Don't expect this book to finish off Urza's tale, and you won't be disappointed. This is just the story of the development of Urza's final(?) gambit against Phyrexia, as well as the creation of Rath. Multiple story threads remain distinct throughout the book, creating something of a disjointed feel, especially because the book takes place over close to a thousand years. Coleman's writing leaves a lot to be desired. Broken sentence structure and some other aspect of Loren's writing that I can't quite put my finger on make this book rather difficult to follow in many places. All in all, the book is somewhat entertaining while filling in some important gaps of the overall story. You can't really avoid it if you're reading the series, but don't expect too much.
BLOODLINES focuses mainly on the development of Urza's almost Phyrexian-like genetic engineering project to produce the heirs to the Legacy. Many potential 'bloodlines' are produced and spread throughout Dominaria. Also, the artificial plane of Rath is developed here. Meant as a staging ground for Phyrexia's invasion of Dominaria, Rath will play important roles in future novels. Characters that are introduced here and are involved in the rest of the story include Rofellos, Gerrard, and Croag.
To me, the best story thread of this book is the one focusing on Gatha and his rebellious actions to promote his own bloodlines research. His involvement with- and enhancement of- the Keldon warlords and their subsequent battles with Phyrexia are excellent.
Not my favorite book of the Artifacts Cycle, but does tell an important story.
BLOODLINES focuses mainly on the development of Urza's almost Phyrexian-like genetic engineering project to produce the heirs to the Legacy. Many potential 'bloodlines' are produced and spread throughout Dominaria. Also, the artificial plane of Rath is developed here. Meant as a staging ground for Phyrexia's invasion of Dominaria, Rath will play important roles in future novels. Characters that are introduced here and are involved in the rest of the story include Rofellos, Gerrard, and Croag.
To me, the best story thread of this book is the one focusing on Gatha and his rebellious actions to promote his own bloodlines research. His involvement with- and enhancement of- the Keldon warlords and their subsequent battles with Phyrexia are excellent.
Not my favorite book of the Artifacts Cycle, but does tell an important story.
September 29, 2024
There is an inherent risk when it comes to writing fantasy or sci fi stories that span literally thousands of years; characters come and go, and there is often a sense of losing track of the ones to invest in. Most of the characters in this book are new, or were introduced late in the previous book. Characters I'd invested in the previous books are absent, and although the conflict is building to a good peak, I found myself not really caring about most of them.
I'm really in it for Karn at this point, and I am indeed looking forward to where he is going. The epilogue was intriguing because of that.
Some great fight scenes too, I just wish I was more invested in the characters. Bring back the previous ones who at this point have simply gone away!
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I'm really in it for Karn at this point, and I am indeed looking forward to where he is going. The epilogue was intriguing because of that.
Some great fight scenes too, I just wish I was more invested in the characters. Bring back the previous ones who at this point have simply gone away!
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August 12, 2016
Too many storylines!
This book follows roughly 6 story arcs at one time that are happening on 3 different planes, and maybe 6 continents over the course of 5 centuries. Some characters are immortal, some are semi-immortal, others mortal, and may even die off-screen after being followed somewhat by the storyline.
Given this tangled web, characters like Karn or Rofellos can disappear for extended periods then have a shockingly unceremonious reintroduction to the story. All the while you expect these inductive cords to come together in a profound way, but many just quietly and individually resolve. The complexity is the killer for this book. Agreed, the ending is not compelling, but at least you know what's going on at that point.
Like some other finales, you I kind of just finished this to know how it all turns out.
This book follows roughly 6 story arcs at one time that are happening on 3 different planes, and maybe 6 continents over the course of 5 centuries. Some characters are immortal, some are semi-immortal, others mortal, and may even die off-screen after being followed somewhat by the storyline.
Given this tangled web, characters like Karn or Rofellos can disappear for extended periods then have a shockingly unceremonious reintroduction to the story. All the while you expect these inductive cords to come together in a profound way, but many just quietly and individually resolve. The complexity is the killer for this book. Agreed, the ending is not compelling, but at least you know what's going on at that point.
Like some other finales, you I kind of just finished this to know how it all turns out.
January 31, 2008
This book was a little boring in the beginning, but got to be a pretty good one.
I picked the book because I like playing the Magic The Gathering trading card game. I seriously have not read another novel from the series, but after reading it, I might. I encourage anyone to read it, or one from the series. This book does have some gore, though not too bad. In this book you will see many people trying to kill this person called, Urza Planeswalker and people trying to guard him. You will also see many uniqe characters, and there lives. The book isn't so great, but I do recomend it.
I picked the book because I like playing the Magic The Gathering trading card game. I seriously have not read another novel from the series, but after reading it, I might. I encourage anyone to read it, or one from the series. This book does have some gore, though not too bad. In this book you will see many people trying to kill this person called, Urza Planeswalker and people trying to guard him. You will also see many uniqe characters, and there lives. The book isn't so great, but I do recomend it.
February 10, 2015
I'm giving this two stars rather than one because it's well-written, and fits together better than the first two books, but by now I've just grown so tired of this series. Urza fights Phyrexians, destroys people along the way, but not AS MANY people. Barrin sighs a lot. People turned out of the academy turn evil. Eight billion years pass. Wash, rinse, repeat. I don't even remember how it ended and I finished it less than a week ago. Oy. Rath & Storm seems far more intriguing, since we're back to a "human" level again. Curious to see if it can hold my attention.
August 6, 2010
Where does one draw the line between yourself and the enemy if you stoop to the same tactics as the enemy? A lot of the book had me squirming, and there were so many ethical issues in here that I would have liked to see explored more. Considering the plot and the story arcs, however, I can fully understand and accept structural/outline choices made. Also, just for the record, those battle scenes and war scenes are AMAZING. If I could give this 3.5 stars, I would have.
October 10, 2019
Stepping stone
A very quick read with some interesting but ultimately forgettable side characters. This book is clearly a set up for the continuation of the Phyredian menace. While not as interesting or coherent as some of the previous novels it is a necessary step in the tale.
A very quick read with some interesting but ultimately forgettable side characters. This book is clearly a set up for the continuation of the Phyredian menace. While not as interesting or coherent as some of the previous novels it is a necessary step in the tale.
May 11, 2023
Despite the eugenicsy premise, a surprisingly okay read. The biggest problems are the paper-thin villains / secondary characters. The writing is better than Planeswalker, but in some ways, a much less interesting concept.
February 19, 2010
Loved this book. A great mix of magic and technology. Depicted Urza's quest to prepare for the invasion well. I also enjoyed the side stories, particularly that of the Keldons.
October 25, 2013
Excellent story
October 11, 2016
Confusing, vague and they did a poor job of illustrating the flow of time, the impact of centuries, and frankly what the heck was going on.
November 21, 2016
Well written and an engaging read.
March 21, 2017
This is not the end of Urza's saga with the Phyrexians. THATS DISAPPOINTING.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2020
Sometimes hard to follow
Interesting story. Sometimes hard to follow due to several time skips. Not great, not bad. Would probably need another read to grasp all of it.
Interesting story. Sometimes hard to follow due to several time skips. Not great, not bad. Would probably need another read to grasp all of it.
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