Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa

Magic: The Gathering: Kamigawa Cycle #1

by Scott McGough

The first title in a series that peers into a mysterious new area of the Magic world.
Champions of Kamigawa kicks off a series that will explore a new and mysterious area of the The Gathering world that fans have never seen before. This novel previews the newest trading card game set to be released in October, giving fans a sneak peek at the new elements of the game.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, High Fantasy, Japan, Science Fiction Fantasy

310 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 31, 2004

About the author

Scott McGough lives in Seattle with a pair of cats and an Australian Cattle Dog. He has written or co-written over a dozen novels and short stories for Magic: The Gathering; he also provided random pirate voices for an upcoming computer game and portrayed a shambling, gut-munching zombie extra in a local low-budget film. Based on his acting performances so far, everyone agrees he should keep writing.

Reviews

[Víctor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro muy de nicho (pero mucho) donde se narra la historia de Kamigawa, una especie de Japón feudal con toques de fantasía. La ambientación nace de un bloque de expansiones con el mismo nombre del juego de cartas Magic: The Gathering.

Puestos en contexto he de decir que tampoco me esperaba mucho de esta novela, que con un ritmo muy ágil y escenas peliculeras, intentan dar un poco de vidilla a esos personajes más emblemáticos que encontramos en el juego de cartas.

Quizás he sido bastante benevolente con la puntuación, porque un lector sin cierta nostalgia producida por una adolescencia jugando a cartas es probable que encuentre esta novela bastante infumable.

[Ernest Junius · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the very first MTG (Magic The Gathering) book series I read. Let me tell you why I decided to pick up this book from the shelves at Kinokuniya Kuala Lumpur one afternoon a few years back. First, I was (and probably will always be) an MTG trading card games fan. I played it since I was in high school and I really enjoyed playing it. MTG has always been overly innovative and active contemporaneously by always breeding more and more card series with different themes every time for us to play. The possibility is near to endless as the fun. One of the series was Kamigawa cycle series. Of course as a celebrated player I always wanted to know the story behind the games 'what makes it what I think it is'. Therefore one day I decided to buy the trilogy all at once: Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa, Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa and Guardian: Saviors of Kamigawa. If you ask did I buy the other series of MTG books—no. Why? because this was a special case as in this Kamigawa series MTG for the first time highlighted Japanese culture in its card games which suited my interest of Japanese culture impeccably.

However honestly speaking I was devastatingly disappointed by the book. True, it was a story of wartime in ancient Japanese time, but it is written in American style! probably Hollywood! (of course you can guess why: McGough is American!) And that's awfully bad. Bad enough to make this book a one-star piece. The main character, Toshi, is a lone samurai that's full of surprises and always present to impress. He met Michiko, the daughter and princess of the almighty, all-fearful, all powerful Daimyo Konda and together they venture dangerous journeys to save the whole realm of Kamigawa from the dreadful threats of the Kami (Spirits) that are invading the kingdom. Sounds cliche? I know. Moreover, I assume if I wasn't a magic player, I wouldn't be able to picture the whole creatures and heroes in this story. I could understand them well enough just simply because I've seen the illustrations in the cards that I've played. Maybe these revelations were the main reason why I read the book just after 4 years after I bought it.

If there was one thing that I like about this book, is the myriad types of mystical creatures that appeared in this book–although almost all of them appear incongruously unsuitable.

OK. Enough words. I think I'll just have to finish the remaining two books and tell you what will happen next(even though I don't think I would enjoy them).

[Pablo Raak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aquí estamos, una vez más, leyendo Magic. Leyendo merchandising y disfrutándolo.

Encontré este libro por casualidad en un ReRead. Conocía la saga, pero no sabía que se había traducido, así que me lo pillé por curiosidad. Y por nostalgia. Mis inicios en Magic fueron allá por Quinto Amanecer y me monté mis primeros mazos cuando Traidores de Kamigawa, así que esta novela tiraba de una potente nostalgia en mí. ¡Ah, qué recuerdos de cuando era un pequeño weaboo adolescente montándose mazos de kamis y perdiendo contra mazos mononegro de ratas...! Y, honestamente, la novela no ha decepcionado a mi nostalgia en absoluto, aunque puede que sí un poco a mi yo de la actualidad, más cansado, menos weaboo y con más criterio. No mucho, eso sí.

A ver, me aclaro: esta novela está bien. Sólo bien. A secas. Es un sólido seis, ni muy caliente, ni muy frío. Lo suficientemente buena como para no tirarla por la ventana por sus fallos (que tiene y ahora voy a eso), pero tampoco es para tirar cohetes. Y os digo por qué.

Los puntos fuertes están claros: el primero es que es una novela que conecta con mi nostalgia y si tú, lector, también viviste el bloque Kamigawa, también conectará con la tuya. Esta novela me ha devuelto a la Guerra de los Kami, a los kitsune y a los orochi, a la Escuela de Minamo y el Palacio Flotante de Oboro... Ha estado guay volver. Y ahí va el segundo punto fuerte.

Es una novela guay. El autor sabe lo que está trabajando así que se centra en el "rule of cool" por encima de una trama coherente. Sabe que tiene que enseñar un mundo para el que está haciendo merchandising así que no se frena. Añádanle a eso que es también un inmenso weaboo (directamente abre la novela citando el famoso "See You Space Cowboy" de Cowboy Bebop) así que se nota que disfrutó escribiendo y haciendo referencia a cuantos más detallitos de cultura japonesa mejor. En esta novela no ves "dioses", "ideogramas" o "arqueros a caballo", ves kami, kanji y yabusame. Y las batallas, cuando son entre mortales, son una delicia de leer (me recordaba todo poderosamente a cuando jugaba al Total War Shogun 2). Se nota que ha investigado. Es necesario avisar, eso sí, que por supuesto todo este gusto por las japonerías no deja de estar marcado por una visión muy occidentalizada del tema (no tan orientalista como Leyenda de los Cinco Anillos, pero ahí-ahí), aunque creo que esto es más culpa de la propia empresa que pidió este libro que del autor. A fin de cuentas, hasta Wizards admitió que había cometido fallos en Kamigawa, como se pudo ver en la mesa de diseño que hicieron para Kamigawa Neon Dynasty.

El caso es que tiene dos fortalezas: que chupa de la nostalgia y que es guay. Pero los puntos débiles que hacen la contra a estos pros son bastante fuertes también. Y el primero es, de hecho, que es una novela de merchandising.

Lo digo con completo convencimiento: lo peor de esta novela es que es una novela de Magic. Si a Scott McGough le hubieran dejado escribir su propia historia de fantasía en el Japón feudal estoy convencido de que habría salido un novelazo. Las partes más flojas de la historia o de la narración misma son aquellas en las que se nota que tiene que seguir la agenda impuesta por la biblia de diseño de Wizards. Cuando, por el contrario, le dejan a su aire y el espacio suficiente para inventarse sus propias cosas, Scott hace maravillas. No vi nunca menciones en las cartas a la magia de los kanji o a la banda de matones (fuertemente inspirada en la Yakuza) de los Hyozan, así que asumo que son ideas suyas. Y vaya si molan. ¿El poema-amenaza de los Hyozan para avisar de que te vas a comer una vendetta? Aplaudiendo con las orejas estaba.

Pero cuando no le dejan libertad se nota todo un poco "voy a hacer esto rápido para ir a lo interesante". Lo peor de la novela, para mi completa sorpresa, son los propios kami que dan nombre al setting. Evidentemente no era fácil describirlos (si habéis visto las cartas de los espíritus de Kamigawa sabéis a lo que me refiero), pero tampoco veo que haya hecho ningún esfuerzo. Cada vez que sale uno parece como que narra un dibujo que le han mandado en vez de algo que haya escrito él. Es aburrido, matemático y poco interesante. Nada que ver con las partes de Toshiro teniendo desventuras por todo el reino o las batallas entre mortales. Es como... hay como dos novelas dentro de esta. La suya, la que le gusta escribir, y la de Magic, la que tiene que escribir.

Pasando ya por encima de este importante detalle, el segundo punto débil de esta novela son los personajes. Toshiro es guay, pero ya está. Es un cool boy, un enfant terrible, que viene a hacer su trabajo de molar y ya está. Y los personajes que le rodean tres cuartas de lo mismo. No esperes arcos interesantísimos de personaje en esta novela porque no los vas a tener. Esto no es Embestida (esa sí que fue una novela de Magic que me dejó con el culo torcido, madre mía). Pero bueno, era de esperar, no deja de ser merchandising, está para vender, no para impresionar.

Y con esto mi reseña ya estaría, pero hay un tercer punto negativo de esta novela del que tengo que hablar, aunque este no dependa del autor: y es la traducción. La de esta edición es malísima. Palabras inglesas traducidas por el primer resultado del diccionario o con términos rarísimos que no entiendo que hacen ahí (esta novela me ha enseñado palabras que ni sabía que existían en el español, como ahíto). O palabras directamente mal traducidas, como un "morones" que me encontré (adivinad que palabra es en inglés). Y en una ocasión escribían mal y todo una palabra japonesa. Maldita sea, ¿¿para una que no hay que traducir??

Así pues, entre la traducción, lo flojo de los personajes y ese tira y afloja entre el autor y la empresa, la novela se me ha quedado en un "ok". Sinceramente, si no viviste Kamigawa o no sientes nostalgia alguna por el setting del Japón feudal de Magic the Gathering, ni mires esta novela. Tiene poco valor fuera de esa situación concreta. Y si, por lo que sea, sí que la tienes... bueno, ya sabes que te vas a encontrar. Pero, por lo demás, ojalá le hubiera leído la novela que a Scott le habría gustado escribir y no esta. Seguro que sería bastante mejor.

[Valentine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quería leerme este libro porque me gusta mucho MTG y quería conocer más acerca del lore de Kamigawa porque es realmente interesante. Bueno, este libro no lo es. La mejor forma de definirlo es que es un historia típica de Hollywood. Tenían una base tan maravillosa y han hecho un trabajo tan pobre y decepcionante.
Para empezar, el lore del propio mundo: los kamis de MTG son geniales porque son ESPÍRITUS INCORPÓREOS casi lovecarftiano, es decir, NO SE PUDEN TOCAR, por eso la Guerra de los Kamis era tan catastrófica. Ah, pero el prota, el samurai malote que parece un hombre de mediana edad y que le parece muy atractiva una chica de 16 años ha sido capaz de cargarse a uno en los primeros capítulos. Se siente tanto la fantasía de poder del típico pavo americano.
Podría dejar pasar que haga lo que quiera con el lore, sino fuera porque los personajes son igual de profundos que una piscina infantil. El prota es un malote, la mentora tiene instinto maternal y la princesa llora por su pueblo. Ya está. Esas son sus funciones. Ya que se pasa tanto tiempo describiendo las peleas, que se hubiera tomado un poco de tiempo en escribir también sobre los personajes, más allá de señalar que algo tiene los atributos de una "hembra".
No veo razón para recomendar este libro. Si alguien quiere saber sobre la historia de Kamigawa, que se busque un resumen o mire una wiki que sufrirá menos.

[Skyline112 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A must read for fans of the kamigawa lore - the main character is kind of an antihero, so if you into that go ahead and read the book ;-)

[Cousland · Rating 1 out of 5]

Il libro in sè non è male, l'ho letto per avvicinarmi al modo di magic e devo dire che la missione è riuscita. Ho voglia di leggere gli altri e di sapere che altro succede, i personaggi sono un po' stereotipati, ma tutto sommato gradevoli, alcuni mi hanno proprio catturata, peccato si trattasse di personaggi secondari. La storia in se è cliché come poche per ora, una principessa e un samurai fuorilegge si incontrano e devono salvare il mondo. Ma voglio sperare vada a parare altrove. I protagonisti sono i meno sfaccettati e spesso si muovono in maniera poco plausibile, ma il resto dell'universo, così misterioso e intrigante, riesce a farli andare in secondo piano e a renderli meno invasivi.
Questo libro è una finestrella su un mondo vasto, complesso, coerente e interessante.
Il problema è che non sembrano averlo spiegato all'autore, che scrive male, si concentra sulle cose sbagliate, non sa fare le descrizioni e scrive male, oltre a scrivere male e a scrivere male. Pensavo potesse essere un problema di traduzione, invece no, ho visto il testo originale. E' proprio lui che scrive male.
La questione principale è l'uso dei soggetti: se ne fa un abuso neanche si trattasse del francese, ogni riga viene specificato, il che già da solo rende la lettura poco scorrevole e irritante, finendo inoltre per farti concentrare sui personaggi, che come dicevo sono l'aspetto meno interessante del libro, in più è rarissimo l'uso dei pronomi e dei nomi propri, il più delle volte ci si riferisce ai personaggi con lunghi e inutili giri di parole o usando appellativi di vario genere:
"La principessa si addentrò nella foresta. La giovane non era mai stata lontana dalla torre. "Finirò col perdermi" pensò tra se e se l'allieva arciere. Non avendo altra scelta, la figlia del Daimyo si addentrò nella foresta." (è inventato ma basta aprire il libro in un qualunque punto per rendersene conto). E' irritante, crea confusione e sopratutto non ne capisco il motivo, ci sarebbe bisogno di così tanta precisione e spreco di sinonimi solo in una situazione dove per lungo tempo va avanti un botta e risposta tra tanti personaggi e si rischia di non capire chi dice cosa. In un a situazione normale con 2-3 persone non c'è quasi mai bisogno di specificare il soggetto. Sicuramente, non è necessario se LA PROTAGONISTA è DA SOLA in una FORESTA con i suoi pensieri. Chi altro vuoi che stia compiendo l'azione indicata dal verbo? uno degli alberi? la teiera? Non sottovalutare i lettori Scott ti prego! Oltretutto un autore non dovrebbe mai aver paura a ripetere il nome del proprio protagonista, è sicuramente meglio di vederlo lanciarsi in locuzioni come "la studentessa possibile guardia del corpo" per indicare qualcuno (questo non l'ho inventato. L'ha scritto davvero.)
Inoltre sono quasi sicura che l'editor sia morto prima di poter rivedere il libro e non abbiano fatto in tempo a sostituirlo. O che sia uno dei cani di Scott. Oltre questa cosa dei soggetti, che è a dir poco ridicola, la punteggiatura per tutto il testo è messa completamente a caso, e non riesco a inventarmi scusanti per una cosa del genere.
In breve, il mondo del libro è valido, e leggerò gli altri, anche se dovrò superare gli Scilla e Cariddi che sono Scott e il suo editor.

Segue passo particolarmente emblematico:
"Il piccolo maschio scrollò le spalle. -Siamo gente della foresta-. Disse con disinvoltura, -non abbiamo paura-.
Il fuoriegge indicò il giovane mago. -Lui sì.-.
Lo studente dai capelli bianchi reagì come se fosse stato schiaffeggiato. -Che hai detto reietto?-.
-Choryu-, lo ammonì la studentessa possibile guardia del corpo.
-Ho detto che sembri sul punto di fartela addosso- ribadì Toshi."

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

This lacked a lot of the really painful and terrible writing issues of past books. It looked like a book and felt like a book.

The problem is....nothing happened. There was no plot. If you've read John Truby's "Anatomy of Story", you'll know what I mean when I say that not one character had a "moral need". The driving force of the narrative was entirely superficial.

I attempted to summarize the "plot" and failed. The best I got was:

Kami are pissed off for some reason and attacking people, and that is bad. Toshiro Umezawa is running away from moon people? The big bad ruler Konda's daughter runs away from the castle after a kami attack for some reason? But she's instantly found again, somehow collides with Umezawa, they escape an attack by snake people, the end.

There was never any sort of "oh shit I wonder who's behind that" or "I need to read the next chapter to find out what happens next". It was all very much boilerplate prose moving pieces across the board to get from one "action" attack scene to the next.

It turns out it was 300 pages of setup for the next book. Konda did something weird that didn't really make sense at the exact moment the princess was born, so now the Kami are pissed off at him and everyone thinks the princess is the key to undoing whatever it is he did.

Yawn.

Bigger disappointment: None of the following cards made even cameo appearances -- Isamaru, any of the dragons, Eight-and-a-Half Tails, Boseiju, or Kiki-Jiki. This was still before the era where they more closely tied the story to specific cards, so things like Desperate Ritual weren't actually connected to a story moment.

They also suck at color identity at this point as well. Aside from later mentions of coming from a swamp, there is nothing that says that Umezawa would have any affiliation with black mana. Most of the magic he does seems much more red or blue.

One extra star for having readable prose and dialogue, though admittedly I may be biased by the abysmally low bar set by the Mirrodin trilogy before this, but overall one of the weaker entries into the series in terms of story content and entertainment value.

[Ratty]

Rocky start to a pretty fun fantasy trilogy.

This book is unfocused and uneven. It's basically all set-up for the two later, better books in the series and doesn't really hold together as its own story.

The titular "Outlaw" is Toshi Umezawa, your classic scoundrel protagonist. But he never feels like the "main character" here, no one does really. The narrative zips back and forth to different characters without giving the reader time to really get a good impression of or attached to them. Princess Michiko is perhaps the closest thing we get to a true "main character" in this book but her characterization is never particularly deep here. There is a plot reason for this lack of depth that becomes apparent in the later books, but that doesn't help much going through this one.

I liked the trilogy as a whole, but this first volume is the kind of book that is hard to recommend. If you're not already set on reading the entire trilogy, this entry likely won't sell you on the series. And you won't get much out of it reading it by itself without the two following titles.

[Iain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smart, funny ... this is my favorite MTG tie-in novel to date. McGough brings to life an interesting tale with characters worth caring about. It's not Steinbeck ... but we don't come to franchise tie-in novellas expecting Steinbeck. What we get here is the best one could ask for it the genre, an entertaining read that flows well (despite the occasional misspelling / editorial gaff), leaves one wanting to read the next book, and inspires one to brew a commander deck around the book's central character. I've already begun reading the next book in the Kamigawa cycle and expect to read others by McGough.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book was quite good. It has lots of major characters with good pacing. It has bits of the comedy of nowadays like in the Marvel movies which kinda undercuts some of the important parts such as meeting important characters. Yet, I think it keeps a lid on it. Some characters were never really flushed out which is okay, but just telling of less is more. Lastly, the biggest gripe I have is that some things kinda just happen to the characters instead of a nice story flow. I liked it alot though. Fun to see the characters' MTG card abilities show through books.

[Ben Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was glad to pick up the trilogy on Amazon after coming across Book 1 years ago (and losing it). For anyone who played/plays MTG and is interested in the story of the Kamigawa block, this is your introduction to the invasion of the spirits. Enjoy! And don't tell me you won't find Toshi's character endearing.

[Iranoctis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eine große positive Überraschung! Das erste Magic-Buch, das ich nicht nur wegen der Lore gut fand, sondern bei dem auch Charaktere und Handlung unterhaltsam waren. Das Ende hat so seine Schwächen und es sind auch knappe vier Sterne, aber trotzdem wird eine spannende Welt vor den Augen der LeserInnen entfaltet.

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

the writing is okay — it needed more editing, but fundamentally it’s not terrible. I think the problem is maybe the changes in perspective? in that you can’t get deep enough into any of them — Toshi is probably the closest you get — to really get a feel for the characters, and as a result the drama tends to fall flat.

[Nick (LackingZones) · Rating 2 out of 5]

For a Magic: The Gathering novel, this one was pretty decent. But for the love of all that is holy, Wizards of the Coast needs someone to copy edit their books. There were typos in literally every other paragraph.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best mtg novels ever.

Nothing written before or after kamigawa block comes close to this. It's so damn good. Better than any recent lore in thr past 10 years that's for sure, at least

[Frank Granlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toshi umezawa is the main character and he's a thief and a master of kanji magic

[Michele Ragosta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primo libro incentrato sull'universo di Kamigawa. Una lettura appassionante per gli amanti del famoso gioco da tavola, il protagonista principale Toshi Umezawa saprá rapirvi sin dalle prime pagine.

[Ian Hewitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

"A large goblin sprung onto Sharp Ear's horse, locking its overlarge arms around the beast's neck... Sharp Ear paused, mindful of shooting his own steed.... After a split-second, Sharp Ear hurled himself forward, curling his small body into a tight ball and turning a half somersault as he went. When his toes struck the goblin's body, he straightened out and kicked with both feet, latching onto the horse's bridle with his hand.

The impact was enough to jar the akki loose, and it fell screaming beneath the horse's hooves. Still clinging to the bridle, Sharp Ear swung under the horse's neck, threw his feet back over its head, and hurled himself spread eagle onto its back."

Outlaw by Scott McGough is an offering from Wizards of the Coasts' Magic the Gathering novel line, written in support of its Champions of Kamigawa expansion. It is the first in the Kamigawa Cycle.

Scott McGough should be well known to Magic: The Gathering fans, he has written short stories for Myths of Magic, Dragons of Magic and Monsters of Magic. He is also the author of Magic Legends Cycle Two.

Outlaw tells the story of two primary characters (but there are a literal host of supporting characters) the naïve princes Michiko and the dangerous criminal Toshiro Umezawa. Both seek to discover the truth behind a rapidly escalating war begun by the spirit world upon the mortal - but the two characters are so completely opposite that they do so very differently. Toshiro is the more interesting of the two because he breaks from the mould of the usual 'hero' character. He is self-serving, selfish, evil and violently vengeful which combined with some of the high action in this novel and all of the grisly violence made this book much darker than I would have expected.

Outlaw offers a good look into the new M:tG setting and is likely to excite the fans without even trying. To those unfamiliar or unconcerned with the cards behind the prose, this is still a pretty good read.

Despite what I just said, I am sure an extensive knowledge of M:tG would enhance the reading and enjoyment of this novel. I do not have that level of insider knowledge for example, and although I still enjoyed the book I was aware that I was not getting my full dollar value.

A more significant flaw in the novel was the editing - or rather, the lack of editing. There was a greater than normal deluge of typos and crimes against punctuation in this book which is really pretty inexcusable.

Outlaw is a fun read for anybody and is likely a great read for a fan of Magic: The Gathering - but only if you can ignore the terrible editing. After reading Outlaw I would definitely follow up with the next book in the series.

Final Grade: C

[Albertus Pierik · Rating 5 out of 5]

something different then the usual magic caster. Toshi really excells at magic casting, beautifully illustrated how he thinks, how he combines and how to enhance the spells with contracts with kamis, and the hyozan mark, the sheer brutalness and Chaos magic of the Ogre Hidetsugu, he is a frikking badass casting from his oni of chaos a brutal slaughtering on the Soratami.

I read all 3, 6 or 7 times and still its awesome!

Scott I wish you write more like those books, because i had the feeling you really enjoyed the japan style, with his kami, onis and appetite for destruction.

[Cirrus Minor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mein erster Magicroman stellt mich vor eine Herausforderung, der ich vermutlich nur mit mtg-wiki oder einem ausführlichen Glossar beigekommen wäre - auch nach einigen Jahren Magicerfahrung muss ich doch feststellen, dass ich verflucht viele Begriffe aus Kamigawa noch nie gehört habe, geschweige denn kenne. Vieles ergibt sich natürlich aus dem Zusammenhang, trotzdem wäre es hilfreich gewesen, ein paar Erläuterungen zu erhalten.

Ansonsten bin ich sehr gespannt, wie sich Toshi und die Prinzessin noch entwickeln werden und welche Geheimnisse die Füchse mit sich herumtragen.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great fantasy storyline which places the magic universe in a medieval Japanese-style setting. Outlaw is paced well, is full of interesting characters, and has a fairly involving storyline which keeps the pages turning. It is marred only by some weakly written sections, and lots of stupid editing errors (spelling). Otherwise, I look forward to reading the other two books in this trilogy someday!

[Kevin Glusing · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful break from the chronology laid out in previous novels. The Mirrodin trilogy was good for a stepping stone, but it did include more ties to the penultimate story. Granted, there's more to this and its two sequels than just an adventure in asian mythology. All in all, a very well written and thought out plot.

I especially like the use of Kanji as magic and even adapted it to a character I played in D&D for a while. Fun times.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised that these books were so good. I remember reading one of the early books and not being impressed but I liked this one

[Catherine Thomas]

Interesting content, especially for a fan of MTG. These books are always just so poorly written.. it's hard to get through them due to the mediocrity of the actual writing.