What do you think?
Rate this book
Unbowed
Vivien Reid investigates the vampire kingdom of Luneau on Ixalan . . . and is far from happy with what she finds.
- GenresFantasy
32 pages, ebook
First published August 29, 2018
77 people want to read
About the author
Cassandra Khaw
126 books2,952 followersCassandra Khaw is an award-winning game writer.
Their recent novella Nothing but Blackened Teeth was a British
Fantasy, World Fantasy, Shirley Jackson, and Bram Stoker
Award finalist. Their debut collection Breakable Things is now
out.
Their recent novella Nothing but Blackened Teeth was a British
Fantasy, World Fantasy, Shirley Jackson, and Bram Stoker
Award finalist. Their debut collection Breakable Things is now
out.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 15, 2018
The Magic The Gathering short stories have been consistent and very enjoyable reads and 'Unbowed' by Cassandra Khaw is another great addition to the list!
We're introduced to Vivien Reid, a new Planeswalker from the plane of Skalla, as she escorts a dinosaur, a Brontodon, back to the Vampire city of Luneau, on the plane of Ixalan, for the Royal Menagerie there. But when she sees what the Royal Menagerie is doing with the specimens, she decides to do something about the horrors she sees and takes revenge, with a little help, against the city.
We're also introduced to Vivien's weapon of choice, the Arkbow. A unique artifact of Skalla, which contains the spirit forms of creatures, and was originally planned to be used in a last stand against Nicol Bolas before he destroyed the plane. Vivien definitely gets to show off the awesomeness of the Arkbow throughout the story!
'Unbowed' is a really good read with a really strong main character that I loved. Her determination and resolve, despite the hostilities and cruelties made against her, were very admirable, and I'd love to see a lot more of her in the future.
If you've read the previous stories from the 'Ixalan' block, then you've already got a taste of the more pirate and ancient Mexican side of the plane. Here, the world building of the city of the Vampire domain of Luneau, resembles a city during the times of France in the 1700s before the French Revolution, adding another flavour to an already diverse plane. It works really well, with the grandeur of it's vampire inhabitants and the downtrodden humans that also live there or pass through the port.
Overall, its a great introduction to a new character in the Magic The Gathering multiverse!
We're introduced to Vivien Reid, a new Planeswalker from the plane of Skalla, as she escorts a dinosaur, a Brontodon, back to the Vampire city of Luneau, on the plane of Ixalan, for the Royal Menagerie there. But when she sees what the Royal Menagerie is doing with the specimens, she decides to do something about the horrors she sees and takes revenge, with a little help, against the city.
We're also introduced to Vivien's weapon of choice, the Arkbow. A unique artifact of Skalla, which contains the spirit forms of creatures, and was originally planned to be used in a last stand against Nicol Bolas before he destroyed the plane. Vivien definitely gets to show off the awesomeness of the Arkbow throughout the story!
'Unbowed' is a really good read with a really strong main character that I loved. Her determination and resolve, despite the hostilities and cruelties made against her, were very admirable, and I'd love to see a lot more of her in the future.
If you've read the previous stories from the 'Ixalan' block, then you've already got a taste of the more pirate and ancient Mexican side of the plane. Here, the world building of the city of the Vampire domain of Luneau, resembles a city during the times of France in the 1700s before the French Revolution, adding another flavour to an already diverse plane. It works really well, with the grandeur of it's vampire inhabitants and the downtrodden humans that also live there or pass through the port.
Overall, its a great introduction to a new character in the Magic The Gathering multiverse!
February 14, 2019
Unbowed is a major miss.
I definitely get, and appreciate, what they were going for here. On the cusp of a major narrative climax, bring in a new and unfamiliar character, one who's a little harder and more detached than the main gang of heroes.
It just doesn't work.
There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the character. As written here, she's a bit too edgy, perhaps, but this isn't intrinsic to the character. She's got interesting abilities and a seemingly interesting backstory. She's got plenty of reason to hate the main villain.
But reading this set of stories was the biggest chore I can recall in all of Magic's lore. First of all, we're dropped in medias res (usually good thing), but we're never given a reason to care about what's happening. In fact this is one of the rare instances where the hints toward backstory left me wishing I was reading about that instead.
The prose throughout, but especially early on, is pretentious by design, so as to evoke the pomposity of the character's surroundings. But it's just too much. At times it reads as though the text was written plainly and then a tool replaced every word with a random thesaurus entry for it.
The story moves from point to point and never are we made to care who, what, or why. Eventually it ends, and I'm just left wondering why I can't read the actual story.
I definitely get, and appreciate, what they were going for here. On the cusp of a major narrative climax, bring in a new and unfamiliar character, one who's a little harder and more detached than the main gang of heroes.
It just doesn't work.
There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the character. As written here, she's a bit too edgy, perhaps, but this isn't intrinsic to the character. She's got interesting abilities and a seemingly interesting backstory. She's got plenty of reason to hate the main villain.
But reading this set of stories was the biggest chore I can recall in all of Magic's lore. First of all, we're dropped in medias res (usually good thing), but we're never given a reason to care about what's happening. In fact this is one of the rare instances where the hints toward backstory left me wishing I was reading about that instead.
The prose throughout, but especially early on, is pretentious by design, so as to evoke the pomposity of the character's surroundings. But it's just too much. At times it reads as though the text was written plainly and then a tool replaced every word with a random thesaurus entry for it.
The story moves from point to point and never are we made to care who, what, or why. Eventually it ends, and I'm just left wondering why I can't read the actual story.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews