The Prodigal Sorcerer

Magic: The Gathering

by Mark Sumner

For centuries, the magewall has isolated a battletorn valley. There, three races live in perpetual strife fueled by prejudice and fear. The Viashino hate the Garan, the Garan loathe the Humans and the humans despise them all.

But a new day is dawning. Tagard Tarngold, a human leader, has a plan that could bring harmony to his war-ravaged home, and has enlisted the aid of Aligaurius, a sorcerer from the Institute of Arcane Studies, in his efforts. Peace may be on the horizon at last.

But the terrible price of Tagard's peace may be more than his people can pay.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Collections, Magic, Novels

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 12, 1995

About the author

Sometimes credited as Mark C. Sumner or M.C. Sumner.

Reviews

[Parish · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first of the Magic the Gathering books that I think is actually worth reading, and the first one I would recommend to someone else.

My only major problem with it, and the reason it's three stars and not four, is there's hardly anything actually tying it to Magic the Gathering. Other than Viashino, and the classic Prodigal Sorcerer card, there isn't anything in this book that you could find in the card game. The locations are unique to the book, and even the Garan elves, En'Jaga, and Attalo are creatures not found in Magic (to my knowledge). It may as well just be a standalone fantasy novel.

[Cheyenne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favorite of the MTG books I've read so far (read: the first 6). I felt captivated by it from the very first scene and was attached to the characters and interactions throughout. I enjoyed the fact that its plot was more political and interpersonal rather than all combat-based, like some of the earlier Magic books. To me, this felt the most like a book that would stand well on its own merit without having to ride on the coattails of the Magic franchise.

I only had a few minor complaints regarding the writing. There were several instances where the author uses filter words, which pad sentences unnecessarily and make things read less smoothly than they otherwise would. There were also a few instances of awkward repetition of words (I can remember a sentence which read something along the lines of "The echo of his call echoed down the street," for example). Finally, there was one noticeable slip-up where the narration mentioned the name of a character, but the POV character didn't find out his name until the next page.

[Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

When they're done right, tie-in novels can be really enjoyable - they can expand the universe of the original story, and create nuance and variety where some might have been lacking.

Accomplishing this would be difficult in a M:tG novel. Especially in the early days, the metanarrative of the game was minimal, so there wouldn't be much to hang a plot on, aside from working in game mechanics. It feels like the author of this didn't even try, though - it feels like he just dusted off and unused manuscript, changed a couple of names here and there, and called it a Magic story.

As far as the story itself goes, the characters are flat, we're dropped in media res into a world that isn't adequately developed, and the ending kind of just comes out of nowhere.

[William Curb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this book up off of the $1 sales table at half price books. I was actually surpised with this book as it was far better written then other MtG books I have read in the past. I'd say the biggest problem with this book is the fact that it does hardly anything to introduce the background of the story. The reader has to accept many things as fact and other things just seem to come out of no where. Over all I was pleasently surpised by this book, but perhaps that was simply because I wasn't expecting much from in it in the first place.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book, unfortunately. There was nothing to hate about it, but nothing to like either. The characters were all bland and forgettable and the plot line was ill paced and disjointed. I was three pages from the end of the book and still couldn't figure out how things were going to wrap up... Turns out it was because they didn't. Not really, at least.

Could have been better, could have been worse. This will likely be one of the more forgettable MTG books I read.

[Jeff Jellets · Rating 3 out of 5]

”I want you all to leave and never come back. But I will settle for peace.”

The Prodigal Sorcerer is the sixth book in the original line of Magic: The Gathering-inspired novels, and it’s not much better than its predecessor. While author Mark Sumner provides a passable fantasy tale, it – like the last volume -- has little to nothing to do with either the lore or the mechanics of its game-inspired roots. I can almost imagine WoTC mailing Sumner the titular ‘Prodigal Sorcerer’ card from the game – just the card, mind you -- along with a note that went something like ‘hey … how about a book about this?’

So … the good is that Sumner’s story is at least interesting. Typical fantasy fare often follows the rise of a hard luck hero who, despite impossible odds, grows into leadership, unifying his (or her) people into a loyal band, and promptly conquering the bad guys to save the kingdom. With The Prodigal Sorcerer the war is over in just the first few chapters. It’s the struggle to bring peace to the fractured valley of Tamingazin and its traditionally belligerent tribes of humans, elves and reptilian Viashino that form the crux of the ensuing conflict. As seen in the real world, the peace is often much harder to win than the war.

And while the idea is good, the execution doesn’t quite dazzle. The motivation for the titular prodigal sorcerer Aligarius Timni to join the war effort is never adequately explained and for a wizard of rare power and learning, he is duped like an absolute rube by a transparently bad villain offering (of all things) addictive saucy sauce on his sweetmeats? Similarly silly is the raison d'être for the blood feud among the Garan elves. As hand-to-hand combat experts, it’s apparently a capital crime to pick-up a bow … even if it means saving your whole tribe from becoming giant lizard lunch? That seems … harsh. More problematic for MTG fans is that the sorcery has nothing to do with card game – you don't even mention mana(!) – and the creatures familiar to the game are absent (except for the Viashino which would actually make it into the Mirage card set a year after this novel was published).

(Sumner’s play on the prodigal sorcerer’s name of Aligarius Timni is actually one of the deepest cuts of MTG lore to be found in the books. MTG designers and players had long dubbed the wizard on this card ‘Tim’ after the ‘Tim the Enchanter’ character from Monty Python’s Holy Grail. The surname ‘Timni’ is an admittedly clever nod to that bit of trivia).

With this book, it’s not hard to fathom why WoTC would soon be hitting the reset button on the whole line of its MTG books as these have become increasingly disappointing. It’s a shame because I genuinely liked Sumner’s core protagonists of Tallibeth, Garan elf Recin, and sorcerer’s apprentice Kitrin (and there was a fun little love triangle brewing toward the end). But it too was shelved too quickly as the novel rushed toward its conclusion once it broke the requisite 300-page mark leaving the denouement feeling hurried and slightly unfinished. As hard as it is to find this book is, I’d give it a pass unless you are an absolute completist like me.

[Sherrey Worley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was actually quite disappointed with this one. It had a strong story... when you got to it. The short ending and extra character building in the beginning made the storyline foggy and unclear, until almost half way through the book. It was a very slow read and I found myself almost having to force myself to read through the extended development.
As far as Magic: The Gathering goes, I felt it was a rather poor representation of magic and rather a representation of a few of the races you can find within the world of Magic. There wasn't very much lore, if at all.
As an individual story, despite the initial slowness and abrupt ending, it was a good read and I am not wholly disappointed in it.

[Adam Woroniec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading fantasy can sometimes be a huge journey. This book reminded me that you can have an excellent little fantasy story in a quick package. Characters, races, and places were established well, and I appreciated the writing quality. A satisfying mix and pace of fighting, military tactics, and political intrigue in this one. I can't really speak on how well of an MTG tie-in this is, since I didn't really have any of the sets from around this book's time, aside from recognizing the Viashino.

[Jack Doud · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had almost nothing to tie it to Magic the Gathering besides a handfull of references that had nothing to do with the story. For a piece of tie in media I expected a lot more than a mediocre YA fantasy story with very little actual magic use.

[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another decent one, though I fear that none of these will reach the heights of the Greensleeves Trilogy for me.

[Chip Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the most enjoyable MTG book I've read thus far. This stand-alone novel is a quick and exciting read that would be great for anyone looking for something easy and relaxing. The development of the story is fast-paced with a surprising amount of complexity in the characters, cultures, and lands. Sumner is outstanding at creating a vivid and believable picture of a strange land with strange inhabitants with strange customs in few words. While this book will only take a couple of days to read, you'll be surprised at how quickly and deeply you are drawn into the story of Telli and Recin, and their struggle to introduce peace to a troubled land.

Also, you do not need any prior knowledge of MTG or any of the previous books to fully appreciate this one. Sumner made no attempt to tie in this book with MTG the game, which really freed him up to create his own work. For all intents and purposes, this book could have been published in any of the open-optioned fantasy collections.

Definitely better than most MTG books, I'd reccomend it to anyone.

[Derp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had fun with this one, I enjoyed the world and the characters, though it has the most abrupt ending to a book that I can recall. The final battle concludes and then the book just ends- no denouement, no wrap up, no nothing. Also can't think of another book that spends the first 4/5ths of the book building up a romance only to introduce a new romantic interest in the final fifth, completely ditching the original romance.

[Shase Lindell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantasy culture, good story.