Assassin's Blade

Magic: The Gathering: Legends Cycle II #1

by Scott McGough

A new story inspired by the classic trading card game.

This title launches an all-new trilogy based on key characters and events from the top-selling Magic: The Gathering trading card game. These titles expand on the history of the Magic (r) world and fill in the backstory for the fans.

ASSASSINATION HAS ITS PRICE!

Scheming, intelligent, and power-hungry, the emperor�s assassin moves always in shadow. He kills whom his master wishes and plans his own rise to power. Against him, one man stands on his honor, determined to end the cycle of death dealt from dark corners.

Amid a dark landscape ravaged by war, the two at last confront one another. At stake is the future of the empire.

Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Fiction, Unfinished

308 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2002

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

[Tess Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good plot as a mini-story and was a very enjoyable book. Short stories provided a great start to the throne of glass series.

[Mmolde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Litt tørr i starten(e), men gøy når man kom inn i det. Syns det var en viktig bok for serien. Celaena er litt naiv, men også veldig ung, så dbg

[Chip Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

ASSASSIN'S BLADE begins a whole new mentality behind the MTG fluff novels. With this book, characters from the trading card game start playing a major role in the stories. All of the characters in this book come straight out of the Legends expansion, including Tor Wauki, Tetsuo Umezawa, Ayesha Tanaka, and Lady Caleria. The book provides great in-depth backgrounds for lots of the previously-mysterious Legends from early Magic mythos. The story itself is actually quite decent here, following Tetstuo Umezawa, the Emporer's Champion, as he tries to thwart the nefarious plans of the Emperor's Assassin, Lord Dark. The Emperor plays an interesting role in the book, technically the leader of both Umezawa and Lord Dark, but basically playing them against each other. His motivations are unclear, but he acts like a sort of awe-inspiring and terrible puppet master, leading an empire (or many empires?). The best characters are Tor Wauki, who follow Umezawa, and Xira Arien, lead by Lord Dark. These characters have well-developed personalities and encounter all manner of monsters and heroes during their adventures. This isn't exactly high-brow literature, but it is entertaining, and better than your average MTG fluff. I'm happy that the novels are starting to better mirror the stories and characters found in the game itself. Recommended for fans only.

[Shase Lindell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good characters, and a good setting.

[Adam Kokkonen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing detail throughout; compelling and gripping story kept me from putting it down.