Hazezon

Magic: The Gathering: Legends Cycle #3

by Clayton Emery

As the outcome of a single desert war threatens to transform the history of Dominaria and the lives of its inhabitants forever, the prophecy of None, One, and Two will finally be fulfilled, in the final book of the Magic Legends Cycle trilogy. Original.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Magic

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 2002

About the author

Clayton Emery is an umpteen-generations Yankee, Navy brat, and aging hippie who grew up playing Robin Hood in the forests of New England.

He's been a blacksmith, dishwasher, schoolteacher in Australia, carpenter, zookeeper, farmhand, land surveyor, volunteer firefighter, and award-winning technical writer.

He's a member of the Mystery Writers of America and Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America.

Clayton lives with his sweetie in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where his ancestors came ashore in 1635.

From: http://www.claytonemery.com/CE_bio.html

Reviews

[Chip Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clayton Emery got back on track and provided a solid, conclusive ending with HAZEZON. In the previous book, Jedit, the plot had been allowed to wander, and it seemed like Emery had lost direction with this otherwise well-thought-out story. Fortunately, with this final entry in the trilogy, he returned to the highly-focused, plot-driven story that everyone found so agreeable in Johan. This book unexpectedly starts with Adira and her Band of Seven stealthily sneaking into Tirras, with the apparent goal of assassinating the hated Johan himself. This plot quickly devolves, and the heroes find themselves working in a slave camp, building Johan's new-fangled flying ships. After escaping and a series of random-seeming adventures, we find Adira, Hazezon, Jedit, and all their friends ready for the final showdown with Johan and his army. And naturally this showdown will take place in Jedit's home village, the Efrava desert oasis.

During the course of the series, while the writing style and level of excitement were relatively constant, some of the characters (those who don't get killed off) started to annoy me. Wilemina, Hazezon, Murdoch, and even Adira had stopped evolving somewhere around the middle of book two, and their quirky personalities, while once entertaining, became wearisome. For this reason especially, I'm glad to be finished with the series. I can't imagine MTG would be coming back for more of these characters, so its good that Emery was able to finish off the trilogy with a nice and conclusive ending. Actually, that is probably one of the best things I can say about the series as a whole, that it doesn't leave you wondering about much, ties up the loose ends, and doesn't hint about upcoming sequels. Overall, I enjoyed the series. I'd place it 2/3 the way up the scale of goodness compared to other MTG books, which isn't really saying much.

Only recommended for those already invested in the series.

[Mathew Ostrander · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book drops you right in the action, which makes sense since it's book three of the cycle. I like the continual reinterpretation of the prophecy in this book, the characters keep trying to fit their actions to the prophecy but it defies clear interpretation. I felt like the finish was both over the top and a little underwhelming at the same time, it could have been much worse but it definitely could have had a more fitting end.

[Shase Lindell · Rating 4 out of 5]

MMmmeh. Good writing, could have been a bit better.