Tapestries

Magic: The Gathering #1

by Kathy Ice (Editor), David Drake (Contributor), Ben Ohlander (Contributor)

A Hurloon Minotaur wailing it's grief. A dragon whelp's egg cracking in the firelight. The crashing chaos of armies at war. These are the sights and sounds of the universe of Magic.

MAGIC: The Gathering...

Planeswalkers duel in worlds beyond imagining, while life goes on for the simple folk in a land where the very earth is filled with mana — the power that fires a magicians spell. Each of the dazzling stories in these pages, by David Drake, Morgan Llywelyn, S.M. Stirling & 14 other authors, opens a door into a place called Dominia. If youve ever played the internationally bestselling game, Magic: The Gathering, or even if you've never heard of it, you can share the excitement.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Anthologies, Magic, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy

290 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1995

Reviews

[Kelsey Ketcham · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I definitely did like a couple of stories in here, overall it felt like most of them dragged, despite only being a few pages. Im a big fan of Magic The Gathering, and I think it helped but honestly I don’t think it’s a necessity to know about the games in order to read these stories. I’m sure they’re awesome to some people, just not my cup of tea. Although the very last one was my favorite and I do think it was worth it to read that story.

[Derp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good: "Smoke and Mirrors", "Dochyel's Ride", "Heart of Shanodin", "The Going Price" (which is just the beginning of And Peace Shall Sleep)

Okay: "Thief's Flight", "The Brass Man Who Would Sink", "The Light in the Forest", "Animal Trap", "The Theft of Bayende, Heart and Soul", "Dryad's Kiss", "The Lament", "Airborne All The Way!", "Not Just Another Green World"

Lame: "What's In A Name?", "Inheritance", "Gathering the Taradomnu", "Wellspring"

[Joshua Sloan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorites: Dochyel's Ride, Not Just Another Green World, The Brass Man Who Would Sink, Smoke and Mirrors

Least favorites: Airborne All the Way!, The Theft of Bayende Heart and Soul, Gathering the Taradomnu

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

a few bangers a few duds and a lot in between. i kind of wish more early mtg fiction had been in the form of anthologies. parts of this stood the test of time a lot better than other contemporaneous works by virtue of trying so many different things.

[Daniel Gotsmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful walk through the plain of Dominaria. A series of short stories paint a picture of a magical world and its people. Emotion, heart break, war, dragons and much more.

[Thom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an anthology, so its quality is going to be variable, and I found it to be so. Some were good, but none were exceptional, some were less good, but none were terrible. Enjoyable overall.

[Ben Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories. Some were really great and very well written. The rest could have been ripped out of the book and used as kindling.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read:

The Brass Man Who Would Sink 4/5

[Chip Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the earliest books of Magic the Gathering fiction, this anthology helped flesh out the worlds of Dominia. The stories range from humor to horror and even a couple that read like fairy tales (The Brass Man Who Would Sink). The central characters are of all ilks, from evil to good, from goblins to angels, from brave to foolish. Seventeen stories make up quite a range and present a difficulty when trying to write a review for the entire book, but overall I'd have to say that I wasn't very impressed. Some of the stories are good (none of them fantastic) and some of the stories are bad. A couple really stand out as being short and pointless, probably thrown in to meet some kind of quota.

I'd have a hard time recommending this collection to anyone who wasn't just obsessed with MTG fiction. Not really worth your time.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great anthology that I've kept on my bookshelf for nearly twenty years. This is still an anthology, which means some stories are better than others, but most of them are great; Hanovi Braddock's "The Brass Man Who Would Sink" is a particular highlight.

The best thing about this book is that it feels accessible to fantasy fans who aren't necessarily familiar with Magic: The Gathering, but anyone who plays the game will find extra meaning in each story.

[Hellenbrecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ich habe die deutsche Version des Heyne Verlages, welche Goodreads leider nicht kennt.

Die Geschichten sind alle wunderbar erzählt, ich kann es nur weiterempfehlen.

[Ignacio Energici · Rating 3 out of 5]

Para quienes juegan Magic, este es uno de los primeros libros de la saga que realmente empieza a contar sobre el mundo. Interesante, pero no imperdible.