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Magic: The Gathering #1
Whispering Woods
Gull shouldn't have taken the job. This wizard is worse than any he's heard about before. Between tavern brawls, magical battles, and a strange artifact turning up, Gull is kept very busy. And now that his half-wit sister is beginning to gather her wits, Gull really has his hands full. Original.
294 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 13, 1994
12 people are currently reading
693 people want to read
About the author
Clayton Emery
39 books46 followersClayton 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
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
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
September 19, 2022
This is the second installment in the Magic: The Gathering "universe". This is also the first in a longer form series going after the traditional three book format that is extremely common in Fantasy novels since the time of Lord of the Rings. So, this is definitely a little bit different than the first book "Arena," which is a one off.
I'm starting to run into a really strange common theme between the two novels though. One of the main parts is just generally how destructive and uncaring wizards are about the lives of anyone and anyone except their own interests in gaining power. Or killing/beating other wizards. Let's be honest here... when you play MtG, YOU are the wizard. So, all these authors are basically saying is that you're an uncaring destructive force that will kill any bystander for the sake of a duel with your deck of cards. Furthermore, the creatures you summon are literally your slaves. It's not like you can play as other characters in the card game like you can in an RPG, so it's kind of, just weird, to cast their players in this light. It's almost like they generally had no idea what they were implying when they wrote these stories and commissioned the authors to "write a book about wizards, also look at the card names so you can sift the names into the story a little bit." Once the game gets more into writing it's own narrative with the block format, I wonder if the novels start to take on a very different feel. I rather welcome that change in the story format, but I'll trudge through these early novels until I get there, because there doesn't seem to be that many of them.
"Whispering Woods" is the story of a ridiculously unrealistic commoner from a small village with a bad knee, Gull. His profession is woodcutting for the village, so he's good with an axe. However, as some other reviewers have pointed out this gets pushed to a rather ridiculous level. Gull goes on throughout the book to defeat multiple armies of people, defeat trained body guards, fight off lions and all kinds of other insane stuff. This isn't to say I didn't like the character Gull, he was just so overwhelmingly fantastical that it just got to be too much. It would have made way more sense if he had had some level of combat training at the bare minimum.
In any event the story opens with how idyllic Gull's life is taking care of his "simple" sister in the small village. There's a girl there he likes and everything is generally quite wonderful. Then a wizard duel breaks out and basically destroys everything in Gull's world except his sister. Gull vows to kill all wizards as a result, but then one of the fighters shows up and says how not all wizards are like that and offers Gull a job as a freighter for his wagon train.
Along his travels we learn about this wizard Towser a little bit, least of which is the fact that he has a harem dancing girls enslaved to him for his pleasure. However, Gull gets close to one of them, Lily. A young girl, who knows how young compared to Gull, for we never know. In any event the Lily arc of the story and their budding relationship wasn't too bad, except there were a couple moments where it seemed Gull didn't even consider her well being. The other problem is that far too often it turned into one of those cliche "damsel in distress" scenarios, where Lily was constantly in danger, like more than is reasonable. Furthermore, once they showed her not to be a helpless beauty, she was just as forgotten. There's a huge battle at the end and we find something out about her that's very special, but then she just disappears from the pages... I really don't understand why. She could have been a much more important character, but Emery just doesn't. Instead it's like some reason to have her talk about whoring and how Gull will need to get over that if he "really loves her". It was a really silly moralistic conflict and rather unnecessary.
The use of the cards throughout the story was somewhat interesting, but instead of just spells, they are uttered as various words of surprise. At one point Gull exclaims "Kormus Bells" when he's surprised about something. It's rather goofy in the end. One of the other things that was held over from the "Arena" novel is the lack of being very clear what magic some of the wizards are using. For example, Towser was summoning creatures from Blue and Red a lot, but then all of a sudden he uses Black Magic at one point. In the original card design a lot of players were really making mono color decks and it wasn't until a few years in that multi-color decks were much more commonly used, even in the rule books back in the day. It's as if the authors writing these stories have no idea how the game really works. The mechanism Emery brings up is that the wizard just has to touch a creature in order to enslave it. In the end the whole interpretation of the way the game interfaced with the story just felt kind of wrong or as if the author didn't really "get" the card game.
In the end, the novel wasn't too bad. I found it rather enjoyable as it took off and got over half way through. At that point the author did a good enough job to get me vested in the characters. The best story arc was the one between Gull and the guard Kem. The way that tale was weaved was really quite good and that's why this got a bit of a bump. I would have probably kept it at a 2, whereas the novel is probably a 2.5 in the end given all the problems.
I'm starting to run into a really strange common theme between the two novels though. One of the main parts is just generally how destructive and uncaring wizards are about the lives of anyone and anyone except their own interests in gaining power. Or killing/beating other wizards. Let's be honest here... when you play MtG, YOU are the wizard. So, all these authors are basically saying is that you're an uncaring destructive force that will kill any bystander for the sake of a duel with your deck of cards. Furthermore, the creatures you summon are literally your slaves. It's not like you can play as other characters in the card game like you can in an RPG, so it's kind of, just weird, to cast their players in this light. It's almost like they generally had no idea what they were implying when they wrote these stories and commissioned the authors to "write a book about wizards, also look at the card names so you can sift the names into the story a little bit." Once the game gets more into writing it's own narrative with the block format, I wonder if the novels start to take on a very different feel. I rather welcome that change in the story format, but I'll trudge through these early novels until I get there, because there doesn't seem to be that many of them.
"Whispering Woods" is the story of a ridiculously unrealistic commoner from a small village with a bad knee, Gull. His profession is woodcutting for the village, so he's good with an axe. However, as some other reviewers have pointed out this gets pushed to a rather ridiculous level. Gull goes on throughout the book to defeat multiple armies of people, defeat trained body guards, fight off lions and all kinds of other insane stuff. This isn't to say I didn't like the character Gull, he was just so overwhelmingly fantastical that it just got to be too much. It would have made way more sense if he had had some level of combat training at the bare minimum.
In any event the story opens with how idyllic Gull's life is taking care of his "simple" sister in the small village. There's a girl there he likes and everything is generally quite wonderful. Then a wizard duel breaks out and basically destroys everything in Gull's world except his sister. Gull vows to kill all wizards as a result, but then one of the fighters shows up and says how not all wizards are like that and offers Gull a job as a freighter for his wagon train.
Along his travels we learn about this wizard Towser a little bit, least of which is the fact that he has a harem dancing girls enslaved to him for his pleasure. However, Gull gets close to one of them, Lily. A young girl, who knows how young compared to Gull, for we never know. In any event the Lily arc of the story and their budding relationship wasn't too bad, except there were a couple moments where it seemed Gull didn't even consider her well being. The other problem is that far too often it turned into one of those cliche "damsel in distress" scenarios, where Lily was constantly in danger, like more than is reasonable. Furthermore, once they showed her not to be a helpless beauty, she was just as forgotten. There's a huge battle at the end and we find something out about her that's very special, but then she just disappears from the pages... I really don't understand why. She could have been a much more important character, but Emery just doesn't. Instead it's like some reason to have her talk about whoring and how Gull will need to get over that if he "really loves her". It was a really silly moralistic conflict and rather unnecessary.
The use of the cards throughout the story was somewhat interesting, but instead of just spells, they are uttered as various words of surprise. At one point Gull exclaims "Kormus Bells" when he's surprised about something. It's rather goofy in the end. One of the other things that was held over from the "Arena" novel is the lack of being very clear what magic some of the wizards are using. For example, Towser was summoning creatures from Blue and Red a lot, but then all of a sudden he uses Black Magic at one point. In the original card design a lot of players were really making mono color decks and it wasn't until a few years in that multi-color decks were much more commonly used, even in the rule books back in the day. It's as if the authors writing these stories have no idea how the game really works. The mechanism Emery brings up is that the wizard just has to touch a creature in order to enslave it. In the end the whole interpretation of the way the game interfaced with the story just felt kind of wrong or as if the author didn't really "get" the card game.
In the end, the novel wasn't too bad. I found it rather enjoyable as it took off and got over half way through. At that point the author did a good enough job to get me vested in the characters. The best story arc was the one between Gull and the guard Kem. The way that tale was weaved was really quite good and that's why this got a bit of a bump. I would have probably kept it at a 2, whereas the novel is probably a 2.5 in the end given all the problems.
June 3, 2025
I love that we see the world of wizards from the perspective of the poor bystanders caught in the crossfire. It's such an interesting concept that I don't see very often, and painting the wizards, the typical heroes of the MTG realm, as inherently wicked, selfish, and power-crazed feels almost scandalous. For the book, this is a delight, although with the context of the card games, it does raise a bit of a red flag for me. See, when you play the card game, you are the wizard, summoning a variety of creatures to fight for you. The moral implications brought up by this book are a bit awkward when you consider yourself as one of the villains the story is condemning.
Overall, the characters were a lot better than the previous book, Arena, and the story was more interesting. I hope this storyline continues, rather than stay a one-off like its predecessor.
Overall, the characters were a lot better than the previous book, Arena, and the story was more interesting. I hope this storyline continues, rather than stay a one-off like its predecessor.
November 17, 2013
I liked this book, but not as much as I like other books in the Magic the Gathering realm.
The main thing I did not like in this book, is the un-epicness of the adventure. It seems to me that the struggles overcome by the main characters pale in insignificance to the struggles faced in other fantasy novels. Now, it does seem that, as the first book in a three part series, Emery is just getting started with the adventure.
The story read as a children's story or teenage reader, but some language and sexual references are most certainly for adults. I recommend this book for fantasy readers and especially Magic the Gathering players looking for a read that you don't have to invest too much of yourself in.
The main thing I did not like in this book, is the un-epicness of the adventure. It seems to me that the struggles overcome by the main characters pale in insignificance to the struggles faced in other fantasy novels. Now, it does seem that, as the first book in a three part series, Emery is just getting started with the adventure.
The story read as a children's story or teenage reader, but some language and sexual references are most certainly for adults. I recommend this book for fantasy readers and especially Magic the Gathering players looking for a read that you don't have to invest too much of yourself in.
May 2, 2018
This book has a totally different feel than 'Arena' (the first Magic the Gathering book). Instead of following an experienced strong wizard, it show the world of magic from the other end of the spectrum, the people that don't know magic, and the ones that might even fear it.
May 21, 2022
I can't give it any higher than this. It's not a bad book! I knew it was in trouble when the first stage started talking about bladders. As I read, I went easy on it by constantly reminding myself of the TIME it was written in and how times were just so different back then. I enjoyed the random adventure aspect, especially when things slowed down and there was some character development.
Even the part about his sister being a simpleton, I love stories about siblings, and Gull's constant drive to protect his little sister kept him strong. What I DON'T like, is how a basic farm boy can fight a group of trained soldiers, powerful wizards, cataclysmic beings, and still win (with a bad knee). I looked forward to more lore about the Magic world, but instead, it felt like starting in the middle of one of those random shows that come on TV sometimes. It reminded me of almost every video game to movie adaptation: doomed to fail.
Which sucks, because I liked the characters at their core. Who they are. Their personalities. I think the party style fad of the '80s fantasy books got to this one though because even for the 90s, I can count on at LEAST two hands the number of times rape has been a threat to every woman in this book.
Basically, a small villager gets roped into travelling with a wizard and his gypsy caravan while drawn into numerous wizard duels over other travelling wizards.
The action was the worst of all.. it just all went by too fast. I found myself skimming towards the end, and I never do that. I get it, the wizards are calling and summoning magic just like you do in the game. I love that IDEA! But it didn't *work* that well on paper. It was just too sped over to put any real suspense into it.
"Here's a giant!"
"Oh yeah, well here's a HYDRA!"
"EARTHQUAKE!"
And then they used the same spells for the next two battles they proceed to get in..
The fun part for me was trying to match up and recognise classic Magic cards that were called out to battle. Like Nightmare, Giant Badger, Fungusaur, and especially a shout out to the crave of the Black Lotus, I chuckled at that one. And there WAS some explanation of lore, like how Mana is collected by literally travelling through the lands and drawing in on its power until it's used in duels and recollected again. A wizard's life seems fun, though pretentious. I enjoyed the characterization of Towser, his use of blue defensive and mental magic, but it's a shame how the ending turned out.
I guess we saw it coming.
The whole thing just sounds like a book written for an 8th-grade audience, that's what I was thinking, that it had to be for high schoolers. But then it's completely riddled with sex and adult themes, like rape, so ehhh... ? I wish I could see it in a genuine novel-like form, it might have made a good background for the lore. As of now, it just reads like a random episode of a random series.
The land comes into play a lot, and you get to see it's effect on people as the scenery starts to change from one 'color' to the next.
I feel like reading them all in order from first to most recent is a bad idea, but I can't justify starting a book in the middle of the series or even the end, so I suppose I have to read on to see if the more modern ones improve. There is NO sense in these costing so high!
Even the part about his sister being a simpleton, I love stories about siblings, and Gull's constant drive to protect his little sister kept him strong. What I DON'T like, is how a basic farm boy can fight a group of trained soldiers, powerful wizards, cataclysmic beings, and still win (with a bad knee). I looked forward to more lore about the Magic world, but instead, it felt like starting in the middle of one of those random shows that come on TV sometimes. It reminded me of almost every video game to movie adaptation: doomed to fail.
Which sucks, because I liked the characters at their core. Who they are. Their personalities. I think the party style fad of the '80s fantasy books got to this one though because even for the 90s, I can count on at LEAST two hands the number of times rape has been a threat to every woman in this book.
Basically, a small villager gets roped into travelling with a wizard and his gypsy caravan while drawn into numerous wizard duels over other travelling wizards.
The action was the worst of all.. it just all went by too fast. I found myself skimming towards the end, and I never do that. I get it, the wizards are calling and summoning magic just like you do in the game. I love that IDEA! But it didn't *work* that well on paper. It was just too sped over to put any real suspense into it.
"Here's a giant!"
"Oh yeah, well here's a HYDRA!"
"EARTHQUAKE!"
And then they used the same spells for the next two battles they proceed to get in..
The fun part for me was trying to match up and recognise classic Magic cards that were called out to battle. Like Nightmare, Giant Badger, Fungusaur, and especially a shout out to the crave of the Black Lotus, I chuckled at that one. And there WAS some explanation of lore, like how Mana is collected by literally travelling through the lands and drawing in on its power until it's used in duels and recollected again. A wizard's life seems fun, though pretentious. I enjoyed the characterization of Towser, his use of blue defensive and mental magic, but it's a shame how the ending turned out.
I guess we saw it coming.
The whole thing just sounds like a book written for an 8th-grade audience, that's what I was thinking, that it had to be for high schoolers. But then it's completely riddled with sex and adult themes, like rape, so ehhh... ? I wish I could see it in a genuine novel-like form, it might have made a good background for the lore. As of now, it just reads like a random episode of a random series.
The land comes into play a lot, and you get to see it's effect on people as the scenery starts to change from one 'color' to the next.
I feel like reading them all in order from first to most recent is a bad idea, but I can't justify starting a book in the middle of the series or even the end, so I suppose I have to read on to see if the more modern ones improve. There is NO sense in these costing so high!
January 14, 2020
This is a really enjoyable dark fantasy book in the vein of "The Black Company". It's a little too clumsy with the tie-ins to its source material at times and has a glaring continuity error but is overall quite good.
Magic: the Gathering is a collectible card game originally released in 1993 but which is still going strong in 2020. Today, there's a huge amount of lore and backstory but when it was first released it was little more than stock fantasy creatures and magic spells tied together by the thinnest of plots: you and your opponent are extra-dimensional wizards of incredible power called Planeswalkers engaged in a magical duel.
When they game took off they decided to make some novels, hired William R. Forstchen (who previously had only written a mid-80s post-apocalyptic fantasy trilogy and some Civil War fiction) to do one and Clayton Emery (who had pseudonymously done a duology for a roleplaying system called Shadow World around the same time) to do a trilogy that loosely ties together, tossed them a pile of cards and told them to have at it (I'm assuming).
As such, and having not read the books in ~20 years, I expected very little but this was actually quite good and I am a bit saddened that apparently I pitched the two sequels during a previous book purge and now need to find copies.
Whispering Woods tells the story of Gull, a lumberjack in a small rural village, and his simple-minded sister, Greensleeves. Their lives are upturned when two wizards decide to use their valley as a battlefield which leads to the village being completely destroyed and most of their friends and family slaughtered. With nowhere to go, Gull and Greensleeves find themselves offered employment in the wagon train of a good wizard, Towser as he travels the land seeking out magic.
For a tie-in novel to a game property, this book is surprisingly dark. It does a great job of portraying the helplessness that non-wizards must feel as god-like beings trample in and out of their lives. It's a very entertaining read even if some of the tropes (e.g. the hooker with a heart of gold) are a bit trite.
I only have two real complaints. The first is that there's a revelatory moment that seemingly gets forgotten only for Gull to have the same revelation a couple chapters later. No real excuse for that sort of sloppy writing/editing. The second is that the writer likes to throw in card-names in a way that just feels silly and forced. Our characters can't just be attacked by zombies, someone has to shout out that they're Zombies of Scathe; oaths like "Urza's Balls" are tossed about; etc. It's particularly odd because at other times some incredibly obscure creature such as the Two-Headed Giant of Foriys (only appeared in the very first set) shows up and you have to guess what it is from the description. The previous Magic novel, Arena, was much more subtle with its card references and flowed better as a result.
Overall, surprisingly good for a tie-in novel. Doesn't require any real knowledge of Magic to enjoy and I'd recommend if you like that Black Fantasy-type "normal people in a magical world" fantasy.
Magic: the Gathering is a collectible card game originally released in 1993 but which is still going strong in 2020. Today, there's a huge amount of lore and backstory but when it was first released it was little more than stock fantasy creatures and magic spells tied together by the thinnest of plots: you and your opponent are extra-dimensional wizards of incredible power called Planeswalkers engaged in a magical duel.
When they game took off they decided to make some novels, hired William R. Forstchen (who previously had only written a mid-80s post-apocalyptic fantasy trilogy and some Civil War fiction) to do one and Clayton Emery (who had pseudonymously done a duology for a roleplaying system called Shadow World around the same time) to do a trilogy that loosely ties together, tossed them a pile of cards and told them to have at it (I'm assuming).
As such, and having not read the books in ~20 years, I expected very little but this was actually quite good and I am a bit saddened that apparently I pitched the two sequels during a previous book purge and now need to find copies.
Whispering Woods tells the story of Gull, a lumberjack in a small rural village, and his simple-minded sister, Greensleeves. Their lives are upturned when two wizards decide to use their valley as a battlefield which leads to the village being completely destroyed and most of their friends and family slaughtered. With nowhere to go, Gull and Greensleeves find themselves offered employment in the wagon train of a good wizard, Towser as he travels the land seeking out magic.
For a tie-in novel to a game property, this book is surprisingly dark. It does a great job of portraying the helplessness that non-wizards must feel as god-like beings trample in and out of their lives. It's a very entertaining read even if some of the tropes (e.g. the hooker with a heart of gold) are a bit trite.
I only have two real complaints. The first is that there's a revelatory moment that seemingly gets forgotten only for Gull to have the same revelation a couple chapters later. No real excuse for that sort of sloppy writing/editing. The second is that the writer likes to throw in card-names in a way that just feels silly and forced. Our characters can't just be attacked by zombies, someone has to shout out that they're Zombies of Scathe; oaths like "Urza's Balls" are tossed about; etc. It's particularly odd because at other times some incredibly obscure creature such as the Two-Headed Giant of Foriys (only appeared in the very first set) shows up and you have to guess what it is from the description. The previous Magic novel, Arena, was much more subtle with its card references and flowed better as a result.
Overall, surprisingly good for a tie-in novel. Doesn't require any real knowledge of Magic to enjoy and I'd recommend if you like that Black Fantasy-type "normal people in a magical world" fantasy.
July 7, 2023
‘I’d no more trust a wizard than a broken-backed snake! I wish the gods would wipe every wizard from the Domains. That would be the end to all misery …’
I’m utterly fascinated with the early Magic: The Gathering novels’ portrayal of their wizards – the analogues to the card game’s players -- as absolute asses. Whispering Woods sees brawny woodcutter Gull and sister Greensleeves indentured to a traveling mage after the pair lose their home and family to a magic-users’ duel in this the second book of the originally commissioned Magic: The Gathering series.
Connected only obliquely (by a single paragraph) to its predecessor Arena, Whispering Woods dips slightly deeper into the basic MTG card box – the spells and creatures are much more easily recognized – but still only skirts the cards’ lore, the basic premise being much more meta. This book tackles my main question from the previous volume head-on: are Magic’s creatures real or just conjured spell-stuff? Author Clayton Emery is unequivocal as his wizards behave like amoral bastards swiping otherwise happy creatures from their homes, compelling them to fight through geas, and basically committing wanton murder. The conceit is problematic as even the ‘good’ wizards end-up tarnished as they drop tawny bears, clever badgers, and sharpshooting elves into the battlefield meat-grinder, illustrating a major problem in trying to fuse game mechanics into something foundational to the premise of a novel.
That being said, setting aside the book’s source material, Whispering Woods is actually pretty enjoyable when judged on its own merits and is at least as good as Arena. Protagonist Gull has a ‘slightly’ civilized Conan kind of feel, and author Emery does a good job setting up an interesting troupe of travelers in the wizard Towser’s caravan. There are times when Emery does a little too much plot stacking – where we get the same thing happening multiple times all with the same outcome – such as the saucy Lilly getting kidnapped twice(!) in the same battle – and female characters still get treated like chattel with a tone and level gratuity that feels less inspired by the high fantasy of The Hobbit and more a homage to the titillation of Barbarian Queen.
As a fan of the card game who played regularly when these books were first released, I can easily see how I fell off this series right after volume one. The rich, nonsequential storytelling of the cards is missing, perhaps because in commissioning the series, the books’ authors had little guidance on what to elaborate upon. However, reading the series now, I am completely swallowed up in their anachronisms. As an outright fantasy series, I have found these entertaining and am hooked at least for the next few books.
March 14, 2025
wait, i don't get it. there were multiple likeable characters in this and i genuinely cared about what happened to them. we don't really… do that here?
look, i don’t want to give arena any more space in my brain than what i’ve already given it, but it’s hard to overstate just how much my enjoyment of this was largely owing to how much immediate contrast magic’s second novel provided to its first.
like, this is operating in a similar genre space. it fridges women. it centers a generic beefcake. it’s even giving us a protagonist who not only has a grimdark origin story, we meet him at the exact moment that grimdark origin story is happening, and follow him through its immediate aftermath. and he does the whole I Will Have Revenge thing.
but also.
he helps the people around him as much as he can in ways that aren’t just whacking whatever is threatening them with his axe. he sets broken bones. he tells people who think they’re worthless that they’re not. and most of all, his way of actually achieving the first act of his revenge (well, more escape than revenge in this first entry) is by rallying other victims of the evil wizard he’s fighting to find hope and community with each other and be ready for a chance to escape.
oh, and, small detail that it would have nevertheless probably been impossible for him to escape if it weren’t for the latent wizardry of his girlfriend and he still would’ve died basically immediately if it weren’t for the latent wizardry of his sister.
i’m not saying this is one of the best books i’ve ever read. i’m not saying that it doesn’t have plenty of the trappings of this era of genre fiction that turned me off about arena. i am saying that simply by having people be kind to each other and genuinely try to help each other out, by not having a constant, unrelenting background (and foreground. and midground.) of misanthropy, whispering woods is such a blessed relief.
we also still get plenty of pre-revisionist weirdness in how spells work! in fact, the era’s understanding of the exact mechanisms behind how creature spells (sorry, summon spells) worked is one of the central elements of the book’s plot. this is certainly in the category of things that don’t really fit in with modern understandings of the world of magic the gathering, but that’s honestly part of the appeal here.
also, my boy nightmare appears in this one! i was obsessed with that card as a kid.
look, i don’t want to give arena any more space in my brain than what i’ve already given it, but it’s hard to overstate just how much my enjoyment of this was largely owing to how much immediate contrast magic’s second novel provided to its first.
like, this is operating in a similar genre space. it fridges women. it centers a generic beefcake. it’s even giving us a protagonist who not only has a grimdark origin story, we meet him at the exact moment that grimdark origin story is happening, and follow him through its immediate aftermath. and he does the whole I Will Have Revenge thing.
but also.
he helps the people around him as much as he can in ways that aren’t just whacking whatever is threatening them with his axe. he sets broken bones. he tells people who think they’re worthless that they’re not. and most of all, his way of actually achieving the first act of his revenge (well, more escape than revenge in this first entry) is by rallying other victims of the evil wizard he’s fighting to find hope and community with each other and be ready for a chance to escape.
oh, and, small detail that it would have nevertheless probably been impossible for him to escape if it weren’t for the latent wizardry of his girlfriend and he still would’ve died basically immediately if it weren’t for the latent wizardry of his sister.
i’m not saying this is one of the best books i’ve ever read. i’m not saying that it doesn’t have plenty of the trappings of this era of genre fiction that turned me off about arena. i am saying that simply by having people be kind to each other and genuinely try to help each other out, by not having a constant, unrelenting background (and foreground. and midground.) of misanthropy, whispering woods is such a blessed relief.
we also still get plenty of pre-revisionist weirdness in how spells work! in fact, the era’s understanding of the exact mechanisms behind how creature spells (sorry, summon spells) worked is one of the central elements of the book’s plot. this is certainly in the category of things that don’t really fit in with modern understandings of the world of magic the gathering, but that’s honestly part of the appeal here.
also, my boy nightmare appears in this one! i was obsessed with that card as a kid.
March 22, 2020
This was much more enjoyable than Arena (and is completely unrelated, so feel free to skip straight to this one if you're looking for a starting place for reading old MTG books). This book opened with a fairly standard high fantasy premise (simple country boy's town is attacked by magic), but I was excited to see that it didn't take the traditional route of said country boy discovering that he had magic all along, etc. Granted, the twists in the plot were still very predictable, but there was some uniqueness to it, at least.
Aside from the predictability, the only real complaint that I had for this was that I never really felt sucked into the story. I think that this was probably partly to do with the fact that, again, there were long, drawn out fighting sequences, and I tend to zone out during books that do that. (Yes, reading a series of books based on a card game that simulates magical combat may have been a bad idea for someone like me, but here we are). Additionally, while the author's writing isn't particularly horrible, he does have the unfortunate tendency to use elegant variation, which can be annoying and even occasionally confusing.
I will say that I much preferred Emery's take on the MTG world than Forstchen's. I was drawn to reading these books because, when I first started playing the game, I was attracted to the wide variety of different creatures and objects that were referenced in the cards. My writer brain liked to imagine the kinds of stories that could be told in that world with those objects, and I wanted to read those stories. However, in Arena, all of those creatures seemed to be magical figments of the imagination, non-beings that poofed out of existence when they were destroyed or the spell ended. In this book, however, Emery gives them life, showing them to be real beings that were transported by the wizard away from wherever they initially belonged. That intrigued me, and I'm looking forward to reading more about the world that houses these beings in Emery's other two Greensleeves books.
Aside from the predictability, the only real complaint that I had for this was that I never really felt sucked into the story. I think that this was probably partly to do with the fact that, again, there were long, drawn out fighting sequences, and I tend to zone out during books that do that. (Yes, reading a series of books based on a card game that simulates magical combat may have been a bad idea for someone like me, but here we are). Additionally, while the author's writing isn't particularly horrible, he does have the unfortunate tendency to use elegant variation, which can be annoying and even occasionally confusing.
I will say that I much preferred Emery's take on the MTG world than Forstchen's. I was drawn to reading these books because, when I first started playing the game, I was attracted to the wide variety of different creatures and objects that were referenced in the cards. My writer brain liked to imagine the kinds of stories that could be told in that world with those objects, and I wanted to read those stories. However, in Arena, all of those creatures seemed to be magical figments of the imagination, non-beings that poofed out of existence when they were destroyed or the spell ended. In this book, however, Emery gives them life, showing them to be real beings that were transported by the wizard away from wherever they initially belonged. That intrigued me, and I'm looking forward to reading more about the world that houses these beings in Emery's other two Greensleeves books.
March 16, 2019
The second Magic: The Gathering novel ever published, this is the start of a trilogy and it's kind of an interesting read at that. Although it's a really hard book to get these days it still explores a bit of the world of Magic. However, this has little to do with the current mythology of MTG, but you do get elements that will continue up until today.
You get the idea that wizards are what we now call Planeswalkers, and you see a couple of occasions where people who were not previously walkers get their "spark ignited" and can suddenly cast spells. Here they become a bit like gods, able to draw to themselves beings from other planes of existence to use in great battles among themselves.
What is interesting here is the fact that the book focuses mainly on the innocent victims of these great battles, for the most part. Wizards summon creatures who do their bidding even against their own will, after the battles they wake as if from a dream, far from home, lost and having caused great destruction in the surrounding area, hence hated by everyone. Our main characters are collateral damage from a battle, they lose their family and village when two wizards fight. The wizards are anything but the heroes here, they are selfish, inconsequential bastards and those who work for them are little more than cattle. However near the end of the book two characters have their magical sparks ignite and that promises future interesting things in the next two books in the series. I am quite looking forward to reading them, this isn't bad at all.
You get the idea that wizards are what we now call Planeswalkers, and you see a couple of occasions where people who were not previously walkers get their "spark ignited" and can suddenly cast spells. Here they become a bit like gods, able to draw to themselves beings from other planes of existence to use in great battles among themselves.
What is interesting here is the fact that the book focuses mainly on the innocent victims of these great battles, for the most part. Wizards summon creatures who do their bidding even against their own will, after the battles they wake as if from a dream, far from home, lost and having caused great destruction in the surrounding area, hence hated by everyone. Our main characters are collateral damage from a battle, they lose their family and village when two wizards fight. The wizards are anything but the heroes here, they are selfish, inconsequential bastards and those who work for them are little more than cattle. However near the end of the book two characters have their magical sparks ignite and that promises future interesting things in the next two books in the series. I am quite looking forward to reading them, this isn't bad at all.
July 29, 2024
The writing is good, serviceable, not great, but my god this book is 5 stars because of what it is. MtG is a game primarily played by teen boys and this book served to market it and build an audience. Thus, the first MtG book, Arena by William Forstchen, is unsurprising. In that book, the main character is unbeatable, the strongest wizard around, and always has tricks up his sleeve and seemingly perfect knowledge. He never loses. Then comes Clayton Emery for Book 2: Whispering Woods.
In the game you play a wizard. In this book, the main character has no magic, is constantly losing, is overwhelmed, and makes it his life goal to eradicate or subdue all wizards. It's absurd and I'm loving it. Emery has an amazing ability to subvert every trope of the genre while trying to convert what MtG is, as a game, into a plausible world. In the end, the guy doesn't get the girl! He confesses his love and she says no. I'm laughing the whole time. (Sorry for the spoiler, but this is only book 1 of 3 with the same characters so you don't know what relationships might develop after.) All the wizards in the book, ostensibly the players/readers, are horrible, selfish, gross people. Even the main character from book 1 makes an appearance but this time, instead of being the hero, he's the ass who leaves his wife and kid to chase after magic. After winning the girl as the hero of his own book, he can't stomach the consequences - the day to day grind of taking care of a family. Comedy gold.
In the game you play a wizard. In this book, the main character has no magic, is constantly losing, is overwhelmed, and makes it his life goal to eradicate or subdue all wizards. It's absurd and I'm loving it. Emery has an amazing ability to subvert every trope of the genre while trying to convert what MtG is, as a game, into a plausible world. In the end, the guy doesn't get the girl! He confesses his love and she says no. I'm laughing the whole time. (Sorry for the spoiler, but this is only book 1 of 3 with the same characters so you don't know what relationships might develop after.) All the wizards in the book, ostensibly the players/readers, are horrible, selfish, gross people. Even the main character from book 1 makes an appearance but this time, instead of being the hero, he's the ass who leaves his wife and kid to chase after magic. After winning the girl as the hero of his own book, he can't stomach the consequences - the day to day grind of taking care of a family. Comedy gold.
December 22, 2022
Fascinating perspective this book takes. It is almost an anti-Magic the Gathering book. The story shows people becoming collateral damage as innocent bystanders in the duels of arrogant, cruel, uncaring wizards. Kind of like when a man walks down a path, and happens to step on an anthill, causing all kinds of damage, but not caring. Or even worse, stomping on ants because they annoy him.
The story also shows people being bound, summoned, compelled to fight in wizards duels, and then banished when no longer needed.
In most of the new Magic the Gathering stories, the reader identifies with a powerful heroic mage, usually a planeswalker, fighting to save the world from some great evil. In this really old Magic the Gathering book, the reader identifies with a Magic the Gathering creature card. Like a pawn thrown into the battle where gets slaughtered, and its owner hardly notices or cares.
So as you play those Magic the Gathering cards on your kitchen table and summon creatures, stop and think for a moment about how you are an arrogant, cruel, uncaring wizard causing all kinds of collateral damage to innocent bystanders, enslaving unwilling soldiers and sending them to their deaths, and obsessively traveling the world trying to grab all the mana, artifacts, knowledge, and power that you can, and you will let nothing stand in your way!
The story also shows people being bound, summoned, compelled to fight in wizards duels, and then banished when no longer needed.
In most of the new Magic the Gathering stories, the reader identifies with a powerful heroic mage, usually a planeswalker, fighting to save the world from some great evil. In this really old Magic the Gathering book, the reader identifies with a Magic the Gathering creature card. Like a pawn thrown into the battle where gets slaughtered, and its owner hardly notices or cares.
So as you play those Magic the Gathering cards on your kitchen table and summon creatures, stop and think for a moment about how you are an arrogant, cruel, uncaring wizard causing all kinds of collateral damage to innocent bystanders, enslaving unwilling soldiers and sending them to their deaths, and obsessively traveling the world trying to grab all the mana, artifacts, knowledge, and power that you can, and you will let nothing stand in your way!
June 12, 2019
Oh, man, this sucks! The situation, not the book:
This is the first thing by Clayton Emery I really enjoyed, yet I'm giving up on it! Here's why:
I basically grabbed this because I wanted to try out one of the pre-continuity MTG novels, see if they were worth checking out, and this was the cheapest I saw. The problem is that apparently this is the first in a trilogy, and the price gets much steeper after this one! Gah! So while I was enjoying it, I wasn't enjoying it THAT much, so I just set it aside. Maybe one day they'll all be on Kindle or something.
In any case, I made it almost halfway through and was enjoying the hell out of it. The game is a little more ... text than subtext in this story, as wizards literally fight duels and summon creatures as slaves to work for them. But I was fine with that.
The characters Emery creates here are fascinating, and he sets them in a world that isn't as "grimdark" in itself as, say, the Warhammer world, but holy hell, there are some dark moments in here.
Overall I dug this, and hope they bring all these old MTG novels into the light at some point so I can read them cheaply & easily.
This is the first thing by Clayton Emery I really enjoyed, yet I'm giving up on it! Here's why:
I basically grabbed this because I wanted to try out one of the pre-continuity MTG novels, see if they were worth checking out, and this was the cheapest I saw. The problem is that apparently this is the first in a trilogy, and the price gets much steeper after this one! Gah! So while I was enjoying it, I wasn't enjoying it THAT much, so I just set it aside. Maybe one day they'll all be on Kindle or something.
In any case, I made it almost halfway through and was enjoying the hell out of it. The game is a little more ... text than subtext in this story, as wizards literally fight duels and summon creatures as slaves to work for them. But I was fine with that.
The characters Emery creates here are fascinating, and he sets them in a world that isn't as "grimdark" in itself as, say, the Warhammer world, but holy hell, there are some dark moments in here.
Overall I dug this, and hope they bring all these old MTG novels into the light at some point so I can read them cheaply & easily.
June 17, 2020
Libro de Clayton Emery. Esta obra forma parte de la trilogía del "Círculo del Archidruida", siendo esta lectura la segunda entrega, tras "Arena".
En este caso, el autor sigue desarrollando una trama fantástica asemejada al mundo de Magic The Gathering. Los protagonistas de esta historia son un leñador, Gaviota, y su hermana, Mangas Verdes, que a consecuencia de un enfrentamiento entre dos hechiceros, verán reducido a cenizas todo aquello que amaban de su vida en Risco Blanco.
A partir de aquí, los protagonistas llevarán a cabo un viaje de descubrimiento sobre la verdadera faceta de los hechiceros de la mano de un pintoresco grupo.
En mi opinión, es un libro que contiene una historia original que consigue enganchar desde el primer momento. Además, cuenta con giros inesperados y pequeñas tramas que permiten conocer con más detalle a los personajes.
Por otro lado, si eres fan del juego de cartas de Magic The Gathering, podrás disfrutar aún más al identificar algunos de los hechizos de la obra con cartas reales.
SI hubiera que poner una pega, esta sería que, en comparación con la obra anterior, se asemeja menos con la dinámica de Magic.
En este caso, el autor sigue desarrollando una trama fantástica asemejada al mundo de Magic The Gathering. Los protagonistas de esta historia son un leñador, Gaviota, y su hermana, Mangas Verdes, que a consecuencia de un enfrentamiento entre dos hechiceros, verán reducido a cenizas todo aquello que amaban de su vida en Risco Blanco.
A partir de aquí, los protagonistas llevarán a cabo un viaje de descubrimiento sobre la verdadera faceta de los hechiceros de la mano de un pintoresco grupo.
En mi opinión, es un libro que contiene una historia original que consigue enganchar desde el primer momento. Además, cuenta con giros inesperados y pequeñas tramas que permiten conocer con más detalle a los personajes.
Por otro lado, si eres fan del juego de cartas de Magic The Gathering, podrás disfrutar aún más al identificar algunos de los hechizos de la obra con cartas reales.
SI hubiera que poner una pega, esta sería que, en comparación con la obra anterior, se asemeja menos con la dinámica de Magic.
November 22, 2017
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would going in, after my experience with Arena.
I think I just enjoy larger narratives overall, plus this author has a bit more skill at writing the action scenes. There's a lot less repetitive language, at the very least.
The ending is a bit of a deus ex machina situation, but it's forgivable in the context. There's at least a "logical" (should have 14 quotation marks around it, but it makes sense in universe at least) reason behind Greensleeves finding her powers suddenly; Lily doing the same out of nowhere is a bit of a stretch and was a bit convenient to solve the "we're imprisoned somewhere we could never possibly escape from" scenario.
Side note: Hate the name Greensleeves. Make this shitty song stop playing in my head right now.
I'm just going to stick to critiquing the plots from here on out. These aren't exactly literary masterpieces, nor do I expect them to be. But this book was a big step up from Arena and was much easier to read from end to end, no first half boredom this time around.
I think I just enjoy larger narratives overall, plus this author has a bit more skill at writing the action scenes. There's a lot less repetitive language, at the very least.
The ending is a bit of a deus ex machina situation, but it's forgivable in the context. There's at least a "logical" (should have 14 quotation marks around it, but it makes sense in universe at least) reason behind Greensleeves finding her powers suddenly; Lily doing the same out of nowhere is a bit of a stretch and was a bit convenient to solve the "we're imprisoned somewhere we could never possibly escape from" scenario.
Side note: Hate the name Greensleeves. Make this shitty song stop playing in my head right now.
I'm just going to stick to critiquing the plots from here on out. These aren't exactly literary masterpieces, nor do I expect them to be. But this book was a big step up from Arena and was much easier to read from end to end, no first half boredom this time around.
December 8, 2019
This is an entertaining book. It shows the world of Magic from the perspective of those who lack the power to summon creatures and use manna. These people are shuttled around between worlds as wizards use them for their own personal ends. In this novel Gull starts a revolt when he sees his town destroyed. At first resistance is futile and he ends up just working for a wizard. But then he finds that the wizard is going to sacrifice his beloved sister because she actually has latent magical powers. Gull is able to withstand the wizard with the help of his sister. The book ends on a note that suggests continuation in another novel.
I give it a three because it is kind of a sophomoric book. It doesn't really have much substance, apart from the idea that we're all like flies that the gods play with. These people, until the end, are just pawns for the wizards. This reminds of that line from King Lear.
I give it a three because it is kind of a sophomoric book. It doesn't really have much substance, apart from the idea that we're all like flies that the gods play with. These people, until the end, are just pawns for the wizards. This reminds of that line from King Lear.
May 31, 2017
This was my second Magic novel and I still haven't become a fan yet sadly. Whereas Arena moved ridiculously slow, Whispering Woods moved so fast it ignored any character development thus avoiding any feeling of a fulfillment of fantasy epicness.
The story is interesting as the reader now has the ability to witness the destruction and carnage that an innocent bystander would view while watching a wizard battle instead of participating in it. This was a fast read, but it almost seemed that the author felt that he was going to stretch this out over multiple books but found out halfway through that wasn't the case and simply gave us the bare bones of the story line. Not always a good path to take in the fantasy genre.
The story is interesting as the reader now has the ability to witness the destruction and carnage that an innocent bystander would view while watching a wizard battle instead of participating in it. This was a fast read, but it almost seemed that the author felt that he was going to stretch this out over multiple books but found out halfway through that wasn't the case and simply gave us the bare bones of the story line. Not always a good path to take in the fantasy genre.
January 26, 2021
Maybe it is that I'm not in the perfect situation to read a book like this but, for me it has been really difficult to engage with the story. I feel like those pages and pages full of descriptions of battles, then places, things, situations, makes it really tough sometimes. It happens all the time and a lot of things to describe, really fast...
Characters develop poorly and really fast too, I guess that it also has to do with the 80% description novel.
I don't know, I've previously read books with enormous descriptions and never felt like this.
Anyway, you can read it. A not good nor bad book.
Characters develop poorly and really fast too, I guess that it also has to do with the 80% description novel.
I don't know, I've previously read books with enormous descriptions and never felt like this.
Anyway, you can read it. A not good nor bad book.
June 11, 2021
I enjoyed this one. Compared to Arena, the plot and cast feel a lot tighter, and I like the setting and main characters. The main issue I have is that, in some places, Emery’s dialogue feels very off, which I’m hoping improves later in the series.
May 20, 2019
Definitely not as good as the first book. Choppy and confusing at times. But it finishes fairly strong, and makes me want to read the third book... After a short break.
October 4, 2025
awesome mtg immersion, this is what mtg should feel like
July 10, 2015
My first, and only, Magic: The Gathering novel
29 August 2013
It wasn't going to be long, not with the popularity of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game, for Wizards of the Coast to capitalise on the phenomena and release a series of books based on the game. Seriously though, Magic: The Gathering is like the crack cocaine of the roleplaying world – they made bucket loads of money on the product – enough to pretty much buy T$R – that they didn't need to capitalise on it at all. All they needed to do, which is what they have done, is to continue to release expansion packs and revised editions and the money would simply keep on rolling in.
I like Magic: The Gathering – it is fun to play and it is also fun to build the decks upon which the game is played. It was also fun trading cards to get your hands on those elusive rares and out of print cards to make your deck even better. I spent hours, and thousands of dollars, on this game, and now all I have to show for it is my red goblin deck, my black Breeding Pit deck, and my green weenie deck, as well as a few prized cards that I did not end up selling when I sold the rest of my collection on ebay (and my collection does include a Fast Bond, though I don't believe I have my Demonic Hordes any more, though I do have 4 Mazes of Ith, a common card still worth $20.00 a pop).
I've got back into the game again since I found a shop that hosts sealed deck tournaments here in Melbourne, and I pop in once a month (or am planning on doing so, since I have only been once so far). While I am not going to go hell for leather with collecting cards any more (though if a booster pack does pass my way with a shiny mythic rare, then yoink).
I really don't remember much about this book except that it would mention certain cards as it went through the story, and a part of me thought that I could make a deck with all of the cards that were in this book, that is until the Black Lotus was mentioned.
The funny thing with Magic: The Gathering, is that the ultra-rare, out of print cards, such as the Black Lotus, can fetch hundreds of dollars a pop (and the current price of a Black Lotus is around $5500, rounded up). Hey, I thought that you could actually invest in Magic Cards, and it is something that I might actually consider, though I must say there is always a risk that 1) nobody actually wants the card when you want to turn it into cash and 2) nobody plays Magic: The Gathering any more. Still, the price of the multi-lands -
have gone from $25.00 when I last played to game to $120 now. Not only does it form a hedge against inflation, but the longer it remains out of print (and the longer the game remains popular) the more expensive the card becomes. However, I have already outlined the risks, and since I am not an investment adviser, please don't rush out and spend $5500 on a Black Lotus and then try suing me because that piece of cardboard has become worthless.
29 August 2013
It wasn't going to be long, not with the popularity of the Magic: The Gathering trading card game, for Wizards of the Coast to capitalise on the phenomena and release a series of books based on the game. Seriously though, Magic: The Gathering is like the crack cocaine of the roleplaying world – they made bucket loads of money on the product – enough to pretty much buy T$R – that they didn't need to capitalise on it at all. All they needed to do, which is what they have done, is to continue to release expansion packs and revised editions and the money would simply keep on rolling in.
I like Magic: The Gathering – it is fun to play and it is also fun to build the decks upon which the game is played. It was also fun trading cards to get your hands on those elusive rares and out of print cards to make your deck even better. I spent hours, and thousands of dollars, on this game, and now all I have to show for it is my red goblin deck, my black Breeding Pit deck, and my green weenie deck, as well as a few prized cards that I did not end up selling when I sold the rest of my collection on ebay (and my collection does include a Fast Bond, though I don't believe I have my Demonic Hordes any more, though I do have 4 Mazes of Ith, a common card still worth $20.00 a pop).
I've got back into the game again since I found a shop that hosts sealed deck tournaments here in Melbourne, and I pop in once a month (or am planning on doing so, since I have only been once so far). While I am not going to go hell for leather with collecting cards any more (though if a booster pack does pass my way with a shiny mythic rare, then yoink).
I really don't remember much about this book except that it would mention certain cards as it went through the story, and a part of me thought that I could make a deck with all of the cards that were in this book, that is until the Black Lotus was mentioned.
The funny thing with Magic: The Gathering, is that the ultra-rare, out of print cards, such as the Black Lotus, can fetch hundreds of dollars a pop (and the current price of a Black Lotus is around $5500, rounded up). Hey, I thought that you could actually invest in Magic Cards, and it is something that I might actually consider, though I must say there is always a risk that 1) nobody actually wants the card when you want to turn it into cash and 2) nobody plays Magic: The Gathering any more. Still, the price of the multi-lands -
have gone from $25.00 when I last played to game to $120 now. Not only does it form a hedge against inflation, but the longer it remains out of print (and the longer the game remains popular) the more expensive the card becomes. However, I have already outlined the risks, and since I am not an investment adviser, please don't rush out and spend $5500 on a Black Lotus and then try suing me because that piece of cardboard has become worthless.
February 19, 2021
While the beginning of the book sort of takes off slowly, the author did a really good job at carefully introducing the characters and their internal plights. the story makes some wildly unexpected turns and has wonderful character development! I greatly look forward to reading the second novel!
Update (2/19/21) : After reading the rest of the trilogy dedicated to Greensleeves, I have decided I have much more to say about this book! I did not expect this trilogy to take me into a universe of moral decisions and adventure and finally land upon the confines of my shelf of favorite novels, yet here I am! As the successor to the very first Magic: The Gathering Novel 'Arena' by William R. Forstchen, I expected to read a little bit more of the lingo associated with the game and imagined the novels more from the perspective of a Magic player. However, when I finished this trilogy of novels, I felt like I had a greater understanding of the game and the world of which in encompasses! It felt more like the fantasy novels I have been striving to find away from the works of Tolkien and his pieces on Middle Earth. It brought back a lot of the satisfaction I was searching for in fantasy novels. Other fantasy novels I've read all felt like they were following the same story of the brave knight who defeated the dragon and saved the princess, or the great kingdom brought back from the disaster of misused power. A story I feel has been used too many times. These novels explore the world, individual characters and races within the lore of the game Magic: The Gathering, but also seem to breathe a new life into the genre of fantasy. Much like the Forgotten Realms novels have done so with their expansion on the lore of the Dungeons and Dragons campaign settings. I wish more fantasy novels would delve into the miniscule intricacies of minor characters similar to Greensleeves to further expand on the universe of fantasy. This was a wonderful beginning to a wonderful trilogy that truly gave a feeling reality to the fantasy worlds of Magic: The Gathering. I can guarantee that in a few years time, I will most certainly pick this book up and re-read it as though my eyes were virgin to it's pages.
Update (2/19/21) : After reading the rest of the trilogy dedicated to Greensleeves, I have decided I have much more to say about this book! I did not expect this trilogy to take me into a universe of moral decisions and adventure and finally land upon the confines of my shelf of favorite novels, yet here I am! As the successor to the very first Magic: The Gathering Novel 'Arena' by William R. Forstchen, I expected to read a little bit more of the lingo associated with the game and imagined the novels more from the perspective of a Magic player. However, when I finished this trilogy of novels, I felt like I had a greater understanding of the game and the world of which in encompasses! It felt more like the fantasy novels I have been striving to find away from the works of Tolkien and his pieces on Middle Earth. It brought back a lot of the satisfaction I was searching for in fantasy novels. Other fantasy novels I've read all felt like they were following the same story of the brave knight who defeated the dragon and saved the princess, or the great kingdom brought back from the disaster of misused power. A story I feel has been used too many times. These novels explore the world, individual characters and races within the lore of the game Magic: The Gathering, but also seem to breathe a new life into the genre of fantasy. Much like the Forgotten Realms novels have done so with their expansion on the lore of the Dungeons and Dragons campaign settings. I wish more fantasy novels would delve into the miniscule intricacies of minor characters similar to Greensleeves to further expand on the universe of fantasy. This was a wonderful beginning to a wonderful trilogy that truly gave a feeling reality to the fantasy worlds of Magic: The Gathering. I can guarantee that in a few years time, I will most certainly pick this book up and re-read it as though my eyes were virgin to it's pages.
May 2, 2015
I was fairly disappointed in this book, although the basis of my opinion is more or less a comparison to the other books written behind the Magic card game.
The plot is thin, and the story is told from one singular point of view. The main character is a simpleton, and the story is told entirely from his naïve point of view. This made for a boring read. The main character was bland with no particular capabilities aside from some brute strength because he was essentially a lumberjack and an inordinate amount of luck. He consistently beats well trained combatants of different races and skill levels, out of a combination of luck and bull-rushing. One thing that was particularly bothersome was how his writing and grammar changed. Dialogue was written different for each speaker as it should be, but sometimes the writing outside of the dialogue would change too, which made for a lot of rereading just to make sense of what he is trying to convey. Sometimes it would change from third person viewer to first person viewer without a change in verbiage.
Overall, it's readable, just frustrating at some points where it shouldn't be. I haven't read the next books in this mini-series, so I can't speak to whether the story gets better or not.
The plot is thin, and the story is told from one singular point of view. The main character is a simpleton, and the story is told entirely from his naïve point of view. This made for a boring read. The main character was bland with no particular capabilities aside from some brute strength because he was essentially a lumberjack and an inordinate amount of luck. He consistently beats well trained combatants of different races and skill levels, out of a combination of luck and bull-rushing. One thing that was particularly bothersome was how his writing and grammar changed. Dialogue was written different for each speaker as it should be, but sometimes the writing outside of the dialogue would change too, which made for a lot of rereading just to make sense of what he is trying to convey. Sometimes it would change from third person viewer to first person viewer without a change in verbiage.
Overall, it's readable, just frustrating at some points where it shouldn't be. I haven't read the next books in this mini-series, so I can't speak to whether the story gets better or not.
December 31, 2016
While I really enjoyed the first MTG book, Arena, I thought it lacked a decent explanation of how the magic actually works. I mean, where do the summoned creatures come from and where do they go when a battle is finished. In this book, an attempt was made to do some explaining about this and really helped the reader get a better grasp on just what is happening during wizardly battles. In this book, summoned creatures are real beings simply being teleported into the sight of a duel and remain behind aftwards until sent somewhere else by a wizard. This system makes more sense to me than the one in which monsters are just created from nothing or summoned from some kind of void in a wizards pouch.
The story in this book is also fun and fast-paced. Greensleeves and her brother Gull are introduced and begin their adventures under the employ of a wizard after their home is destroyed by a wizard duel. While the book may seem a little kiddish (especially the characters names), the story is actually detailed, violent and gory, with all the good elements of a good pulp fantasy. A fast and enjoyable read.
The story in this book is also fun and fast-paced. Greensleeves and her brother Gull are introduced and begin their adventures under the employ of a wizard after their home is destroyed by a wizard duel. While the book may seem a little kiddish (especially the characters names), the story is actually detailed, violent and gory, with all the good elements of a good pulp fantasy. A fast and enjoyable read.
April 13, 2016
I enjoyed this novel not knowing it was the start of a trilogy. I was along for the ride and really appreciated the perspective of Gull being on the other side of the game. When I finished and realized there was more to come, I was pleasantly surprised. I hope the story keeps its perspective the author used in this novel since it's a refreshing change of pace. Sometimes he wrote himself into a corner but without any expectations, I didn't really have a problem when the fix was a little too convenient. This is a fun story and I look forward to the continuation.
August 2, 2011
Not the best Magic novel that I've ever read, that's for sure. The book was entertaining, for the actual tie ins to the game. However, the characters didn't really develop that much, and frankly, the plot was poor. It's too bad really - I think the story could have had real potential. But - it was an entertaining book, even though poorly developed.
June 2, 2019
Alright, so the story is decent. My biggest problem is with the author. It's like he went nuts with a thesaurus and possibly made up words...all I'm saying is that while reading there were plenty of instances where I thought, "Hey...you could've said that better." And it was always with adjectives. It makes for slow reading and really takes you out of the story at hand.
March 30, 2016
Not a bad little Magic adventure. Worth a night or two of reading if you are looking for something short. I basically decided to read something less epic after reading only Sanderson, Rothfuss, Hobb, Martin and Erikson for awhile.
This was a nice change of pace for me. In fact, I bought 4 Pathfinder Tales novels so I can "slum it" some more. Solid 3 stars.
This was a nice change of pace for me. In fact, I bought 4 Pathfinder Tales novels so I can "slum it" some more. Solid 3 stars.
October 4, 2009
Really bad book. This gives MTG series a bad taste in my mouth. I love the magic series and the game but this was just soo bad. It was almost as if the author threw a bunch of cards in a book and connected them with a few words.
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