I have yet to hear anyone actually say anything about the quality of this work (though if you know me and the writer, I'm more optimistic on discovering a philosopher's stone in a stray potato chip bag). Question: is the work passable, a diamond in the rough of modern magic, or is...ahem...a COMPLETE lack of surprise warranted?
About any "subpar" mechanics or cards: Context is king.
If I make a templating or grammar error, let me know.
The franchise MtG most resembles is Battlestar Galactica. Why? Its players exist in, at most, a dozen different models at any given point in time, with perhaps up to 3% variation, 5% if you're lucky.
The actual quality of the writing, predetermined plot aside, is okay. It doesn't live up the high bars of Scott McGough or Ari Marmell, but it's sure as hell better than Matt Stover or J. Robert King.
Doug has grown as an author and that really does come through. At the very least, It's better than Alara Unbroken (which does have some redeeming qualities even if the format killed most of those.) and it's definitely better than either of Wintermute's forays into fiction.
I don't think it's fair to put King and Stover on the same level. King may have done some...questionable things to the story but as a whole his books were good.
I don't think it's fair to put King and Stover on the same level. King may have done some...questionable things to the story but as a whole his books were good.
I don't feel I have to justify placing clockworking adjacent to pudding orgies.
My feelings, by and large, is that anything King did well was a fluke in regards to the... monumental evidence that he might have needed a firmer hand in the editorial department.
About any "subpar" mechanics or cards: Context is king.
If I make a templating or grammar error, let me know.
The franchise MtG most resembles is Battlestar Galactica. Why? Its players exist in, at most, a dozen different models at any given point in time, with perhaps up to 3% variation, 5% if you're lucky.
For as short as it is, it's worth the read. As others have said, it flows better than Alara Unbroken. It's not high-quality literature, but it's "good." I didn't have the urge to put it down and never pick it up again. Beyer balanced character screentime rather well, explored the guilds, and told the story he needed to tell. The writing doesn't pull you in as well as some other novels, but for what it is, I would recommended reading The Secretist.
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Dominian Scholar of the Old Guard, specializing in pre-revisionist (Armada comics) and revisionist (Brothers' War through Apocalypse)history
I find it benefits from reading all three parts at once. I originally read it as released, so with three month gaps between each part, but I recently reread it all in one shot and I found the flow a little better.
It's much, much better than Alara Unbroken. Doug's come a long way. It's no Agents of Artiface, but it was readable, had a coherent plot (given the constraints), had good action scenes, a plausible star-crossed-friendship-maybe-more between Jace and Emara...
I enjoyed it, and I don't regret purchasing it. The same cannot be said of In the Teeth of Akoum.
I enjoyed it, and I don't regret purchasing it. The same cannot be said of In the Teeth of Akoum.
SHHHHH. To speak the book's name is to summon it.
Honestly though, The Secretist was one of the better block novels in recent years. As Kaburi said, it wasn't as good as some, but it wasn't as bad as the last two entries.
I haven't read the books yet, and don't plan to for a while since I'm so back logged on other series. Would anyone mind just putting up a spoiler tag for the whole Secretist book with the main plot and how RTR actually ended. WHAT WAS AT THE FREAKIN END OF THE MAZE!?!?!?!?!?!?
I haven't read the books yet, and don't plan to for a while since I'm so back logged on other series. Would anyone mind just putting up a spoiler tag for the whole Secretist book with the main plot and how RTR actually ended. WHAT WAS AT THE FREAKIN END OF THE MAZE!?!?!?!?!?!?
Thanks.
Short version: The maze was a challenge by Azor as a contingency in case the Guildpact was broken. It requires the guilds cooperate to complete the maze, or it renders Azor's Supreme Verdict. Unfortunately, Lazav had everyone fooled and pitted the guilds off of one another. Jace saves the day by using his mental abilities to make everyone understand the other's point of view (however briefly), and Azor renders his verdict: Jace is the new, living, Guildpact.
Ral Zarek is a pretty arrogant, entitled jerk throughout, but I still loved him. All the champions make an appearance as well. Other plot things happen but the entire story pretty much existed to make Jace the new 'Guildpact', and now Jace actually feels like he has a home somewhere.
We also aren't any closer to a resolution for the Eldrazi, Phyrexians or Nicol Bolas.
So in the end it's still UW (Azorious) and UB (Dimir) dictating what would be the fate of Ravnica. Haven't read the book/s yet but thanks to that spoiler, I think I'll buy and read it now.
So who was the best champion in your opinion?
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Going back to Europe Tonight. will say goodbye to you all.
So in the end it's still UW (Azorious) and UB (Dimir) dictating what would be the fate of Ravnica. Haven't read the book/s yet but thanks to that spoiler, I think I'll buy and read it now.
So who was the best champion in your opinion?
Not Melek. Didn't even make it into the maze thanks to Ral's smirking attack.
Really wasn't much focus on the champions besides Emmara. Everyone else got their token appearance at the appropriate gate, but the focus was on Emmara and Jace trying to win and stop Lazav's plans.
hello I am new here, Just wanted to chime in that I rather enjoyed the secretist. As I am very new to magic the gathering in general I didn't really have any prior expectations to influence my view of Jace and/or the writers and have found that I rather enjoy him as a main character.
there is just a few small small things that for some reason a cured to me while reading that I felt were a little strange.
For one thing when jace apparently needed a sword to face off with one of the champions he doesn't have his mana sword from AoA. Did I miss something? Did he lose it when I wasn't watching or the writer just didn't know he had it? (it's been a while since I have read AoA so maybe he lost it at the end or something) Also there is no mention of him having the ravinca section of the consortium still up ad running. I read in a wiki article that it had been disbanded but I can find no lore indicating that.
Karona gets upset that everyone fights over her. So she told them to love each other.... aaaaaaaand they took that a bit literally and began to orgy themselves to death, so she changed them all into creatures more adept with that behavior (rabbits). Still didn't go well, so she turned them all into pudding. (okay, slime/ooze, but pudding orgy sounds much much more offputting.)
I am not making this up. I WISH I WAS MAKING THIS UP.
hello I am new here, Just wanted to chime in that I rather enjoyed the secretist. As I am very new to magic the gathering in general I didn't really have any prior expectations to influence my view of Jace and/or the writers and have found that I rather enjoy him as a main character.
there is just a few small small things that for some reason a cured to me while reading that I felt were a little strange.
For one thing when jace apparently needed a sword to face off with one of the champions he doesn't have his mana sword from AoA. Did I miss something? Did he lose it when I wasn't watching or the writer just didn't know he had it? (it's been a while since I have read AoA so maybe he lost it at the end or something) Also there is no mention of him having the ravinca section of the consortium still up ad running. I read in a wiki article that it had been disbanded but I can find no lore indicating that.
The mana blade was only a knife, but he left it in the swamps of Kamigawa. He just grabbed Tezzeret's arm for the mana and left.
As for the Infinite Consortium, it was an offscreen retcon that he took it over, so they offscreen retconned his disbanding it. And that's fine, good riddance to that spit in the face.
Karona gets upset that everyone fights over her. So she told them to love each other.... aaaaaaaand they took that a bit literally and began to orgy themselves to death, so she changed them all into creatures more adept with that behavior (rabbits). Still didn't go well, so she turned them all into pudding. (okay, slime/ooze, but pudding orgy sounds much much more offputting.)
I am not making this up. I WISH I WAS MAKING THIS UP.
Oh, God, the memories are starting to come back! I didn't repress them hard enough!!
and that really annoys me I am very disappointed they ret-coned that. eh oh well I'll get over it.
At the end of Agents of Artifice he was never supposed to have taken over the Consortium, it completely nullified his entire character arc that they'd built in the book for him to have stepped into Tezzeret's shoes in any way.
All so they could force him into Zendikar, which really genuinely didn't make sense, given the fact he hadn't had any business with the Dragon Scroll for over THREE YEARS and it was just a piece of business, even back then.
There was so much they screwed up regarding Jace. It's actually refreshing that they've undone it and reset his character arc back to its proper path.
Of course, I'm not sure how to feel about that in regards to his new role as the Guildpact but...
I find it benefits from reading all three parts at once. I originally read it as released, so with three month gaps between each part, but I recently reread it all in one shot and I found the flow a little better.
It's much, much better than Alara Unbroken. Doug's come a long way. It's no Agents of Artiface, but it was readable, had a coherent plot (given the constraints), had good action scenes, a plausible star-crossed-friendship-maybe-more between Jace and Emara...
I enjoyed it, and I don't regret purchasing it. The same cannot be said of In the Teeth of Akoum.
Jace (one of the stronger cards in the block and one of the more popular) sleeping with Emmara (one of the weakest and most hated). Interesting pairing.
Jace (one of the stronger cards in the block and one of the more popular) sleeping with Emmara (one of the weakest and most hated). Interesting pairing.
To her credit, she was supposed to be Voice of Resurgence, which both fits with her introduction in Agents of Artiface and her abilities in the first two parts of the Secretist.
Part Three saw Trostani revoke her ability to summon elementals, leaving her relatively weakened, which is either a lucky coincidence or a clever bit of writing on Doug's part.
And they didn't actually engage in anything other than chaste hand-holding and intimate psychic communications. (Which is so not a euphemism.)
Jace (one of the stronger cards in the block and one of the more popular) sleeping with Emmara (one of the weakest and most hated). Interesting pairing.
They've had UST since her introduction 5 years ago.
About any "subpar" mechanics or cards: Context is king.
If I make a templating or grammar error, let me know.
The franchise MtG most resembles is Battlestar Galactica. Why? Its players exist in, at most, a dozen different models at any given point in time, with perhaps up to 3% variation, 5% if you're lucky.
Doug has grown as an author and that really does come through. At the very least, It's better than Alara Unbroken (which does have some redeeming qualities even if the format killed most of those.) and it's definitely better than either of Wintermute's forays into fiction.
I don't feel I have to justify placing clockworking adjacent to pudding orgies.
My feelings, by and large, is that anything King did well was a fluke in regards to the... monumental evidence that he might have needed a firmer hand in the editorial department.
I liked it enough, but it felt like 350 pages of, "Hey, the story we told last time put us in a bind so we're going to retract it."
I put it as a middle of the road book for Magic.
BRGProssh, Skyraider of KherBRG
BWRAlesha, Who Smiles at DeathBWR
BGVarolz, the Scar-StripedBG
Might have is a bit of an understatement.
So what's different from how things are run now?
About any "subpar" mechanics or cards: Context is king.
If I make a templating or grammar error, let me know.
The franchise MtG most resembles is Battlestar Galactica. Why? Its players exist in, at most, a dozen different models at any given point in time, with perhaps up to 3% variation, 5% if you're lucky.
It's much, much better than Alara Unbroken. Doug's come a long way. It's no Agents of Artiface, but it was readable, had a coherent plot (given the constraints), had good action scenes, a plausible star-crossed-friendship-maybe-more between Jace and Emara...
I enjoyed it, and I don't regret purchasing it. The same cannot be said of In the Teeth of Akoum.
@_kaburi_ on Twitter
Special thanks to Serrot_29 for Catbug'mrakul!
SHHHHH. To speak the book's name is to summon it.
Honestly though, The Secretist was one of the better block novels in recent years. As Kaburi said, it wasn't as good as some, but it wasn't as bad as the last two entries.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Wait, what?
Thanks.
Mono Konda| Sakashima| Yahenni| Ashling| Selvala|C Karn
Guilds Grand Arbiter| Meren| Gisa & Geralf| Scorpion God| Omnath| Sisay| Karlov| Avacyn| Jhoira v2| Rashmi|
Shards WUB Oloro|GWU Roon|RGW Jurassic Park|UBR Nekusar|BRG Kresh|
Clans RWU Narset|WBR Vampires|BGW Doran|UBG Muldrotha|URG Animar|
4-Colors GWUB Atraxa|BRGWSaskia|RGWU Hydra Hug| UBRGYidris|WUBRBreya|
5-Color WUBRG Super Friends
Extra Decks Titania| Taigam| Locust God| Cats| Tishana| Kumena| Squirrels| Slimefoot} Baron|RGW Samut|UBR Pirates|UBR Mairsil| WUBRG Ramos|
Ral Zarek is a pretty arrogant, entitled jerk throughout, but I still loved him. All the champions make an appearance as well. Other plot things happen but the entire story pretty much existed to make Jace the new 'Guildpact', and now Jace actually feels like he has a home somewhere.
We also aren't any closer to a resolution for the Eldrazi, Phyrexians or Nicol Bolas.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Scourge was an appropriately named book.
Wow, I really don't remember that part.
So who was the best champion in your opinion?
smirkingattack.Really wasn't much focus on the champions besides Emmara. Everyone else got their token appearance at the appropriate gate, but the focus was on Emmara and Jace trying to win and stop Lazav's plans.
@_kaburi_ on Twitter
Special thanks to Serrot_29 for Catbug'mrakul!
there is just a few small small things that for some reason a cured to me while reading that I felt were a little strange.
Karona gets upset that everyone fights over her. So she told them to love each other.... aaaaaaaand they took that a bit literally and began to orgy themselves to death, so she changed them all into creatures more adept with that behavior (rabbits). Still didn't go well, so she turned them all into pudding. (okay, slime/ooze, but pudding orgy sounds much much more offputting.)
I am not making this up. I WISH I WAS MAKING THIS UP.
The mana blade was only a knife, but he left it in the swamps of Kamigawa. He just grabbed Tezzeret's arm for the mana and left.
As for the Infinite Consortium, it was an offscreen retcon that he took it over, so they offscreen retconned his disbanding it. And that's fine, good riddance to that spit in the face.
Oh, God, the memories are starting to come back! I didn't repress them hard enough!!
All so they could force him into Zendikar, which really genuinely didn't make sense, given the fact he hadn't had any business with the Dragon Scroll for over THREE YEARS and it was just a piece of business, even back then.
There was so much they screwed up regarding Jace. It's actually refreshing that they've undone it and reset his character arc back to its proper path.
Of course, I'm not sure how to feel about that in regards to his new role as the Guildpact but...
You brought the pain upon yourself, I hurt you to make you stronger! THIS IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.
Jace (one of the stronger cards in the block and one of the more popular) sleeping with Emmara (one of the weakest and most hated). Interesting pairing.
I now want to read Scourge, I'm a sucker for ridiculous trollfics.
To her credit, she was supposed to be Voice of Resurgence, which both fits with her introduction in Agents of Artiface and her abilities in the first two parts of the Secretist.
Part Three saw Trostani revoke her ability to summon elementals, leaving her relatively weakened, which is either a lucky coincidence or a clever bit of writing on Doug's part.
And they didn't actually engage in anything other than chaste hand-holding and intimate psychic communications. (Which is so not a euphemism.)
@_kaburi_ on Twitter
Special thanks to Serrot_29 for Catbug'mrakul!
They've had UST since her introduction 5 years ago.
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