Well it seems that i got my hands on the pre-read copy of Agents of Artifice at worlds. They only gave out a limited amount of copies for free. I have yet to read it but it seems that Jace is working under Tezzeret now.
That looks promising (not surprising, yet not predictable). I'll really excited about that book and might actually even buy it... but not anytime soon, alas. Make sure to keep us up-to-date about what happens in the novel.:p I wanna know; it gives me an incentive to read it (unlike most people, I have to know how something ends in order to be excited about a story).
What? People actually thought they'd include the whole novel? (well, they'd done it all along up until now, so there's a reason)
No, I don't think they'll print it in any language other than English. (do they ever do that? Under these circumstances? I don't think they did it for Shards. If they did, then there is a chance, I guess)
I read the ARC last week, just haven't had time to break it all down, and I wasn't sure if I should spoil it - but Hagon mentioned it in his weekly article on Starcity.
Wont. Spoil. It. until I have time, but I'll say the following for Wizard's Sake.
It's about 346 pages in a slightly larger "soft/hardcover" format but it didn't take very long to bust through it. - about 5 hours give or take.
The sporadic editing on the previous titles is still there - there are some obvious missed grammar, replicated words issues and stuff that you usually don't see in final products. My friend says this happens all the time with pre-release books but since it's a habit with final products for Magic I thought I'd point it out.
I was under the impression it was a mass market book in that it's picking up stray fantasy readers or lapsed Magic players. Note that it costs significantly more than previous Magic books.
Throwing the entire lexicon of Magic at a new reader was kind of a surprise. It's like if you pick up a book by Anne McCafferey there's going to be a Glossary at the end of the book explaining exactly what a Nezumi or Vedalken is, but there is zero explanation in this book. And it really needs it, since it covers multiple planes and creatures. Not that I personally have a problem with it, but it makes it slightly more difficult for me to recommend as a first read to a story noob.
Made for a good read overall. I much prefer the "internal journey" books where you see the character make an inner transformation due to their adventures as opposed to just fight fight fight all the time. That being said, they end on a cliffhanger and don't really resolve the "inner" conflict. Can't wait to read the next one.
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What? People actually thought they'd include the whole novel? (well, they'd done it all along up until now, so there's a reason)
No, I don't think they'll print it in any language other than English. (do they ever do that? Under these circumstances? I don't think they did it for Shards. If they did, then there is a chance, I guess)
I mean the whole Book not just the sample. They done it so far for almost every new Book except maybe the Planeswalker Guide and the Shadowmoor thing. But I hope they Translate it and Shard Novel to that would be fair I want to read it to ( I know I can read it in English but it´s way easier and comfortable in your mother language ^^)
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We join the down-and-out Kallist Rhoka and Liliana Vess in the warrens of Ravnica. Kallist is introduced as a Warrior with illusion magic abilities, and he and Liliana seem to have some kind of romantic involvement. They are ambushed in Ravnica by a band of extremely competent Bounty Hunters and taken hostage - the lead bounty hunter Semner is looking for a wizard by the name of Jace Beleren, who Kallist and Liliana used to roll with. The duo send Semner off in the right direction, then easily defeat the remaining guard. They know the Infinite Consortium is after Jace because of the power he wields, and they agree it's in their best interest to warn him first.
After a really brutal ambush, they finally arrive in the Ravnican city where Jace was holed up. They manage to find Jace, but apparently Semner had a tip off on where Jace was, and attacks, fatally wounding Jace.
<End result is Jace lives, won't get into here, you'll have to read the book!>
We get an extended flashback now of who Jace actually was before he joined the Infinite Consortium, and the answer is not very much. He's a planeswalker at the beginning of this arc, he's making money as a telepathic Spy and blackmailing the rich Gentry. (note that Dimir is never mentioned, but then again they're the guild that never existed). The book doesn't confirm if Ravnica is his home plane.
One day he is minding his own business when suddenly he's attacked in broad daylight by a Firecat. He manages to defeat it and flees, only to be attacked and stung by a summoned Devil. He tracks the summoner and meets not one, but two planeswalkers. Tezzeret and Baltrice, a fire mage.
Tezzeret offers to make Jace a member of the Consortium. The Infinite Consortium is an interplanar cartel with "cells" on multiple planes. If Jace joins, the Consortium will have 5 permanent planeswalkers (Jace, Tezz, and Baltrice are the only ones mentioned) and there are 3 free agents (assuming Liliandra is one of them). Jace is only one of two individuals that Tezzeret knows of on multiple planes that can read minds, and they need his talents to ferret out secrets.
Jace joins, and is immediately sucked into a world he's not ready to handle. Tezzeret is not - how should we say this - a nice guy. On the one hand he's pushing Jace way beyond his normal abilities and providing training Jace would never have, but on the other, he expects Jace to torture and murder for the Consortium. And Jace really doesn't have the stomach for it. He can wipe someone's mind, or even kill them by thinking of it, but he just can't bring himself to do it. At the same time he can't leave. This is when he meets Kallist, who is a trained assassin and is willing to do the acts Jace can't bring himself to do. They bond with each other and start teaching each other skills. Jace learns to fight and Kallist learns some magic.
After a couple of failed errands Tezzeret is losing a handle on his new protege. Apparently Tezz really has an anger management problem and can't stand failure. But apparently he needs Jace, and begins training him on how to protect his mind, and other's from intrusion. Because apparently they're going to visit the other mind reader mentioned earlier.
Yep, apparently Tezzeret didn't make the Consortium, he stole it from it's original owner, a certain 25,000 year old Dragon Planeswalker.
So Tezzeret and Jace head to an unpronouce-able plane where they are to meet with Nicol Bolas.
It doesn't end well. Jace gets a heart to heart with the dragon god and Tezzeret get his mind read. Jace and Tezzeret barely have enough time to hide and walk off the plane.
Because of Jace's failure, Tezzeret just loses it and begins torturing him. Jace eventually makes up his mind to flee. He convinces Kallist to join him and they run off to a backwater city in Ravnica. It doesn't take very long for them to run into Vess, who seems to have designs on Jace...
Eventually they are discovered again, and Jace does some interesting mind magic to fix the problem, which I won't get into here... the result is where the story actually begins with Kallist and Liliana successfully saving Jace.
Now that Jace and Liliana are teamed up again, they are off to take down Tezzeret once and for all - but first they have to ask Nicol Bolas for help. The dragon gives them a lead, more than happy to have Tezzeret taken down. Jace and Vess track down Tezzeret for the face off - in his own lair on a desert plane.
Jace uses his mental abilities to possess anyone who would stop them from entering Tezzeret's magical fortress, but once inside they are ambushed by Baltrice. While Baltrice is beatne, Jace discovers it's been Liliana the whole time manipulating him into fighting against Tezz - which is why every time he's hidden Tezzeret has found him. Liliana wants to use the Consortium to gift to Bolas in exchange for a favor (see below)
So there's a big final battle between Jace and Tezzeret, Jace eventually manages to win (By using Tezzeret's own artifacts against him, Tezz is always painted as the better mage) - but now that Jace has a decision to own Tezz's info - he just crushes it, meaning no one can take over the guild - and leaves.
The Prologue ends with Liliana and Bolas discussing the state of affairs, and Bolas leering over his new prize, a mindless artificer.
Some interesting flavor tidbits:
Not that many people know about 'walkers, even on Ravnica which is considered sort of a hub now after the fall of the Guilds.
The actual "walking" is conceived as traveling, on foot, through the Blind Eternities. It's not easy, and it appears to take guidance to get to an unfamiliar plane, though apparently you could 'walk to whatever plane appears to be nearest. It takes time to prep to walk, but not too much time. With assistance apparently you can do it instantly.
They get pretty deep into what each sort of Planeswalker can do:
Kallist is not a walker, he's a Warrior who has been trained by Jace in illusion Magic. For example he disguise himself, or make himself invisible.
Jace is a master of Illusion, and apparently is one of a very short list of people with telepathy, which is why he's so valuable. He can also alter memories, understand any language, and "lobotomize" his foes. He can freeze things, use telekinesis, summon a cloud sprite, a steam drake, and a sphinx. He also learns a weak grasp of healing magic.
Liliana is adept at necromantic magic, but her incredible strength has a huge cost, since she's bargained for her power with four powerful demons. Ultimately any move she makes is because she's trying to buy her way out of the bargain, which makes her unreliable at best. She can summon shades, summon a ghost to possess people, summon a vampire, and a some kind of "dark" Angel. She can rot organic matter at a touch, and draw inorganic matter (like a sword) into another plane. She's incredibly ruthless and can kill with a thought.
Baltrice is pure red mage all the way - she's presented as cunning but short sighted, wants to blow the crap out of everything. She can summon the firecat, and a fire elemental, and well, yeah. Fire stuff.
Tezzeret doesn't seem to have too much overt magic ability, he just has a storehouse of home-made artifacts, personal creatures that he can carry with him that don't seem to have an obvious analog (like he's got a diabolic machine in his pocket?). Since he's responsible for the Consortium he has a ton of minions to direct, but since it's a cell structure not everyone knows who he is, and barely anyone knows he's a planeswalker. He's mining on a annother, unnamed for etherium, which values very highly.
Dominaria and Urza are mentioned in passing.
Sorry for any bad editing, I'm kind of rushed.
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I have to say I'm very disappointed by this story. Yeah, I admit it's partially because I don't like the way the author had portrayed Tezzeret (I thought him a replacement for my beloved Urza Planeswalker, buth he's much greater bastard than I expected) and what happened to him at the novel's end (if he died, it would be OK, after all he deserved it for his acts, but becoming just a mindless puppet of Nicol Bolas is too much even for him). What I especially hate about Tezz is that his character in the novel is almost purely black, which doesn't fit a blue planeswalker. He's power-hungry, unscurpulous, and likes to torture others...
We have been through this "black or blue villain" argumentation some five years ago...Ambassador Laquatus. From what I read, Tezzeret's character is not purely black at all, he is just 100% blue villain. I guess that you have main problem with the villain part, for when it comes to -tagonists, you expected him to be a pro-, not an an-. Instead of new Urza, we got a new Laquatus.
But what's even worse on the story is that Liliana and Bolas, the two dark planeswalkers I expected to be the main atagonists and wanted to see die, are portrayed as protagonists in this novel, and they both survive.
Oh, and btw. the story doesn't feature Mirrodin as I hoped.
Before reading the book myself, I would refrain from saying that Liliana or Nicol are protagonists.
Based on the Fuel for the Fire comic, I expected Jace to be a cold-hearted mind-manipulating bastard as you put it. Instead, from the overview by Bad Luck, I got a feeling of a prodigal child who suddenly realizes that the new boots he just acquired are too big for him, forced to do things he did not truly want to, and manipulated by darker forces. I see that the only true PROtagonist is Jace. Tezzeret, Liliana and Bolas are in fact the antagonists, but to different levels.
And unless you somehow read the novel yourself, isn't it a bit hasty to say that you are disappointed with the story? I am much more interested in the writing style of Ari Marmell, especially in comparison to former authors.
Final remark....this story must be happening quite some time after the events of the Alara block. I expect that we will see the story of Tezzeret usurping the consortium from Bolas' hands (claws) in Alara Reborn.
IT seems like they are messing with the timeline yet again with this book. It is great that Bolas and Tezzeret know eachother but we know Tesseret fights Bolas in the Alara block/novel. Either that novel comes BEFORE this book int he timeline which, be smart and release Alara first. That or Tezzeret is fighting Bola sin Alara and is secretly working for him...which won't be a surprise as it should be in the Alara book if that comes to pass.
I guess we're not bothering with spoiler tags for this thread now? Caranthir, maybe you should edit the title of this thread and add "Spoilers Within" or something for those who don't want the book spoiled for them.
Alright, well, sounds like I'm not missing anything by not reading this one. I agree with Caranthir that the dialogue and writing style are big determinants for whether a story is worth bothering with, but after reading the entire plot I just really don't care. Bolas seems like he's added as an afterthought.
How did Tezzeret take the Consortium from Bolas anyway? Was it done post-Meandering, or was it done thousands of years in the past? It would have to be post-Meandering, because Tezzeret is mortal (I assume). Or is he immortal because of the Etherium?
Where is the Consortium located? Ravnica? Alara?
How did Bolas appear--physically and mentally? Is he described as looking like he does on the card art for Legends or the art for Conflux? Is he bummed that he's a bradywalker now, or does he not care? Since people are basically walking on eggshells around him, it looks like he's still a powerhouse, correct?
What does the book say about Dominaria and Urza? Anything worthwhile, or is it just a mention, like, "Yeah, there's this big plane called Dominaria. Some guy named Urza used to live there."
Who the hell is Baltrice? Do we really need another typical "blow-everything-up" female red mana bradywalker?
Other than that, this looks like a Mel Gibson movie--lots of torture coupled with silly "twists." I'm still not terrible enthralled to purchase it. When does A Dance with Dragons come out?
Edit: Wow, that was fast! Or was it always there and I never noticed it?
I'm not particularly excited about the book. It sounds like a basic story frame with magic and updated characters. That being said, I will purchase this book anyway, mainly because I have collected every book and comic chronicling everything since the brothers war and Arabian Nights. I also have some pre-revisionist stuff and the anthologies. Stopping collecting now because of a poor book would be silly. After all, Scourge was pretty awful, and then later story arcs were pretty good. I am also interested in the interaction between Jace and Liliana. I have a deck that uses them both, and they have a great interaction, so it would be cool to see that play out in the story.
As an aside: Aren't they making a Chandra novel later in the year? Or is it Chandra and someone else? Like Garruk. I like Garruk...
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EDH
"The Six"
Patron of the Moon
Ghoulcaller Gisa
Daretti, Scrap Savant
Karametra, God of Harvests
Shu Yun, the Silent Tempest
Vorel of the Hull Clade
The writing is fine, and focuses far more on character development than in previous novels. I am leaving a TON of things out on purpose and giving the skeleton of the action and story points that seem the most relevant to canon.
Answering some of Eid's questions:
Timeframe isn't very clear. It's several years after the fall of the guilds. Grixis is it's own plane. (which is where Bolas lives). Tezzeret doesn't mention Esper, though he mentions the Sanctum Arcanum. He also implies that Etherium is incredibly rare.
The planes mentioned are:
Ravnica
Kamigawa
Dominaria
Grixis (incredibly black mana rich, which is why Nicol is there)
A snow plane (unpronounceable)
A plane with little/no mana
A plane with a magical church
A desert plane (Tezzeret's lair - the Consortium is a cell structure cabal, so it's located on many planes and very few people know of it's existence, and even those who do don't know it's cross-planar)
How everything is mentioned I don't really have time to go into.
Nicol is deemed a "25,000 year old dragon god" but in his conversation he implies that he's diminished in power.
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Hmmm... Doesn't this spoilage pretty much confirm that it was Jace who murdered - although inderectly - Ajani's brother? I mean, what we see here is that Jace is soft-hearted guy forced to do pretty dirty work by his commander who is also an artificer...
Was it possible for Tezz to give Jace those monster-filled orbs and order him to go, slaughter the village of leonin for... Some purpose? Like awakening Ajani's spark for the sake of recruiting him into Consortium? Or was Ajani's awakening an unpredictable incident? Anyway, it looks like it could be it.
I don't think Ajani's awakening was entirely unpredictable. In the web comic it shows a picture of Ajani scrawled on the wall of his brother's room, and the human hunters from the day before were also carrying a picture of him. Whoever did it, Ajani was definitely the target.
Were they trying to awaken Ajani's spark? Or were they trying to kill him before his spark could awaken?
I think it could be Jace (or the other Tezz's servant - y'know, the assassin).
I think it's more likely Jace because the person actually says "please forgive me" before unleashing hell on Ajani's tribe. I don't see a trained assassin doing that, but I do see a conflicted character like Jace doing that. Also the cloak looks very much like the one Jace often wears.
GRRM hasn't finished it, your comment reminded me to check his website. No new updates since almost a year ago :-/.
I won't make any judgments about the book before reading it, but it does at least seem better than the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block novels. I didn't expect Tezzeret to be the villain. At most I expected a self-serving antihero, but not a straight out antagonist. His profile on MTG.com doesn't give any hint of villainy, but maybe something happens that makes him change. Maybe we'll get a bit more backstory on him, or maybe the Alara novel will go more into detail, since it seems that Alara takes place before the novel. I was hoping Elspeth might appear in this novel since she's my favorite (Tezz was my second favorite), but I guess I'll have to wait.
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GRRM hasn't finished it, your comment reminded me to check his website. No new updates since almost a year ago
Yeah, I know. I was just being a smartass. Needs to come out soon, though.
Bad Luck, how did Bolas seem to be about having his powers reduced? Did it affect him at all or was he just happy that he's still an Elder Dragon and used to be involved in plots that were interesting instead of, well, now.
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Yeah, I agree. I think it's just a pretty picture. Dunjohn is probably right when he states that the picture is actually meant to convey that soon enough you (as a player) can pit Smart-Man or Cleric-Girl against Nicol Bolas--and won't that be keen? I don't think it actually depicts anything from the storyline.
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I dunno, I can think of a lot better match-ups in Magic history than Bolas facing off against four scrubs. There's been some pretty awesome fights in the past. I think that would make a good thread of its own if anybody cares.
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^Agreed. Since, in my opinion,t he caliber of storyline has gone down with each novel as of late I doubt bolas vs 4 bradywalkers will be the most epic. I doubt any fight will match the fights of Planeswalkers before the mending. Their fights were too good for any current Pw to match up to.
Bad Luck, you mentioned that Kamigawa was referenced in the book. How? Did Bolas mention it? Perhaps giving a hint to what happened to the Myojin of Night's Reach?
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And I really hate how all of you are still repeating that the other four 'walkers are weak compared to Bolas. I've said it many times, but Wizards themselves state that they're still the Multiverse's most powerful beings after the Mending; and if they're more powerful than demon lords or the kami spirits, then they must be very mighty indeed.
But, they are weak for the most part because they're now mortal. (And no, i am not going to go on a discussion regarding this because it has been discussed as HECK) I can just imagine a foe that can quickly teleport and likes to behead targets against a bradywalker.
Teleport. Snip. Dead Bradywalker.
Hmmn. Let's say they're not weak.... but they're much easier to kill. Come to think of it, why even bother when most of them are going to die anyway of old age, specially with the current Creative jumping timelines frequently and all.
A battle of five planeswalkers at once? No, I think nothing can best that! Yeah, there were some duels between planeswalkers before the Mending, but they only involved two 'walkers, and they weren't so great IMO.
Not quite true. There have been pretty many conflicts during the Planeswalker War on Corondor, and I can think at least about one case - the Summit of the Null Moon - where multiple planeswalkers battled (Leshrac vs. Taysir and Kristina, Szat & Leshrac vs. Ravidel)
And as for the weakness issue....the planeswalkers are no longer energetic projections of their minds, and suffer all the weaknesses of flesh - being normally killable. Bolas, with his natural weapons coming from his pure BEING a dragon, has still great undisputable advantage against them.
I dunno, I can think of a lot better match-ups in Magic history than Bolas facing off against four scrubs. There's been some pretty awesome fights in the past. I think that would make a good thread of its own if anybody cares.
I vaguely remember that there was a thread with similar topic, but if you want to create one now, I'll not object.
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Bolas is still immortal. He states in Future Sight that even if his spark is bradyized, he still will be immortal. He's immortal (as in: doesn't die of old age) because he's an Elder Dragon.
And an Elder Dragon vs four bradywalkers is not even close to being a close fight. Four bradywalkers vs. Nicol ****ing Bolas? Well, have fun with that Fire-Girl and Hunter-Man!
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I like 4/4s for 7.
Thanks to DarkNightCavalier from Heroes of the Plane Studios for this sick Signature.
No, I don't think they'll print it in any language other than English. (do they ever do that? Under these circumstances? I don't think they did it for Shards. If they did, then there is a chance, I guess)
I like 4/4s for 7.
Wont. Spoil. It. until I have time, but I'll say the following for Wizard's Sake.
It's about 346 pages in a slightly larger "soft/hardcover" format but it didn't take very long to bust through it. - about 5 hours give or take.
The sporadic editing on the previous titles is still there - there are some obvious missed grammar, replicated words issues and stuff that you usually don't see in final products. My friend says this happens all the time with pre-release books but since it's a habit with final products for Magic I thought I'd point it out.
I was under the impression it was a mass market book in that it's picking up stray fantasy readers or lapsed Magic players. Note that it costs significantly more than previous Magic books.
Throwing the entire lexicon of Magic at a new reader was kind of a surprise. It's like if you pick up a book by Anne McCafferey there's going to be a Glossary at the end of the book explaining exactly what a Nezumi or Vedalken is, but there is zero explanation in this book. And it really needs it, since it covers multiple planes and creatures. Not that I personally have a problem with it, but it makes it slightly more difficult for me to recommend as a first read to a story noob.
Made for a good read overall. I much prefer the "internal journey" books where you see the character make an inner transformation due to their adventures as opposed to just fight fight fight all the time. That being said, they end on a cliffhanger and don't really resolve the "inner" conflict. Can't wait to read the next one.
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I mean the whole Book not just the sample. They done it so far for almost every new Book except maybe the Planeswalker Guide and the Shadowmoor thing. But I hope they Translate it and Shard Novel to that would be fair I want to read it to ( I know I can read it in English but it´s way easier and comfortable in your mother language ^^)
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Story Synoposis
We join the down-and-out Kallist Rhoka and Liliana Vess in the warrens of Ravnica. Kallist is introduced as a Warrior with illusion magic abilities, and he and Liliana seem to have some kind of romantic involvement. They are ambushed in Ravnica by a band of extremely competent Bounty Hunters and taken hostage - the lead bounty hunter Semner is looking for a wizard by the name of Jace Beleren, who Kallist and Liliana used to roll with. The duo send Semner off in the right direction, then easily defeat the remaining guard. They know the Infinite Consortium is after Jace because of the power he wields, and they agree it's in their best interest to warn him first.
After a really brutal ambush, they finally arrive in the Ravnican city where Jace was holed up. They manage to find Jace, but apparently Semner had a tip off on where Jace was, and attacks, fatally wounding Jace.
<End result is Jace lives, won't get into here, you'll have to read the book!>
We get an extended flashback now of who Jace actually was before he joined the Infinite Consortium, and the answer is not very much. He's a planeswalker at the beginning of this arc, he's making money as a telepathic Spy and blackmailing the rich Gentry. (note that Dimir is never mentioned, but then again they're the guild that never existed). The book doesn't confirm if Ravnica is his home plane.
One day he is minding his own business when suddenly he's attacked in broad daylight by a Firecat. He manages to defeat it and flees, only to be attacked and stung by a summoned Devil. He tracks the summoner and meets not one, but two planeswalkers. Tezzeret and Baltrice, a fire mage.
Tezzeret offers to make Jace a member of the Consortium. The Infinite Consortium is an interplanar cartel with "cells" on multiple planes. If Jace joins, the Consortium will have 5 permanent planeswalkers (Jace, Tezz, and Baltrice are the only ones mentioned) and there are 3 free agents (assuming Liliandra is one of them). Jace is only one of two individuals that Tezzeret knows of on multiple planes that can read minds, and they need his talents to ferret out secrets.
Jace joins, and is immediately sucked into a world he's not ready to handle. Tezzeret is not - how should we say this - a nice guy. On the one hand he's pushing Jace way beyond his normal abilities and providing training Jace would never have, but on the other, he expects Jace to torture and murder for the Consortium. And Jace really doesn't have the stomach for it. He can wipe someone's mind, or even kill them by thinking of it, but he just can't bring himself to do it. At the same time he can't leave. This is when he meets Kallist, who is a trained assassin and is willing to do the acts Jace can't bring himself to do. They bond with each other and start teaching each other skills. Jace learns to fight and Kallist learns some magic.
After a couple of failed errands Tezzeret is losing a handle on his new protege. Apparently Tezz really has an anger management problem and can't stand failure. But apparently he needs Jace, and begins training him on how to protect his mind, and other's from intrusion. Because apparently they're going to visit the other mind reader mentioned earlier.
Yep, apparently Tezzeret didn't make the Consortium, he stole it from it's original owner, a certain 25,000 year old Dragon Planeswalker.
So Tezzeret and Jace head to an unpronouce-able plane where they are to meet with Nicol Bolas.
It doesn't end well. Jace gets a heart to heart with the dragon god and Tezzeret get his mind read. Jace and Tezzeret barely have enough time to hide and walk off the plane.
Because of Jace's failure, Tezzeret just loses it and begins torturing him. Jace eventually makes up his mind to flee. He convinces Kallist to join him and they run off to a backwater city in Ravnica. It doesn't take very long for them to run into Vess, who seems to have designs on Jace...
Eventually they are discovered again, and Jace does some interesting mind magic to fix the problem, which I won't get into here... the result is where the story actually begins with Kallist and Liliana successfully saving Jace.
Now that Jace and Liliana are teamed up again, they are off to take down Tezzeret once and for all - but first they have to ask Nicol Bolas for help. The dragon gives them a lead, more than happy to have Tezzeret taken down. Jace and Vess track down Tezzeret for the face off - in his own lair on a desert plane.
Jace uses his mental abilities to possess anyone who would stop them from entering Tezzeret's magical fortress, but once inside they are ambushed by Baltrice. While Baltrice is beatne, Jace discovers it's been Liliana the whole time manipulating him into fighting against Tezz - which is why every time he's hidden Tezzeret has found him. Liliana wants to use the Consortium to gift to Bolas in exchange for a favor (see below)
So there's a big final battle between Jace and Tezzeret, Jace eventually manages to win (By using Tezzeret's own artifacts against him, Tezz is always painted as the better mage) - but now that Jace has a decision to own Tezz's info - he just crushes it, meaning no one can take over the guild - and leaves.
The Prologue ends with Liliana and Bolas discussing the state of affairs, and Bolas leering over his new prize, a mindless artificer.
Some interesting flavor tidbits:
Not that many people know about 'walkers, even on Ravnica which is considered sort of a hub now after the fall of the Guilds.
The actual "walking" is conceived as traveling, on foot, through the Blind Eternities. It's not easy, and it appears to take guidance to get to an unfamiliar plane, though apparently you could 'walk to whatever plane appears to be nearest. It takes time to prep to walk, but not too much time. With assistance apparently you can do it instantly.
They get pretty deep into what each sort of Planeswalker can do:
Kallist is not a walker, he's a Warrior who has been trained by Jace in illusion Magic. For example he disguise himself, or make himself invisible.
Jace is a master of Illusion, and apparently is one of a very short list of people with telepathy, which is why he's so valuable. He can also alter memories, understand any language, and "lobotomize" his foes. He can freeze things, use telekinesis, summon a cloud sprite, a steam drake, and a sphinx. He also learns a weak grasp of healing magic.
Liliana is adept at necromantic magic, but her incredible strength has a huge cost, since she's bargained for her power with four powerful demons. Ultimately any move she makes is because she's trying to buy her way out of the bargain, which makes her unreliable at best. She can summon shades, summon a ghost to possess people, summon a vampire, and a some kind of "dark" Angel. She can rot organic matter at a touch, and draw inorganic matter (like a sword) into another plane. She's incredibly ruthless and can kill with a thought.
Baltrice is pure red mage all the way - she's presented as cunning but short sighted, wants to blow the crap out of everything. She can summon the firecat, and a fire elemental, and well, yeah. Fire stuff.
Tezzeret doesn't seem to have too much overt magic ability, he just has a storehouse of home-made artifacts, personal creatures that he can carry with him that don't seem to have an obvious analog (like he's got a diabolic machine in his pocket?). Since he's responsible for the Consortium he has a ton of minions to direct, but since it's a cell structure not everyone knows who he is, and barely anyone knows he's a planeswalker. He's mining on a annother, unnamed for etherium, which values very highly.
Dominaria and Urza are mentioned in passing.
Sorry for any bad editing, I'm kind of rushed.
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We have been through this "black or blue villain" argumentation some five years ago...Ambassador Laquatus. From what I read, Tezzeret's character is not purely black at all, he is just 100% blue villain. I guess that you have main problem with the villain part, for when it comes to -tagonists, you expected him to be a pro-, not an an-. Instead of new Urza, we got a new Laquatus.
Before reading the book myself, I would refrain from saying that Liliana or Nicol are protagonists.
Based on the Fuel for the Fire comic, I expected Jace to be a cold-hearted mind-manipulating bastard as you put it. Instead, from the overview by Bad Luck, I got a feeling of a prodigal child who suddenly realizes that the new boots he just acquired are too big for him, forced to do things he did not truly want to, and manipulated by darker forces. I see that the only true PROtagonist is Jace. Tezzeret, Liliana and Bolas are in fact the antagonists, but to different levels.
And unless you somehow read the novel yourself, isn't it a bit hasty to say that you are disappointed with the story? I am much more interested in the writing style of Ari Marmell, especially in comparison to former authors.
Final remark....this story must be happening quite some time after the events of the Alara block. I expect that we will see the story of Tezzeret usurping the consortium from Bolas' hands (claws) in Alara Reborn.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
Alright, well, sounds like I'm not missing anything by not reading this one. I agree with Caranthir that the dialogue and writing style are big determinants for whether a story is worth bothering with, but after reading the entire plot I just really don't care. Bolas seems like he's added as an afterthought.
How did Tezzeret take the Consortium from Bolas anyway? Was it done post-Meandering, or was it done thousands of years in the past? It would have to be post-Meandering, because Tezzeret is mortal (I assume). Or is he immortal because of the Etherium?
Where is the Consortium located? Ravnica? Alara?
How did Bolas appear--physically and mentally? Is he described as looking like he does on the card art for Legends or the art for Conflux? Is he bummed that he's a bradywalker now, or does he not care? Since people are basically walking on eggshells around him, it looks like he's still a powerhouse, correct?
What does the book say about Dominaria and Urza? Anything worthwhile, or is it just a mention, like, "Yeah, there's this big plane called Dominaria. Some guy named Urza used to live there."
Who the hell is Baltrice? Do we really need another typical "blow-everything-up" female red mana bradywalker?
Other than that, this looks like a Mel Gibson movie--lots of torture coupled with silly "twists." I'm still not terrible enthralled to purchase it. When does A Dance with Dragons come out?
Edit: Wow, that was fast! Or was it always there and I never noticed it?
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As an aside: Aren't they making a Chandra novel later in the year? Or is it Chandra and someone else? Like Garruk. I like Garruk...
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Answering some of Eid's questions:
Timeframe isn't very clear. It's several years after the fall of the guilds. Grixis is it's own plane. (which is where Bolas lives). Tezzeret doesn't mention Esper, though he mentions the Sanctum Arcanum. He also implies that Etherium is incredibly rare.
The planes mentioned are:
Ravnica
Kamigawa
Dominaria
Grixis (incredibly black mana rich, which is why Nicol is there)
A snow plane (unpronounceable)
A plane with little/no mana
A plane with a magical church
A desert plane (Tezzeret's lair - the Consortium is a cell structure cabal, so it's located on many planes and very few people know of it's existence, and even those who do don't know it's cross-planar)
How everything is mentioned I don't really have time to go into.
Nicol is deemed a "25,000 year old dragon god" but in his conversation he implies that he's diminished in power.
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Was it possible for Tezz to give Jace those monster-filled orbs and order him to go, slaughter the village of leonin for... Some purpose? Like awakening Ajani's spark for the sake of recruiting him into Consortium? Or was Ajani's awakening an unpredictable incident? Anyway, it looks like it could be it.
I don't think Ajani's awakening was entirely unpredictable. In the web comic it shows a picture of Ajani scrawled on the wall of his brother's room, and the human hunters from the day before were also carrying a picture of him. Whoever did it, Ajani was definitely the target.
Were they trying to awaken Ajani's spark? Or were they trying to kill him before his spark could awaken?
I think it's more likely Jace because the person actually says "please forgive me" before unleashing hell on Ajani's tribe. I don't see a trained assassin doing that, but I do see a conflicted character like Jace doing that. Also the cloak looks very much like the one Jace often wears.
GRRM hasn't finished it, your comment reminded me to check his website. No new updates since almost a year ago :-/.
I won't make any judgments about the book before reading it, but it does at least seem better than the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block novels. I didn't expect Tezzeret to be the villain. At most I expected a self-serving antihero, but not a straight out antagonist. His profile on MTG.com doesn't give any hint of villainy, but maybe something happens that makes him change. Maybe we'll get a bit more backstory on him, or maybe the Alara novel will go more into detail, since it seems that Alara takes place before the novel. I was hoping Elspeth might appear in this novel since she's my favorite (Tezz was my second favorite), but I guess I'll have to wait.
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Yeah, I know. I was just being a smartass. Needs to come out soon, though.
Bad Luck, how did Bolas seem to be about having his powers reduced? Did it affect him at all or was he just happy that he's still an Elder Dragon and used to be involved in plots that were interesting instead of, well, now.
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Bad Luck, you mentioned that Kamigawa was referenced in the book. How? Did Bolas mention it? Perhaps giving a hint to what happened to the Myojin of Night's Reach?
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But, they are weak for the most part because they're now mortal. (And no, i am not going to go on a discussion regarding this because it has been discussed as HECK) I can just imagine a foe that can quickly teleport and likes to behead targets against a bradywalker.
Teleport. Snip. Dead Bradywalker.
Hmmn. Let's say they're not weak.... but they're much easier to kill. Come to think of it, why even bother when most of them are going to die anyway of old age, specially with the current Creative jumping timelines frequently and all.
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Not quite true. There have been pretty many conflicts during the Planeswalker War on Corondor, and I can think at least about one case - the Summit of the Null Moon - where multiple planeswalkers battled (Leshrac vs. Taysir and Kristina, Szat & Leshrac vs. Ravidel)
And as for the weakness issue....the planeswalkers are no longer energetic projections of their minds, and suffer all the weaknesses of flesh - being normally killable. Bolas, with his natural weapons coming from his pure BEING a dragon, has still great undisputable advantage against them.
I vaguely remember that there was a thread with similar topic, but if you want to create one now, I'll not object.
Let this great clan rest in peace (2001-2011)
And an Elder Dragon vs four bradywalkers is not even close to being a close fight. Four bradywalkers vs. Nicol ****ing Bolas? Well, have fun with that Fire-Girl and Hunter-Man!
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