MTG Salvation

So maybe someone in here will remember me, though it has been a very long time. I used to moderate the MTGNews Storyline boards and also wrote a bunch of long treatises on the Multiverse.

I fell off storyline about a decade ago. My interest in the game had waned roughly a decade before that, coming and going whenever sets came out that might be overpowered enough to effect Vintage play. I own every novel, anthology and comic from Arena through the Mirridon Block plus the Time Spiral Books. Something in the books put me off. I'd like to pause here and let it be known this is not by any means a slight towards the writers, I've actually have exchanged emails with many of them in days long gone. They are good people with a tough job that draws an abundance of criticism.

Even though Weatherlight Saga had its ups and downs I thought it was excellent overall, especially works like the Brothers' War and the Thran. The Dark trilogy I absolutely loved. And maybe it is just the rose colored tint of youth but I did enjoy most, if not all, of the old Harper Prism stories. Even the Invasion story with Urza's titans was exciting just to see the classic planeswalkers again on the page, Taysir!, even if seemed a little odd.

My issues really began with the Odyssey and Onslaught books. I had disliked a cycle of books before, Masques was just not my bag. Having a new cast obviously takes some getting used to but I just found myself having trouble caring for any of these characters. It seemed like everything was happening within a bubble and call backs to history and the world just seemed missing. This could very much be me and not the stories, I had not collected any cards since the Urza's Sage Block. Khamal & Jeska seemed fine enough, I had no care for Chainer, Braids or the Cabal, and Akroma, Phage, Karona, Sash & Waistcoat were mostly infuriating. If I had to be honest my real interest was the Mirari and just how it was tied to Karn.

I read the Mirrodin books, seemed a return to more classic fantasy storytelling, odd for a world built of metal. I had also started collecting again for this block. I skipped the Kamigawa books, the whole flavor seemed wrong for MTG, but I did not investigate any further. I had heard a second cycle of Legends books had come out that somehow tied in but I had already skipped a trilogy and though Ravnica sounded good it was too reminiscent of the Cabal, I had really wished they had done something like this with the Houses from the original Arena novel.

So all this led up to Time Spiral, I decided since we are back in Dominaria, my home turf, I would jump in. Many of the names I cared for were there, some supporting characters were there too and so were the locations. Even Jodah! They had changed a bit but I could accept that. But then there were the new character, it was this odd mishmash of old and new. It just felt grating, maybe if I had read the previous books in the gap it wouldn't have. There was even a battle between Leshrac and Nicol Bolas, win right? Then there was the ending, the Mending, and I just couldn't bring myself to accept the change of the planeswalker spark. I'm guessing by de-powering the planeswalkers in the storyline it opened up the game to introduce them as playable cards.

I don't know if it felt like the door was shut on a lot of the rich history. Or that I missed the days of the epic Weatherlight Saga. In hindsight it was the nail in the coffin I couldn't bring myself to pick up another novel. The question I have is should I? I see we are coming back to Dominaria again, and if you have read up to here you probably know what sort of story I enjoy. I know very little of what has happened since but I can catch up, the Magic Storyline Resources thread and wiki would make that easy.

(Hopefully this isn't a hot topic. I checked the Sub-form rules and some quick searches did not reveal any locked threads on the Mending.)


TL;DR: The books leading up to the Mending left me not wanting to read MTG stories anymore. Should I start reading again now that we are going back to Dominaria or will I find the same things I disliked are still there?

The new cast of characters is worth reading about, but not all the novels are. Try Agents of Artifice and see if you're interested. There are a few connections to old stories (Bolas, Karn, Mirrodin), but nothing major until the upcoming Dominaria.

Note: Around Khans of Tarkir, the story switches to being exclusively serialized online short stories.

I love, absolutely love, Alara Unbroken. It's a thrilling and very fast read, and really pulled at my heartstrings in some parts. I'd say it's an essential read if you're a fan of Ajani.

The Secretist is a pretty interesting read, really establishes Ravnica as Jace's adopted home, sheds light on more minor characters, and shows the consequences of Jace's actions and behaviors.

Godsend was enjoyable for the most part. Elspeth's character seemed to differ somewhat from my understanding of her in the Planeswalker web comics, but that may just have been due to Jenna Helland adding more depth to her character. The portrayal of the gods was fascinating, and I enjoyed Cymede's character, as well.

Not personally a big fan of Agents of Artifice given how abusive Tezzeret is and how callous Jace can be, but it sounds like you've already read it.

I wouldn't necessarily want to read *everything*. You certainly don't need to know every single plot point from all the various books, comics, online short stories etc. - and not all of them are good anyway. In your position, I'd want to read some of the well received ones to see whether it's worth catching up. Agents of Artifice for instance was a fun read, and would make a nice jumping-off point for post-mending storytelling. It makes some of the best use of the tighter focus and narrower scope of the neo-walkers that I've read (which isn't everything, to be fair). The good news for you is that pre-mending characters are - obviously - becoming more and more relevant. So if you read Agents of Artifice (or some other well-received bit of modern MtG storytelling) and find that you don't want to know more, then maybe just wait until the Dominaria shorts start appearing online, and pick up lore as you go, looking stuff up if it seems interesting.

Quote from DaringApprentice »

I love, absolutely love, Alara Unbroken. It's a thrilling and very fast read, and really pulled at my heartstrings in some parts. I'd say it's an essential read if you're a fan of Ajani.

The Secretist is a pretty interesting read, really establishes Ravnica as Jace's adopted home, sheds light on more minor characters, and shows the consequences of Jace's actions and behaviors.

Godsend was enjoyable for the most part. Elspeth's character seemed to differ somewhat from my understanding of her in the Planeswalker web comics, but that may just have been due to Jenna Helland adding more depth to her character. The portrayal of the gods was fascinating, and I enjoyed Cymede's character, as well.

Not personally a big fan of Agents of Artifice given how abusive Tezzeret is and how callous Jace can be, but it sounds like you've already read it.

Wow, someone liked Alara Unbroken. Although, compared to In the Teeth of Akoum, Quest for Karn, and Battle for Zendikar block stories, its honestly aged pretty well. Especially considering that Doug Beyer had no training as a writer and was asked to cram so much into a single short novel.

It's up to you, but I would suggest skipping the Lorwyn novels. They are terrible.

Quote from Jay13x »

Note: Around Khans of Tarkir, the story switches to being exclusively serialized online short stories.

Huh, well that is very useful. I must say since WotC changed their website I have been completely lost both for MtG and for D&D. With a bit of searching I finally found the page with the stories. So are there no more novels at all?

Quote from DaringApprentice »

I'd say it's an essential read if you're a fan of Ajani...

... shows the consequences of Jace's actions and behaviors.

Elspeth's character seemed to differ...

... how abusive Tezzeret is and how callous Jace can be...

So these names mean very little to me aside from the fact that I know they exist as MtG cards and some are powerful enough to have drawn my attention to acquire. Does there seem to be a lot more planeswalkers than before? Also does Bolas feature prominently in any of these books? Following him around and his plotting?

Quote from Gelcur »

Huh, well that is very useful. I must say since WotC changed their website I have been completely lost both for MtG and for D&D. With a bit of searching I finally found the page with the stories. So are there no more novels at all?

Check out the Storyline Resources Thread, the links to everything you might need are there. I also did an article called Magic Story: Alara to Amonkhet that will give you a summary of everything concerning the current cast of characters.

So these names mean very little to me aside from the fact that I know they exist as MtG cards and some are powerful enough to have drawn my attention to acquire. Does there seem to be a lot more planeswalkers than before? Also does Bolas feature prominently in any of these books? Following him around and his plotting?

If you want Nicol Bolas, Agents of Artifice and Alara Unbroken are the novels to read. They also happen to be the first two novels, chronologically, in the new story. The only other novel I would recommend reading (instead of just reading a summary) is The Purifying Fire, but Bolas doesn't fact into that except obliquely. Bolas's Machinations were behind Zendikar's story and Scars of Mirrodin to a very minor extent, and he factors into Khans of Tarkir's story, but we don't really get a heavy Nicol Bolas presence again until Amonkhet.

Also, if you can get your hands on them, I strongly recommend revisiting Kamigawa and the first 3 Ravnica books. they may not fit into your traditional idea of Magic: The Gathering lore, but they are excellent self-contained stories which actually exemplify some of the best writing amongst the Magic novels. And Kamigawa actually does have an easter egg that ties that world intrinsically to Dominaria - specifically, to Nicol Bolas.

Quote from Quannage »

Also, if you can get your hands on them, I strongly recommend revisiting Kamigawa and the first 3 Ravnica books. they may not fit into your traditional idea of Magic: The Gathering lore, but they are excellent self-contained stories which actually exemplify some of the best writing amongst the Magic novels. And Kamigawa actually does have an easter egg that ties that world intrinsically to Dominaria - specifically, to Nicol Bolas.

I'll second this.

The Kamigawa arc is probably the best self-contained arc in all of Magic, with great characters and a legitimately wonderful and well-written plot. For my money, Toshi is arguably the most interesting character that has come out of Magic since Urza. Also, the original Ravnica trilogy is right up there with Kamigawa, albeit a little weaker.

Gelcur: Greetings, old friend! I originally posted as Tawnos at MTGNews and then as Zazdor. We did some collaboration on Karona's mana matrix and the history of the Elder Dragons. It's great to see you post again!

While there are no more novels and the story is not quite the same approach as it used to be, I find the weekly "chapters" fun reads. It's not the same continuity as in our youth (ha!), but worlds are built and there are some nice character interactions. I've come to appreciate the characters and plots for what they were, but you won't get a "saga" feel as we once did.

I hope you stay around. I haven't posted in a bit (and have only sporadically read Ixalan's story myself), but I'd enjoy chatting again!

Don’t read the Return to Ravnica stories. They are terrible, and 30% is just Jace moping.

I would recommend the Ixalan stories. As a person not familiar with past stories you are in a similar place as the protagonist, who has amnesia. This is also a great starting point as this is the story right before Dominaria so it will help you get caught up. Also, because Jace has no memories, he has nothing to mope about.

I just caught up on most of the Ixalan stories today, and was really pleased with them. If you do start there, you can then find the other stories that link to it for backstory as necessary (as past events and other characters are mentioned by the end).

Thank you for all the suggestions.

@Zazdor: Of course I remember you Zaz how could I forget all our great storyline theories and discussions. A lot of them are still Staples here and in the wiki. Great hearing from you. I'm going to try to stop in here once a week at least. I'm very curious what's to come out of the Dominaria set.