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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
This was a fun read.
For one, it is Sanderson. And also, it is a MTG story.
So, how are you suppose not to enjoy this ? (assuming you like both of those things)
The story takes place on a plane where some kind of feudal system still works. The lord of the land and the villages around paying respects and money and produce to the Feudal Lord.
On one of this villages, twin sisters Tacenda and Willia share a very peculiar ailment. One is blind during the day, the other during the night. However, and to balance things out, Tacenda seems to have some kind of musical power, where her voice and the songs she sing act as warding against night and evil creatures while Willia is a warrior with easy access to champion skills.
On this piece of land, devotion is split among the Bog, a kind of "green" entity where souls and bodies of the deceased go and the Nameless Angel, the god of the church who tries to evangelize and gain new souls every day.
Days go normal until one day spirits start to kill everyone on town, while blind Tacenda is left alive and seems to be impervious to the curse or killing happening around her.
The plausible fault falls on the "Man of the Manor" shoulders, a diabolist who suddently took power over the predecessor feudal lord.
From there on, the story goes on looking for what is happening, who is responsible and how to stop it and return things to normal (as much as it can)
As a Magic The Gathering player and reader of their short novels, it is always fun to notice the different colors on the story. Children of the Nameless have a heavy Black-Blue / Green-White balance.
The Lord of the Manor, a diabolist capable of stealing spells from other people, is revealed to be a Planeswalker just looking for a place to lie low while acquiring contracts with different demons whom he uses as his everyday house servants. This is a clearly Black-Blue character and really like to have a Black Mana character as one of the protagonists on an anti-hero approach.
Although really short, it was a fun and engaging story to read.
For one, it is Sanderson. And also, it is a MTG story.
So, how are you suppose not to enjoy this ? (assuming you like both of those things)
The story takes place on a plane where some kind of feudal system still works. The lord of the land and the villages around paying respects and money and produce to the Feudal Lord.
On one of this villages, twin sisters Tacenda and Willia share a very peculiar ailment. One is blind during the day, the other during the night. However, and to balance things out, Tacenda seems to have some kind of musical power, where her voice and the songs she sing act as warding against night and evil creatures while Willia is a warrior with easy access to champion skills.
On this piece of land, devotion is split among the Bog, a kind of "green" entity where souls and bodies of the deceased go and the Nameless Angel, the god of the church who tries to evangelize and gain new souls every day.
Days go normal until one day spirits start to kill everyone on town, while blind Tacenda is left alive and seems to be impervious to the curse or killing happening around her.
The plausible fault falls on the "Man of the Manor" shoulders, a diabolist who suddently took power over the predecessor feudal lord.
From there on, the story goes on looking for what is happening, who is responsible and how to stop it and return things to normal (as much as it can)
As a Magic The Gathering player and reader of their short novels, it is always fun to notice the different colors on the story. Children of the Nameless have a heavy Black-Blue / Green-White balance.
The Lord of the Manor, a diabolist capable of stealing spells from other people, is revealed to be a Planeswalker just looking for a place to lie low while acquiring contracts with different demons whom he uses as his everyday house servants. This is a clearly Black-Blue character and really like to have a Black Mana character as one of the protagonists on an anti-hero approach.
Although really short, it was a fun and engaging story to read.
Disclaimer: Before this book, I had no idea what Magic: the gathering was. My knowledge now is limited to what you can find on a Wikipedia page.
Because it was written by Brandon Sanderson, I pretty much started reading this holding it to the same sky-high standards I have from everything associated with him. Not only that, but I expected it to be a full-fledged novella. Neither account was realistic.
After a surprisingly poorly-written beginning (I'm talking video-game-story-mode-prologue bad), the story picks up in quality, pace and writing pretty quickly when we're introduced to the second point of view character, Davriel. Then an enjoyable middle-part follows where you can finally tell this was written by Sanderson. Sadly though the end descends back into the quality of the beginning, though not in writing this time, but in story and pacing.
Now, I understand my expectations from his are unfair, but the ending is just plain unsatisfying in a way that could have been solved by just a little change to the story.
The sad bit is I actually would have loved to see this as a novella. But as it were the coolest parts were rushed over.
As I'm writing this I realise the problems in this book, stem for the most part from Tascenda's parts, which makes sense because all its strengths came from Davriel.
"They were all so certain that secretly he was some kind of unnatural monster—rather than just a man, the most natural monster of them all"
Isn't that line enough to convince you he deserves a lot more pages devoted to him? Both humorous and emotional moments and real points of intrigue came from Davriel and his demons. (His relationship with Miss Highwater alone might be my favourite thing in the whole story) The problem there though was that if he didn't keep calling Tascenda child, I would have placed him at being 20. (I still have no idea how old he is actually supposed to be but nothing older than that really suits him.)
Finally, while you do get the sense that the story is connected to a larger framework you definitely don't need any external information to read this.
Because it was written by Brandon Sanderson, I pretty much started reading this holding it to the same sky-high standards I have from everything associated with him. Not only that, but I expected it to be a full-fledged novella. Neither account was realistic.
After a surprisingly poorly-written beginning (I'm talking video-game-story-mode-prologue bad), the story picks up in quality, pace and writing pretty quickly when we're introduced to the second point of view character, Davriel. Then an enjoyable middle-part follows where you can finally tell this was written by Sanderson. Sadly though the end descends back into the quality of the beginning, though not in writing this time, but in story and pacing.
Now, I understand my expectations from his are unfair, but the ending is just plain unsatisfying in a way that could have been solved by just a little change to the story.
Spoiler
Just a memory of Willia from before could have characterised her and give some weight to the ending, so would have a single moment of genuine grief from Tascenda. As it were though, there was much more emotion in the death of the demons that there was in the death of the main character's sister, who'd also murdered their parents with no behavioural changes whatsoever!The sad bit is I actually would have loved to see this as a novella.
Spoiler
If only to find out why angels go mad and what is going to happen to the one nailed to the walls!As I'm writing this I realise the problems in this book, stem for the most part from Tascenda's parts, which makes sense because all its strengths came from Davriel.
"They were all so certain that secretly he was some kind of unnatural monster—rather than just a man, the most natural monster of them all"
Isn't that line enough to convince you he deserves a lot more pages devoted to him? Both humorous and emotional moments and real points of intrigue came from Davriel and his demons. (His relationship with Miss Highwater alone might be my favourite thing in the whole story) The problem there though was that if he didn't keep calling Tascenda child, I would have placed him at being 20. (I still have no idea how old he is actually supposed to be but nothing older than that really suits him.)
Finally, while you do get the sense that the story is connected to a larger framework you definitely don't need any external information to read this.
I’ve never played Magic: the Gathering but I wanted to read this story anyway in my quest to read all of Sanderson’s stories. You don’t need to know anything about Magic beforehand as I understood everything just fine, but I’m sure the story would mean more to you if you had that background knowledge.
The prologue hooked me so good. That was one of the most interesting prologues I’ve read in awhile; it completely had me wanting to know what happened next.
However, the story got a bit slower after that. I like Tacenda and Davriel—I especially love Davriel’s personality and humor—but I felt like the plot was going nowhere. Maybe it’s the time I read the novella, over the holidays when I was really busy and constantly tired, or maybe it was the story itself, but I just kept waiting for the story to pick up and something to happen.
Basically there’s been a village massacre and Davriel and Tacenda spend the entire story trying to figure out what happened, and of course there’s a classic Sanderson ending with a big twist that we didn’t see coming. It was a fine story, but I guess I was just hoping for something a bit more engaging and fast-paced. I wish the whole story could have been as good as the prologue was.
My Book Blog: Storeys of Stories
The prologue hooked me so good. That was one of the most interesting prologues I’ve read in awhile; it completely had me wanting to know what happened next.
However, the story got a bit slower after that. I like Tacenda and Davriel—I especially love Davriel’s personality and humor—but I felt like the plot was going nowhere. Maybe it’s the time I read the novella, over the holidays when I was really busy and constantly tired, or maybe it was the story itself, but I just kept waiting for the story to pick up and something to happen.
Basically there’s been a village massacre and Davriel and Tacenda spend the entire story trying to figure out what happened, and of course there’s a classic Sanderson ending with a big twist that we didn’t see coming. It was a fine story, but I guess I was just hoping for something a bit more engaging and fast-paced. I wish the whole story could have been as good as the prologue was.
My Book Blog: Storeys of Stories
3'5
Not a fan of Magic. But I do love Sanderson so I thought it could be a nice short read.
It was indeed a entertaining read. Short story for Sanderson or Magic fans.
Not a fan of Magic. But I do love Sanderson so I thought it could be a nice short read.
It was indeed a entertaining read. Short story for Sanderson or Magic fans.
A fun and quick read with an interesting mystery at its core and a good take on questions of religion and faith. No knowledge of Magic: The Gathering necessary whatsoever.
Hey, it's Sanderson. I'll give it a chance.
Taking place in the greater Magic the Gathering universe, there's a feel for a huge world we're only seeing a corner of. Names That Matter left and right and nowhere near enough time to learn what they all mean... but if you just go with it, you'll figure out enough for this particular story.
On a smaller level, the point of view characters being a set of twins with magical powers but a shared drawback--each is blind for half the day while the other can see--is a common enough trope but done well. It's actually interesting to (for the most part) only see the world from one twin's point of view. Sanderson does unreliable narrators well.
Davriel (the other main character) is also wonderful. A neat power set--the summoning of demons bound to serve under contract has always appealed to me; plus temporarily stealing powers leads to nice variety--and a greatly amusing outlook on life. He doesn't want to be a hero. He doesn't particularly even want to work hard. But he's got power and he doesn't seem like a strictly bad person, just not a paragon of virtue.
Overall, I wish we'd had a bit more time in the world, but not enough to take away from all of Sanderson's other projects. I may just have to check out some other Magic the Gathering fiction though. A shared multiverse with many worlds and authors mixed and matched? Could be cool.
Taking place in the greater Magic the Gathering universe, there's a feel for a huge world we're only seeing a corner of. Names That Matter left and right and nowhere near enough time to learn what they all mean... but if you just go with it, you'll figure out enough for this particular story.
On a smaller level, the point of view characters being a set of twins with magical powers but a shared drawback--each is blind for half the day while the other can see--is a common enough trope but done well. It's actually interesting to (for the most part) only see the world from one twin's point of view. Sanderson does unreliable narrators well.
Davriel (the other main character) is also wonderful. A neat power set--the summoning of demons bound to serve under contract has always appealed to me; plus temporarily stealing powers leads to nice variety--and a greatly amusing outlook on life. He doesn't want to be a hero. He doesn't particularly even want to work hard. But he's got power and he doesn't seem like a strictly bad person, just not a paragon of virtue.
Overall, I wish we'd had a bit more time in the world, but not enough to take away from all of Sanderson's other projects. I may just have to check out some other Magic the Gathering fiction though. A shared multiverse with many worlds and authors mixed and matched? Could be cool.
Whelp, it's a Sanderson, so what did you expect? ^^
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Solid fantasy novella with characters you quickly get the gist of and a cool setting. Davriel Cane is a great character that I wouldn't mind reading more about in case there would be a continuation. His philosophy, behaviour, magical abilities, and hints of a cool backstory are all intriguing. The book is set in the Magic: The Gathering universe, but stands alone without much tying into the greater story, so no familiarity with that franchise is necessary.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Came to like the characters and story in a short amount of time. Have no knowledge of Magic: The Gathering, but Brando Sando made everything easy to understand. Hopefully he writes another one of these free novellas some day.
This is a return to form for Sanderson for me after what, for me, was a misstep with the last Stormlight novel (can't even think of its name). Gone are the unnecessarily bloated story lines and extraneous characters. There are a minimal number of characters here, as one would expect with a novella, but each one is wonderfully fleshed out.
Even though it progresses relatively straightforwardly from A to B to C, the ending still had a nice twist.
Even though it progresses relatively straightforwardly from A to B to C, the ending still had a nice twist.