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65 reviews for:
La Guerre de l'étincelle : Ravnica: Magic : The Gathering - La Guerre de l'étincelle, T1
Greg Weisman, Sébastien Baert
2.79 AVERAGE
65 reviews for:
La Guerre de l'étincelle : Ravnica: Magic : The Gathering - La Guerre de l'étincelle, T1
Greg Weisman, Sébastien Baert
2.79 AVERAGE
The Magic: The Gathering's Nicol Bolas epic storyline enters the endgame with Greg Weisman's 'War Of The Spark: Ravnica'.
Self appointed God-Dragon, Nicol Bolas, and his army of undead Eternals, have taken over the world of Ravnica and is luring every Planeswalker to the plane so he can harvest their sparks, the special essence inside every Planeswalker that makes them what they are, so he can become all powerful and regain his immortality and rule the multiverse. It's up to the Gatewatch - led by Gideon Jura, Jace Beleren and Chandra Nalaar - to unite the ten Guilds of Ravnica, fight the hordes of the undead army, Liliana Vess (formerly of the Gatewatch) and stop Bolas to save Ravnica and the Multiverse.
I don't play the game, but I really love the stories and card art of Magic The Gathering, and I've been following the Gatewatch / Bolas storyline since the Magic Origins story block in 2015 (which is an excellent jumping on point), and was already heavily invested in the characters and world building before starting this book. It is supposedly a self contained story, and it is in parts, but there didn't seem much of an introduction to established characters or the continued narrative for those who might be new to the storyline, although it does allude to some of the previous stories (Kaladesh, Amonkhet and Ixalan blocks mostly). After the story brings in two new characters - Teyo Verada and Rat (both of whom I really enjoyed) - it pretty much jumps into the action, and is relentless all the way until the end! I would definitely recommend reading some of the previous storylines, especially those I mentioned, which are available to read on the Magic The Gathering website, to get a better understanding of who's who and of what's been going on to lead up to the finale, if you're getting into these stories for the first time. There are prequel stories written by Django Wrexler that will be released AFTER the events of this book, which might explain things a bit more. But if that's the case, then maybe they should've been released BEFORE so as to add more detail to events happening 'off screen' that are only briefly spoken about.
With 'War Of The Spark' having so many Planeswalkers, I'd wondered how the narrative would work. Each of the 69 chapters features a POV from a handful of the main characters, giving the battle for Ravnica a different perspective, and to me, it works really well, seeing them struggle to cope with the overwhelming nature of what's going on around them at times, reading what they're thinking when they see the devastation inflicted by Bolas and the actions they put into motion to combat it all in the push to topple the Elder Dragon, I became immersed in that character's viewpoint each time we joined them as their very distinctive personalities shone through.
It's a mostly satisfying end to an epic story, that also comes across as similar to a Marvel movie (which is definitely no bad thing), wrapping up most things, but also leaving a few things open, which I presume will lead into the next book in this two book series - 'War Of The Spark: Foresaken' - which will also be one I'll be looking forward to reading.
Self appointed God-Dragon, Nicol Bolas, and his army of undead Eternals, have taken over the world of Ravnica and is luring every Planeswalker to the plane so he can harvest their sparks, the special essence inside every Planeswalker that makes them what they are, so he can become all powerful and regain his immortality and rule the multiverse. It's up to the Gatewatch - led by Gideon Jura, Jace Beleren and Chandra Nalaar - to unite the ten Guilds of Ravnica, fight the hordes of the undead army, Liliana Vess (formerly of the Gatewatch) and stop Bolas to save Ravnica and the Multiverse.
I don't play the game, but I really love the stories and card art of Magic The Gathering, and I've been following the Gatewatch / Bolas storyline since the Magic Origins story block in 2015 (which is an excellent jumping on point), and was already heavily invested in the characters and world building before starting this book. It is supposedly a self contained story, and it is in parts, but there didn't seem much of an introduction to established characters or the continued narrative for those who might be new to the storyline, although it does allude to some of the previous stories (Kaladesh, Amonkhet and Ixalan blocks mostly). After the story brings in two new characters - Teyo Verada and Rat (both of whom I really enjoyed) - it pretty much jumps into the action, and is relentless all the way until the end! I would definitely recommend reading some of the previous storylines, especially those I mentioned, which are available to read on the Magic The Gathering website, to get a better understanding of who's who and of what's been going on to lead up to the finale, if you're getting into these stories for the first time. There are prequel stories written by Django Wrexler that will be released AFTER the events of this book, which might explain things a bit more. But if that's the case, then maybe they should've been released BEFORE so as to add more detail to events happening 'off screen' that are only briefly spoken about.
With 'War Of The Spark' having so many Planeswalkers, I'd wondered how the narrative would work. Each of the 69 chapters features a POV from a handful of the main characters, giving the battle for Ravnica a different perspective, and to me, it works really well, seeing them struggle to cope with the overwhelming nature of what's going on around them at times, reading what they're thinking when they see the devastation inflicted by Bolas and the actions they put into motion to combat it all in the push to topple the Elder Dragon, I became immersed in that character's viewpoint each time we joined them as their very distinctive personalities shone through.
It's a mostly satisfying end to an epic story, that also comes across as similar to a Marvel movie (which is definitely no bad thing), wrapping up most things, but also leaving a few things open, which I presume will lead into the next book in this two book series - 'War Of The Spark: Foresaken' - which will also be one I'll be looking forward to reading.
I loved that we had another actual novel to read. The characters of Rat and Teyo were very close to my heart. I had a few tears when Gids and Lil had there moments. The visuals of the Rakdos area was fun! The writing, however seemed geared toward a young Adult audience. Even the romances seemed high school. The dialogue stole me out of the story often, as I felt it didn't match the theme or setting. Characters seemed to do things out of character for them based on lore. Name dropping a bunch of planeswalkers in a number of sections just seemed like a way to get them in the story instead of having them appear as for a purpose in the story. Still, I liked the short chapters and multiple perspective approach. I was up Good read for those that love MTG
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I'm finding it hard to judge this one. For the most part I liked it, save for losing a bit of steam towards the end and following just a bit too many characters for its own good. So this could have easily been a four star for me. But the objections I've read in other reviews seem to hold water. There are a lot of complaints about how underdeveloped these characters appear that have been around for years and years and have rich backstories. I've only recently become an MTG fan and haven't been able to read all the backstory yet, so I find it hard to judge. However knowing the little I know, the points made in other reviews DID make sense and WOTC's decision to use profesional authors who know little of the franchise doesn't. So I'm going to do a rare thing for me and take into account what other reviewers said and deduct a star for that. I do disagree with a lot of them saying that the new characters, Rat & Teyo, were bad. I heartily enjoyed those and would love to see more of them both in story and cards.
This took me awhile to get through, this was not due to the quality of the book. This was simply an issue of from one minute to the next fantasy was not what I wanted as often. However, I am starting to feel like a fantasy mood is coming and I wanted to start fresh, therefore I made sure to finish this book off for a fresh start.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Unfortunately, my love is magic is not powerful enough to keep me going.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I rarely give books such low scores, but this book genuinely bothered me with its bad writing. The characters felt childish and self-pitying, and their emotional register seemed to be a choice of "numb and overwhelmed" and "overreacting." Others have written about the insulting representation of LGBTQ+ characters, so I won't say much about that. Perhaps my biggest complaint was the writing of Rat: a character we are repeatedly told is winsome and bright and naive and loveable, but whom I found deeply grating, especially as she becomes the conscience for many of the characters, at times telling them what they should be thinking or feeling or even literally dictating what they should say word for word. For a world with as many complex and beloved characters as the Multiverse of Magic: the Gathering, making so much of this book hinge on this character felt like a huge disappointment. The author also frequently employs the trope of using a POV character who is mostly an observer, which ends up making my feel like I'm watching someone watch the thing I wish I were experiencing myself.