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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
Sign up for the MTG newsletter and read the story by Django Wexler first then read this. If not it's like reading part 2 of a series.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s just bad and does not reflect any characterization in mtg lore. Protagonist is an uninteresting audience insert blank slate.
No surprises here. Not a great read, but fairly entertaining if you are invested in MTG.
2.5 Stars
Mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I've spent more time than I care to admit reading the MTG lore-- some of it is really compelling, and I love the heck out of the game, so I'm kind of naturally drawn to it.
Unfortunately, this book is very meh. It does seem like the contracted author (who it sounds like has written other, perfectly fine fiction) was given somewhat impossible constraints. The game side of things did some novel stuff recently story-telling wise-- telling a story with trading cards is hard, but they made it work a bit better-- but I think that kind of put really rigid constraints on the novel.
It's not all out of Weisman's hands-- the writing fluctuates wildly, coming down generally slightly below decent fanfiction grade. It's not his fault there were too many characters to cram into one novel, but he definitely could have characterized them more strongly.
On the macro scale, it was cool to have a novel for the completion of a multi-year story arc that they usually tell through online fiction, and if I don't look too closely I'm sort of satisfied there-- but this is probably the worst book I'll read this year. That said, if it is the worst book I read all year I'll be pretty happy, because it definitely could have been worse.
Mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I've spent more time than I care to admit reading the MTG lore-- some of it is really compelling, and I love the heck out of the game, so I'm kind of naturally drawn to it.
Unfortunately, this book is very meh. It does seem like the contracted author (who it sounds like has written other, perfectly fine fiction) was given somewhat impossible constraints. The game side of things did some novel stuff recently story-telling wise-- telling a story with trading cards is hard, but they made it work a bit better-- but I think that kind of put really rigid constraints on the novel.
It's not all out of Weisman's hands-- the writing fluctuates wildly, coming down generally slightly below decent fanfiction grade. It's not his fault there were too many characters to cram into one novel, but he definitely could have characterized them more strongly.
On the macro scale, it was cool to have a novel for the completion of a multi-year story arc that they usually tell through online fiction, and if I don't look too closely I'm sort of satisfied there-- but this is probably the worst book I'll read this year. That said, if it is the worst book I read all year I'll be pretty happy, because it definitely could have been worse.
This entire book is the third act of a marvel movie. I get it’s just the standard “here’s the mythos to explain the cards,” but they’ve done plenty of books in that like who actually cared about the characters.
This book is offensively mediocre.
Before criticizing the novel, I would like to point out that this novel was basically doomed to fail.
"War of the Spark: Ravnica" is the culmination of a long story-arc beginning in the Magic: the Gathering set, "Kaladesh" released in 2016. After several sets of hints and foreshadowing since then, the elder dragon Nicol Bolas is finally enacting his big master-plan. The storyline for Magic has up until recently been told in the form of weekly short fiction posted on the Wizards of the Coast website released alongside each Magic set. These stories are usually enjoyable and written by folks who have a deep understanding of the Magic IP and its 20+ years of lore.
So it is very surprising to learn that Wizards chose to tell the grand conclusion to this unwieldy story arc (there's upwards of 100 characters involved) in the form of a novel. Not only that, but Wizards hired Greg Weisman, who I assume is a perfectly fine career writer, but a writer who does not have any familiarity with the Magic IP. I probably do not need to further explain why it is a bad idea to hire someone unfamiliar with such a massive story to write the final chapter in which characters from all across Magic lore converge into one large battle on Ravnica. Listening to his appearance on Mark Rosewater's Drive to Work podcast, Weisman made it clear that he had no prior familiarity with the Magic universe, and had to read many, many books just to catch up with the plot and characters.
So it is not a surprise that this novel feels all over the place, with inconsistent characters and poor pacing. Additionally, for some reason, the prelude to the events of this novel which is written by a separate author and is to be released in more short fiction sometime this year, is currently unavailable to readers, so the novel constantly references events and characters who have not actually yet appeared in the story. When we jump into the action of the novel, major events have already taken place and characters mourn the deaths of other characters who the reader has not actually been introduced to.
This novel is marketed as a "starting point" for people to get into the Magic storyline, but it is in no way a good place to begin in Magic lore. Had I not followed the Magic story for the last 5~ years, this novel would not be comprehensible in any way to me. So much of this book is exposition, attempting to fill the reader in on events from the last few years of Magic story across 10 different POV characters to the point where it is completely indecipherable to people unfamiliar with the massive cast and list of planes in the multiverse.
With all of that context in mind, this novel absolutely fails. Characters in this book feel legitimately like fan-fiction versions of their prior appearances. The focus on romance sub-plots while the apocalypse is going on in the background is a real doozy. The dialogue is reminiscent of a bad YA novel, and the original characters Weisman creates are unfortunately very boring. Due to the nature of having a massive battle with a massive cast as your main set piece, this book does not do anything particularly interesting when side characters briefly appear. In one instance, two characters who have been MIA since their appearances in 2016 appear for literally two sentences before disappearing. When characters do appear, they have to be accompanied by long asides explaining who they are and what actions they have recently taken.
The battle-sequences are long and boring, with the stakes feeling very arbitrary. The use of description is pretty underwhelming and the presentation of events is unclear. The actual "master plan" of the villain is non-sensical, and the solution in defeating Nicol Bolas is hilariously pulled out of nowhere. Characters are not subtle in dialogue or action, and their arcs (if they have one at all) are very predictable.
I have never read a Magic novel before this, and I have heard mixed reviews about their quality. I picked this novel up after reading a few excerpts that seemed particularly bad, and was not disappointed in how much this novel made me audibly groan. It is a great hate-read, especially if you are Magic fan. Otherwise, I would avoid this.
I listened to the Audiobook, which I thought was pretty good for what it was. The large cast was obviously a challenge and some of the voices were a bit funny, but overall I think Robert Petkoff did a good job.
Before criticizing the novel, I would like to point out that this novel was basically doomed to fail.
"War of the Spark: Ravnica" is the culmination of a long story-arc beginning in the Magic: the Gathering set, "Kaladesh" released in 2016. After several sets of hints and foreshadowing since then, the elder dragon Nicol Bolas is finally enacting his big master-plan. The storyline for Magic has up until recently been told in the form of weekly short fiction posted on the Wizards of the Coast website released alongside each Magic set. These stories are usually enjoyable and written by folks who have a deep understanding of the Magic IP and its 20+ years of lore.
So it is very surprising to learn that Wizards chose to tell the grand conclusion to this unwieldy story arc (there's upwards of 100 characters involved) in the form of a novel. Not only that, but Wizards hired Greg Weisman, who I assume is a perfectly fine career writer, but a writer who does not have any familiarity with the Magic IP. I probably do not need to further explain why it is a bad idea to hire someone unfamiliar with such a massive story to write the final chapter in which characters from all across Magic lore converge into one large battle on Ravnica. Listening to his appearance on Mark Rosewater's Drive to Work podcast, Weisman made it clear that he had no prior familiarity with the Magic universe, and had to read many, many books just to catch up with the plot and characters.
So it is not a surprise that this novel feels all over the place, with inconsistent characters and poor pacing. Additionally, for some reason, the prelude to the events of this novel which is written by a separate author and is to be released in more short fiction sometime this year, is currently unavailable to readers, so the novel constantly references events and characters who have not actually yet appeared in the story. When we jump into the action of the novel, major events have already taken place and characters mourn the deaths of other characters who the reader has not actually been introduced to.
This novel is marketed as a "starting point" for people to get into the Magic storyline, but it is in no way a good place to begin in Magic lore. Had I not followed the Magic story for the last 5~ years, this novel would not be comprehensible in any way to me. So much of this book is exposition, attempting to fill the reader in on events from the last few years of Magic story across 10 different POV characters to the point where it is completely indecipherable to people unfamiliar with the massive cast and list of planes in the multiverse.
With all of that context in mind, this novel absolutely fails. Characters in this book feel legitimately like fan-fiction versions of their prior appearances. The focus on romance sub-plots while the apocalypse is going on in the background is a real doozy. The dialogue is reminiscent of a bad YA novel, and the original characters Weisman creates are unfortunately very boring. Due to the nature of having a massive battle with a massive cast as your main set piece, this book does not do anything particularly interesting when side characters briefly appear. In one instance, two characters who have been MIA since their appearances in 2016 appear for literally two sentences before disappearing. When characters do appear, they have to be accompanied by long asides explaining who they are and what actions they have recently taken.
The battle-sequences are long and boring, with the stakes feeling very arbitrary. The use of description is pretty underwhelming and the presentation of events is unclear. The actual "master plan" of the villain is non-sensical, and the solution in defeating Nicol Bolas is hilariously pulled out of nowhere. Characters are not subtle in dialogue or action, and their arcs (if they have one at all) are very predictable.
I have never read a Magic novel before this, and I have heard mixed reviews about their quality. I picked this novel up after reading a few excerpts that seemed particularly bad, and was not disappointed in how much this novel made me audibly groan. It is a great hate-read, especially if you are Magic fan. Otherwise, I would avoid this.
I listened to the Audiobook, which I thought was pretty good for what it was. The large cast was obviously a challenge and some of the voices were a bit funny, but overall I think Robert Petkoff did a good job.
If you have been following the Nicol Bolas / Gatewatch arc for a while, this book will provide some satisfying closure for you. That being said, a lot of the individual characters' choices are glossed over, key elements of the story happen off-screen, and the whole thing feels like a bit of fan fiction based off the flavor text from the actual cards. Some of the dialogue is a bit cringey, and I struggled with the actual writing more than a few times. If you really want to get this book for some resolution to the story, you'll definitely get some resolution. Otherwise, just read a summary of the arc on a wiki.
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No