Customer Reviews

Invasion (Magic: The Gathering - Invasion Cycle Book I) (Book 1)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Invasion, Planeshift, Apocalypse

In a word dull.

This trilogy represents an attempt to extend what would have been a reasonably interesting and well paced novel into a trilogy, with the predictable outcome that its slow, repetitive and over-explained.

With few exceptions the characters are shallow, often cutout classical archetypes, who react in painfully predictable ways, rendered in scenes that are excruciatingly repetitive, rich in pointless grapic depictions of action sequences that do nothing to move the story forward, and in fact bog it down. The reader is dragged from climax to inexorable climax and in too many cases can't help but have guessed whats going to be on the next page before reading it.

The vocabulary is rich but jarring; it feels like the author used a thesaurus, desperate to relieve the monotony of seeing the same sequence of events playout with slight variations over and over and over again.

I've literally been jumping around in my cycles of Magic the Gathering and have finally come to the Invasion Cycle. Unfortunately, I've just learned that this story is started in even earlier cycles which bites because most of those books are pretty tricky to come by. Anyway, onto my review.

The story of Invasion tells of the world Dominaria that is being invaded by a "race" of mechanically/genetically altered or genetically engineered to be killing machines. The race is from a world known as Phyrexia that long ago a man went there with a "dream" of ascending he and his people to become even greater beings than they were before (read the prequel, The Thran for the full story). Anyway, the story itself seems to center (from the Heroes side) around a ship known as the Weatherlight and her crew who are steadily fighting and trying to defeat the Phyrexians and save the world of Dominaria and its inhabitants from being destroyed by these "invaders". Now, the crew of the Weatherlight as well as the planeswalker known as Urza must try to bring together the races of Dominaria to be rid of this evil menace once and for all.

This is just a very basic summary of the story itself. I thought that this was a great story, the book itself is pretty much a non-stop war that gets told from both sides, from the Commander of the Weatherlight (Gerrad Capashen) and "the boss" (at this point) of the Phyrexian invasion, Tsabo Tavoc (as well as some point of view from Urza and the forest spirit of Yavimaya, Multani). There's just so much to this story that I'm having a hard time understanding it all. But if you are gonna read this cycle, I think it's best to read The Thran before starting Invasion, because it really helps to fill out some of the story that's told in the Thran.

This book is an exciting account of the first stages during the Phyrexian Invasion of Dominaria. Chapters are short (only about 4 or 5 pages each) but provide a very accurate description of each event as it happens, step-by-step. It flows at a very fast pace and the action doesn't slow much until after the Llanowar chapters. Even then there's plenty of action to go around. A very exciting battle concludes the book, leaving more questions to be answered by the sequel, Planeshift. Character development is also very well done and you really begin to feel for some of them during the later chapters. Overall I was very pleased by the detail of each event and the pace at which the book moves along. I do recommend, however, that you read Time Streams (also by J. Robert King) because it poses as sort of a prequel to the characters and events in this book. If you didn't read Time Streams, don't worry, the book reviews many of the events and happenings of Time Streams in detail.

The story jumped perspectives quite often and eventually the nonstop action blurred and the one dimension characters bored me. I didn't really care for the story of the one dimension crew of the weather light. They were boring characters that seemed more like pirates fighting off evil machines. There were some redeeming parts. The Metathran are a magical super soldiers and General Thaddeus' perspective on the war was refreshing and interesting. His fear at losing and pain at losing his twin "brother" and his questioning the reason for fighting the phyrexians added much needed depth to a very shallow book. I was sad when his story ended because he was one of the most interesting characters in all the books. Urza is another classic character. His obsessive quest for revenge was great, the other characters perception of Urza's madness fleshed out his character. It's a shame that these characters didn't get developed more. This book is barely readable, I suggest skipping the Weatherlight crew and Gerrard to make the book less painful to read through.

As the title implies, INVASION finally chronicles the long-expected attack on Dominaria from the Phyrexians out of Rath. If that sentence doesn't make sense to you, this book probably won't either. To get the full story is no simple matter however. You should start with the anthology Rath and Storm, then go on to the Artifacts Cycle (including: The Brothers' War, Planeswalker , Time Streams, and Bloodlines), followed by the Masquerade Cycle (including: Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, and Prophecy). Finally, if you really want to get the full story, read the prequel The Thran. Then you'll be up to speed with the story so far. Some of those books are good, most are only decent, and a couple of them are down right bad. So you'll have to make up your own mind about whether you're willing to give this story as much time and attention as it demands. I'll tell you that the only reason I have kept with it so long is that I simply can't admit defeat and not finish a story. Also, I am a glutton for punishment :)..

Anyway, INVASION finally tells the story of the Phyrexian attack, which is something we've been anticipating and preparing for over the last bunch of books. With so much build-up priming my appetite for this book, I couldn't help but being somewhat disappointed in the execution. While it is undeniably exciting, with plenty of action, dramatic events, and highly emotional moments, the story just didn't live up to my hopes. The characters behave completely predictably, many parts of the book seemed rushed, and too much of an effort was placed on telling about every part of Dominaria. With a very limited amount of space, King tried to tell a hugely complicated story that involved nearly all of Dominaria and many central characters. The result is a hectic and off-putting reading experience.

That being said, the story is still not complete, with two more books in this trilogy apparently detailing further battles between the armies of Phyrexia and Urza's defenders.

I've been a Magic player for many years now (since 1994), and I wanted to explore more of the universe by reading up on the graphic novels associated with the storylines of the cards. Around the Mercadian Masques block, WoTC (Wizards of the Coast) started releasing "Fat Packs," which were a box set that included: five booster packs, two premium "foil" cards, a 20-sided life counter die, and the novel for the set. So, Invasion rolled around, and I decided to buy one, mostly to get the book. When I read it, I was extremely disappointed.

The storyline is OK. J. Robert King was probably told how the characters need to interact, and what their ultimate goal is going to be. But his writing style drove me nuts; short, choppy sentences that high-schoolers are taught not to do. (At least I was taught not to do it) The way he illustrates his writing style is frustrating and almost comical, and after getting through the entire book, I winced knowing that I'd have to get Planeshift and Apocalypse to finish what I'd begun. Eagerly, as the sets were released, I crossed my fingers, hoping J. Robert King hadn't written them, but this wasn't the case. Both of these books were written in the same annoying style, and it completely destroyed any sense of entertainment the book had for me.

I don't recommend this book, or any other written by J. Robert King for the Magic series. Pick up Jeff Grubb's "The Brother's War" instead, if you're looking for a good Magic novel. You'll enjoy that one.

This book is a great start to the Invasion cycle. This book is richely detailed and every character (including the least important) play an imporant role. The only fault is, this book is an advanced-reaging book; and it is pretty bloody. Over all, you would be pretty dumb if you like Magic books and don't get this one.

The book had a great plot to it, making you want to keep reading. The large vocabulary and elaboration really expresses what is happening in that point of the book. It also explains thoroughly about what has happened in the previous books so you're not lost if you begin with reading this book. Also, it really gives you a good picture of what the scenery is at the time.

On an overall basis, I enjoyed the book. It had just the right amount of action, violence, and drama. I especially enjoyed all the characters, the and the bad, they all had there own personalities, tempers, and likes and dislikes. The book had a few slow and boring points but, overall it was a good book.

I think the best part of the book had to have been when the pyrexians unleashed the two plauges on Dominaria. It was described very well. How the green mist oozed out of the flying ships and onto the unexpecting plane of Dominaria. It was my favorite part of the book.

The two story elements that I enjoyed most were the setting and the characters. I kinda like the idea of a setting of a story being on a far off land where everything there is nothing like it is here. The lifeforms are mutated, there are always wars, and the planets or areas of land are called planes. I also really liked the characters a lot, the author described them so well that it was always easy to picture what they must have looked like in my head.

A great and bloody novel. Richly detailed and well-written. You should definitely try this out!