Customer Reviews

The Moons of Mirrodin (Magic: The Gathering)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Moons of Mirrodin falls drastically short of McDermotts previous work in Judgement, and even more drastically short of the preceding Onslaught cycle. While it deals with an interesting world it just doesn't "feel" like fantasy. For a long time Magic novels have proudly combined fantasy with scifi, but this clearly felt to much like scifi. In addition he got characteristics of the colors wrong, lacked much character development, and refused to give any sense of politics to it forgetting a long tradition of MTG politics involving many points of view that in this novel have been traded in for just Glissa's.

Coming-of-age story meets Magic mutliverse. Classic teenage-angst, rebellion against authority, headstrong belligerence used to solve every problem, youth-as-hero with establishment-as-villain . . . I could go on, but you know the plot. It could hardly be more cliche or more orthodox to Joseph Campbell's formulation of mythology. It isn't that I dislike the story, it just seems tired. "Moons of Mirrodin" could just as easily be "Star Wars" or "The Matrix" or any other post-modern formulation of the classic myth. Maybe you young turks will resonate with it.

On the plus side, McDermott seems to know how to draw out the suspense. I'm genuinely curious to see what direction the story will move in next (although McDermott is not writing the next novel, Darksteel Eye).

And some of us will read this novel and the next one for no other reason than WotC controls our minds and pocketbooks. Oh well.

I've played Magic the Gathering on and off several times over the years and have enjoyed the game whenever I play. I've seen the books in stores, but wasn't too sure about them, but I eventually bought this one (Moons of Mirrodin).

The story takes place on the world of Mirrodin and is centered around an elf named Glissa who discoveres that she has a very important destiny after her family is killed. She then learns that the attack on her family was apart of a sinister plot in which she too was supposed to be killed. Now she's traveling through the world of Mirrodin trying to find the person responsible for her families death. She also manages to make a couple of friends along the way to help her on her quest. However, she learns that the attempt on her life is only a small piece of a much larger puzzle that involves the entire world of Mirrodin.

This is the first MTG book that I have ever read and I absolutely loved it. The book started off rather slow in like the first 20 pages and I was really worried that this was going to be a major yawn-fest, but things quickly picked up and stayed interesting throughout the entire book. The one thing that I could see that needs improving is by getting a better editor/better editorial staff, there were quite a few misprints. Overall, this book is a definite 10/10. I'm already in the middle of the second book and it does not look to disappoint.

I play the card game and thought this book would be all about the cards but it actually had a great plot. Glissa an elf who had her parents murdered seeks to avenge them but in doing so she realizes she is part of a much bigger picture. I think that the story ends a little abrubtly but in doing so makes you dream about the sequal until you find it and get reading.

I bought this book because I collect the Magic the Gathering cards. I expected the books to be nothing but fighting. However although it is action packed, it also has an amazing plot. This book follows Glissa, an orphaned elf, seeking to avenge her slaughtered parents. She joins a goblin, Slobad, who has always had a hard life. Now because of a careless error on her part, Slobad must leave his home. As she makes her quest she raelizes that she is going to play a much bigger role in the world of Mirrodin. She must also stop a foe, who if succeeds, will destroy the entire world. With the help of a mage, giant metal man, goblin, and entire race of cat people, she must succeed. This is one of the greatest books I have ever read.

I tutor a student who reads Magic books and she loaned me this one. I agree that it's formulaic but kind of exciting. The thing I liked best was that it exposes her to a lot of vocabulary, but the thing I liked least was the editing. Glissa, the elf, loses her sword repeatedly but she suddenly whips it out in the next scene where she needs it. And I loved reading about "aerophuis" who were chasing her in one chapter but who turned into "aerophins" in the next one. Was this written by hand?

"The Moons of Mirrodin" was a good read. The world of Mirrodin is extremely facinating and very surreal in comparison to the other Magic: the Gathering worlds. Everything is made of metal, everything. The main character, Glissa, an elf, has metal arms and legs. This creates very interesting dynamics during battles and other scenes when she takes damage on her arms.

The story is pretty good, but extremely vague. I can only imagine that as the next two books come out, they will further develop the questions surrounding Mirrodin. There is a lot of action throughout the book because the whole book is basically a big long search and chase sequence. Glissa is searching for who killed her family and attacked her home in the opening chapters.

The problem with this book is that it covers what seems like all of Mirrodin in such a short amount of time. Cycles (the equivelant of days I think) pass while they are on the road and nothing happens, but then they reach the mountains, the sea, the forest, and back. They go everywhere, and someplaces twice. I got really annoyed with Glissa's constant whining about what she wants to know to everybody she meets and battles. I will not go into more detail as to not spoil anything. It is also annoying how everybody they meet or battle only gives a small piece of information before something happens that prevents further knowledge, which then in turn sends them to the mountains, or back to the forest, or to wherever.

This book does a nice job of setting up the whole Mirrodin cycle, and I am very excited to read the next two books. I'm glad they are already out because if I had to wait to read them, I think I woiuld be very upset about the relative lack of knowledge and insights the characters uncover.

Bosh, the Golem is by far my favorite character. I fear, though, that he is going to play an intergral role in the next books, and one I might not particularly approve of.

I am not as famililar with the Mirrodin block of cards but I am aware of a few, and they make the storyline. I assume that the sword Glissa uses is the Sword of Kaldara and some of the equpiment and creatures are definately from the storyline. So if you are a fan of the cards, you will enjoy the book on this level, but not as much as some of the other books.

i read this about... a month ago and at the same time i read odyssey. however, this was my first magic book experience so therefore, perhaps i am biased.

regardless, i enjoyed this book very much. there were a few minor things i disliked, but overall i would give it a five just the same. simply because i had fun reading it. one thing i liked is that the chapters seemed fairly short and organized. so there was a nice consistent flow joining all the bits together. i dont know if you are attracted to 'short and neat' in a novel but i liked it. it gave me a sense of ..progress, i suppose.
even with that, i didnt find it predictable. one of the other reviewers expresses that the book is riddled with cliches, and that's sort of true, but i didnt realize it when i first picked it up so that might have also affected my view.
either way i would say its an interesting read if you're into magic/fantasy because of the concept.

This is a great piece of work. Read it. Knowing nothing about Magic the Gathering, I had no preconceived notions. If you're used a normal more organic world, you'll just need to float free on this one, and go with the flow. That's what Sci-Fi/Fantasy is all about anyway. You can read what the others have said to get a general gist of the plot. I'll just add that it is well worth the read. A very new setting with the suggestion that these creatures where somehow ripped from their own reality, converted to semi-metal beings, and dropped into a metal based world. Great plot development. (...)

Reading the Moons of Mirrodin is the first Magic the Gathering experience I've had. I love adventure/science fiction, and this book had me captivated from the start. Glissa, Slobad, and Bosh are a team not to be messed with. Will Mcdermot did a great job. I am reading Darksteel Eye now, and so far so good!