Customer Reviews

The Myths of Magic: A Magic: The Gathering Anthology (Magic Anthologies)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Its hard to find good fantasy shortstory collections. Everyone is always devoured by those epic trilogies. MTG isn't really an epic, which is probably why it is less popular (and the fact that it is related to a card game). But this is one of my favorite anthologies. Every tale is wonderfully told, and many of them are very original.

The first myth, "Blue Moon," is a clever and interesting story. "Isle of the Damned" is a more haunting story, but very memorable. "Leviathan" is an amusing tale, similar to those flood myths we've all read about. "Phyrexian Creations" is a deep, dark story about Yawgmoth. My favorite myth, "The
Deathbringer," is surprisingly original and very compelling.

I highly recommend this collection to all readers. The MTG series is an interesting series, yet underrated. Look out for other anthologies like "Colors of Magic" and "Rath and Storm."

First, let me say I'm not a fan of anthologies, so I may be a little biased. Short stories by thier very nature can't hold your attention, because by the time you get into the story it's over. I am a big fan of Magic the Gathering and own almost all the books published so far, so I purchased this one to add to my collection. It suffered from everything I hate about anthologies and then some. Every story had a story within a story structure that started with one character begining a "once upon a time..." type narration. The one redeeming story used this same structure but built upon Magic lore from another anthology.

Some of the stories here are great. One of my favorites is the one on Yawgmoth's rise and reign of power. Some of the stories are incredibly gory and 'graphic', at least for a book. An interesting Anthology that I enjoyed even more than Colors of Magic.

Jess Lebow's second MTG anthology edit, this book is better than the year's previous, Colors of Magic. In addition to the exciting tells of the folklore of Dominaria, there is also a preview chapter of J. Robert King's novel Invasion (October 2000) where Phyrexia let's it's thousands of ships and armies fight for Yawgmoth's homeland (to true MTG storyline fans, the book is worth it just for the chapter alone).

It was a pleasure reading the book with such a good array of writers. I hope you all enjoy it too.

THE MYTHS OF MAGIC (June, 2000) is the third of the "Anthologies" in the core MTG library (ie. post-THE BROTHER'S WAR), after Rath and Storm and The Colors of Magic. It is, like most anthologies, a mixed bag of some great stories and some that will be forgotten almost instantly. It includes 10 short stories by some of the most talented of the MTG authors, including J Robert King, Richard Lee Byers, Paul B Thompson, Vance Moore, and Francis Lebaron.

Each of the pieces within THE MYTHS OF MAGIC take the form of a storyteller (usually a wizened old man) relating a legendary or mythological story to an audience (usually a young apprentice, ect). Most of the stories sound like tall tales, with little to no bearing on reality, mostly seeming impossible (even in the world of MTG). My favorites were "The Deathbringer" by Jonathan Tweet and "Myth and The Many-Chinned Magistrate" by Francis Lebaron, both of which were memorable, original, and deserved 5-star ratings. My least favorites were "The Isle of the Lost" by Vance Moore and "Leviathan" by Philip Athans. They were at the same time boring, silly, and pointless.

Overall, this book would only be worth the time of those already interested in the MTG universe, and really only those with a desire to read all the MTG books for completeness's sake.

I wanted ten stars but they wouldn't give it to me. So I had to make due with 5. That should tell you most of what you need to know about this book. But I'll give you a little more info to help you decide to get this book. For one thing, it has many of the great authors of the Magic: The Gathering novels. But with it's interesting stories this book is a one of a kind, great for all M:TG players and readers. One book this summer, Myths of Magic is it. Read this book!

Any fan of Magic will adore this book, it is a must have.