Customer Reviews

Nemesis (Magic the Gathering: Masquerade Cycle, Bk. II)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book explains it all! Ertai, Greven, Crovax, Volrath, and a new character, Belbe, all fit into this twisted book of hatred! The sheer power and definite details of gore were incredibly pleasing to the mind. The wars, destruction, and surprises were cleverly thought up. A must for those of you who like to read books that are twisted and gory.

No book even comes close to comparing to this. The story tells how new evincars are chosen to lead Rath. Ertai, who is a former weatherlight crewman, is up for the post against his "friend" Crovax. The Phyrexian emissary, Belbe, comes to choose but a 'slight' mishap slows down her choice. Each contestant is set on a task, Crovax to quell a rebellion and Ertai to develop control over flowstone. But torwards the end Greven il-Vec and a mysterious figure named 'Furah' interupt the naming of the new evincar. That became the best fight in the whole MTG series, better then Gerrard and Volrath.

Hint Hint.

This is the sixth or seventh book that I've read in the M:TG series. I really enjoyed this to other books because it takes a much different approach. It is about Belbe, Emissary of Phyrexia, who must choose one of the several would-be-kings, a new Evincar of Rath. The book is very interesting and gives you a much more in-depth look at the intricacies of Rath than the previous book "Rath and Storm". Everything is handled extremely well from character traits, to the plot and storyline, to minute details. My only gripe is the fact that one of the candidates was pre-chosen and continuously gains more strength and grows insanely powerful throughout the book. The others never had a chance; including an old face who appears later. I won't ruin any of the story for you, but if you've played the card game you probably already know the outcome as I did. It's still a wonderful read. Highly recommended. Overall I give this about a 9 out of 10.

found this book during mandatory reading at school. awesome, vivid, epic battle scenes, dark romance suited well enough even for the toughest of kids (belbe is so hot!), and sad yet intriguing corruption make this book, and i am completely honest, the greatest piece of work i've ever read. thank you paul b. thompson, you have given us (at least myself) the greatest story ever told. oh, and by the way, the book goes great with metal bands like 'cradle of filth' and '3 inches of blood'!

...Most glaringly, it contradicts events earlier in the story - I'm thinking about the scene with Eladamri and the Oracle, where he appears never to have met her before. This is the same Oracle he was fighting alongside throughout Stronghold; he's next to her on the Awakening art. The characters are distinct, but a little two-dimensional in some instances - Crovax, previously a complex and tormented character anguished over what he was becoming, is now just a violent brute, while Ertai's arrogance has been taken to comic extremes in order to make his part in the story work. Nonetheless, this is for the most part a well-developed story with some interesting plot developments and it's nice to see Rath depicted in an appropriately dark way.

This book is one of the better Magic, the Gathering Novels. An avid player of magic, I was impressed by the way the mechanics of magic worked throughout the story, and how I recognized a few artifacts, creatures, spells, and, of course, characters. The book appears to have taken place during the time period of its predecessor, Mercadian Masques. The stars of the book are; BELBE: a kidnapped resident of Rath, brought back to Rath after a stay in Phyrexia to choose the new evincar of Rath. CROVAX: this former crew member of the Weatherlight has also been warped by the will of the planeswalker fiend Yawgmoth, and is one of the contestants for the title of Evincar. ELADAMRI: the leader of the elves in Rath, and leader of the rebellion against the stronghold who must deal with the kidnapping of his daughter while trying to overthrow the most promising future-leader of Rath, CROVAX, and a contestant for rulership of Rath, himself. GREVEN IL VEC: Volrath's right-hand man is at a loss with the disappearance of his master, and must choose which contestant for leader of Rath he will follow. ERTAI: another member of the Weatherlight, ERTAI was left behind when the rest of the Weatherlight crew traveled to Mercadia, he is the final contestant in the race for rulership of Rath. Slowly being affected by the black and red mana evironments surrounding him, ERTAI trys to stay alive and fight the dark forces invading his body. Helped by BELBE, ERTAI must find a way to destroy CROVAX without being destroyed hiself. And you'll never guess the surprize guest in this story, or, then again, maybe you will . . . if you've read Mercadian Masques.

I can honestly say that this is the single best book that I've ever read. Ender's Game was pretty awesome, Animal Farm was okay, but this book REALLY played with my emotions. It's NOT about choosing a new Evincar of Rath. It's about what happens to good people who get trapped in bad situations and are forced to choose the lesser of two evils too many times. Crovax, once a haunted and noble person, has completely lost his sanity and his humanity. Ertai's mind and body become increasingly corrupted by black mana. Belbe must choose between her duty and her conscience. Eladamri believes he must kill what his daughter has become. Greven il-Vec, who we all thought was a traitor to his people and totally heartless evil dude, is revealed to actually have a sense of honor and morality - he doesn't like the evil things that he is made to do, but he'd rather do them and stay himself than be corrupted by the illusion of power. And all of this is wrapped around a very tender and realistic love story between Ertai and Belbe. Filling in the gaps, we are treated to a huge level of interesting detail about Rathi politics, Phyrexian science, and Mogg wafers.

Basically, Nemesis combines the tragic, emotional power of Requiem for a Dream with the sheer dark awesomeness and attention to detail of The Chronicles of Riddick. It is NOT to be passed up.

This is a must-have novel for Magic the Gathering gamers. The book is masterfully written and details the backgrounds of legendary characters. The book also sets the stage for the next 6 books. Gamers who have played with fourth and fifth edition characters will find this book informative and extremely gripping. In sum, this is a great addition to any fantasy library.

I've read three magic books, the Rath and Storm anthology, Mercadian Masques, and Nemesis, and I can honestly say this is the most depressing one I've read of the three. Don't get me wrong, it's a great book, it will keep you guessing until the end. This book will also bring an end to a very important character, so if you're a fan of the series the book is a must. I just found what happened at the end of the book extremely creepy and disturbing, I won't ruin the ending for anyone who hasn't read it, but people who have, you know what I'm talking about. The book leaves things looking very bad for Weatherlight and all of Dominaria.

This novel is right in the middle of the events crossing through from antiquities to the apocalypse and honestly it remains my favorite of all the magic novels. Showing the entire story, mostly, from the perspective of the villains and their massing invasion army was a brilliant change from the ho-hum experience of so many fantasy novels at the time. While Thompson is not the most spectacular writer in his field, he is more than adequate where it counts and does a quite beautiful portrayal of Ertai's descent. Honestly, I recommend this to any fantasy reader, though it does suffer from middle-child syndrome in that you really need the back story to understand the importance and context of the events and it really doesn't end so much as set up the future novels, but for where it stands, this is an excellent read.