Customer Reviews

Planeshift (Magic: The Gathering - Invasion Cycle Book II) (Bk. II)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Planeshift is one of those rare books that has extreme action that never quits. It seriously felt like watching a movie. The violence is descriptive, and very captivating, but, for me, that's not quite enough to completely quench my thirst. First of all, there is little character development in this book: it's all fighting. However, the most interesting characters in the book are the dragons, specifically the Primevals. The five mighty gods rampage about Dominaria, showing their very distinctive natures. We see how the dragons change as the story progresses, until the final, breathtaking outcome. However, back on the human/metathran etc side, we have less interesting characters, but more battles. Consider this: billions, yes, BILLIONS of Phyrexians march towards our helpless heros, and at the last minute, they are seperated by Urza to complete seperate tasks. Basically, aside from the gory fights, the humanoid sections are fairly boring. Finally, we get to the Planeswalkers. Here is where the overall story really matters, and where the twists really occur. With the 'Walkers ongoing struggle to fight Phyrexia, the temptation of such power begins to corrupt the 'Walkers to the point of turning on one another. The one complaint I could have with the fighting portions is the whole 'We can kill anything' sceme. Sure, our heros are battle trained, but the Phyrexians are brutal killing machines, bred for that purpose. Most of them have blades and weapons integrated right onto them! I think there certainly could have been more outright casualties. Anyways, I recommend this book as a good read to anyone who loves Magic, any fantasy fan, or just anyone looking for a (literally) bloody good time.

J. Robert King, writer of many books regarding the Phyrexians, has truly shown their great powers in this sequel to Invasion. Suspense and never-before-known facts make this book quite a good read! I loved reading it and recommend it to all Magic storyline fans.

This series just continues to get better. This book is action packed from beginning to end. J. Robert King has done an excellent job weaving together the storylines from the previous books in the series. Things brought to light in the first book The Brother's War are tied into the here and now of the series in Planeshift, such as what really happened to Mishra. The way JRK keeps the pace of the book going is just amazing. You'll be left wondering where the time went when you realize that you finished the book in one day. This book also takes you deeper into the characters themselves. This book takes you into the heart of the minotaur Tagnarth and lets you see that dispite his constant bravery and heroism he is still ashamed of the way he looks, as a result of the Phyrexian torture he endured at the hands of Greven Il-Vec. Also in this book you see Gerrard as the portrait of a broken man who with the death of his one true love wants nothing more than to be with her in the abyss even if it means making a deal with the devil himself. You will also get a chance to get inside the mind of my personal favorite character Karn. Karn experiences a new state of awareness as his abilities begin to develop inside him and make him more than he was. This is a five star book and will be very enjoyable for you if you are a fan of the series. If you are new to the series the book will make you want to read all books previous as well as the last book of the series Apocalypse.

Planeshift picks up exactly where Invasion left off, and offers more of the same material from the book preceding it. That said, hopefully you enjoy reading lots of fight scenes, many which take place between opposing armies.

An ancient evil, Yawgmoth, has spent the last 9,000 years building an army of genetically engineered, cybernetically enhanced abominations with one goal on his twisted little mind: take over the world! Yeah, we've all seen evil geniuses do this one before, so what's new?

What makes this book worth reading is the fantastic characters and their interactions. Honestly, I just don't get tired of reading about Gerrard Capashen's adventures. He and the rest of his crew make skimming through the countless fight scenes worth the effort (assuming you don't already enjoy reading those as well).

I enjoyed reading it, if for no other reason than the additional backstory garnered regarding the fascinating villain (Yawgmoth and the Phyrexians), and certainly the continued adventures of Gerrard Capashen and crew aboard their ship the Weatherlight as everything winds to a close. You should definitely read this book, because the finale is a must-read and you'll want to know what's happened so far.

This is easily one of the best book I've read from the MTG franchise. While I entered it with trepidation, after being disappointed in J Robert King's first book in the trilogy (INVASION), I soon came to realize that this book was much improved over the first. While maintaining the almost-too-intense and non-stop action, King was also able to introduce some great drama and character growth that was sorely lacking in INVASION. Instead of mind-numbing (and eventually boring) battle after battle that made up that first book, this one inserts the occasional lull in the action that is used for some remarkably well-written insights into what some of the characters are actually thinking. Overall, it makes for a much more enjoyable read than the previous books in the series.

The basic gist of the story is as follows. We pick up right where INVASION leaves off, after the battle of Koilos. As the Planeshift between Rath and Dominaria occurs, there are suddenly far more Phyrexians than the battered warriors could possibly handle. However, with the destruction of the permanent gate at Koilos taken care of (at the end of INVASION), Urza transports all of the old characters to various places around the world to fight the key battles. This book focuses on: (1)Gerrard and the crew of the Weatherlight fighting in Urborg, (2)Eldamri and the elves joining with the Keldons and fighting in Keld, (3)Agnate and the Metathran also fighting in Urborg, (4)Darigaaz and the dragon lords questing to resurrect trapped Primevals, and (5)Urza and his fellow planeswalkers traveling the Phyrexia itself and setting about destroying the root of the invasion. Each of these stories is exciting, and each is unique. All of the major characters go through significant changes that alter the overall direction of the story. A couple of new characters are introduced, including the Lich Lord Dralnu (pictured on the cover).

While this is certainly one of the most well-written and enjoyable MTG books I've read, it is deep into a series, and takes a serious commitment to reach if you're like me and refuse to start a series in the middle. To reach this book in its proper context, you'd need to read the following: The Brothers' War, Planeswalker, Time Streams, Bloodlines, Rath and Storm, The Thran, Mercadian Masques, Nemesis, Prophecy, and Invasion. Most of those books are hardly worth your time, but if you want the whole story, that is what you'll face. I hope that the series comes to a conclusion in the last book of this trilogy, APOCALYPSE, but I have my doubts.

So, overall, this is one of the best MTG books I've ever read, primarily because of the stepped up writing quality of J Robert King and his ability to bring some much needed life to some characters that had really gone flat. Highly recommended.

This is a great novel by J. Robert King which i think is truely awsome. The story line is good, but you sort of need to read Invasion first, and perhaps Thran prior to that. It is nonstopped action that takes you from on board the Weatherlight to inside Urza's titan engine, to fighting with the dragons. I highly recommend it, and the other books in the saga, as well as all books by J.R. king

After a big win at the end of the first book of the Invasion Cycle, "Invasion", the people of Dominaria feel pretty confident about their chances at defeating the Phyrexian menace once and for all. However, things begin to look grim, when after a 3-day celebration there are suddenly hundreds of thousands of Phrexians surrounding the Dominarian forces. Just when things begin to look grim, Urza and his fellow Planeswalkers transport the troops to much safer places to wage battle (at least where the odds are slightly better).

After some minor victories here and there by the Dominarian Defenders, the Planeswalkers gather for the biggest battle yet, an attack on Phrexia itself in an effort to bring a quick end to the war. However, all is not as it seems and it seems like everyone essentially has their own agendas. Plotting, betrayl, and murder are rampant in this the second book of the Invasion Cycle.

In order to save the world, all of the people must be united to fight for the safety and good of all of Dominaria instead of pursuing their own agendas. But just when it looks like all is well for the defenders, tragedy seems to strike Dominaria's two biggest heroes, Yawgmoth is attempting to seduce Urza to join his forces in the hopes of learning everything there is to know about Phyrexia, but also holds the soul of Gerrard's lost love Hanna in return for his devout service. How will it all play out, with alliances falling apart and plenty of dirty dealing, the war begins to look bleak for all of Dominaria.

This is another fantastic book in the Magic the Gathering universe, the story is rich, the characters are awesome, and the descriptions of the battle is vivid and life-like. If you love to read about the adventures in Magic the Gathering, you will definetly not be disappointed in this book or even this cycle for that matter.

As the story progresses, it is not all that important that one has to read the previous books in this theme, however in order to understand what is going on one needs to read the previous books as well. This entire set (called cycle) takes up about 930 pages total, unfortunately having read them all, this story could have been compressed to half of that. Which is the only flaw of these books; they are repetitive, especially when it comes to combat (after all, there are only so many ways to kill an opponent). Asides from that, its worth buying.

Amazing, a twist no-one would believe. J. King takes a intruiging risk. Suprise yourself by buying this book.

King delivers an amazing twist to the Magic Universe, weither your into magic or not you must read this book. I bought it they day it came out and was so involved, and not wanting to quit finished it off that same day. This book is amazing, especially when Yawgmoth is around, which he definetly is.