Rath and Storm (Magic the Gathering Anthology) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Peter Archer (Author) "The room was long and dark, lit only by a single, guttering candle..." (more)
Key Phrases: tremendous native ability, cat warrior, silver golem, Lord Kastan, Spirit Way, Captain Sisay (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Gerrard's Legacy

A collection of powerful magical artifacts is the only defense against the forces of evil that are arrayed against Dominaria. Gerrard, the heir to the Legacy, together with Sisay, captain of the flying ship Weatherlight, has sought out many parts of the Legacy.

Gerrard's Quest

Sisay has been kidnapped by Volrath, ruler of the plane ofRath. Gerrard stands at a crossroads. His companion is in danger, the Legacy may be lost forever. Only he -- with the loyal crew of the Weatherlight -- can rescue Sisay and recover the Legacy.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 311 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (July 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786911751
• ISBN-13: 978-0786911752
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #497,996 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book1, February 4, 2003

By	Kevin Ryan (Ithaca, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was very good - it was a major part of the Magic Universe. This book only gets four stars for two reasons.

1) The climax was very lacking. It just seems like the authors assumed that you would piece everything together. There was no big battle or anything. And what is up with leaving Eirtay behind? And Crovax turning into a vampire? Starke's story never resolved, and many characters were never touched on at the end.

2) Errors! I was astonished at the number of grammer errors, typos, and printing mistakes that the editors should have caught. I felt that I was reading a rough draft.

Besides this though, the book was well written and I liked learning about each character from their viewpoint. A must read for any Magic fan!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Descriptions Coming From all the Legendary Characters, March 5, 2000

By	Ian Cochran (Tonawanda, New York) - See all my reviews

This book told a clear descprition of the card game I like so much. It showed a section of the back story known as The Rath Cycle. It surrounds a boy named Ilcaster being told the story of the rath cycle by an old, wise, librarian. It sinks into great description and even farther information then I even was aware of. it jumps from character to character telling their background and the current events. I enjoy the fact that you can feel the emotion through wonderful description makes a vivid reader want to continue. It makes the card game make more sense also. It's kind of wierd to look at a card and say I know why this is a card. Many people find the book confusing but I kept track and I think most could to. The book's wide variety of wonderful authors for each section gave the book a great stripe of vibrance. The "Dark Room"comes every other chapter where Ilcaster is being told the story can get old after awhile, but it is worth reading through to get to the real chapters. The Chapter of Crovax's story written by Kij Johnson were wonderful, as well as Karn's. I recommend this book to Player's of Magic ad non-players that enjoy a good fantasy books. Adventure, inner stories, heavy descriptions, great interpretations of Magic Legends,and every different creature type from Tempest, Stronghold, or Exodus.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great collaboration between multiple authors to tell a single solid story., May 24, 2007

By	C. T. Hunter "chips_books" (Gainesville, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As far as anthologies go, this is one of the best I've ever read. That's probably because it doesn't really read like an anthology at all. All of the individual stories tie into one another to make up the complete story of Gerrard's quest to Rath, where he rescues Sisay and confounds Volrath's plans of conquest. This story is the focal point of the Weatherlight, Tempest, Stronghold, and Exodus expansion packs for MTG. Additional resources for this story include the graphic novel Magic - The Gathering: Gerrard`s Quest and the beautifully done ART OF MAGIC, THE (Magic the Gathering Artbooks). These two supplementary volumes help flesh out the characters and their mission in better detail (and in full color). I'd recommend them to gain a better understanding of the story.

Gerrard and his companions are some of the coolest characters up to this time (publication date) in the MTG novels. Complex and highly intriguing interactions between the characters and their individual motivations make for an interesting read with lots of side stories to interest the reader. While not all of these are brought to a conclusion, the overall story was wrapped up rather nicely at the end of the book. The most impressive thing to me was how all of the different authors were able to mesh their individual contributions into the whole to make a very satisfying and complete feeling novel. Peter Archer's intermission scenes, where an old librarian is relating the tale to a young student, aid in filling in many important details and are a necessity for the true story.

One of the better MTG novels I've read, and definitely the best of the anthologies.