List of Magic: The Gathering novels

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The following is a list of novels based in the setting of the collectible card game

planes.[2][3]

The novels from The Brothers' War through Scourge, along with The Thran and the ...of Magic anthologies, are set on the plane of Dominaria and are a roughly chronological timeline of that plane's history.

Ravnica in the Ravnica Cycle.[7] The Magic storyline returned to Dominaria with the Time Spiral cycle,[8] and visited Lorwyn with the storyline cycle of the same name.[9] After this, the policy of publishing a trilogy of novels for each year's setting was discontinued; the Alara, Zendikar and Scars of Mirrodin
block settings had only a single novel each.

Theros was the last block to receive a companion novel, and only in e-book form, with Wizards of the Coast citing various reasons including a decline in sales and an outdated model as two major contributing factors for the decision. Beginning with the Khans block in 2013, the company decided to tell the storyline through the cards and free online articles and found that more players were familiar with the block story line than were previously when only novels told the story.[10][11][12]

This approach continued through 2017. Then, Wizards of the Coast hired novelist and scriptwriter

War of the Spark: Ravnica (2019) by Greg Weisman was the first print book after an eight-year break. It corresponded with the final set of a three part Ravnica storyline[17][13] and received a sequel. However, the sequel was widely panned[18][19] and Wizards of the Coast "canceled plans for the book that was intended for the game's next set, Theros: Beyond Death".[20] Then in 2020, with the Zendikar Rising (2020) set, the Magic storyline returned via story articles on the official website.[21]

Non-cycle novels

The original ten books were deliberately not numbered as a marketing concern. The publishers thought people might shy away from a multi-book series. Some stories are connected, some not. The heroes of Arena, Garth and Rakel, appear in Shattered Chains. The books Whispering Woods, Shattered Chains, and Final Sacrifice are known as the "Whispering Woods Trilogy" or "The Greensleeves Trilogy".[22]

All of the non-cycle books were published by Harper Fantasy.[23]

Year Title Author Pages ISBN
1994 Arena William R. Forstchen 297
1995 Whispering Woods Clayton Emery 294
1995 Shattered Chains Clayton Emery 288
1995 Final Sacrifice Clayton Emery 312
1995 The Cursed Land Teri McLaren 290
1995 The Prodigal Sorcerer Mark C. Sumner 309
1996 Ashes of the Sun
Hanovi Braddock
304
1996 Song of Time Teri McLaren 304
1996 And Peace Shall Sleep Sonia Orin Lyris 304
1996 Dark Legacy Robert E. Vardeman 368

Cycles and block novels

Cycle novels

All of the below cycled or series books have been published by Wizards of the Coast.[23]

Cycle Year Title Author Pages ISBN
Artifacts 1998 The Brothers' War Jeff Grubb 409
1998 Planeswalker Lynn Abbey 359
1999 Time Streams J. Robert King 343
1999 Bloodlines: The Story of Urza's Destiny Loren L. Coleman 343
1999 The Thran J. Robert King 311
Ice Age 1999 The Gathering Dark Jeff Grubb 342
2000 The Eternal Ice Jeff Grubb 320
2000 The Shattered Alliance Jeff Grubb 309
Masquerade 1999 Mercadian Masques Francis Lebaron 341
2000 Nemesis Paul B. Thompson 320
2000 Prophecy Vance Moore 311
Invasion 2000 Invasion J. Robert King 311
2001 Planeshift J. Robert King 311
2001 Apocalypse J. Robert King 308
Odyssey 2000 Odyssey Vance Moore 320
2001 Chainer's Torment Scott McGough 320
2001 Judgment Will McDermott 320
Legends 2001 Johan Clayton Emery 311
2001 Jedit Clayton Emery 320
2002 Hazezon Clayton Emery 320
Legends II 2002 Assassin's Blade Scott McGough 320
2003 Emperor's Fist Scott McGough 320
2003 Champion's Trial Scott McGough 306
Onslaught 2002 Onslaught J. Robert King 320
2003 Legions J. Robert King 312
2003 Scourge J. Robert King 320
Mirrodin 2003 The Moons of Mirrodin Will McDermott 320
2004 The Darksteel Eye Jess Lebow 320
2004 The Fifth Dawn Cory Herndon 320
Kamigawa 2004 Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa Scott McGough 320
2005 Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa Scott McGough 320
2005 Guardian: Saviors of Kamigawa Scott McGough 320
Ravnica 2005 Ravnica: City of Guilds Cory J. Herndon 320
2006 Guildpact Cory J. Herndon 320
2006 Dissension Cory J. Herndon 320
Time Spiral 2006 Time Spiral Scott McGough 320
2007 Planar Chaos Scott McGough, Timothy Sanders 320
2007 Future Sight Scott McGough, John Delaney 320
Lorwyn 2007 Lorwyn Cory J. Herndon, Scott McGough 320
2008 Morningtide Cory J. Herndon, Scott McGough 320
Lorwyn II: Shadowmoor 2008 Shadowmoor Philip Athans, Susan J. Morris 352
2008 Eventide Scott McGough, Cory J. Herndon 320

Block novels

Block novels are novels which replaced the trilogy (or tetralogy) of novels previously released corresponding to each Magic set. They were introduced in 2009 with Alara Unbroken released for the Shards of Alara block. As the name suggests the block novel follows the story of the card block of the same name.[24]

Year Title Author Pages ISBN
2009 Alara Unbroken Doug Beyer 320
2010 Zendikar: In the Teeth of Akoum Robert B. Wintermute 320
2011 Scars of Mirrodin: The Quest for Karn Robert B. Wintermute 320

Other novels

These novels were connected to specific expansion sets without blocks.

Year Title Author Publisher Pages ISBN
2019
War of the Spark: Ravnica
Greg Weisman
Del Ray Books
384
2019
War of the Spark: Forsaken
Greg Weisman Del Ray Books 416

Planeswalker novels

The Planeswalker novels are a type of Magic novel that was introduced in 2009. Each follows the story of one of Magic's planeswalkers. The first yearly planeswalker novel was released in the winter and the second in the summer of 2009.[24]

Year Title Author Pages Planeswalker ISBN
2009 Agents of Artifice Ari Marmell 390 Jace Beleren
2009 The Purifying Fire Laura Resnick 400 Chandra Nalaar
2010 Test of Metal Matthew Stover 352 Tezzeret
2020 Chandra Vita Ayala 96 Chandra Nalaar

Block novellas / eBooks

For the Return to Ravnica block, a 3-part novella by Doug Beyer was released.[25] Similarly a 2 part novella by Jenna Helland was released for the Theros block.

Block Year Title Author Pages
Return to Ravnica 2012 Return to Ravnica: The Secretist, Part One Doug Beyer 67
2013 Gatecrash: The Secretist, Part Two Doug Beyer 97
2013 Dragon's Maze: The Secretist, Part Three Doug Beyer 90
Theros April 1, 2014 Theros: Godsend, Part I Jenna Helland 124
May 13, 2014 Journey Into Nyx: Godsend, Part II Jenna Helland 139
Blockless e-books December 12, 2018 Children of the Nameless Brandon Sanderson 127
September 4, 2019 Throne of Eldraine: The Wildered Quest Kate Elliott 208
April 7, 2020 Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths - Sundered Bond Django Wexler 174

Anthologies

The first two Anthologies,

Harper Fantasy while all of the others since then have been published by Wizards of the Coast.[23]

Year Title Author Pages ISBN
1995 Tapestries Kathy Ice 290
1995 Distant Planes Kathy Ice 384
1998 Rath and Storm Peter Archer 311
1999 The Colors of Magic Jess Lebow 342
2000 Myths of Magic Jess Lebow 304
2001 Dragons of Magic J. Robert King 320
2002 The Secrets of Magic J. Robert King 320
2003 Monsters of Magic J. Robert King 320

Others

Category Year Title Author Publisher Pages ISBN
Graphic novels 1999 Gerrard's Quest Mike Grell, Pop Mhan, Norman Le Dark Horse Comics 112
Novel compilations 2009 Artifacts Cycle I J. Robert King, Jeff Grubb Wizards of the Coast 720
2009 Artifacts Cycle II Lynn Abbey, J. Robert King, Loren L. Coleman Wizards of the Coast 768
Web comic compilations 2010 Path of the Planeswalker Doug Beyer, Brady Dommermuth, Jenna Helland Wizards of the Coast 192
2011 Path of the Planeswalker II Doug Beyer, Brady Dommermuth, Jenna Helland Wizards of the Coast 160
2012 Magic the Gathering: Vol. 1 Matt Forbeck, Martin Coccolo IDW Publishing 104 N/A (eBook)
2012 Magic the Gathering: Vol. 2 - The Spell Thief Matt Forbeck, Martin Coccolo, Christian Duce, Dan Scott IDW Publishing 104 N/A (eBook)

The Planeswalker's Guide Series

The Planeswalker's Guide Series was a planned series of novels which were to start with A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara in September 2008. Each novel was going to contain information, concept art, card art, etc... about the plane it is dedicated to.[24] The series was later changed to web article series after the first book did not sell as well as the publisher hoped.[26]

Year Title Author Pages ISBN
2008 A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara Doug Beyer, Jenna Helland 160

Notes

General
Specific
  1. ^ Dommermuth, Brady (2005-07-01). "July 01, 2005". Ask Wizards. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on November 22, 2005. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  2. ^ "Magic Storyline & Environment FAQ". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on June 28, 2002. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  3. ^ Dommermuth, Brady (2006-04-27). "April 27, 2006". Ask Wizards. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on April 14, 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  4. ^ Dommermuth, Brady (2006-09-21). "September 21, 2006". Ask Wizards. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on November 5, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  5. ^ Dommermuth, Brady (2005-05-31). "May 31, 2005". Ask Wizards. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on May 5, 2005. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  6. ^ "Announcement: The Kamigawa Block". Magic Arcana. Wizards of the Coast. 2004-04-08. Archived from the original on May 7, 2004. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  7. ^ "Dissension". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on April 9, 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  8. ^ "Return to Dominaria". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on September 2, 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  9. ^ "Lorwyn". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on August 20, 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  10. ^ Beyer, Doug. "EBOOKS AND THE ACCESSIBILITY OF MAGIC'S STORY". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  11. ^ Keeper, Sam (October 25, 2018). "A Brief History of Wizards Being Bad at Selling Books". www.coolstuffinc.com. Retrieved 2020-08-24.
  12. ^ "Clayton Emery's Magic:The Gathering Novels". 2010-10-05. Archived from [http:/claytonemery.com/FantasyMTG.html the original] on 2010-10-05. Retrieved 2020-08-24. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  13. ^
    ISSN 1059-1028
    . Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  14. ^ Moher, Aidan (2018-09-12). "Spellbound : The Familiar Faces Creating the Story for Magic: The Gathering". Tor.com. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  15. ^ "Brandon Sanderson Wrote a Magic: The Gathering Novella, and You Can Read the First Chapter Right Here". Gizmodo. December 11, 2018. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  16. ^ Sanderson, Brandon (December 12, 2018). Children of the Nameless (PDF). Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 13, 2018.
  17. ^ "Magic: The Gathering Returns to Novels in 2019 With Greg Weisman's Ravnica". pastemagazine.com. 2018-08-31. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  18. ^ "Queer Erasure in 'Magic: The Gathering' Book Infuriated Fans, Drew Apology". www.vice.com. November 26, 2019. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  19. ^ "'Magic: The Gathering' Fans Calling Out The Biphobic Writing In Latest Book". The Mary Sue. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  20. ^ "Magic: The Gathering Novel Introduces a New World of Monsters". CBR. 2020-04-08. Retrieved 2021-06-09.
  21. ^ "Magic: The Gathering - In the Heart of the Skyclave, Explained". CBR. 2020-09-08. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  22. ^ Emery, Clayton. "Clayton Emery's Magic: The Gathering novels". Archived from the original on 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  23. ^ a b c Dommermuth, Brady (2006-06-23). "June 23, 2006". Ask Wizards. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on September 11, 2006. Retrieved 2007-12-30.
  24. ^ a b c Beyer, Doug (2008-06-04). "Planeswalkers and the Written Page". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on June 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-04.
  25. ^ Beyer, Doug (2012-11-28). "Return to Ravnica: The Secretist, Part One". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved 2013-04-06.
  26. ^ Magic Creative Team (2009-09-09). "A Planeswalker's Guide to Zendikar". Savor the Flavor. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on September 11, 2009. Retrieved 2009-09-24.

See also

  • Magic: The Gathering Card Sets
  • Magic: The Gathering Storylines