Johan

Magic: The Gathering: Legends Cycle #1

by Clayton Emery

As his city and its inhabitants slowly begin to die, Johan, a powerful wizard, comes up with a desperate scheme to save his home, setting his sights on seizing the trade routes and wealth of the small city of Bryce, but his scheme is threatened by the determination of Hazezon and Jedit, who team up to save Bryce. Original.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Magic

311 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Clayton Emery is an umpteen-generations Yankee, Navy brat, and aging hippie who grew up playing Robin Hood in the forests of New England.

He's been a blacksmith, dishwasher, schoolteacher in Australia, carpenter, zookeeper, farmhand, land surveyor, volunteer firefighter, and award-winning technical writer.

He's a member of the Mystery Writers of America and Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America.

Clayton lives with his sweetie in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where his ancestors came ashore in 1635.

From: http://www.claytonemery.com/CE_bio.html

Reviews

[Chip Hunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Getting back to a more localized story, away from the epic and world-spanning tale of Urza and Gerrard, this book tells of a psychotic and deranged ruler (Johan) trying to conquer Jammura, and of the colorful group of characters that stand in his way. The Legends Cycle represents the return of Clayton Emery to the MTG multiverse, the same author who wrote the first four MTG books published (1,2,3,4). He was good then, and he's good now. Full of unexpected surprises, intense action, gory descriptions, and favorite characters who suddenly die, Clayton Emery's books are typically better than the average MTG fare. While the evil magician Johan is only perfunctorily described here, with nothing much about his motivation or background, this book is full of other great and well-developed characters. My favorites were Adira Strongheart and her loyal "band of seven" (composed of between 4 and 9 bravos, depending on how fast she can replace fallen comrades), who aren't your typical heroes, but a bunch of low-down pirates with shaky morals at best, but who are nonetheless wrangled into fighting on the side of good. Others include Hazezon Tamar and Jaeger, neither of whom developed into very compelling characters, despite their having great potential. The story told here progresses quickly and is entertaining throughout, but this is definitely only part of the overall tale, so you don't get the firm feeling wrap-up you would with a true stand-alone novel.

Overall, better than the majority of MTG books, a decent effort by Emery. Still, recommended for fans of the series only.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome story. I love the Magic the gathering storyline. =)

[Robert Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Magic book that is not part of the Weatherlight or Dominaria Saga. The story is well told and all the characters are fresh. Johan makes a good villain as I already want to see him dead.

[J.R. Santos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly well written. Crafted with such care; I love it.

Emery did an amazing job. Will try to hunt more of his work.

[Derp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think Emery realized that Xira Arien is an insect.

Three uses of "higgledy-piggledy" in this book.

[A.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is easily the best Magic novel I've read to date. The characters had depth and the plot was engrossing. I also loved the way Emery was able to use unique vocabulary without sounding forced, and the way he was able to insert actual card names ("Keepers of the Faith" and others) without making it sound strange either. This novel is the one and only Magic novel I've read that stands on its own well enough that I feel like I could recommend it to a non-Magic player as a good fantasy novel. Great stuff. Highly recommended.

[Evan Leach · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read a few of the Magic books back in the day, and some of them were actually pretty good. This was not one of them, although it wasn't a train wreck. 2 stars.

[Duncan Pfaehler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another awesome MTG Book! If you need a high fantasy thrill, this is it!

[Shase Lindell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly good read.