Customer Reviews

Nemesis: Masquerade Cycle, Book II

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

The book's storyline is great, chracters are great , and the overall feeling after reading it is great. But the author portrayed about 4 different charecters. It got very annoying to go from chapter to chapter and switching main charecters. That was the only con but otherwaise I strongly recommend this book.

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 much chose 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.

I have played Magic for over 5 years, since Ice Age and before. I stopped after Stronghold came out. Overall, I know the entire storyline up until the end of Gerrard leaving Rath. Now about the novel. I know Paul B. Thompson, he wrote several dragonlance novels. This book unfortunately, does not live up to the reputation of his others. First of all, the entire idea of the novel, the Phyrexians need a new evincar, they dispatch Bilbe to appoint a new one is fine. However, the Phyrexians then proceed to turn Crovax into a mindless killing machine, who feeds off death, and grows insanely powerful throughout the novel.

On top of the ludicrous notion that anyone could defeat Crovax, we see Ertai. Ertai happens to be the only other candidate for Evincar, though he has absolutely no chance from start to finish of winning the Evincarship. Constantly, the author adds in little tidbits of information, such as Ertai's transformation, that have absolutely no significance to the actual story. I understand that Paul was trying to fulfill the storyline of Magic, but he still had some "artistic license" with the novel.

Next we come to the end of the novel, and I have to say that the huge ammount of plot twists confound me. Its as though Paul could no longer find a worthy ending to the book without adding things in at the end. The sudden appearance of certain characters that were hardly ever mentioned, and who never gave clues to their existence (and who end up accomplishing nothing), annoy me to no end. Overall, I hope that this was not truly a part of the Magic: the Gathering storyline, and that Paul was just adding his own say into the novel.

Paul B. Thompson's Nemesis novel is very unpredictable. If you are tired of reading Magic the Gathering books only based on a war, rejoice! Nemesis isn't only about a war, but the descision of the new evincar of Rath. To do this, Eladamri's daughter ( Avila ) is murdered, brought to Phyrexia, Phyrexianized and is a "lense" of Phyrexia. This unusual character is renamed as Belbe. Ertai's physique changes throughout the novel. Interesting fact: the powerful Magic the Gathering card, Lin Sivvi, is spelled as Liin Sivi in Nemesis. You will enjoy this book.

This book closely followed the expansion set related to it and I couldn't put it down. The action is a little detailed for those younger readers, but the suspense and style of writing are excellent. The only problem with this book was that it wasn't long enough. It explains the new evincar's rise to power, and is a key part if you are following the new invasion series.

The story is about the chosing of the new Envicar of Rath. I like this book because it makes the story line come together. My favorite part was when Crovax made the flowstone go around the guys legs and kicked his knees in backwards. I really loved the ending of the story, it's really neat what they do ( I won't tell ya cause I don't want to ruin it.) L liked the ending because it showed just how powerful Crovax and Ertai were.

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.

...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.