The Art of Magic: The Gathering - Innistrad

For starters the book arrived in AMAZING PRISTINE CONDITION! For Magic: The Gathering fans this is a must have specially if you like and love Innistrad as much as I do. The pictures and the story in this book are fantastic and I can’t express hot good it is.

Brushworm Speaks!The Art of Magic: The GatheringInnistrad****Acquired: Amazon.comSeries: Magic the Gathering (Book 2)Hardcover: 224 pagesPublisher: Perfect Square; 1st edition (July 5, 2016)Language: EnglishSubject: Fantasy****The Story: Terror falls from the skies on blood-spattered wings, and nameless horrors lurk in the shadows. These pages, lavishly illustrated with the award-winning art of Magic: The Gathering™, are your entry into a world beset by terrible evils on all sides and betrayed by the hope it held most dear. Tread lightly as you follow the heroic Planeswalkers of the Gatewatch as they investigate these dark mysteries, for the nightmare they will uncover is a threat to the whole Multiverse. The mysteries of Innistrad—its peoples, provinces, and monsters—await your arrival. But be careful as you peer into the darkness, for you might find something staring back..The Review: Dark and Gloomy. Gothic Horror. Stoker, Poe, Lovecraft. These are just some of the ingredients that were all mixed together to form this book and the end result could be any goth enthusiasts wet dream.Innistrad is a call harkening the reader back to the classics of timeless horror. Looming castles, dark nights under the full moon, ghosts, werewolves, vampires. Truly, there is something here for any fan of horror.The artwork captures this perfectly. One of the first things the reader will notice is that there is very little in the way of color on this plane. It exists, make no mistake but in a very limited capacity.When viewed in context among more fantastical worlds such as Zendikar or Kaladesh, Innistrad feels among the most grounded of them all, in spite of all the monsters and demons. The buildings are large and imposing. As much stone fortresses as much as domiciles or places of worship. The people who live and work inside of them exist in an almost constant state of fear both from threats outside the walls as well as within them. Humanity is its own worst enemy is a constant theme throughout which only adds to an already dark and dreary setting. Edgar Allen Poe can be seen a few places here.There is a lot more here than just monsters though. Woven throughout the images and text is an overpowering sense of dread and existential horror. The sense that all these beings: vampires, inquisitors, angels, necromancers, are nothing more than just pieces on a vast game board and those standing around the board are only tangentially aware of their foibles or strengths or even their existence.Such things are a hallmark of Master horror writer H.P. Lovecraft and his influence can be seen throughout the lore of Innistrad. Even though it originated in the previous expansion, Zendikar, the arrival of the Eldrazi Titan Emrakul further purports the Lovecraftian symbolism.For many of the plane’s denizens, the only ray of light in their dark world (sometimes literally) is their faith in the Church of the Archangel Avacyn, who along with her angelic host and faithful clergy, battle against the vampires and demons that plague humanity. The truth, however, is much more sinister. Some would call it a vast, cosmic joke on hapless man, furthering the existential horror that is a common theme in this plane’s Lovecraft themes. Religion plays a large role in this expansion. Brushworm is a newcomer to the Magic: The Gathering Universe and religion is not something that takes precedence within. At least compared to the other expansions that Bookworm is familiar with. This immediately sets Innistrad apart and makes it distinct. There are actually a few biblical references within the worlds mythology, although, aside from the aesthetic of the Angels, there are not particularly overt.Perhaps, it could be argued that the whole thing gets a little too dark sometimes. It can get rather depressing in a few places. Also the story as described in the lore sections does not feel like it was resolved in a satisfactory way. The truth is, like all the other Art of Magic The Gathering books, the story of the particular plane is told in a very succinct way, like an encyclopedia entry. The official stories remain on the official story pages of the Magic The Gathering Websites.Magic: The Gathering has such a rich storyline and it is quite the shame that it remains mostly confined online. It would a be a great boon by Wizards of the Coast to release the story of Innistrad and Amonkhet in print format alongside these art books. It would really help to put the excellent artwork in a bit more context.Final Verdict: This book would make a perfect addition to the collection of any lover of gothic fantasy and/or vampire lore. Holding true to classic traditions while also maintaining its own unique take on the mythos.Four Innistrad Icons out of Fivethecultureworm.blogspot.com

Every page of this wondrous tome contains artwork from the card game and other official content scaled up in dimensions from their appearances on card game products and packaging, printed in lavish color and detail. Alongside this cavalcade of gothic horror and heroic stoicism is a wealth of lore describing characters, locations, and magic on the plane of Innistrad, and chronicling the events of the storyline from the time of the first Innistrad set to the events of Shadows over Innistrad. My only complaint, and I would like to stress that I don't think this is anyone's fault and the issue is fairly superficial, is that a large part of the jacket appears to have been wrinkled and warped somehow. However, the hard cover under the jacket, the bindings, and the pages all appear to be in perfect shape, and the written and illustrated contents are everything I'd hoped they would be.

There's nothing that hasn't already been said about Innistrad from MtG, and if you're buying this book, odds are you're familiar enough with the world to know why it's so loved by fans of the game.This is a fantastic look into the specifics of the world for fans wanting to know more, or for potential game masters wishing to draw inspiration for their homebrewed games or settings. Art is the focus of the book, but there's a wealth of lore compiled from the Planeswalker's Guides published on Wizard's site, the Planeshift: Innistrad setting guide for 5th edition, and even more lore that's found specifically in this book.

I pre-ordered this book and was not disappointed. If you are into the art and lore of Magic: The Gathering this is a must have. The book has weight with solid binding and when gently opened there was no cracking sounds like a cheap coffee table book. This is a high-quality production book. If you are like me and had to strain your eyes to appreciate the artwork, this book is a godsend as many of the illustrations are enlarged to fully appreciate the details by your favorite artists.For those who have been following the lore of Innistrad, this book further adds details you won't get from Wizards site thanks to James Wyatt's contribution to the details (for example:"Nahiri has played on their discontent and given them new masters to serve."). I really think Wyatt's deep background from the early days of D&D was invaluable for the book. In fact, the book reads like a classic D&D Dragon Magazine article which further expounds on the general lore.Back to the artwork, there are many two-page spreads of cards from SOI and even Eldritch Moon! Perhaps they timed the release intentionally! I read some reviews that the previous artbook for BFZ block had low resolution but that's nonsense after seeing the prints in this book. The details are amazing.The appendix is really fantastic as it delves into how and why Innistrad mechanics are so special. Unfortunately, upon initial look, it doesn't include Eldirtch Moon's mechanics like Meld but it's still a fascinating look into how Wizards R&D operates.All in all, this is one of my favorite M:TG item of all time aside from the cards themselves.There is so much flavor and information about the Innistrad plane. I hope Wizards will continue this tradition with Kaledesh and beyond to satisfy the hard-core lore lovers like myself!Plus: I love the fresh smell of the book, it has a very much a "new car" smell.

Great book. Great quality. Got a little roughed up in shipping, but definitely still gets a prominent spot on the bookshelf.

Prix très intéressant et envoi rapide.

So my problem isn't with the book itself. It's a great and beautiful book for MTG fans. The problem as you can see in the pictures I've uploaded is that it came damaged. Lightly damaged but damaged nonetheless. As a perfectionist, this frustrates me. The shipping box was intact so I assume the damage was done in packaging which makes it worst. How can they not see that it was damaged or maybe amazon employees don't value books and didn't care which isn't surprising, sadly. I can return it but it's more work than anything, not worth it for the price. I was going to buy the entire collection on amazon but now I won't.Conclusion: If you want to make sure the book you're buying is in perfect condition, you're better off going to a library.

Die Buchreihe "The Art of Magic" lässt sich wunderbar sammeln und bietet einen schönen Einblick in die verschiedenen Welten von Magic.Wie manche Vorredner schon geschrieben haben, lässt der Titel aber eher etwas anderes vermuten. Auch ich bin davon ausgegangen, dass es sich um ein Artbook mit Skizzen, Art Descriptions handelt, sprich der Entstehung und Gestaltung der Artworks von Magic: the Gathering. Allerdings sind einfach nur sehr viele schöne Artworks der bekannten Karten abgebildet, während im Text ausführlich die jeweilige Plane (Welt), Flora, Fauna und Konflikte, Story der Planeswalker usw. beschrieben wird. Es handelt sich also mehr um ein Buch über die Story, Hintergrundwissen und Flavor der verschiedenen Welten. Als solches ist es aber wunderbar gelungen und auch sehr umfangreich. Wenn es richtig als das vermarktet würde, hätte es auch die 5 Sterne gegeben. Da ich ein Artbook über den Prozess der Darstellung erwartet habe, einen Stern Abzug.

Non sono un appassionato di Magic, non ci ho mai giocato a dire la verità ma amo il dark fantasy e questo è uno dei migliori artbook che posseggo su questo genere. Illustrazioni bellissime, avvincente la descrizione del mondo anche per chi non gioca a Magic.Se siete artisti e amate il dark fantasy, questo libro è d'obbligo!

These books are fantastic quality, especially for the price. Beautiful hardcover with thick glossy pages. These books not only highlight the beautiful artwork of the planes, but grant a comprehensive explanation of the story and lore beyond the flavor text that appears on the cards. Overall I definitely recommend purchasing - it makes a great, thoughtful gift if you have a friend into Magic (and something they may have never considered buying themselves), or just an awesome collector's item if you're into the game itself.The only oversight to me, though, is the inclusion of double-page artwork highlights. If you think a piece of art is great enough to include a two-page spread of it, then... don't. Due to the size of the book, the curve of the pages into the spine absolutely ruins the depiction of a great piece of work spread across two pages. Disappointed with the lack of foresight in design there...