Mais um livro de fantasia de entretenimento da série no universo Magic the Gathering, e recomendado apenas para quem joga o jogo (vou adotar isso - esses livros são meio no máximo duas estrelas pra quem não joga, talvez até uma - ou seja, livros dessa série serão avaliados de modo mais leniente, pra poderem me ajudar a lembrar comparar um com o outro depois). Desta vez abordando Ikoria, a terra dos monstros. E de fato, articula bem com a dinâmica dos monstros e das mutações (que no jogo não podem acontecer em cima de humanos). O ozolito é uma solução esperada, que torna a articulação de tudo mais fácil, um cristalzão canalizador, e o suspense quanto ao andarilho provocador e seus objetivos é um ponto negativo. Mas mantém o tom de tragédia que parece ser um dos climas presentes na série de histórias, e certamente o personagem principal Lukka, é um desses idiotas trágicos, o que é positivo. A ideia da ligação com os monstros também é divertida, e abre possibilidade pra personagens de tipos variados, com criaturas de combinatórias absurdas. ( )

I like the Magic: The Gathering lore, and love to read the tie-in stories whenever a new set comes out. This one, presenting the new Magic setting of Ikoria, was quite enjoyable, if you take it for what it is. It is well written, and the way the character development of the main protagonist played out was even able to surprise me while making sense. This is nowhere near the disaster that was Weisman's "War of the Spark" novel.

There are some things you should know though. The first is: this one is bloody. There is a lot of messy fighting and quite a lot of gore, which surprised me, as the last few Magic novels where aimed at a somewhat younger audience. Especially The Wildered Quest had quite a different tone to it.

Second, this is an origin story that might never get a follow-up. The book tells the story of Lukka, an officer in an elite monster hunting force, who finds himself being marked a traitor after surviving a fight with a monster that kills his whole squad. If you play Magic and know the cards of the new set, you already know that he is going to be a Planeswalker, one of the main characters of the Magic universe. For this reason, this book feels like the first part of a bigger story we might or might not return to in the future, depending on the settings the game will return to in the future - so be aware of that.

All in all, this is a solid, enjoyable read for Magic: The Gathering fans. Wexler's most popular book, "The Thousand Names", has been gathering dust on my shelf for quite some time now. Thanks to "Ikoria: Sundered Bond" I am finally tempted to give it a try. ( )