Then he reviewed the book, as he claimed he was gonna. He said that because he was planning to review it, and when he did, his words became truth. Soon the review was done, as he said he would do.
"I can tap two blue to counter your spell" Johnny said. He could. So he did. Because he said he could. *of course I said I could. I've been holding this counterspell in my hand for 6 turns now.*
I love how the War of the Spark trailer, a video 3 minutes long, has given a much greater amount of depth to the story than the entirety of the novel that the Professor holds in his hand.
Agreed. I know that skills don't necessarily translate between mediums, but couldn't they have had the person(s) in charge of developing the plot of that trailer as part of the team developing the plot of the novel(s)? That is assuming there was anyone other than the author involved in the development of the novels.
Niv-Mizzet had never been into girls. He liked his snacks spicy and flavorful (and decidedly hot) like Takis. He munched on one while contemplating. 'Dude, what if we gave a goblin a hoverboard?' And he did. Give a goblin a hoverboard, that is.
Alaplaya9 10/10 would read a whole ass book about a stoned Niv chasing half baked science. "Okay but listen, what if we chain a bunch of potatoes together and make a weird out of the combined charge. Potatolemental. It Feeds you French fries of its own body."
You know what's the best part: Noone can tell the Professor that he somehow would be out of his wheelhouse here, because he's *actually* an english major.
@Bill Campbell as someone who is an English major as well, I can tell you that small errors in spelling and pronunciation are very far from being important qualities for a writer or critic to have, especially in a non-academic review
Bill Campbell if you think spelling errors affect the quality of someone’s work, then clearly don’t understand the purpose of language. It is there to convey meaning, if you understand it, it’s working.
"Ral, dawg, whaddup? All cool in the hood, my homie?" "Oh god, Niv, are you going through a midlife crisis again?" "I don't catch your drift broseph, I've just decided to freshen my image to be more hip with the youths. Mathematical! How you dig my youthful lingo, my main man?" "That's why I hate dragons" said Ral, shaking his head "When you live for millennia, every few centuries you go through a... period." "Niv, wazzup?" said Ugin, flying in the room on a radical skateboard.
"Ayooo! Waddup Ugin the Pin! Ya ready to shread some gnarly waves?" Niv Mizzet said in his usual bodacious attitude while adjusting his oversized sunglasses.
"If you can't save yourself, then you fight to give somebody else a chance." "You cannot defend others if your own well-being is neglected." "Wherever the strong would harm the weak, I will be there." -- Ajani "AYE, GIRL" -- Also Ajani, apparently
It's like comparing Karn from back in the day to Karn from WotS. "I am reminded of the fable of the silver egg. Its owner cracks it open to see what jewels it holds, only to discover a simple yellow yolk." "If it is meant to be nothing but a machine, why did Urza build it to be like me?" "Consider the fable of the greedy herder. As her flock grew, so did her weariness; she slept, and the sheep wandered off." "Remember the moral of the fireslinger fable; with power comes isolation." "Remember the fable of the elf who came upon a cave of gold. In trying to free the largest piece, she was crushed by its weight." ... "BEEP BOOP AM ROBOT WHAT IS METAPHOR"
I know this was 2 years ago, but I do want to say that this is "aye" as in "affirmative". Like, "aye aye captain". Pronounced "eye" or "I". Of course you might know this and just find the appearance of the writing funny, in which case you're right, but I wanted to say this just in case. Doesn't make the rest of the writing defensible though.
People: It's for kids, it is not going to be Tolkien. Me: But what about the Hobbit though? He literally wrote that from bedtime stories he told his children.
The fact that this was written doesn’t upset me. The fact that this was given the green light by the WotC story team, however, boils my god damned blood.
No no, guys, you're doing it all wrong... "Joel Quarenta, viewer - and Now Commenter - of TH-cam whose witty replies had earned many likes and also replies from such notable fellow commenters Kalos the Shieldbearer and Atipong Pathanasethpong, hit the like button." _Well, of course I hit the like button! I said I would hit the like button, and I have been able to hit the like button for the equivalent of an eternity!_ Now THAT'S how you -screw up a novel- write a great TH-cam comment.
Just let Alison Luhrs write all Magic story, and redo these novels while we're at it. WotC had butchered the lore in the past year and it sickens me, it was what drove my passion for the game the most.
Alison and her team were part of some of the best magic stories of all time. I teared up during the Chandra and Nissa scene, it was so powerfully done.
The Professor was in his office. _Of course I’m in my office, I’m shooting a video._ “I’m going to tell you about all the good parts of the War or the Spark novels,” he said. And he could not.
They foreshadowed it back in the Eldrich Moon story articles While Jace was training with Yoda on Tamriel, he cut off the phantom Tezzeret's head and saw his own face, but Emrakul'd.
"The Promised End" is one of the best pieces of MTG fiction ever written. The struggle Emrakul goes through while realizing what they are and how that manifests itself through interactions with the Gatewatch is shattering. The ending is also handled well without being what you expected.
I really enjoyed the Innistrad storyline as whole, with the highlights for me being "The Mystery of Markov Manor" and "The Drownyard Temple". It can be easy to forget that good Lovecraftian horror is as much about the mystery and build-up as it is about the monsters and body horror, and the early Innistrad stories are wonderfully unnerving.
That entire blocks story kicked teeth, and genuine kept me interested through, despite knowing what the endgame was, at least as far as the cards tell you.
Return to Innistrad was simultaneously the best and the worst of MtG. In one hand, it showed how clever writing could be with "The Promised End" and Gisa & Geralf's "Games", which are still some of my favorite in MtG lore. On the other hand, they showed how stupid the writing could get with Sorin's Never-ending Ride of Dumb Decisions and starting the dumbest feud in MtG history.
Ritokure yeah, if he’s been honest and just said “yo, I’ve been unconscious for a month and can barely stand; I can’t help right now, gimme a couple days to get back on my feet” things would have been fine. But, he’s never been willing to show weekends, always been proud. Kinda fits his character at least
Yeah and the cards were actually pretty great for that in War of the spark. I would just consider those books not canon for myself. The Eldraine novel is good tho despite being relatively short
I'm going to do exactly the same. Thanks to the Professor videos (not being sarcastic, thanks indeed) I didn't buy the books. The summaries alone were such a disappointment!
"Lorans smile" is the Feldon of the third Paths story.... I love this story, because its so sad and his cool artwork seems to fit perfectly after reading his background. I really recommend it to everyone who likes this card.
The Dragon rose up, his majestic form eclipsing the moon as he spread his wings. His voice was as thunder, with malevolence in every syllable, and hatred protruding from every word, as he spoke. “Yo, Ral, my homie! Don’t be messing this up, ya hear?”
6:22 Ah, yes. Kuzco's imagination. The imagination for Kuzco. The imagination chosen to specifically inspire Kuzco. Kuzco's imagination. That imagination?
Well, that’s a passage written to be as redundant as possible for the sake of comedy, and being mouthed by a character who’s central character includes the fact that he’s an idiot.
Greg Weisman should not touch Magic Storyline anymore. He butchers every character. Like not even one character is saved in this. Vote with your wallets everyone.
As much as I am a collector and I was hyped about first MTG books after I started playing, after hearing reviews and seeing what is done in these books, I decided not to buy them even for collection
@@B1rdzOfF1re Yes, and he has done this kind of erasure in Young Justice too at the very least. He might have the case of George Lucas Syndrome, where he might have something of value to add but it was the people around him that kept him in line that allowed anything useful to come out. But in this case, he's left doing whatever he wants and he wants to make shit.
"I feel a lot better about my Pokemon fanfiction now." I said. And I do. "This probably isn't the type of comment any author wants made about their works, is it." It was a question with the wrong punctuation.
I'm so disappointed how this and War of the Spark has been written. I was looking forward to both of these so much but ultimately the Professor is right. Thank you Prof for the very true words that Wizards needs to hear loud and clear.
This feels like it's written by a character who claims he was on Ravnica during the war and helped the Gatewatch but he's actually just some liar trying to impress people in a pub.
@@kittredge5167 nothing in the book indicates she's coming to terms with or fighting against her sexuality, though. You *can* write a character who is confused about their sexuality, but "decidedly male," and "only platonic" are not how you write that.
“It’s stories for kids. It’s not going to be Tolkien.” Tolkien literally wrote those stories for his kids. Even stories for kids can be high quality. Those people suck. Keep it up with these story vids, prof! It’s nice to have someone with literary pedigree offering real insight.
Books at the beginning: The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein Chalotte's Web - E.B. White Harriet the Spy - Luoise Fitzhugh A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket Are You There God? It's me, Margaret - Judy Blume A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle Matilda - Roald Dahl How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton The Fault In Our Stars - John Green Lord of the Flies - William Golding The Hunger Games Sandman Overture - Neil Gaiman Blue is the warmest color - Julie Maroh Pride of Baghdad Runaways - Brian K. Vaughan Superman - Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely
Love the list, but as an obsessive comic nerd and fan of Grant Morrison's unique vision "All-Star Superman". You may now go back to ignoring my vast and useless knowledge. lol
Too often these days, too many writers for "Children's Media" seem to write as if kids are actually dumb. It's so disrespectful. Be like LEGO: Children deserve the best!
Eh, Lego is more like "kid's parents deserve to pay more each year, while our actual product gets worse and worse. We also hate on creativity and love to leech on brands."
@@humpulaj I mean it seems more prominent compared to the shows I grew up watching and the books I read in the 1990's. I'm sure you're right in that this has always been the case and hindsight lets us better identify what was good and what wasn't, but it just seems more frequent to me. And I consume a lot of media that some would say is targeted to kids.
@@poluicionador I'd say a little of both. I remember watching or reading things as a kid and picking up *some* of the subtext, like maybe a guy character was gay or two characters were actually lovers/dating/whatever. This made them all the more enjoyable upon revisiting when I got older. I think too many adults don't try to remember what it was like to be a kid and just let your intuition flow. Kids pick up on a lot that we as adults think they couldn't or shouldn't understand. They get a lot more than we think. Writers should remember that.
I honestly have no idea why they decided to hand off Magic novels to outside authors when Wizards has their own Creative team that is entirely dedicated to portraying the stories of these characters We also can't fault Weisman entirely for this novel; it's a very real possibility that a lot of the major plot points (like Chandra and Nissa's relationship) were dictated by Nic Kelman, WotC's Head of Story
My favorite Magic story has to be Jace, Alone. I love deep, introspective character pieces, and seeing Jace able to define himself and work through such a task was amazing for me. The day he spent crying in bed because he realized he didn't know what another person's voice sounded like struck me to the core. It was full of stunning ways of showing us who Jace was without telling us so we could internalize him. Him first waking up and stripping himself to study his clothes was such a Blue way of handling this situation. It's probably my favorite short story I've ever read.
That Chandra and Nissa passage is egregious. The language-"girls" "crushes"- is juvenile. The parentheses are so intrusive. And what is "that great chemical mix"? Is a way of overwriting the expression "to have chemisty"? The tense change in "Now everything's over." TERRIBLE!
When I first heard about this my "lets suspend judgement until I get the details" reflex suggested that, perhaps, this was setting up Chandra to struggle with her sexuality. doubting her own feelings and having an internal struggle before coming to her senses and ending that arc by giving Nissa a big snog. But reading that passage instantly rendered that charitable reading dead. And lead me to Spice8Racks thoughts on male soft scifi writers needing to stop
Take a closer look at the dialogue in the 'book' ALL characters talk like teens. Ugin, Ral, Bolas, Nissa, Chandra etc. already did so in that morons first WotS book. Now it infected Niv, Ajani and the rest of them too.
That entire passage is cringe worthy. It sounds like it was written by a high school freshmen. This author clearly doesn't know a thing about these characters, nor does he care. Just awful. I'm surprised the Throne of Eldraine story was as good as it was considering the train wreck that was War of the Spark.
"Pot meet kettle" was such an abysmal line on so many levels, only the first of which is that it's wildly out of character for Ugin. It's not even the right expression! (Is it even an expression at all?) I'm having trouble imagining what the hell Greg thought he meant by that line. Was the pot (Bolas) calling the kettle (Ugin) black? Had Bolas said something hypocritical about Ugin? That would also be very out of character.
When I was studying 9th Grade English the students had to edit each others papers for short stories and a classmate of mine did this. The writing was so terribly cringey and bad that the page was filled with red marks. You couldn't tell if the protagonist was addressing the reader or the other "characters" (I think he was just beating up thugs so I doubt there was much dialogue directed their way). I'm shocked that a professional author and a professional editor would allow the same mistakes that a 14 year old could catch.
Yes ofcourse only part I enjoyed was seeing the final moments in the commercial.😂 So as Star wars fans have chosen Legends over The wackness of Rian Jhonson so can you here. I have spoken.
@Darth Mizinth I like the premise of your action but disagree with your arbitrary cut off point. May I suggest Dominaria instead? If only to keep in Yahenni's story and the Ixalan block.
Weisman writing about Chandra and Nissa's wedding: "And the two friends sealed their platonic friendship in front of the rest of the gatewatch. Jace even commented, "Those two sure are good friends!" Everyone celebrated their friendship. And knew it was just a friendship because Nissa was not brawny (and decidedly female)." To answer your question, my favorite story is 100% the "Truth of Names" about Alesha.
Now see this would almost be cute if they were actually into each other but eternally bashful and unable to admit it, so they go to absurd lengths to insist that they're "just friends" despite getting married and so on, and everyone else rolls with it out of respect even though they all know they're clearly in love. Too bad Wiseman's a HACK.
@@letsgetsomeshoes1239 See it's really more along the lines of what me and my gay friends do, which is constantly joke about us really being straight whenever we do something explicitly really really gay. Like I'm just going to pretend that this is all an in joke. Like * Chandra rolled her eyes * yeah, because I've always (definitely) been into big masc, decidedly manly, men. * rolls eyes into back of skull * me and Nissa were totally just friends * deadpans to camera * * flashback plays of them staring longingly into each others eyes, then passionately kissing * "Yep. Definitely just a little crush. A confluence of chemical elements if you will" * flashback to Chandra seductively biting and pulling on Nissa's lip while they make out * * cut back to Chandra looking straight into the camera judgementally with one eyebrow raised * * The words "Just friends!" Scrolls across the screen *
@@lucarioknightb7685 noice just like that one dragonball movie i forget the name of. or me a fan of the Eragon series still waiting for a movie adaption.
All the War of the Spark novels are just in Bolas' head as the most likely outcome of his current plan, which is why he didn't go through with it and none of this stuff happened.
I wish I hadn't read it, that sloppily written end to Nissa/Chandra's relationship really angered me. Not just because of the bi-phobic connotations but also because up until that point there had been a great focus on what each brought about for the other (a calmness for Chandra from Nissa and being able to be a bit more comfortable in social and city environments for Nissa from Chandra's presence) which I really identified with as my mind is a mess most of the time but being with the one I love brings about that calm. Then in this book that gets horribly mutated into Chandra having to stifle herself for Nissa and Nissa getting negatively exhausted by Chandra's energy and emotions which just feels so untrue and like the good writing work done previously to build that up was just defecated over. Because I had identified with that bond between them this sloppy mess actually had my anxiety/depression kicking in and making me paranoid I was actually a burden to my partner to the point I had to go get reassurances from them. I mentioned to others how the characters overall had felt a bit off to me but I didn't realise quite how much until it was touched on here with the way they were written and even the bits I enjoyed (I kinda found Teyo and Rat cute as well as the fact Kaya's fond of them) felt tainted by the end of the book and Liliana just felt...ruined. Not on the path of redemption, just ruined as a character.
Garbage book is garbage, fucking wah. Why is it that you freaks are all so concerned with your contrived ship sinking? This is like the 5th person I've read who has had an actual mental breakdown over your corporate sponsored ship. Yeah, Chandra's one note _really_ compliments Nissan's 0.5. Typical.
@@iBloodxHunter Sorry to hear that. It's always rough when you expect a mouthful of cheerios and instead get a mouthful of urine. Of course, try not to take it out on others. Some person being upset that bisexual representation is regressive isn't anything to shit your pants about, and dragging others down because people dragged you down isn't productive.
Wholeheartedly agree with the opening, there are too many fantastic books to count that have been aimed at the younger audiences but are better written, contain better stories and are more compelling reads than most adult fiction.
Lloyd Hibbins Exactly! As an avid reader and a burgeoning writer myself, it baffles me that people seem to think that “kids stories” can’t be meaningful and well written in spite of their targeted audiences. The written word can be a beautiful and poignant thing, if you put your heart into it. No matter the target audience.
Honestly I was never too into the whole relationship thing between Chandra and Nissa. But god the way their relationship was written off as "only platonic" and the heavy emphasis on how Chandra always have loved "Brawny, masculine men" just hurts
Tell me about it, if WotC wanted them broken up then there were plenty of things already in the story that could be leveraged, Chandra's fiery temper, leaning back into Nissa as ElfHitler.
That whole Kaya can all a sudden break established planeswalking rule sounds like something out of a superhero comic book of don't question surpise plot specific super power that came out of nowhere.
You know, it's a shame we never got cards based specifically on these books. We could have gotten such wonderful cards as: Teyo, Statuatory R**ist Vraska, Domestic Abuser Ajani, Leonin Pervert Liliana, Emo Necromancer Karn, Skullbashing Pacifist Nissa and Chandra, Heterosexual Gal Pals and, of course, he may not be a planeswalker, but I think we can all agree we're all eagerly awaiting Niv Mizzet, Twitch Streamer
I read all of War of the Spark: Ravnica in about a day. When I finished it, I thought to myself, “That was quick, even for me.” The fact that the story was rushed there was fine, because it told a story of a battle that almost seemed to be in real time. I HAD planned to pick up Forsaken but then the biophobic twist came out and that was all I needed to hear. I had purchased the first book before launch and had been excited by it. But hearing this, and any plans I had to purchase it were immediately and DECIDEDLY QUASHED. As far as I’m concerned, Nissa and Chandra are in love, as is Jace and Vraska (seriously, Weisman can burn for trying to end something so beautifully built on Ixalan). It tells you who understands characters when The Wildered Quest was a more cohesive, thoughtful story, and a book that not only understood its characters, but gave them a full fleshed out story. Not one rushed to page.
Chandra and Nissa never made sense as couple, it always was a lovely friendship at most. But I agree there were much better ways to handle it and put a clear end to Chandra's feelings and love interests.
I have to respectfully disagree with you on the biphobic part. I have not read the book yet but from the wordsthe professor bases his statements on, I don't think the biphobic part can proven. As a member of the LGBTQ community myself (bisexual Male and married to another male) I have to say I completely understand loving people without wanting to have sex with them as every relationship is different and unique, this is what respecting sexual diversity is, accepting that relationships can be diverse by gender, sexuality or numbers of people involved and not adhere to a standard of sexual norms. Asexual or Demisexual people do exist and to tell them that platonic love is "just a fancy" is extremely disrespectful to them. Words have power and with what the professor is saying, he is telling the world, that a platonic relationship is not an equal form of relationship but a fad. But the words he uses to base this on, don't say this, his interpretation of the word says this so his mind has the preconceived thought that platonic means fancy or a fad. And this is so disrespectful for Demi or Asexual people whose relationships he just devalued with his interpretation.
@@FurFoxMcCloud Your use of "cannot be proven" pisses me off so much. There are only two places you ever need to prove something: in Math, and in court. This is neither. The Prof acknowledges that he can't know the author's intention, only what the words mean. Words have meaning (you watched the video, right?), and these words are biphobic.
@@GranMaese I have to disagree with you. Chandra and Nissa complimented each other very well. Neither ever forced the other into doing things, but they did assist in shoring up the others social and mental pitfalls. Nissa helped Chandra calm down and focus while Chandra helped Nissa interact with others. The Kaladesh storyline actually set up this relationship well with some help from Ovia Pashiri and Yahenni to get them to start recognizing what they needed. It wasn't that they needed to do activitiess together, but together, they are both far stronger people.
I would be remiss if I didn't pipe up about my personal favourite magic story - Burn, from Aether Revolt. Be warned it is heavy stuff, but it solidified why Chandra will always be my favourite character
@InferSader can you not use that word its really offencive its sounds like your calling generic gender people a cyts an infection that needs removed i know its spelled differently but still it sounds the same and we should call the people we love who are generic such an offensive name.
@@carriestovall8687 cis- is the latin root word opposite trans-. any similarities to "cyst" are merely a side-effect of the english language and not meant to invoke any prejudice against people who identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.
@Carrie the “cis” in cisgender comes from the Latin preposition that means on the same side (as opposed to “trans” which meant on the other side). Basically cisgender people have remained on the same “side” as the gender they were assigned at birth. It’s a really neutral word with no positive or negative connotations, and its important to have words that can describe different catagories of experience - just like how having the word “straight/heterosexual” is useful when it comes to discussing sexualities. Please don’t be offended by the word - there is no negative meaning or insult associated with it, and it’s absolutely a word you can use to describe yourself or people you love in a neutral way.
My favorite magic story was Timestreams by J. Robert King. I adored the incredible and intricate level of worldbuilding that went into Urza and his entire academy of students fighting against time itself to eliminate a rapidly evolving Phyrexian threat.
He could probably do the thing he maybe probably said he could do. But people probably think it be that way even if it dont be that way and he didn't do what he said it did do, don't it?
I hate to say it but this novel broke me. I was okay with a ton of bad decisions sides WotC just because I loved the worlds and characters they created but both War of the Spark novels are almost proving to me that they don't care anymore. Characters are becoming hollow shells of what they used to be and lore is merely a marketing tool for a game that used to create more than just cards. By now there is one thing left this game generates for me and that is art. I will gladly buy from Magic artists to support them but it would feel wrong to me to toss money directly at a company that only wants that, MONEY. So to use the very wise words of Niv, "You screwed up, WotC.".
Favourite Storyline: Ixalan Favourite story overall: Feldon’s quest Magic story can be so astoundingly good, and it pains me to see literature like Weisman’s tarnish the good legacy. Not to say that writing in eugenicists like Urza and Yawgmoth is particularly laudable, but they had consistent characters. Thank you prof for bringing such insightful review!
this was exactly the evisceration I was hoping for, based on what I have heard on Twitter about this book's crimes. Thank you for reading this swill on our behalf.
When people dismiss children's stories as not having quality, I think of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's a children's show so excellent, it might well be one of my favourite pieces of fiction I have ever consumed. The recent She-Ra and Voltron reboots are similarly fantastic, despite also being for children. I have not seen Steven Universe, but I hear it is amazing too. When someone claims that a story 'for children' has to be bad by default, then I mourn for them and for all the excellence they are willfully passing up. That said, as a lesbian trans woman who has identified with Chandra for nearly a decade, I have to say the title of this book is very apt. Because I haven't felt this betrayed and forsaken by a story and a franchise I loved (and I use the past tense deliberately here) in quite a long while. Wizards screwed up. Bad. And even just thinking of sitting down and playing the game hurts. And I don't know what will be necessary for that hurt to go away other than a complete reversal of the damage this book did.
Michael Lebovitz even if that’s true, they could have done what Nickelodeon did with Korra - have it be a subtext. They didn’t have to explicitly kill it.
Technically, Chandra was never officially lesbian, it was more of just something that fans have just theorized about, it was also stated Chandra had a crush on Gideon for awhile (pre-Gatewatch in fact). I'm actually happy to see that Wizards has decided to go against the woke culture that has been plaguing media too long, it is getting old and ridiculous at this point, not every major character has to LGBT.
@@avarice25 She can, but I would rather have them add new characters to be LGBT rather than retcon existing ones to be the LGBT representatives, not to mention that popular media is starting to over-represent minorities and LGBT people
Magic the Gathering fiction just went from 'guilty pleasure' to 'cringey embarrassment.' My love for the story has been destroyed. My interest in the upcoming netflix series has been exiled.
While I'm not familiar with Weisman's work, it is often the case that the original fame was somewhat undeserved. Take George Lucas and Star Wars. A lot of what made the originals good were the people preventing him from doing what he wanted to do. Once he became a legend and everyone just let him use his authorial genius, he made the prequels and remastered the originals into bad imitations of themselves.
He did Traveler for Warcraft and that's pretty darn good. WOTC assuredly had a lot of say in the story and what would happen, but still some writing seems a lil questionable at times. I don't get it man.
Why doesn’t wizards literally hire an English PROFESSOR, to write the stories for magic the gathering? He has a long rooted love for the game since it started. Started a community college for the the game. I am genuinely curious.
Thiss is Awesome Teaching something requires you to understand it at a far deeper level than doing it. You have to know what you're doing, why you're doing it, what people think you're doing, how to convey what you're actually doing to a wide variety of people beginning from a variety of places -- as opposed to doing something, where you just have to understand how to do the thing, not even necessarily what that thing is. There are plenty of inadequate teachers out there, certainly -- and that is cause for alarm. We should hold teachers to a significantly higher standard than we do. But that doesn't mean teaching is easy. Quite the contrary.
I mean I think I new deep down that Chandra and Nissa’s relationship was going to be queerbait but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. I was really happy to see 2 of my favorite characters grow so fond of each other, the way it was described in previous stories was anything but platonic. There was a deep seeded love between them and like it was built upon for a long while. I’m really upset wizards did all that work to create the potential for a wlw relationship only for it to be dismissed so haphazardly! I’m with you prof this book wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on.
on the other hand, prof accusing WotC or author of being biphobic is ridiculous. Ral has a male partner. Netflix has a lot of queer/lgbt-friendly series (e.g. Pose). Chandra on the other hand was also established to have a sort of crush on Gideon, so being upset about Nissa is childish in my opinion. Maybe people were reading too much into their relation, turning it into potential relationship.
@@Deimos0 I think the problem is that Nissa/Chandra was killed off out of nowhere and for no reason. It's the same when Ral became gay out of nowhere and for no reason in War of the Spark. In Ral's case you could say it's pointless signal boosting and pandering while with Chandra it feels like "attempting to erase a mistake".
@@schrottinator it may well be true, but you cannot accuse anyone of biphobia, just because the 'expected' romance did not go through. Sure, both relations could have been handled better (I was surprised when the revealed Zarek's gayness), but accusing someone of discrimination in this case is just silly
@@Deimos0 I think I misunderstood you and ended up justifying Twitter outrage culture. I'm sorry for that. The one thing that personally annoys me is the following: They just stopped Space Mega Hitler Dragon from causing a Doomsday onto the multiverse. Focusing on who likes to get sexual with who or what is kind of irrelevant at that point.
I would like to know how the meeting to plan this novel was... "Oh, critics and fans love jace and vraska, sending they after liliana would be a simple way of progressing the narrative" "Nah, people are tired of the gatewatch." "Uhhhh ok... Maybe we send kaya, as a focal point character and have jace show up only in the end... Hiding himself from vraska and everyone else at ravnica" "I dont know... To much gatewatch" "Dood, all of our developed characters are gatewatch members, chandra will go after either dovin or tezeret, and ajani will take down the other" "What? A gatewatch point of view character AND a non-human pov? You are fired"
That raises a fun question of whether or not Gideon's indestructibility can protect from mind Magic and mental damage, because I imagine that is how Jace would off somebody
Now, BASED OF WAR’s previous novel, so take it with a grain of salt, it was a one time thing. Lili describes the last traces of the magic flickering away, so rather than passing the ability on, he just sort of extended it over her, the magic gone when he was. Cuz, you know, that’s the most interesting thing they could have done with that. *eyeroll*
@@karinawestmoreland8268 In the Shadows Over Innistrad story, Gideon still is plagued with Emrakul's visions and manipulations like all the planeswalkers there (Teyo's was temporary), so it does not protect the mind.
I read many of the early Magic novels, and loved them. I enjoyed the quest for revenge in Arena. I loved the stories in Tapestries and the other anthologies. There was even one where a village's children were being stolen in the night, coming back at dawn injured or dead. The ending really drove home what some of the creatures in the multiverse experience in order for planeswalkers to have their armies, and the grief of those who paid the price. Strong, powerful, moving stories. That is what fiction set in Magic's multiverse has had, and needs to have again.
For me, the War of the Spark novel is almost a tragedy of a wasted opportunity. They have been crafting this HUGE storyline since Kaladesh, they put their main characters in their most popular plane, in a planeswalker war againtst one of Magic's greatest villains in 25 years of history. They had huge historic characters like Karn or Teferi mixed with new age legends like Chandra, Jace or Ajani, and they even got my personal favorite Planeswalker alliance, The Three (Sorin, Nahir and Ugin), and what do they do? They rush the climax in a single book. Damn, in the past they had full trilogies for minor stories (like the firs visit to Mirrodin, or Kamigawa), and in their greatest storyline (for me even greater than the Urza vs Yawgmoth saga) they reduce it to one single book? Really? The waste of characters is almost painful. Karn and Teferi do next to nothing. They have the full group of Sorin, Nahiri and Ugin, and they don't even talk to each other (I expected Ugin to form a truce and to organize them in a final reunion to imprison Bolas). Hell, Sorin and Nahiri don't even have a single line of dialogue in the whole thing. Worse, there are huge parts of the story that seem missing, like we're arriving at the middle of the movie and have to catch up. They should have handled this, massive climax to a massive storyline, full of awesome characters, in a trilogy. A single book was simply to little for this colossal event.
"I'm going to review this book," he said. And he did.
The book was soon reviewed. The review was that of the book.
"This book is a mess," he said. And it was.
Then he reviewed the book, as he claimed he was gonna. He said that because he was planning to review it, and when he did, his words became truth. Soon the review was done, as he said he would do.
...because he could
"But did he." This was not a question.
"We've screwed this up, Weisman." Said Wizards of the Coast. And they had. Because they did.
So they said
@@thallianzairi1830 And they did.
@@XanosKnyghtshade "So let it be written, so let it be done" - 10 Commandments, the movie
Because the had
“You've screwed this up, Weisman.” - Niv Mizzet, probably
“Ral, you a bitch-ass hoe!”
-Also Niv Mizzet
“Awww sheeeit, here we go again.”
-Niv Mezzet again
I really hate Weisman he has killed my favorite magic characters with his chicken shit writing
I wish Wizards would fire him and commission a rewrite for War of the Spark
"Aye, girl," said Ajani, grinning his leonin grin
"I can tap two blue to counter your spell" Johnny said. He could. So he did. Because he said he could. *of course I said I could. I've been holding this counterspell in my hand for 6 turns now.*
Top
Did you forget about the chalice on two?
why would i tap when i can force of will it discarding 1 blue card and losing 1 life that way i could counter their counter as well?
I love how the War of the Spark trailer, a video 3 minutes long, has given a much greater amount of depth to the story than the entirety of the novel that the Professor holds in his hand.
That trailer was so great it almost brought tears to my eyes. If the novels were half that good I would have bought 2 copies.
I'm also partial to the Journey into Nyx trailer! The imagery and tone of the trailer is perfect!
Agreed. I know that skills don't necessarily translate between mediums, but couldn't they have had the person(s) in charge of developing the plot of that trailer as part of the team developing the plot of the novel(s)? That is assuming there was anyone other than the author involved in the development of the novels.
Niv-Mizzet had never been into girls. He liked his snacks spicy and flavorful (and decidedly hot) like Takis. He munched on one while contemplating. 'Dude, what if we gave a goblin a hoverboard?' And he did. Give a goblin a hoverboard, that is.
Alaplaya9 10/10 would read a whole ass book about a stoned Niv chasing half baked science. "Okay but listen, what if we chain a bunch of potatoes together and make a weird out of the combined charge. Potatolemental. It Feeds you French fries of its own body."
Hey, since this is an actual passage from the book, you should really put it in quotes.
If only this came out before I finished high school, so I could use it as my senior quote.
Comment is 10/10.
Nev Mizzet and GlaDos working together, just for SCIENCE!
You know what's the best part: Noone can tell the Professor that he somehow would be out of his wheelhouse here, because he's *actually* an english major.
AND professor, who GRADES people's WRITING.
@Bill Campbell as someone who is an English major as well, I can tell you that small errors in spelling and pronunciation are very far from being important qualities for a writer or critic to have, especially in a non-academic review
@Bill Campbell also it's safe to say a crypt would be cooler at midnight than noon.
Bill Campbell if you think spelling errors affect the quality of someone’s work, then clearly don’t understand the purpose of language. It is there to convey meaning, if you understand it, it’s working.
I see what you did there by saying major and not professor 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
"Ral, dawg, whaddup? All cool in the hood, my homie?" "Oh god, Niv, are you going through a midlife crisis again?" "I don't catch your drift broseph, I've just decided to freshen my image to be more hip with the youths. Mathematical! How you dig my youthful lingo, my main man?" "That's why I hate dragons" said Ral, shaking his head "When you live for millennia, every few centuries you go through a... period." "Niv, wazzup?" said Ugin, flying in the room on a radical skateboard.
Tubular!
Somehow this is actually BETTER than what's in the book.
I would read this book. And re-read it.
Hell, I would write this book WANNA COLLABORATE???
underrated comment
"Ayooo! Waddup Ugin the Pin! Ya ready to shread some gnarly waves?" Niv Mizzet said in his usual bodacious attitude while adjusting his oversized sunglasses.
“When Sorin walked in front of the mirror, he couldn’t see his own reflection, like in one of those vampire movies. “LOL Weird” he said, he did..”
"If you can't save yourself, then you fight to give somebody else a chance."
"You cannot defend others if your own well-being is neglected."
"Wherever the strong would harm the weak, I will be there."
-- Ajani
"AYE, GIRL"
-- Also Ajani, apparently
grinning his grinny grin
It's like comparing Karn from back in the day to Karn from WotS.
"I am reminded of the fable of the silver egg. Its owner cracks it open to see what jewels it holds, only to discover a simple yellow yolk."
"If it is meant to be nothing but a machine, why did Urza build it to be like me?"
"Consider the fable of the greedy herder. As her flock grew, so did her weariness; she slept, and the sheep wandered off."
"Remember the moral of the fireslinger fable; with power comes isolation."
"Remember the fable of the elf who came upon a cave of gold. In trying to free the largest piece, she was crushed by its weight."
...
"BEEP BOOP AM ROBOT WHAT IS METAPHOR"
@@TheChzoronzon please tell me that’s not in the book.
@@_somerandomguyontheinternet_ I don't think so, it was a stab at another line of the book, but 2 years later idk
I know this was 2 years ago, but I do want to say that this is "aye" as in "affirmative". Like, "aye aye captain". Pronounced "eye" or "I".
Of course you might know this and just find the appearance of the writing funny, in which case you're right, but I wanted to say this just in case.
Doesn't make the rest of the writing defensible though.
People: It's for kids, it is not going to be Tolkien.
Me: But what about the Hobbit though? He literally wrote that from bedtime stories he told his children.
"It is for children, not Tolkien's children"
That makes sense. Now I know why he wasted hundreds of words just describing a scene.
I remember reading Tolkien in primary school
“Don’t screw this up, Zarek.” - Niv Mizzet, probably
Niv Mizzet is a prawn
"Yo dog, wubba lubba dub duuuuub!
- Liliana, after sniffing a rail of sparky-coke
"Bloody 'ell I could do with a coffee" -Nicol Bolas, obviously.
as he grinned his dragonly grin.
The wurmcoil engine grinned, with its wurmcoil-ey grin
The fact that this was written doesn’t upset me. The fact that this was given the green light by the WotC story team, however, boils my god damned blood.
Some of them are also upset so what happened behind the scenes might be complicated.
These I would honestly blame the new "story manager" Nik Kelman who pushed this idea of outside authors and limited story team.
@@CC-vv2ne lol fail indeed
Yes... Perhaps if they wrote books less often they could manage a good one.....
@@CC-vv2ne lmao like bisexual people don't exist.
"I hit the like button", said Joel. He could. And he did.
But did he?
Yes, he did. He checked again to be sure. He actually did it. And he said again "yes, I hit the like button."
He said it because he could do it. And after saying it, he did it, since he could do it.
No no, guys, you're doing it all wrong...
"Joel Quarenta, viewer - and Now Commenter - of TH-cam whose witty replies had earned many likes and also replies from such notable fellow commenters Kalos the Shieldbearer and Atipong Pathanasethpong, hit the like button."
_Well, of course I hit the like button! I said I would hit the like button, and I have been able to hit the like button for the equivalent of an eternity!_
Now THAT'S how you -screw up a novel- write a great TH-cam comment.
@@crypticmedicine Iol
"But could Joel do it because he did it? OR did he do it because he could?" I questioned, using words to convey curiosity.
"Ok, boomer" -- Niv Mizzet.
I love this
meanwhile niv is 10000 yrs old
This is the first and (probably last) “boomer” joke that has made me chuckle.
Just let Alison Luhrs write all Magic story, and redo these novels while we're at it. WotC had butchered the lore in the past year and it sickens me, it was what drove my passion for the game the most.
I would like that, but I'm pretty sure Alison would not.
Alison and her team were part of some of the best magic stories of all time. I teared up during the Chandra and Nissa scene, it was so powerfully done.
@@JakobLogan Just curious, which scene was this? Was it during the Kaladesh storyline?
100% agreed
Django Wexler wrote a really good story in the gathering storm.
But that was short and in a very inaccesible format while this garbage was in a book.
The Professor was in his office. _Of course I’m in my office, I’m shooting a video._
“I’m going to tell you about all the good parts of the War or the Spark novels,” he said. And he could not.
i can't believe emrakul was really jace's real mom
Eldrazi blue devoid 10 drop planeswalker card? The world isn't ready for this.
They foreshadowed it back in the Eldrich Moon story articles
While Jace was training with Yoda on Tamriel, he cut off the phantom Tezzeret's head and saw his own face, but Emrakul'd.
@@ms.aelanwyr.ilaicos and with blood eyes. It was hyper realistic.
Next time, on as the WUBRG turns...
Matthew Burras no it’s Jace.EXE
WotC: "How fast can you write a novel?"
Greg Wiseman: "Yes"
WotC: "How fast can you..."
Greg: ' "The book's done', I exclaimed. And it was.'
I am speed
"i can write books fast", Wiseman said. So he did.
Wizards: How fast can y
Weisman: Wanna see me do it again?
WotC: “What do you know of the MtG characters?”
Greg: “Yes”
Niv: Hey Zarek, remember I am your spirit animal.
Zarek: O spirit animal, tell me what I need to do.
Niv: Don't screw up.
That’s a good wisdom
"The Promised End" is one of the best pieces of MTG fiction ever written. The struggle Emrakul goes through while realizing what they are and how that manifests itself through interactions with the Gatewatch is shattering. The ending is also handled well without being what you expected.
Yeah, that one really wowed me.
I'm a huge fan of Kruphix's Insight, myself
I really enjoyed the Innistrad storyline as whole, with the highlights for me being "The Mystery of Markov Manor" and "The Drownyard Temple". It can be easy to forget that good Lovecraftian horror is as much about the mystery and build-up as it is about the monsters and body horror, and the early Innistrad stories are wonderfully unnerving.
That entire blocks story kicked teeth, and genuine kept me interested through, despite knowing what the endgame was, at least as far as the cards tell you.
Return to Innistrad was simultaneously the best and the worst of MtG. In one hand, it showed how clever writing could be with "The Promised End" and Gisa & Geralf's "Games", which are still some of my favorite in MtG lore.
On the other hand, they showed how stupid the writing could get with Sorin's Never-ending Ride of Dumb Decisions and starting the dumbest feud in MtG history.
Ritokure yeah, if he’s been honest and just said “yo, I’ve been unconscious for a month and can barely stand; I can’t help right now, gimme a couple days to get back on my feet” things would have been fine. But, he’s never been willing to show weekends, always been proud. Kinda fits his character at least
I'm just gonna ignore Greg's books. As far as I am concerned, the story was told through the cards, and nothing else.
Yeah and the cards were actually pretty great for that in War of the spark.
I would just consider those books not canon for myself.
The Eldraine novel is good tho despite being relatively short
Yeah it feels like the author has never seen any flavor text before ha.
The online short stories are all really good, Weisman’s novels are just outliers.
As it should be. I shouldn’t need a god damn book for lore.
I'm going to do exactly the same. Thanks to the Professor videos (not being sarcastic, thanks indeed) I didn't buy the books. The summaries alone were such a disappointment!
"Lorans smile" is the Feldon of the third Paths story.... I love this story, because its so sad and his cool artwork seems to fit perfectly after reading his background. I really recommend it to everyone who likes this card.
"She will come back to me."
I love everything about Feldon tbh.
Thanks, I've always wanted to read up on Feldon's lore
"You've screwed this up, Oko." - an Elk
Be gone with you! Out, out of my formats!
The Dragon rose up, his majestic form eclipsing the moon as he spread his wings. His voice was as thunder, with malevolence in every syllable, and hatred protruding from every word, as he spoke. “Yo, Ral, my homie! Don’t be messing this up, ya hear?”
6:22 Ah, yes. Kuzco's imagination. The imagination for Kuzco. The imagination chosen to specifically inspire Kuzco. Kuzco's imagination. That imagination?
Well, that’s a passage written to be as redundant as possible for the sake of comedy, and being mouthed by a character who’s central character includes the fact that he’s an idiot.
Greg Weisman should not touch Magic Storyline anymore. He butchers every character. Like not even one character is saved in this. Vote with your wallets everyone.
As much as I am a collector and I was hyped about first MTG books after I started playing, after hearing reviews and seeing what is done in these books, I decided not to buy them even for collection
Unfortunately, I already bought both War of the Spark novels.
@@Vulpixon732 the throne of eldraine book is great! You should definitely get that one. Just skip Greg Weissman.
@@ShinPG Agreed! Weisman bad. Other authors, better (so far)
I was contemplating on using my credits for the audiobooks, but I decided to listen to Star Wars the old republic series.
"I could click the like button with my (decidedly male) humanly hand." I thought. And I did.
You did because you could, if you couldn’t you wouldn’t have pressed it, however you could and you did
Here's hoping Greg Weisman's authorship is "just a phase.'
That was cold, brilliant and completely deserved.
Fajen Thygia thank you that made me smile
Wait this is the same dude as Gargoyles, Spectacular Spiderman, and Young Justice???
ETA on the emts? We have a burn victim in need of immediate assistance.
@@B1rdzOfF1re Yes, and he has done this kind of erasure in Young Justice too at the very least. He might have the case of George Lucas Syndrome, where he might have something of value to add but it was the people around him that kept him in line that allowed anything useful to come out. But in this case, he's left doing whatever he wants and he wants to make shit.
"I feel a lot better about my Pokemon fanfiction now." I said. And I do.
"This probably isn't the type of comment any author wants made about their works, is it." It was a question with the wrong punctuation.
I'm so disappointed how this and War of the Spark has been written. I was looking forward to both of these so much but ultimately the Professor is right. Thank you Prof for the very true words that Wizards needs to hear loud and clear.
This feels like it's written by a character who claims he was on Ravnica during the war and helped the Gatewatch but he's actually just some liar trying to impress people in a pub.
This.
Well it could be a bard fron D&D for all we know
New headcanon, thank you
@@yosukeminamoto5823 bards can tell stories in more believable way.
@LoadedD20 agreed, but makes a bard with low charisma stats? A griefer?
In the next book, Ral breaks up with Tomik because he doesn't actually like men, he just wanted a new roomie
Rent is high in the City of Ravnica and he wastes all his money on conductors
Turns out some women are actually confused about their sexuality. Who knew that women were people.. damn. Prof is way off on this one.
@@kittredge5167 You're giving the author way too much credit.
And then Ral broke up with him as fast as his arc-lightning famous bolts.
@@kittredge5167 nothing in the book indicates she's coming to terms with or fighting against her sexuality, though. You *can* write a character who is confused about their sexuality, but "decidedly male," and "only platonic" are not how you write that.
“It’s stories for kids. It’s not going to be Tolkien.”
Tolkien literally wrote those stories for his kids. Even stories for kids can be high quality. Those people suck.
Keep it up with these story vids, prof! It’s nice to have someone with literary pedigree offering real insight.
The part about Chandra and Nissa is like the classic "I thought I was straight until I met you" but like... Backwards
TuTumPaFilms
5/5 left field retcon.
Books at the beginning:
The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
The Giving Tree - Shel Silverstein
Chalotte's Web - E.B. White
Harriet the Spy - Luoise Fitzhugh
A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Are You There God? It's me, Margaret - Judy Blume
A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
Matilda - Roald Dahl
How I Live Now - Meg Rosoff
The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
The Fault In Our Stars - John Green
Lord of the Flies - William Golding
The Hunger Games
Sandman Overture - Neil Gaiman
Blue is the warmest color - Julie Maroh
Pride of Baghdad
Runaways - Brian K. Vaughan
Superman - Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely
All-Star Superman* , actually.
It is relevant. All-Star is a classic.
Love the list, but as an obsessive comic nerd and fan of Grant Morrison's unique vision "All-Star Superman". You may now go back to ignoring my vast and useless knowledge. lol
The Phantom Tollbooth is one of my absolute FAVORITE books ever written i was so excited to see it listed at all let alone first
As a huge fan of ASOUE, it makes me very happy to see it grouped with these other great books
Is the book for Blue Is The Warmest Color any good or is it just high fidelity softcore lesbian porn like the movie?
The only good thing about that book is the cover art.
Hector Cortes never judge a book by its cover
And the memes, the hecking memes
Hardly
Just as good as fat pack box art as far as I'm concerned
Too often these days, too many writers for "Children's Media" seem to write as if kids are actually dumb. It's so disrespectful. Be like LEGO: Children deserve the best!
Eh, Lego is more like "kid's parents deserve to pay more each year, while our actual product gets worse and worse. We also hate on creativity and love to leech on brands."
These days? It's always been like that. It's just that history has a way of filtering the wheat from the chaff.
@@humpulaj I mean it seems more prominent compared to the shows I grew up watching and the books I read in the 1990's. I'm sure you're right in that this has always been the case and hindsight lets us better identify what was good and what wasn't, but it just seems more frequent to me. And I consume a lot of media that some would say is targeted to kids.
Who is to blame?
The writers or the general notion that childrens are innocent?
@@poluicionador I'd say a little of both. I remember watching or reading things as a kid and picking up *some* of the subtext, like maybe a guy character was gay or two characters were actually lovers/dating/whatever. This made them all the more enjoyable upon revisiting when I got older. I think too many adults don't try to remember what it was like to be a kid and just let your intuition flow. Kids pick up on a lot that we as adults think they couldn't or shouldn't understand. They get a lot more than we think. Writers should remember that.
I honestly have no idea why they decided to hand off Magic novels to outside authors when Wizards has their own Creative team that is entirely dedicated to portraying the stories of these characters
We also can't fault Weisman entirely for this novel; it's a very real possibility that a lot of the major plot points (like Chandra and Nissa's relationship) were dictated by Nic Kelman, WotC's Head of Story
My favorite Magic story has to be Jace, Alone. I love deep, introspective character pieces, and seeing Jace able to define himself and work through such a task was amazing for me. The day he spent crying in bed because he realized he didn't know what another person's voice sounded like struck me to the core. It was full of stunning ways of showing us who Jace was without telling us so we could internalize him. Him first waking up and stripping himself to study his clothes was such a Blue way of handling this situation. It's probably my favorite short story I've ever read.
I love when the professor discusses the story elements of Magic.
You can tell that he really knows what he's talking about.
I mean, he is literally an English professor.
"You screwed this up, Nissa." -Chandra -Greg Weisman
Yea....this game might take a hit
- Michael Scott
That Chandra and Nissa passage is egregious. The language-"girls" "crushes"- is juvenile. The parentheses are so intrusive. And what is "that great chemical mix"? Is a way of overwriting the expression "to have chemisty"? The tense change in "Now everything's over." TERRIBLE!
Exactly. I don't mind the direction and final resolution, per se, but the delivery is so bad. It could've been done so much better and meaningful.
When I first heard about this my "lets suspend judgement until I get the details" reflex suggested that, perhaps, this was setting up Chandra to struggle with her sexuality. doubting her own feelings and having an internal struggle before coming to her senses and ending that arc by giving Nissa a big snog.
But reading that passage instantly rendered that charitable reading dead. And lead me to Spice8Racks thoughts on male soft scifi writers needing to stop
Take a closer look at the dialogue in the 'book' ALL characters talk like teens.
Ugin, Ral, Bolas, Nissa, Chandra etc. already did so in that morons first WotS book.
Now it infected Niv, Ajani and the rest of them too.
That entire passage is cringe worthy. It sounds like it was written by a high school freshmen. This author clearly doesn't know a thing about these characters, nor does he care. Just awful. I'm surprised the Throne of Eldraine story was as good as it was considering the train wreck that was War of the Spark.
Important to note that Weisman decided to use the word "girls" alongside "men." Pretty damning statement about his own personal thoughts on women.
Me: please say demonstrably
Prof: demonstratably
"Pot meet kettle"
“Don’t screw this up, Zarek.”
- Greg Weisman, everybody. Making noble Dragons sound like a Boros Warlord since 1985
*Stops scrolling through the comments while wearing a Boros pin*
And what is that supposed to mean? 😂
As a proud boros I assure you, only the goblins we enrolled use such an informal lingo. We are soldiers, after all, not mud wrestlers.
"Pot meet kettle" was such an abysmal line on so many levels, only the first of which is that it's wildly out of character for Ugin.
It's not even the right expression! (Is it even an expression at all?) I'm having trouble imagining what the hell Greg thought he meant by that line. Was the pot (Bolas) calling the kettle (Ugin) black? Had Bolas said something hypocritical about Ugin? That would also be very out of character.
Wow that Teysa replying to the narrator is comical, who let this get published?
Teysa is Deadpool... That had to be obvious.
When I was studying 9th Grade English the students had to edit each others papers for short stories and a classmate of mine did this. The writing was so terribly cringey and bad that the page was filled with red marks. You couldn't tell if the protagonist was addressing the reader or the other "characters" (I think he was just beating up thugs so I doubt there was much dialogue directed their way).
I'm shocked that a professional author and a professional editor would allow the same mistakes that a 14 year old could catch.
Can we just as a community elect to not respect the new Ravnica books as canon?
There were books??
_>
@@patrickstonecrusher That's the spirit!
Yes ofcourse only part I enjoyed was seeing the final moments in the commercial.😂 So as Star wars fans have chosen Legends over The wackness of Rian Jhonson so can you here. I have spoken.
@Darth Mizinth 😎 agreed my Fellow sith Agreeed
@Darth Mizinth I like the premise of your action but disagree with your arbitrary cut off point. May I suggest Dominaria instead? If only to keep in Yahenni's story and the Ixalan block.
Weisman writing about Chandra and Nissa's wedding:
"And the two friends sealed their platonic friendship in front of the rest of the gatewatch. Jace even commented, "Those two sure are good friends!" Everyone celebrated their friendship. And knew it was just a friendship because Nissa was not brawny (and decidedly female)."
To answer your question, my favorite story is 100% the "Truth of Names" about Alesha.
Now see this would almost be cute if they were actually into each other but eternally bashful and unable to admit it, so they go to absurd lengths to insist that they're "just friends" despite getting married and so on, and everyone else rolls with it out of respect even though they all know they're clearly in love. Too bad Wiseman's a HACK.
Nissa *is* brawny though. :)
@@letsgetsomeshoes1239 That is actually a very cute (and decidedly absurd) idea.
@@fernandobanda5734 somone please Photoshop buff nissa
@@letsgetsomeshoes1239 See it's really more along the lines of what me and my gay friends do, which is constantly joke about us really being straight whenever we do something explicitly really really gay. Like I'm just going to pretend that this is all an in joke. Like * Chandra rolled her eyes * yeah, because I've always (definitely) been into big masc, decidedly manly, men. * rolls eyes into back of skull * me and Nissa were totally just friends * deadpans to camera * * flashback plays of them staring longingly into each others eyes, then passionately kissing * "Yep. Definitely just a little crush. A confluence of chemical elements if you will" * flashback to Chandra seductively biting and pulling on Nissa's lip while they make out * * cut back to Chandra looking straight into the camera judgementally with one eyebrow raised * * The words "Just friends!" Scrolls across the screen *
When Ajani says "Aye, Girl" to Chandra, in my head he sounds like a player. Lol
Johnny Goldmane
So, would that make him a catcaller?
And that line singlehandedly made Chandra abandon elf pussy in favour of cat dick.
"Ey bby"
-Ajani, Cat-Man
this is so out of character.
When he pulled out the urban dictionary to say “bad” i died
Prof out here flexing those "actual English professor" muscles again.
Really though, stellar review.
Haha. It comes in handy sometimes :)
Is there anybody even half a qualified to review this book?! I dont think so.
At this point the community really needs to get behind it just not being canon.
How can it be non cannon if it doesn’t exist? Frankly I don’t even know why the professor is criticising middle school fan fiction.
@@lucarioknightb7685 noice just like that one dragonball movie i forget the name of. or me a fan of the Eragon series still waiting for a movie adaption.
Hulking Elf yeah, damn shame those never came out.
Huh. I could of swore I just watched a 20 minute video, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was about.
What were we talking about?
All the War of the Spark novels are just in Bolas' head as the most likely outcome of his current plan, which is why he didn't go through with it and none of this stuff happened.
I’m waiting for Brandon Sanderson’s MTG story. He’s amazing and I hope it’s out soon.
Children of the Nameless came out months ago. Its very good. Unless there's another one that I haven't heard about yet, which would be exciting.
It's already out and it's great.Children of the Nameless
Yeah, was surprised it wasn't on the list of great stories.
Maybe there were just too many to include.
Alexander C wow I’m dumb as hell, thanks I’ll have to check it out. I’ve been too focused on Stormlight updates haha
Skyward 2 is also coming real soon
“It’s what those kids would call....
BAD.”
And it was. And they did.
I wish I hadn't read it, that sloppily written end to Nissa/Chandra's relationship really angered me. Not just because of the bi-phobic connotations but also because up until that point there had been a great focus on what each brought about for the other (a calmness for Chandra from Nissa and being able to be a bit more comfortable in social and city environments for Nissa from Chandra's presence) which I really identified with as my mind is a mess most of the time but being with the one I love brings about that calm. Then in this book that gets horribly mutated into Chandra having to stifle herself for Nissa and Nissa getting negatively exhausted by Chandra's energy and emotions which just feels so untrue and like the good writing work done previously to build that up was just defecated over. Because I had identified with that bond between them this sloppy mess actually had my anxiety/depression kicking in and making me paranoid I was actually a burden to my partner to the point I had to go get reassurances from them.
I mentioned to others how the characters overall had felt a bit off to me but I didn't realise quite how much until it was touched on here with the way they were written and even the bits I enjoyed (I kinda found Teyo and Rat cute as well as the fact Kaya's fond of them) felt tainted by the end of the book and Liliana just felt...ruined. Not on the path of redemption, just ruined as a character.
Amazing comment, thank you for sharing your feelings on this
Garbage book is garbage, fucking wah.
Why is it that you freaks are all so concerned with your contrived ship sinking? This is like the 5th person I've read who has had an actual mental breakdown over your corporate sponsored ship. Yeah, Chandra's one note _really_ compliments Nissan's 0.5.
Typical.
Blood Hunter's grumpy because someone pissed in their cereal
@@derrickvo9292 life and idiots had indeed pissed in my cereal. They could, and they did.
@@iBloodxHunter Sorry to hear that. It's always rough when you expect a mouthful of cheerios and instead get a mouthful of urine.
Of course, try not to take it out on others. Some person being upset that bisexual representation is regressive isn't anything to shit your pants about, and dragging others down because people dragged you down isn't productive.
"Now this is truely a garbage fire" said Grenzo
And he lit the garbage on fire, and so he did.
Arghore Because he thought about it, because he can, so he did, because he could.
,probably
Wholeheartedly agree with the opening, there are too many fantastic books to count that have been aimed at the younger audiences but are better written, contain better stories and are more compelling reads than most adult fiction.
Lloyd Hibbins
Exactly! As an avid reader and a burgeoning writer myself, it baffles me that people seem to think that “kids stories” can’t be meaningful and well written in spite of their targeted audiences.
The written word can be a beautiful and poignant thing, if you put your heart into it.
No matter the target audience.
I feel like the professor’s whole educational background was just to lay into this man’s latest mistake.
Honestly I was never too into the whole relationship thing between Chandra and Nissa.
But god the way their relationship was written off as "only platonic" and the heavy emphasis on how Chandra always have loved "Brawny, masculine men" just hurts
Tell me about it, if WotC wanted them broken up then there were plenty of things already in the story that could be leveraged, Chandra's fiery temper, leaning back into Nissa as ElfHitler.
My favorite MTG story is the original Lhurgoyf and I quote, ""Ach! Hans, run! It's the lhurgoyf!"
-Saffi Eriksdotter, last words
That whole Kaya can all a sudden break established planeswalking rule sounds like something out of a superhero comic book of don't question surpise plot specific super power that came out of nowhere.
You know, it's a shame we never got cards based specifically on these books. We could have gotten such wonderful cards as:
Teyo, Statuatory R**ist
Vraska, Domestic Abuser
Ajani, Leonin Pervert
Liliana, Emo Necromancer
Karn, Skullbashing Pacifist
Nissa and Chandra, Heterosexual Gal Pals
and, of course, he may not be a planeswalker, but I think we can all agree we're all eagerly awaiting Niv Mizzet, Twitch Streamer
Cry-laughed at Niv being a Twitch Streamer. Thank you.
Behold, the rage of the english background is mighty indeed.... great review prof 😊
I read all of War of the Spark: Ravnica in about a day. When I finished it, I thought to myself, “That was quick, even for me.” The fact that the story was rushed there was fine, because it told a story of a battle that almost seemed to be in real time. I HAD planned to pick up Forsaken but then the biophobic twist came out and that was all I needed to hear. I had purchased the first book before launch and had been excited by it. But hearing this, and any plans I had to purchase it were immediately and DECIDEDLY QUASHED. As far as I’m concerned, Nissa and Chandra are in love, as is Jace and Vraska (seriously, Weisman can burn for trying to end something so beautifully built on Ixalan). It tells you who understands characters when The Wildered Quest was a more cohesive, thoughtful story, and a book that not only understood its characters, but gave them a full fleshed out story. Not one rushed to page.
Chandra and Nissa never made sense as couple, it always was a lovely friendship at most. But I agree there were much better ways to handle it and put a clear end to Chandra's feelings and love interests.
I have to respectfully disagree with you on the biphobic part. I have
not read the book yet but from the wordsthe professor bases his statements on, I
don't think the biphobic part can proven.
As a member of the LGBTQ community myself (bisexual Male and married to
another male) I have to say I completely understand loving people
without wanting to have sex with them as every relationship is different
and unique, this is what respecting sexual diversity is, accepting that
relationships can be diverse by gender, sexuality or numbers of people
involved and not adhere to a standard of sexual norms.
Asexual or Demisexual people do exist and to tell them that platonic love is "just a fancy" is extremely disrespectful to them.
Words have power and with what the professor is saying, he is telling the
world, that a platonic relationship is not an equal form of
relationship but a fad. But the words he uses to base this on, don't say
this, his interpretation of the word says this so his mind has the
preconceived thought that platonic means fancy or a fad. And this is so
disrespectful for Demi or Asexual people whose relationships he just
devalued with his interpretation.
@@FurFoxMcCloud
Your use of "cannot be proven" pisses me off so much. There are only two places you ever need to prove something: in Math, and in court. This is neither.
The Prof acknowledges that he can't know the author's intention, only what the words mean. Words have meaning (you watched the video, right?), and these words are biphobic.
@@GranMaese I have to disagree with you. Chandra and Nissa complimented each other very well. Neither ever forced the other into doing things, but they did assist in shoring up the others social and mental pitfalls. Nissa helped Chandra calm down and focus while Chandra helped Nissa interact with others. The Kaladesh storyline actually set up this relationship well with some help from Ovia Pashiri and Yahenni to get them to start recognizing what they needed. It wasn't that they needed to do activitiess together, but together, they are both far stronger people.
@@snakeman830 Oh, yes. As a friendship they totally make great sense. But not as lovers, that's the issue.
"War of the spark: Forsaken, is a FAIL"
What a BALD statement, Prof ;)
I would be remiss if I didn't pipe up about my personal favourite magic story - Burn, from Aether Revolt.
Be warned it is heavy stuff, but it solidified why Chandra will always be my favourite character
If we stare at the book long enough without a shirt, it will turn into an elk. I believe that.
Hey, next set Ashiok is coming back, maybe they will reveal all of this was just a nightmare he created for Ajani.
@InferSader I'm sad how right you probably are
@InferSader I would honestly cry :'(
@InferSader can you not use that word its really offencive its sounds like your calling generic gender people a cyts an infection that needs removed i know its spelled differently but still it sounds the same and we should call the people we love who are generic such an offensive name.
@@carriestovall8687 cis- is the latin root word opposite trans-. any similarities to "cyst" are merely a side-effect of the english language and not meant to invoke any prejudice against people who identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.
@Carrie the “cis” in cisgender comes from the Latin preposition that means on the same side (as opposed to “trans” which meant on the other side). Basically cisgender people have remained on the same “side” as the gender they were assigned at birth. It’s a really neutral word with no positive or negative connotations, and its important to have words that can describe different catagories of experience - just like how having the word “straight/heterosexual” is useful when it comes to discussing sexualities.
Please don’t be offended by the word - there is no negative meaning or insult associated with it, and it’s absolutely a word you can use to describe yourself or people you love in a neutral way.
"People die if they are killed!"
"Yes, that's...what dieing means"
My favorite magic story was Timestreams by J. Robert King.
I adored the incredible and intricate level of worldbuilding that went into Urza and his entire academy of students fighting against time itself to eliminate a rapidly evolving Phyrexian threat.
"Could he did it ? probably." He said, and maybe he did.
You don't think it did do like it, but it does.
People don't think it be like that, but it do.
He could probably do the thing he maybe probably said he could do. But people probably think it be that way even if it dont be that way and he didn't do what he said it did do, don't it?
I didn't even care about the spoilers on this one. Bring back Allison Luhrs!
When the video starts by explaining how good this could be, I can imagine how bad it actually is. And I did.
6:23 Oh right, the poison. The poison for Kuzco. The poison chosen specifically to kill Kuzco. Kuzco’s poison.
Born of Aether was AMAZING. I've never been made to care so much for a secondary or tertiary character like that.
I hate to say it but this novel broke me. I was okay with a ton of bad decisions sides WotC just because I loved the worlds and characters they created but both War of the Spark novels are almost proving to me that they don't care anymore. Characters are becoming hollow shells of what they used to be and lore is merely a marketing tool for a game that used to create more than just cards. By now there is one thing left this game generates for me and that is art. I will gladly buy from Magic artists to support them but it would feel wrong to me to toss money directly at a company that only wants that, MONEY. So to use the very wise words of Niv, "You screwed up, WotC.".
Favourite Storyline: Ixalan
Favourite story overall: Feldon’s quest
Magic story can be so astoundingly good, and it pains me to see literature like Weisman’s tarnish the good legacy. Not to say that writing in eugenicists like Urza and Yawgmoth is particularly laudable, but they had consistent characters. Thank you prof for bringing such insightful review!
Michael Saemmer It’s one of my favourite MTG vorthos vids!
this was exactly the evisceration I was hoping for, based on what I have heard on Twitter about this book's crimes. Thank you for reading this swill on our behalf.
Crimes? that's a bit dramatic don't you think? Also, you're literally a sheep. "thank you for thinking for me".. lol
When people dismiss children's stories as not having quality, I think of Avatar: The Last Airbender. It's a children's show so excellent, it might well be one of my favourite pieces of fiction I have ever consumed.
The recent She-Ra and Voltron reboots are similarly fantastic, despite also being for children. I have not seen Steven Universe, but I hear it is amazing too.
When someone claims that a story 'for children' has to be bad by default, then I mourn for them and for all the excellence they are willfully passing up.
That said, as a lesbian trans woman who has identified with Chandra for nearly a decade, I have to say the title of this book is very apt. Because I haven't felt this betrayed and forsaken by a story and a franchise I loved (and I use the past tense deliberately here) in quite a long while.
Wizards screwed up. Bad. And even just thinking of sitting down and playing the game hurts. And I don't know what will be necessary for that hurt to go away other than a complete reversal of the damage this book did.
The Dragon Prince is a good show that fits a child's show with great quality, its created by the people who made Avatar the Last Airbender.
Wah, bad book is bad.
The storyline of MTG has been shit since after EMN.
Actually no, that's biased....
It's been shit since after Tarkir.
What? The She-Ra reboot is a totally mess.
Thanks proffesor. This has been a wonderful check list for me of “what not to do” as a newbie writer.
out of fear of their Chinese audience ... oh damn. Hadn't thought of that.
Michael Lebovitz even if that’s true, they could have done what Nickelodeon did with Korra - have it be a subtext. They didn’t have to explicitly kill it.
Seems unlikely given their decision to allow public support of protests. At least there's that.
Technically, Chandra was never officially lesbian, it was more of just something that fans have just theorized about, it was also stated Chandra had a crush on Gideon for awhile (pre-Gatewatch in fact). I'm actually happy to see that Wizards has decided to go against the woke culture that has been plaguing media too long, it is getting old and ridiculous at this point, not every major character has to LGBT.
@@halozoo2436 I mean, Chandra CAN have multiple attractions...
@@avarice25 She can, but I would rather have them add new characters to be LGBT rather than retcon existing ones to be the LGBT representatives, not to mention that popular media is starting to over-represent minorities and LGBT people
the hair is starting to grow
That was fast
Sounds like we need to petition for these sub-par books be be removed from the MTG lore canon!
The way you deconstruct this book is incredible. Definitively earned my sub!! Thank you for being awesome.
Kaya has an 'Oath of...' card where she says she will keep watch. I'm fairly certain that means she's in the Gatewatch.
Prof. Can you just rewrite the whole arc of the War of the spark
Seconded!
petition to obtain the licensing rights to rewrite the series
That's a great idea but would wotc go for it
@@pacree1015 I think the better question is would Prof even want to write 2 whole novels? It's not an easy thing to do and takes time and dedication.
I think he would take it up just to do the story just
Magic the Gathering fiction just went from 'guilty pleasure' to 'cringey embarrassment.' My love for the story has been destroyed. My interest in the upcoming netflix series has been exiled.
I can cast pull from eternity by pointing out that a different team is gonna be working on it, but you're gonna have to drag it outta the graveyard
Ah can we go back to the neat short stories now then?
AYYYYYYE GIRL.
-my boi Ajani.
Thank you for including A Series of Unfortunate Events with those literary giants.
It means a lot to me.
"It's for kids, it's not gonna be Tolkien"
The hobbit?? No one? Ok
I'm just wondering what the Hell happened to Greg Weisman in between the Gargoyles of my youth and now. Just, what the actual Hell?
Young Justice, that happened.
While I'm not familiar with Weisman's work, it is often the case that the original fame was somewhat undeserved. Take George Lucas and Star Wars. A lot of what made the originals good were the people preventing him from doing what he wanted to do. Once he became a legend and everyone just let him use his authorial genius, he made the prequels and remastered the originals into bad imitations of themselves.
Writing a book and writing a first draft script for an animated show are probably pretty different animals.
What James said basically. They're entirely different mediums.
He did Traveler for Warcraft and that's pretty darn good. WOTC assuredly had a lot of say in the story and what would happen, but still some writing seems a lil questionable at times. I don't get it man.
Why doesn’t wizards literally hire an English PROFESSOR, to write the stories for magic the gathering? He has a long rooted love for the game since it started. Started a community college for the the game. I am genuinely curious.
Why would you hire a professor instead of a... writer?
@@thissisawesome4853 I don't know if that phrase is really true these days. Most of my professors were hustling on the job market like everybody else.
He may not be a writer, but he’d be a great editor.
Thiss is Awesome Teaching something requires you to understand it at a far deeper level than doing it. You have to know what you're doing, why you're doing it, what people think you're doing, how to convey what you're actually doing to a wide variety of people beginning from a variety of places -- as opposed to doing something, where you just have to understand how to do the thing, not even necessarily what that thing is. There are plenty of inadequate teachers out there, certainly -- and that is cause for alarm. We should hold teachers to a significantly higher standard than we do. But that doesn't mean teaching is easy. Quite the contrary.
I mean I think I new deep down that Chandra and Nissa’s relationship was going to be queerbait but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. I was really happy to see 2 of my favorite characters grow so fond of each other, the way it was described in previous stories was anything but platonic. There was a deep seeded love between them and like it was built upon for a long while. I’m really upset wizards did all that work to create the potential for a wlw relationship only for it to be dismissed so haphazardly!
I’m with you prof this book wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on.
Exactly. I don't mind the direction and final resolution, per se, but the delivery is so bad. It could've been done so much better and meaningful.
on the other hand, prof accusing WotC or author of being biphobic is ridiculous. Ral has a male partner. Netflix has a lot of queer/lgbt-friendly series (e.g. Pose). Chandra on the other hand was also established to have a sort of crush on Gideon, so being upset about Nissa is childish in my opinion. Maybe people were reading too much into their relation, turning it into potential relationship.
@@Deimos0
I think the problem is that Nissa/Chandra was killed off out of nowhere and for no reason.
It's the same when Ral became gay out of nowhere and for no reason in War of the Spark.
In Ral's case you could say it's pointless signal boosting and pandering while with Chandra it feels like "attempting to erase a mistake".
@@schrottinator it may well be true, but you cannot accuse anyone of biphobia, just because the 'expected' romance did not go through. Sure, both relations could have been handled better (I was surprised when the revealed Zarek's gayness), but accusing someone of discrimination in this case is just silly
@@Deimos0 I think I misunderstood you and ended up justifying Twitter outrage culture. I'm sorry for that.
The one thing that personally annoys me is the following: They just stopped Space Mega Hitler Dragon from causing a Doomsday onto the multiverse. Focusing on who likes to get sexual with who or what is kind of irrelevant at that point.
“Necromancers raise the dead. Vampires drain life. See me after class, Greg!”
Beautiful.
This sounds like the time I didn't read Scarlet's letter in my high school English class and I had to write a report on it.
I failed that report.
Tbf that book is terrifyingly boring. I don't blame you lol
As an English snob, it's all good. That book is boring to the point of tears.
I would like to know how the meeting to plan this novel was...
"Oh, critics and fans love jace and vraska, sending they after liliana would be a simple way of progressing the narrative"
"Nah, people are tired of the gatewatch."
"Uhhhh ok... Maybe we send kaya, as a focal point character and have jace show up only in the end... Hiding himself from vraska and everyone else at ravnica"
"I dont know... To much gatewatch"
"Dood, all of our developed characters are gatewatch members, chandra will go after either dovin or tezeret, and ajani will take down the other"
"What? A gatewatch point of view character AND a non-human pov? You are fired"
I would have loved the story direction if Jace went after Liliana and Vraska went with. So freaking much that could have been done there.
"Would he kill her? Could he?"
Probably not, considering how Gideon gave her his indestructibility.
That raises a fun question of whether or not Gideon's indestructibility can protect from mind Magic and mental damage, because I imagine that is how Jace would off somebody
@@karinawestmoreland8268 It definitively doesn't protect you from drowning in puddles.
Now, BASED OF WAR’s previous novel, so take it with a grain of salt, it was a one time thing. Lili describes the last traces of the magic flickering away, so rather than passing the ability on, he just sort of extended it over her, the magic gone when he was. Cuz, you know, that’s the most interesting thing they could have done with that. *eyeroll*
@@karinawestmoreland8268 In the Shadows Over Innistrad story, Gideon still is plagued with Emrakul's visions and manipulations like all the planeswalkers there (Teyo's was temporary), so it does not protect the mind.
I think gideon's sacrifice is gonna effect Lillianna's character to the point I think her color shifted to black white.
I read many of the early Magic novels, and loved them. I enjoyed the quest for revenge in Arena. I loved the stories in Tapestries and the other anthologies. There was even one where a village's children were being stolen in the night, coming back at dawn injured or dead. The ending really drove home what some of the creatures in the multiverse experience in order for planeswalkers to have their armies, and the grief of those who paid the price. Strong, powerful, moving stories. That is what fiction set in Magic's multiverse has had, and needs to have again.
For me, the War of the Spark novel is almost a tragedy of a wasted opportunity. They have been crafting this HUGE storyline since Kaladesh, they put their main characters in their most popular plane, in a planeswalker war againtst one of Magic's greatest villains in 25 years of history. They had huge historic characters like Karn or Teferi mixed with new age legends like Chandra, Jace or Ajani, and they even got my personal favorite Planeswalker alliance, The Three (Sorin, Nahir and Ugin), and what do they do? They rush the climax in a single book. Damn, in the past they had full trilogies for minor stories (like the firs visit to Mirrodin, or Kamigawa), and in their greatest storyline (for me even greater than the Urza vs Yawgmoth saga) they reduce it to one single book? Really? The waste of characters is almost painful. Karn and Teferi do next to nothing. They have the full group of Sorin, Nahiri and Ugin, and they don't even talk to each other (I expected Ugin to form a truce and to organize them in a final reunion to imprison Bolas). Hell, Sorin and Nahiri don't even have a single line of dialogue in the whole thing.
Worse, there are huge parts of the story that seem missing, like we're arriving at the middle of the movie and have to catch up. They should have handled this, massive climax to a massive storyline, full of awesome characters, in a trilogy. A single book was simply to little for this colossal event.