The following is a list of novels based in the setting of the collectible card game . When Wizards of the Coast was asked how the novels and cards influence each other, Brady Dommermuth, Magic's Creative Director, responded by saying "generally the cards provide the world in which the novels are set, and the novels sometimes provide characters represented on cards. But cards also introduce their own characters that might not appear in the novels. In short, the Magic creative team and the novelists work largely in parallel and inform each other as much as possible."[1] All of the novels take place in the multiverse (the center nexus of which is Dominaria), which consists of an infinite number of infinitely different planes.[2] [3]
The novels from The Brothers' War through Scourge, along with The Thran and the ...of Magic anthologies, are set on the plane of Dominaria and are a roughly chronological timeline of that plane's history.[4] Magic began to venture out of Dominaria and into several new planes in the later novels such as Mirrodin (formerly Argentum) in the Mirrodin Cycle,[5] Kamigawa in the Kamigawa Cycle,[6] and Ravnica in the Ravnica Cycle.[7] The Magic storyline returned to Dominaria with the Time Spiral cycle,[8] and visited Lorwyn with the storyline cycle of the same name.[9] After this, the policy of publishing a trilogy of novels for each year's setting was discontinued; the Alara, Zendikar and Scars of Mirrodin block settings had only a single novel each.
Theros was the last block to receive a companion novel, and only in e-book form, with Wizards of the Coast citing various reasons including a decline in sales and an outdated model as two major contributing factors for the decision. Beginning with the Khans block in 2013, the company decided to tell the storyline through the cards and free online articles and found that more players were familiar with the block story line than were previously when only novels told the story.[10] [11] [12]
This approach continued through 2017. Then, Wizards of the Coast hired novelist and scriptwriter Nic Kelman as their Head of Story and Entertainment. Kelman's task was to assemble all of the lore established from previous card sets and the published novels, comics, and other materials as to create the game's "cosmology" or the story bible that established all the known planes and elements of those planes, the individual Planeswalkers and their connections to others, and other details that then could be passed not only to the teams developing new cards but also to those expanding the franchise with new novels and other content.[13] [14] In 2018, Brandon Sanderson published an e-book, Children of the Nameless, marking the return of novels.[15] [16] (2019) by Greg Weisman was the first print book after an eight-year break. It corresponded with the final set of a three part Ravnica storyline[17] and received a sequel. However, the sequel was widely panned[18] [19] and Wizards of the Coast "canceled plans for the book that was intended for the game's next set, Theros: Beyond Death".[20] Then in 2020, with the Zendikar Rising (2020) set, the Magic storyline returned via story articles on the official website.[21]
The original ten books were deliberately not numbered as a marketing concern. The publishers thought people might shy away from a multi-book series. Some stories are connected, some not. The heroes of Arena, Garth and Rakel, appear in Shattered Chains. The books Whispering Woods, Shattered Chains, and Final Sacrifice are known as the "Whispering Woods Trilogy" or "The Greensleeves Trilogy".[22]
All of the non-cycle books were published by Harper Fantasy.[23]
| Year | Title | Author | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Arena | William R. Forstchen | 297 | |
| 1995 | Whispering Woods | Clayton Emery | 294 | |
| 1995 | Shattered Chains | Clayton Emery | 288 | |
| 1995 | Final Sacrifice | Clayton Emery | 312 | |
| 1995 | The Cursed Land | Teri McLaren | 290 | |
| 1995 | The Prodigal Sorcerer | Mark C. Sumner | 309 | |
| 1996 | Ashes of the Sun | Hanovi Braddock | 304 | |
| 1996 | Song of Time | Teri McLaren | 304 | |
| 1996 | And Peace Shall Sleep | Sonia Orin Lyris | 304 | |
| 1996 | Dark Legacy | Robert E. Vardeman | 368 | |
All of the below cycled or series books have been published by Wizards of the Coast.[23]
| Cycle | Year | Title | Author | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artifacts | 1998 | The Brothers' War | Jeff Grubb | 409 | |
| 1998 | Planeswalker | Lynn Abbey | 359 | ||
| 1999 | Time Streams | J. Robert King | 343 | ||
| 1999 | Bloodlines: The Story of Urza's Destiny | Loren L. Coleman | 343 | ||
| 1999 | The Thran | J. Robert King | 311 | ||
| Ice Age | 1999 | The Gathering Dark | Jeff Grubb | 342 | |
| 2000 | The Eternal Ice | Jeff Grubb | 320 | ||
| 2000 | The Shattered Alliance | Jeff Grubb | 309 | ||
| Masquerade | 1999 | Mercadian Masques | Francis Lebaron | 341 | |
| 2000 | Nemesis | Paul B. Thompson | 320 | ||
| 2000 | Prophecy | Vance Moore | 311 | ||
| Invasion | 2000 | Invasion | J. Robert King | 311 | |
| 2001 | Planeshift | J. Robert King | 311 | ||
| 2001 | Apocalypse | J. Robert King | 308 | ||
| Odyssey | 2000 | Odyssey | Vance Moore | 320 | |
| 2001 | Chainer's Torment | Scott McGough | 320 | ||
| 2001 | Judgment | Will McDermott | 320 | ||
| Legends | 2001 | Johan | Clayton Emery | 311 | |
| 2001 | Jedit | Clayton Emery | 320 | ||
| 2002 | Hazezon | Clayton Emery | 320 | ||
| Legends II | 2002 | Assassin's Blade | Scott McGough | 320 | |
| 2003 | Emperor's Fist | Scott McGough | 320 | ||
| 2003 | Champion's Trial | Scott McGough | 306 | ||
| Onslaught | 2002 | Onslaught | J. Robert King | 320 | |
| 2003 | Legions | J. Robert King | 312 | ||
| 2003 | Scourge | J. Robert King | 320 | ||
| Mirrodin | 2003 | The Moons of Mirrodin | Will McDermott | 320 | |
| 2004 | The Darksteel Eye | Jess Lebow | 320 | ||
| 2004 | The Fifth Dawn | Cory Herndon | 320 | ||
| Kamigawa | 2004 | Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa | Scott McGough | 320 | |
| 2005 | Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa | Scott McGough | 320 | ||
| 2005 | Guardian: Saviors of Kamigawa | Scott McGough | 320 | ||
| Ravnica | 2005 | Ravnica: City of Guilds | Cory J. Herndon | 320 | |
| 2006 | Guildpact | Cory J. Herndon | 320 | ||
| 2006 | Dissension | Cory J. Herndon | 320 | ||
| Time Spiral | 2006 | Time Spiral | Scott McGough | 320 | |
| 2007 | Planar Chaos | Scott McGough, Timothy Sanders | 320 | ||
| 2007 | Future Sight | Scott McGough, John Delaney | 320 | ||
| Lorwyn | 2007 | Lorwyn | Cory J. Herndon, Scott McGough | 320 | |
| 2008 | Morningtide | Cory J. Herndon, Scott McGough | 320 | ||
| Lorwyn II: Shadowmoor | 2008 | Shadowmoor | Philip Athans, Susan J. Morris | 352 | |
| 2008 | Eventide | Scott McGough, Cory J. Herndon | 320 |
Block novels are novels which replaced the trilogy (or tetralogy) of novels previously released corresponding to each Magic set. They were introduced in 2009 with Alara Unbroken released for the Shards of Alara block. As the name suggests the block novel follows the story of the card block of the same name.[24]
| Year | Title | Author | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Alara Unbroken | Doug Beyer | 320 | |
| 2010 | Zendikar: In the Teeth of Akoum | Robert B. Wintermute | 320 | |
| 2011 | Scars of Mirrodin: The Quest for Karn | Robert B. Wintermute | 320 | |
These novels were connected to specific expansion sets without blocks.
| Year | Title | Author | Publisher | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Greg Weisman | Del Ray Books | 384 | ||
| 2019 | Greg Weisman | Del Ray Books | 416 | ||
The Planeswalker novels are a type of Magic novel that was introduced in 2009. Each follows the story of one of Magic's planeswalkers. The first yearly planeswalker novel was released in the winter and the second in the summer of 2009.[24]
| Year | Title | Author | Pages | Planeswalker | ISBN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Agents of Artifice | Ari Marmell | 390 | Jace Beleren | ||
| 2009 | The Purifying Fire | Laura Resnick | 400 | Chandra Nalaar | ||
| 2010 | Test of Metal | Matthew Stover | 352 | Tezzeret | ||
| 2020 | Chandra | Vita Ayala | 96 | Chandra Nalaar |
For the Return to Ravnica block, a 3-part novella by Doug Beyer was released.[25] Similarly a 2 part novella by Jenna Helland was released for the Theros block.
| Block | Year | Title | Author | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return to Ravnica | 2012 | Return to Ravnica: The Secretist, Part One | Doug Beyer | 67 |
| 2013 | Gatecrash: The Secretist, Part Two | Doug Beyer | 97 | |
| 2013 | Dragon's Maze: The Secretist, Part Three | Doug Beyer | 90 | |
| Theros | April 1, 2014 | Theros: Godsend, Part I | Jenna Helland | 124 |
| May 13, 2014 | Journey Into Nyx: Godsend, Part II | Jenna Helland | 139 | |
| Blockless e-books | December 12, 2018 | Children of the Nameless | Brandon Sanderson | 127 |
| September 4, 2019 | Throne of Eldraine: The Wildered Quest | Kate Elliott | 208 | |
| April 7, 2020 | Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths - Sundered Bond | Django Wexler | 174 |
The first two Anthologies, Tapestries and Distant Planes were published by Harper Fantasy while all of the others since then have been published by Wizards of the Coast.[23]
| Year | Title | Author | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Tapestries | Kathy Ice | 290 | |
| 1995 | Distant Planes | Kathy Ice | 384 | |
| 1998 | Rath and Storm | Peter Archer | 311 | |
| 1999 | The Colors of Magic | Jess Lebow | 342 | |
| 2000 | Myths of Magic | Jess Lebow | 304 | |
| 2001 | Dragons of Magic | J. Robert King | 320 | |
| 2002 | The Secrets of Magic | J. Robert King | 320 | |
| 2003 | Monsters of Magic | J. Robert King | 320 | |
| Category | Year | Title | Author | Publisher | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphic novels | 1999 | Gerrard's Quest | Mike Grell, Pop Mhan, Norman Le | Dark Horse Comics | 112 | |
| Novel compilations | 2009 | Artifacts Cycle I | J. Robert King, Jeff Grubb | Wizards of the Coast | 720 | |
| 2009 | Artifacts Cycle II | Lynn Abbey, J. Robert King, Loren L. Coleman | Wizards of the Coast | 768 | ||
| Web comic compilations | 2010 | Path of the Planeswalker | Doug Beyer, Brady Dommermuth, Jenna Helland | Wizards of the Coast | 192 | |
| 2011 | Path of the Planeswalker II | Doug Beyer, Brady Dommermuth, Jenna Helland | Wizards of the Coast | 160 | ||
| 2012 | Magic the Gathering: Vol. 1 | Matt Forbeck, Martin Coccolo | IDW Publishing | 104 | N/A (eBook) | |
| 2012 | Magic the Gathering: Vol. 2 - The Spell Thief | Matt Forbeck, Martin Coccolo, Christian Duce, Dan Scott | IDW Publishing | 104 | N/A (eBook) |
The Planeswalker's Guide Series was a planned series of novels which were to start with A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara in September 2008. Each novel was going to contain information, concept art, card art, etc... about the plane it is dedicated to.[24] The series was later changed to web article series after the first book did not sell as well as the publisher hoped.[26]