The Art of Magic: The Gathering – The Rath Cycle

In his introduction to The Art of Magic: The Rath Cycle, Magic’s creator Richard Garfield compares players of the game to archaeologists, piecing together a diverse and complex story with bits of information gleaned from each card. If Magic’s players are archaeologists, then any of them exploring the harsh and forbidding plane of Rath would be wise to equip themselves with this definitive field guide. The Art of Magic: The Rath Cycle is a comprehensive, generously illustrated survey of the turbulent story line that spans the Weatherlight, Tempest, Stronghold, and Exodus card sets. Players familiar with the sets will quickly recognize the principal characters and locales, from detailed schematics of the Weatherlight to blown-up card art and conceptual sketches for nearly every character in the series. The text that accompanies the illustrations matches them in quality, adding another dimension to the art with intriguing details from the backstory. A great find for fans of the Rath Cycle. –Paul Hughes