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The Art of Magic: The Gathering
Art of Magic: The Gathering - Kaladesh
Magnificent hardcover art books featuring the incredible images and lore of The Gathering®!
Danger and adventure await in these pages, lavishly illustrated with the award-winning art of The Gathering® !
Optimism, innovation, and the spirit of creativity fill these pages, lavishly illustrated with the award-winning art of The Gathering ™! Welcome to Kaladesh—a vibrant, beautiful plane where anything is possible. Join the heroic Planeswalkers of the Gatewatch as they explore the Inventors’ Fair, and let your imagination soar alongside thopters and airships crafted by the best artificers in the Multiverse.
Come discover the marvels of Kaladesh—its inhabitants, its inventors, and its artifacts. They all await you at the grand Inventors’ Fair!
Danger and adventure await in these pages, lavishly illustrated with the award-winning art of The Gathering® !
Optimism, innovation, and the spirit of creativity fill these pages, lavishly illustrated with the award-winning art of The Gathering ™! Welcome to Kaladesh—a vibrant, beautiful plane where anything is possible. Join the heroic Planeswalkers of the Gatewatch as they explore the Inventors’ Fair, and let your imagination soar alongside thopters and airships crafted by the best artificers in the Multiverse.
Come discover the marvels of Kaladesh—its inhabitants, its inventors, and its artifacts. They all await you at the grand Inventors’ Fair!
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 3, 2017
3 people are currently reading
108 people want to read
About the author
James Wyatt
102 books146 followersJames Wyatt is an award-winning game designer at Wizards of the Coast, and now holds the position of Design Manager for Dungeons & Dragons. He was one of the lead designers for D&D 4th Edition and one of the original designers of the Eberron Campaign Setting, and has written and co-authored dozens of game supplements. He grew up in Ithaca, New York, and now lives in Washington State with his wife and son.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 4, 2017
Brushworm Speaks!
The Art of Magic The Gathering: Kaladesh
by James Wyatt
****
Acquired: Amazon.com
Series: Magic the Gathering (Book 3)
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Perfect Square (January 3, 2017)
Language: English
Subject: Fantasy
****
Background: Optimism, innovation, and the spirit of creativity fill these pages, lavishly illustrated with the award-winning art of Magic: The Gathering™! Welcome to Kaladesh—a vibrant, beautiful plane where anything is possible. Join the heroic Planeswalkers of the Gatewatch as they explore the Inventors’ Fair, and let your imagination soar alongside thopters and airships crafted by the best artificers in the Multiverse. Come discover the marvels of Kaladesh—its inhabitants, its inventors, and its artifacts. They all await you at the grand Inventors’ Fair! (amazon.com)
The Review: When Brushworm first saw the trailer for this card set, one thought went through his head:
“Arabian Steampunk?” (Later corrected to Indian Subcontinent) “Yes, Yes! YES!”
Science-fiction and fantasy (especially Trekkers) has long patted itself on the back for breaking stereotypes and tropes but the sad truth is, the genres have long followed their own orthodoxies and traditions. One of the most persistent of said orthodoxies is the proliferation of steampunk stories that are set almost exclusively in Victorian England. Some creative projects have attempted to break this mold but the truth of the matter is that the British Empire maintains a firm grip on the genre. Kaladesh breaks this mold quite firmly. It remains faithful enough to common tropes to be considered Steampunk. Big wrenches, exposed pistons, oversized gears etc, but they are plenty of fantasy factors as well. The machines in questions are powered by a mystical substance called aether. There are dwarves, elves, magic users, and even giants. Yet, it all seems to fit together. This is a living, breathing world.
Not only does this book have a different setting, it is one of the most vibrant and colorful settings Brushworm has ever seen. The Indian and Persian inspired architecture and clothing
Be warned though, this is an art book, so it is a rather large book. Some would call it a standard coffee table book size, Brushworm doesn’t think it is that big but it is a pretty heavy book.
For some, Kaladesh is refreshing change from previous expansions such as Innistrad and Zendikar, which were rather dark and grim worlds filled with eldritch abominations and mind warping magic. Kaladesh is a bright a colorful world, where innovation and creativity are lauded virtues. While definitely a fantasy a story, the emphasis of the expansion on technology.
The optimism of Kaladesh is a quite refreshing direction for Magic The Gathering, as judging from previous expansions, even beyond Innistrad and Zendikar, were fairly grim as well. It does not completely separate itself from this trend though. The book does contain spoilers for both phases of the Kaladesh story, but even in the beginning, there are undertones of something sinister at work beneath the glittering surface of Ghirapur, the Kaladesh city, where the story takes place. It takes care to never become to saccharine and it all comes to a head in the latter half of the story.
However, this book contains far more than simply art. It also contains the story of the plane itself. The history, races, and the current storyline are all wrapped up in a absolutely stunning package. The thought and creativity that went into the world building is simply outstanding. Kaladesh is a plane of very fascinating lore. The races, the fauna, the culture, and even the ecology is fleshed in ways that are endlessly intriguing.
Finally, the wonderful world-building aside, this book is important for another reason. A painful fact about speculative fiction is that, like a lot of popular media, its focus has been upon caucasian characters, particularly men. People of color were sorely underrepresented or worse, used in a disrespectful manner. Here though, this game expansion represents a solid step forward for greater representation both in gaming as well as literature. It may not be perfect representation as some critics have pointed out, but progress is rarely a clean cut process.
What makes this book special is that it for a brief moment it bridges the gap between fantasy and reality. The way the text is ordered and arranged takes itself seriously even though many would find the content to be rather silly. When you look at these images and read their stories, the plane of Kaladesh feels real. Like you are reading an encyclopedia entry of a place that actually exists. This serves as a testament to the skill of the creative staff at Wizard of the Coast
Final Verdict: This book is a delight for all who love fantasy, even those who do not play the actual Magic The Gathering Card Game. Artists and writers or any other creative person will find their imaginations stoked by the wonders contained within.
Five Kaladesh Icons out of Five.
Buy One Now!!!
thecultureworm.blogspot.com
The Art of Magic The Gathering: Kaladesh
by James Wyatt
****
Acquired: Amazon.com
Series: Magic the Gathering (Book 3)
Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Perfect Square (January 3, 2017)
Language: English
Subject: Fantasy
****
Background: Optimism, innovation, and the spirit of creativity fill these pages, lavishly illustrated with the award-winning art of Magic: The Gathering™! Welcome to Kaladesh—a vibrant, beautiful plane where anything is possible. Join the heroic Planeswalkers of the Gatewatch as they explore the Inventors’ Fair, and let your imagination soar alongside thopters and airships crafted by the best artificers in the Multiverse. Come discover the marvels of Kaladesh—its inhabitants, its inventors, and its artifacts. They all await you at the grand Inventors’ Fair! (amazon.com)
The Review: When Brushworm first saw the trailer for this card set, one thought went through his head:
“Arabian Steampunk?” (Later corrected to Indian Subcontinent) “Yes, Yes! YES!”
Science-fiction and fantasy (especially Trekkers) has long patted itself on the back for breaking stereotypes and tropes but the sad truth is, the genres have long followed their own orthodoxies and traditions. One of the most persistent of said orthodoxies is the proliferation of steampunk stories that are set almost exclusively in Victorian England. Some creative projects have attempted to break this mold but the truth of the matter is that the British Empire maintains a firm grip on the genre. Kaladesh breaks this mold quite firmly. It remains faithful enough to common tropes to be considered Steampunk. Big wrenches, exposed pistons, oversized gears etc, but they are plenty of fantasy factors as well. The machines in questions are powered by a mystical substance called aether. There are dwarves, elves, magic users, and even giants. Yet, it all seems to fit together. This is a living, breathing world.
Not only does this book have a different setting, it is one of the most vibrant and colorful settings Brushworm has ever seen. The Indian and Persian inspired architecture and clothing
Be warned though, this is an art book, so it is a rather large book. Some would call it a standard coffee table book size, Brushworm doesn’t think it is that big but it is a pretty heavy book.
For some, Kaladesh is refreshing change from previous expansions such as Innistrad and Zendikar, which were rather dark and grim worlds filled with eldritch abominations and mind warping magic. Kaladesh is a bright a colorful world, where innovation and creativity are lauded virtues. While definitely a fantasy a story, the emphasis of the expansion on technology.
The optimism of Kaladesh is a quite refreshing direction for Magic The Gathering, as judging from previous expansions, even beyond Innistrad and Zendikar, were fairly grim as well. It does not completely separate itself from this trend though. The book does contain spoilers for both phases of the Kaladesh story, but even in the beginning, there are undertones of something sinister at work beneath the glittering surface of Ghirapur, the Kaladesh city, where the story takes place. It takes care to never become to saccharine and it all comes to a head in the latter half of the story.
However, this book contains far more than simply art. It also contains the story of the plane itself. The history, races, and the current storyline are all wrapped up in a absolutely stunning package. The thought and creativity that went into the world building is simply outstanding. Kaladesh is a plane of very fascinating lore. The races, the fauna, the culture, and even the ecology is fleshed in ways that are endlessly intriguing.
Finally, the wonderful world-building aside, this book is important for another reason. A painful fact about speculative fiction is that, like a lot of popular media, its focus has been upon caucasian characters, particularly men. People of color were sorely underrepresented or worse, used in a disrespectful manner. Here though, this game expansion represents a solid step forward for greater representation both in gaming as well as literature. It may not be perfect representation as some critics have pointed out, but progress is rarely a clean cut process.
What makes this book special is that it for a brief moment it bridges the gap between fantasy and reality. The way the text is ordered and arranged takes itself seriously even though many would find the content to be rather silly. When you look at these images and read their stories, the plane of Kaladesh feels real. Like you are reading an encyclopedia entry of a place that actually exists. This serves as a testament to the skill of the creative staff at Wizard of the Coast
Final Verdict: This book is a delight for all who love fantasy, even those who do not play the actual Magic The Gathering Card Game. Artists and writers or any other creative person will find their imaginations stoked by the wonders contained within.
Five Kaladesh Icons out of Five.
Buy One Now!!!
thecultureworm.blogspot.com
October 6, 2019
La belleza de Magic the Gathering es la inmensa cantidad de personajes, creaturas, razas, lugares y habilidades que se pueden mezclar en un mundo coherente. Cada expansión es su propio mundo o "plano" en esta: el mundo es Kaladesh, un vivido y colorido universo que gira alrededor de la invención combinada con magia, inspirado en la estética de la mitología hindú y el steampunk en un enfoque optimista y de constante renovación. Como siempre ilustraciones hermosas de primer nivel.
October 2, 2025
I don't know anything about MtG and got this because I have a friend who got into the cards and I thought it looked pretty. This art book has beautiful art. I didn't realize there would be so much text, it's got characters and world-building and even a story in it, which is nice. It's great inspiration and a lot of work went into it. I appreciate that it is a world inspired by Indian (and Persian?) culture, and that shows in the clothing and skin tones. However, I wish they would have taken it a little further and used Asian inspired mythology to make more interesting creatures than just the basic dragon, angel, demon, etc. If the place is Indian inspired why would they even have angels? Wouldn't the dragons look different? It's a good first step but I think can be taken further.
October 31, 2022
Slightly more barebones than the previous two entries, though this is understandable given the smaller amount of source material. Regardless, it’s yet another fun romp through a genuinely unique fantasy world. Particular highlights are the aetherborn and this world’s take on angels.
October 4, 2017
Twas wonderful to know the background story and see larger images of the impressive artwork.
May 30, 2018
Good volume.
December 31, 2020
My rating is not incorporating the art, but is based on the text. The basic ideas were interesting, but it is very wordy and repetitive.
February 20, 2017
Another excellent addition to MTG's ongoing art book series.
September 8, 2021
Beautiful.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews