Test of Metal

Magic: The Gathering: Planeswalker #3

by Matthew Woodring Stover

Walk the Blind Eternities!

The New York Times best-selling author Matthew Stover brings his razor-sharp prose and hard-hitting characterization to the Multiverse of Magic: The Gathering®.
 
From the ashes of defeat, the planeswalker Tezzeret will rise again.  Beaten to within an inch of his life and left for dead by the psychic sorcerer Jace Beleren, Tezzeret has lost control of the Infinite Consortium—an interplanar cabal he built from the ground up to achieve the sort of power and influence few in the Multiverse have ever achieved. Now he must turn to a former enemy for help: the dragon Nicol Bolas, perhaps the only being in the Multiverse powerful enough to get him back on his feet.

Genres: Fantasy, Magic, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

343 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Matthew Woodring Stover is an American fantasy and science fiction author. He is perhaps best known for his Star Wars novels -- Traitor, Shatterpoint, Revenge of the Sith and Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor. He has also published several pieces of original work, such as Heroes Die, which Stover described as 'a piece of violent entertainment that is a meditation on violent entertainment'. Stover's work often emphasises moral ambiguity, psychological verisimilitude and bursts of intense violence.

Stover is deeply interested in various forms of martial arts, having trained in the Degerberg Blend, a concept that utilises the thought behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do as its foundation.

Reviews

[Godiva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, this book. My gut reaction was that it was so bad, it actually came all the way back to being good again. I heartily enjoyed it, mostly because Tezzeret is an incredibly assholish, intelligent sumbitch, and his bickering with Baltrice is priceless. He is also naked for most of the book.
The ending, however, was a rather too laborious to enjoy. Tezzeret knows that Bolas knows that Tezzeret knows that Bolas knows that Tezzeret knows, basically. I also felt that the buildup to the actual denouement was far more interesting than the denouement itself, and so it felt just a touch anticlimactic.
Still, fun was had reading this book, and I recommend it for anyone looking for an amusing Planeswalker novel in which Jace's only rôle is to get his butt kicked a bit.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons but I'll read anything Stover writes, up to and including a grocery list. I suppose picking this up at such a late date is my way of coming to terms with the fact that we aren't getting any new Stover anytime soon.

It was okay. One of Stover's strengths is his strong characters, and this being a media tie-in it doesn't seem like he had much to work with here. Not sure how these characters fit into their larger fictional universes, but that doesn't matter. The dragon was okay, I guess. Kept picturing them as existing in Stover's Overworld series. The Zen koan and time travel aspects got a bit out of hand. Still, you have to love how Stover takes a speculative approach to fantasy.

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time travel can often get screwed up in fantasy books, but Stover handles this fairly well.

[MajesticalLion · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am deeply impressed by the story. The dialogue writing, however, was less than incredible. Hearing beings of infinite intelligence that demand the fear and respect of an endless billions say "wassup" was needlessly jarring. Thankfully, though, the actual events of the story made up for it. Tezzeret continues to be an all time favorite villain for me. I look forward to seeing what he's doing on Mirrodin. But first things first, ON TO ALARA UNBROKEN!

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had a moment here and there, but it was just a hot mess overall. It was just a series of twists pulled out of the author's ass with a layer of unnecessary first-person narration that got confusing when the point of view changes to other characters (and more so when there was a second character sharing the POV character's brain?).

Here's a summary:
Boring.
Boring.
Boring.
I win!
NOPE! Time travel.
Oh I got again you because reasons.
NO YOU DIDN'T BECAUSE I SAW THAT COMING AND PLANNED FOR IT.
OH SHIT BUT I PLANNED FOR YOU HAVING PLANNED FOR IT AND DID THIS MUAHAHAHA!
Except I planned for you having anticipated THAT, so I did this!
Oh I can just "travel sideways in time" into another timeline and undo all of this?
Repeat for each main plot point.

It's the ultimate in "concealing information form the audience as a substitute for an interesting plot, right up to the finale......where, SPOILERS, it turns out Nicol Bolas sent a simulacrum of himself that deteriorates over time, hence why he was losing his abilities. But OH NO Tezzeret knew Bolas would send that thing no one even knew existed! Something something we're cool bro, bye.

I guess credit for leaning into this "technique" harder than I've ever seen an author do before? It's the ultimate in lazy storytelling to just constantly go, "GOTCHA, haha you're an idiot for believing what the author was telling you was happening!" The contrasting lows of boredom between these moments says everything you need to know about how "effective" this is in storytelling.

It would have been entertaining for this nonsensical series of constant twists if it wasn't so incredibly boring otherwise.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

So this book is, like, half philosophical rambling and half not-really-in-character storytelling. I get that Tezzeret is supposed to have been changed by his experience during Agents of Artifice, but he and Jace (who deliberately had not taken control of the Infinite Consortium, but somehow is in charge of it here) and Baltrice (who's supposed to be dead, but not only alive but Jace's bestie) and Bolas as seem so out of character as to make me wonder if the author realized he wasn't writing original fiction. I'm relatively new to Magic: The Gathering lore, but I have been reading the other books and the stories archived on the website (the ones that were published as weekly articles, rather than books), but everything here was just really off the mark. The story itself was on the duller spectrum of ok - at least up the time travel (sorry, clockworking) bit, where it's just confusing - but the characterization is cringeworthy.

[kilner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. An immense waste of supreme talent. Stover going through the motions on autopilot to pay the bills is still pretty readable, but this was little more than a patchwork of decent to good character insights. Unfortunately, the shallow platform and threadbare world--or, should I say, Multiverse--behind it betrays any promise of a satisfying tale.

[Scott wachter · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is how far my fanboyish devotion to Matt Stover has taken me.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly, this book was trash. It started off well with an exciting group of characters with fun lore dumps. However, the way Stover depicts many of the characters throws you right out of the immersion. Using colloquial language and curses with weird childish tones with characters who are technically planeswalker god and demigods is just terrible. It was also filled with boring filler words and paragraphs that added almost nothing but showing the reader this author did some research. Overall, pretty trash.

[Claude Williams IV · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, as long as you take your time and follow it. You can read it fast, but those that try to skip words or speed read, you're gonna have a bad time.

Personally, this is my favorite book of all time. I've read it atleast 100 times.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Test of Metal" by Matthew W. Stover is a "Planeswalker" novel meant as a tie-in to the Magic: the Gathering card game. If you're not a Magic fan, some of this review and the book itself will likely cause you some confusion. You have been warned.

"Test of Metal" is a somewhat sequel to "Agents of Artifice," the first "Planeswalker" novel. In that book, Tezzeret is a serious bad guy with evil minions and giant machines and so on. By the end, he's a shattered wreck with a scrambled brain--thanks to Jace Beleren and Lilliana Vess.

Tezzeret, Jace and Lilliana are all Planeswalkers, beings who can pass between different planes of existence. They can use magic by tapping into the "mana" of the world they're in.

The oldest and most powerful Planeswalker is a 25,000 year old dragon named Nicol Bolas. He's evil with a capital E. He and Tezzeret have a complicated history of conflict between them.

After Jace and Lilliana defeated Tezzeret, Nicol Bolas found him and put him back together. But the new Tezzeret is not the same man. He has the same powers and abilities, but Bolas found a way to implant a control system inside Tezzeret's mind. That control system, named Doctor Jest, becomes Tezzeret's invisible sidekick. They banter often, when "Doc" isn't torturing Tezzeret or keeping him within the boundaries set down by Bolas.

If you're a Magic player, you'll understand when I say that much of the book is about Esper and Etherium. Tezzeret is obsessed with Etherium and Bolas sends him after the source of all Etherium in the multiverse, a mad sphinx.

Jace, Lilliana, Nicol Bolas, Tezzeret and Baltrice (a grumpy female pyromancer) were all characters in "Agents of Artifice." But they are all very different in "Test of Metal." So, if you loved "Agents of Artifice," you may feel differently about "Test of Metal."

If Tezzeret was the same maniacal douche that he was in "Agents of Artifice," he wouldn't make a great protagonist. The "new" Tezzeret is more reflective and not angry. I wouldn't call him a hero, but he is definitely the protagonist. Tezzeret has a serious faith in his own genius and a willingness to expound upon said genius at length, but that's not unexpected. We're in his head (or, more precisely, we're looking over Bolas's shoulder while he reads Tezzeret's memories) for most of the novel.

Baltrice is much nicer this time around...and for good reason. Jace Beleren is a mind mage. He literally changed her mind for her and made her his happier, (mostly) well-adjusted buddy. Because she was an angry, sadistic thug before. Lilliana is the same hot yet untrustworthy wench she always has been. And Jace does a lot of whining and spends what little time he spends in the story getting smacked around. Personally, I liked that part a lot. Jace has always struck me as someone who needs several good smacks to the head--as well as a limit on his mind powers.

Long story short (too late!), the characters from "Agents of Artifice" are very different in "Test of Metal." But I already said that, didn't I? So let's move on.

I quite enjoyed "Test of Metal." I found it interesting and fun.

So what didn't work? Glad you asked.

#1) The author may have been told to make his book relatable to teenage boys (because...unfortunately...most Magic fans are teenage boys), so the book is full of modern slang and people calling each other "bitch" and "asshole." Nicol Bolas, especially, is guilty of sounding like a villain who just spent some time at the mall. Whenever the characters sounded too "modern," my suspension of disbelief was impaired.

#2) The disjointed timeline reveals plot points that are going to happen before they actually do, ruining some of the suspense of the story. When Nicol Bolas shows up with a character in his jaws, we know how that character is (or isn't) going to figure into the rest of the story. Speaking of Silas Renn--who Nicol Bolas uses for a toothpick, briefly--his transformation from a bewildered functionary into a murderous villain within a few pages is never quite explained.

#3) The solutions to the riddles in the story are just way too Zen for me. I get the point that the author is trying to make (complete with tons of Buddhist doctrine), yet having a protagonist who "understands" his way to victory is a rough row to hoe, if you get my drift. And there is way too much stuff about "clockworking." Clockworking is the ability to see different timelines and be able to reach into them or move into them to do what you want. It's pretty basic to start with. But it gets monumentally confusing as the story goes on.

#4) There are too many endings. I got the feeling that all the last-minute reversals and plot twists in the last few pages smack of editorial intrusion/meddling. Anyway, the rule of thumb is that by trying to make everyone happy, no one ends up happy.

Aside from all that, I enjoyed and would recommend "Test of Metal" to any gamer who likes books about the characters in Magic: the Gathering. A less game oriented fan of fantasy books might also enjoy it. But if you're used to airport books by mass appeal authors, this book might confound you. You have been warned! Heh.

[Chris Hawks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not overly familiar with Magic: The Gathering . I know that it's a fantasy card game in which players battle each other using custom-constructed decks. And it was a big deal back in high school. It originated the term to "tap", or rotate, a card in play. And it was a huge influence on one of my favorite card games. That's the extent of my knowledge.

I am, however, very much familiar with Matthew Stover. He happens to be one of my all-time favorite authors, and is the sole reason I picked up Test of Metal.

Now, tie-in fiction is a tricky animal: most of it just isn't that good. I read a lot of Star Wars novels, but I enjoy them because they're Star Wars, not because they're necessarily well-written—and if I'm being honest, most of them really aren't. So I read tie-in fiction primarily because I'm a fan of the larger shared universe it's set in. But what about when I'm not? Can a favorite author make me care about a franchise I know nothing about?

Well, yes. And no.

From the (minimal) research I did after reading this book, I know that Test of Metal follows up directly on events in Agents of Artifice by Ari Marmell, another book in the Planeswalkers subseries. At the end of that book, the planeswalker (basically a type of wizard who can hop between different dimensions) Jace Beleren killed fellow planeswalker Tezzeret, ostensibly the "bad guy" of that novel. In Test of Metal, Tezzeret is not only resurrected, but is made the main viewpoint character. This is his story.

We start in media res with Tezzeret on an island made entirely of the magical metal, etherium. He is soon confronted by the powerful dragon Nicol Bolas, who, as it turns out, was responsible for recreating Tezzeret and sending him on a quest, of which this metal island is the end. Bolas then proceeds to trawl Tezzeret's memories; subsequent chapters are the result of this mind-link, where the bulk of the novel's story plays out in flashback, with Tezzeret as narrator.

Stover has loved playing with viewpoint and linearity in his Acts of Caine novels, and Test of Metal is no different. In addition to most of the chapters being flashbacks and narrated in the first-person by Tezzeret, we get additional first-person perspectives (one chapter each) from the other featured planeswalkers, Jace Beleren and Baltrice. And interspersed between those are the "present" goings-on at the metal island, related in standard third-person, from the POVs of both Tezzeret and Bolas. Alternating between the third- and first-persons is something Stover does extremely well, and its use suits the story perfectly. What I enjoyed perhaps the most, though, was how the book effectively begins at the end of the story. In fact, before I read the final chapter, I flipped back and reread the first chapter and had a couple of those great "Aha!" moments where the puzzle pieces start fitting together. But beyond just the structure of the novel, the story itself makes use of a limited amount of time travel in the form of a type of magic called "clockworking"; there's a very nonlinear feel to entire book that's simultaneously refreshing and bewildering, but Stover's successful in keeping it all tightly under control.

If I had a main complaint, it would be that the story mostly boils down to a fairly-straightforward MacGuffin quest with powerful wizards throwing a bunch of magic at each other. And some of the dialogue is laughably juvenile—though as it more often that not also made me laugh in the good sense, I can overlook any quibbles there. In the end, it's Stover's handling of Tezzeret's character and the internal journey he undertakes that elevate the book above the level of "mere" tie-in fiction. We get a bit of Tezzeret's backstory, we come to understand his motivations, and watch as he undergoes both physical and internal transformations. He's a fascinating character: highly intelligent, but not physically or magically overpowering, so he has to rely on his wits to get by. Plus, he's also a bit of a smartass. Very much in Stover's wheelhouse.

In fact, I enjoyed reading about Tezzeret so much that I really want to pick up Agents of Artifice just to get the first half (as it were) of the story. But I don't think I really care enough about the Magic universe to bother doing so. Rather, I think I'll just savor Stover's contribution to it.

It's not great literature, but it's still better than most tie-in genre fiction deserves to be. It makes you use your brain. And it's got all the classic Stover touches (warning: violence and strong language), plus plenty of twists and turns and double-, triple-, and quadruple-crosses. It's great fun, and I'd recommend it to any fan of fantasy. [3.5 out of 5 stars]

[SabCo T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book actually picks up shortly after Agents of Artifice left off. I stayed pretty vague about the Planeswalker Tezzeret being a super asshole in my review, and well, he was.

Where this book picks up, he was essentially dead, killed by little whiney Jace. He’s brought back and re-wired/re-built by the ultimately powerful dragon Planeswalker Nicol Bolas, but he was put together so differently in fact that he’s almost a different person. A different person who still has all of his old memories intact, and realizes that he was a straight-up asshole. However, despite that he would have preferred to die then, he’s instead now mentally enslaved to Nicol Bolas by a sort of device that is also an actual creature inside of his head. To his misfortune this creature is nicknamed ‘Doc,’ short for ‘Doctor Jest’ and is made out of pure mockery towards Tezzeret. Doc is also a creature that can harm Tezz to the point of death at any time, and also never shuts up.

The entire book, we find that Tezzeret, now ripped of his arrogance from the former book, is actually able to more concentrate on his calculations and truly realizes his intelligence now that it’s not clouded by said arrogance. He uses this to his advantage to get back at Jace by using him for his own needs, and also a bit of Liliana, the necromancer Planeswalker also in the last book. He also works very often with Baltrice, yet another Planeswalker [and his former enemy], who apparently was supposed to be dead at the end of the last book, but apparently just barely made it.

A lot of this book deals with the concept of time and different timelines as well as alternate universe timelines. I loved the concept that if you can properly control ‘clockwork’ in these universes, you can go ‘sideways’ in time to merely find a different timeline in which you were successful in what you are/were trying to do, versus if you had failed in another. The book fantastically describes this ability to where you’re never left scratching your head, and made to realize its potential. It’s an awesome concept.

I also loved all interactions to be had with the Sphinxes in the book. Which there are quite a few. They’re described so elegantly just as I always imagine they’d actually be.

I really liked this one. I think of the three MtG books I’ve read thus far, this is my favorite. This author is fantastic at portraying sarcasm and sarcastic characters, as well as taking a previously unlikable character and making him a far more understandable character. I’ve always thought that Tezzeret was interesting [and physically attractive <_<] but now I actually like him a lot as a character in general. Also we get a lot of explanation of why he was such a jerk before, because his childhood was pretty awful. I mean like, awful.

I still stand by what I’ve said with the other books that you may not want to read this book unless you’re at least somewhat familiar with the MtG series, but if you are, this is a fantastic work of fantasy. I’ve definitely made a note to keep an eye out with this author for his other stuff.

I give Test of Metal 5/5 Mana. [Three Blue, Two Black]

Across every world and throughout all flavors of realty, tales are told of artificial girls and mechanical boys whose dream is to someday become a living thing. This is not that kind of story.

The clockwork man was alive, and he dreamed of becoming mechanical.

He turned away from the flesh and stink, from birth and blood and mess; he sought even to replace limbs and trunk and head with shining metal. He made of his mind a glittering construct of gears and ratchets, of springs and weights and balance of impossible precision, and he engineered his heart into an assemblage levers and pulleys, of fulcra, ramps, and gleaming screws.

Flesh is corruption. Metal is incapable of Sin.

This is the tragedy of how the clockwork man’s fondest dream began to come true.

[Jakob Dam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read most of the other Magic-novels, I bought this novel mostly to read the continuity of the story arch. I expected to be somewhat let down, as many of the other Magic novels are pretty mediocre. I was very surprised when I found myself enjoying the book immensely; Matthew Stover has done something very unexpected and brilliant with this book.

I can deeply recommend anyone reading this book. As for the story and its continuity, I suggest you may read "Alara Unbroken" first, or some things may be a bit confusing here.

In fact, I grew so curious about the author, that after reading this book, I bought his Caine-stories (Heroes Die, Blade of Tyshalle, Caine Black-Knife, Caine's Law). Which are very, very, very recommendable too.

This book is very intelligently written and everything makes perfect sense when you close the last page. It contains a lot of attention to details and intelligence - as well as good ol' ruthless action.

The way that Stover handles the characters in this book, is somewhat different from what other authors of the Magic universe have done, and his writing style is vastly different. To be clear; this is a good thing.

If you're reading this review to be sure whether to buy the book or not, I suggest that you stop reading reviews now, and simply buy the book. It's really that good. I've read many fantasy novels from many authors, fx. in the worlds of Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Magic etc. - this one novel is definitely in my top 3 now.


*** COMPLEXITY ***

I feel compelled to make parallels to "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card - and Matthew Stover's own "Caine's Law". The complexity is high, keeping the reader's attention at all times. The clockworking part of the story incorporates multiple timelines into the story, contributing greatly to the feeling of intelligent writing; without being unnecessarily too incomprehensible, and without it seeming smart-ass-like.


*** LANGUAGE ***

Stover has a very vivid writing style; in fact, it's the most vivid I've ever encountered. He can depict things accurately without it seeming tedious and boring; even precise descriptions flows nicely without halting the action that transpires.

Stover is also not loathe to write about blood and gore; something that readers of his Acts of Caine-series knows. If you feel queasy reading this kind of stuff, Test of Metal is much milder than the Acts of Caine-series, but it does retain his brutal way of dealing with violence.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

As per usual, I came out of this Matthew Stover novel part confused, part in awe, and part mind boggled. I enjoyed this novel for two main reasons 1) two very epic magical duels, and 2) some very intense twists in the plot and status quo, especially as the book concludes. At first I found Tezzeret to be a little bit annoying as a character, and his banter with Nicol Bolas was sometimes funny and sometimes just irritating, but I guess that fits the nature of the man/dragon.

This was the first planeswalker novel I've read and the first novel involving any parts of Alara so that was also part of what made this experience enjoyable. I liked Tezzeret's use of Etherium, it was very cool and made for some cool fight scenes trying to imagine how he might use it next.

All in all, good read. 5/10. Would have been higher if there had been better dialogue and less profanity.

[Scott Vout · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another in the line of Magic the Gathering books.

I enjoyed the first two thirds of this book very much. The last third took forever. I like a book with twists and turns but this one went overboard - there are twists, turns, overs, unders and back to the starts.

As i do play the Magic the Gathering card game it is nice to "bring to life" the characters.

This is the second book i have read about the same characters but by different authors.

I find it interesting how they advance the characters while keeping them true to the authors that have written before them. This one was not bad in that regard. It helps to be able to alter time as you need to cover over any changes you want to make to character personality.

All in all not a bad book if you are a wizards and warriors fantasy lover.

[Pedro S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entre a nova safra de romances baseados em Magic: The Gathering, Test of Metal foi o menos ruim. A estrutura é interessante - capítulos em flashback narrados em primeira pessoa alternados com capítulos que se passam no presente, narrados em terceira pessoa - e essa estrutura permite que os personagens principais, os magos andarilhos de planos, se revelem com mais profundidade e textura que em qualquer outro livro de Magic que eu tenha lido. A trama, entretanto, não é das mais convincentes, e culmina em um desfecho altamente insatisfatório, em que tudo volta a ser como era antes dos eventos do livro, no pior estilo “era tudo um sonho”. Que ainda assim esse seja o melhor livro da série é um sinal de quão genérica e sem conteúdo a fantasia de Magic se tornou.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Matthew Stover never fails to please, in my opinion, and this book was no exception for me. I had never read anything in this Magic the Gathering sub-genre but the book was easy to get into, didn't require a tedious ammount of backstory to be enjoyable and the main character was quite enjoyable to tag along with as he struggled to follow the threads of the puzzle before him. The secondary players were more than simplistic, D&D-style cardboard cutouts and each had good and bad qualities inherent in their makeup (my personal favorite type of characters to follow)... same as the main character. I would hapilly recommend this to anyone who likes take-no-guff THINKING characters who are not above stabbing you in the eye with a hidden blade the moment you back them into a corner.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was what it was, and it did that ok. It was probably one of the better Magic the Gathering novels, because it had a Stover plot and Stoverized characters, but was still in a setting that makes no sense and has overpowered characters. I would really only recommend this book to someone who was crazy about Matthew Woodring Stover anyway, and then with hesitation. It wasn't a terrible book, but it was confusing in parts and not that groundbreaking or exciting.

Read my full review at my book review blog: Em and Emm Expound on Exposition.

[Mathew Ostrander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was impossible for me to set down. Filled with characters that I initially didn't like, I found my views of the characters changing as they themselves grew and changed through the book. I was kind of grateful that I read most of this alone, as I actually found myself laughing out loud at several points, the humor striking a wide variety of angles. The book opened with a very enticing dedication and in my opinion delivered: "...to everyone who is almost as smart as they think they are."

[J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read because I like Matthew Stover's writing and want to support his work. His Overworld/Caine books are the ones I really enjoy, but I've played a game of Magic or two in my day, and thought it might be interesting to check out Stover's take on the universe. Overall, this didn't quite do it for me - but Stover himself still does, so it's worth checking out Heroes Die if you liked, say, The Lies of Locke Lamora and A Game of Thrones.

[Allan Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Daaaamn good. Seriously. Stover's Tezzeret may be my favourite MTG character of all time, followed up by... Gideon? This novel is beautifully written and neatly complex; it is etherium and riddles and sphinxes and Crucius, all wrapped in one. They did a good job picking Stover to write it.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

October 11, 2010

[Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice book I grabbed on my way up to the cabin. Read it in one sitting and found it well written, colorful and interesting to follow. Lots of time travel and parallel universe stuff going on.

[Genis · Rating 5 out of 5]

estou tentando ler mas tá dificil

[Benjamin Narwold · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent book, though it feels convoluted at times. The author's choice of language often derails you from the world he's writing about.

[Derp · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's great as long as you don't think at all about what's happening because as soon as you do it all falls apart. Just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride :)

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am uncertain whether he and my mother had given me a name. Tezzeret is how I was called among the cave brats; a tezzeret is, in Tidehollow cant, the word for any small, improvised or homemade weapon kept concealed on one's body--knives made from beach glass wrapped in packing twine; slings and garrotes woven of one's own hair, a carriage spring bent to protect the knuckles of one's fist.

Test of Metal reveals Tezzeret's past, with some sympathizing changes in him, adding dashes of fun in the sphinx riddles, time-twisting, and zombie labyrinths. Why not. He's still pretty cray, but understandable. And nearly, also, is Bolas. But I'll never be ok with what Bolas does on Grixis. Srsly.