Final Sacrifice

final sacrifice not only sticks the landing, it also starts to feel a little bit more recognizably aligned with the world of magic we know and love in some pretty small but important ways. although they're painted with a rather frustratingly broad brush, our heroes find themselves meeting the likes of minotaurs, angels, and merfolk as people in their own element rather than just summoning them into battle.

also, a pretty fantastic exception to the lack of space the narrative gave for characterization of these different peoples is the encounter between greensleeves and the lord of atlantis. that scene was breathtaking, and perhaps one of the best arguments for him to be errataed to be a legendary creature. (kidding! mostly.)

i also just show more really appreciated the shift from being primarily from gull's perspective to being primarily from greensleeves’ perspective! and how satisfyingly paid off a lot of the beats of the previous books were. like, when the second book made greensleeves into essentially a parole officer for tyrannical mages, my immediate thought was “seems bad!!” but i didn't expect the narrative to actually see it that way, and especially not to let her have feelings about it. and the running theme of greensleeves’ and gull's army being much more committed to the cause than either of them realize, and importantly being dedicated to the cause rather than to them personally, was a great running thread that got explored in satisfying ways.

which isn't to say this book isn't without its frustrating qualities. it continues to be plagued by the casual racism and misogyny that were so prevalent in 90s genre fiction, and especially in some of the frustratingly over-the-top grimdark depictions of torture and sadism. and i'm saying that as a pretty accomplished masochist who consequently loves a lot of depictions of sadism, but when it serves little to no narrative or character purpose and really seems to just be there to wave its arms and yell “look at me! look how edgy i am!” it's honestly a hard pass for me.

but, again, my prevailing feelings about these books are overwhelmingly more positive than negative, especially adjusting for my expectations for this period in the history of genre fiction, and the small sample size of early magic novels i've read so far. while i was a child and a magic player in the 90s, my tastes in books were decidedly biased more in favor of science fiction than fantasy, so i am experiencing all these early magic novels for the first time. show less

¡Una druida dirige un combate desesperado contra una legión de los hechiceros más poderosos de los Dominios! Han transcurrido años de lucha..., ¡pero hay que enfrentarse a la última batalla! Desde las montañas heladas hasta un bosque ahogado por el océano, desde los campos de batalla asolados por la guerra hasta las criptas resplandecientes de Lat-Nam, la Archidruida Mangas Verdes viaja con sus maltrechas tropas en busca de hechizos con los que derrotar a un ejército de hechiceros enfurecidos y poner fin a su reinado de terror. Mientras Mangas Verdes saca a la luz viejos misterios, Gaviota el Leñador libra una tremenda batalla con un señor guerrero de Keldon que posee la clave de un horrible secreto del pasado. Con cada nuevo show more combate, Gaviota, Mangas Verdes y su ejército, terriblemente superados en número, van comprendiendo que sólo un último hechizo desesperado puede salvarles a todos. Pero si quiere usar ese hechizo, Mangas Verdes debe estar dispuesta a hacer el sacrificio final. "Magic: El Encuentro" es un juego de cartas coleccionable en el que cada jugador diseña su propia baraja de combate y se enfrenta con ella a sus adversarios en un duelo mágico. Descubre el juego que ha fascinado al mundo entero y pide en tu tienda habitual una baraja de iniciación para poder empezar a jugar. Y si quieres conseguir nuevos hechizos para añadir a tu baraja, pide sobres de ampliación. ¡Entra en contacto con un universo mágico de infinitas posibilidades! show less