Anyone Read Aetherdrift Story?
Lore forum
Posted on Jan. 29, 2025, 10:24 a.m. by Tsukimi
I find myself reading the MTG story and then never having anyone to discuss it with so I am curious, did anyone read it?
SPOILERS BELOW
Honestly, I haven't heard enough props for K Arsenault Rivera and how excellent her writing is for MTG stories! No wasted time, we dive right in, we learn so much about worlds and characters with just a few words, and it's a good time to boot! "Lil' Guy Shortcut" has been permanently incorporated into my vocabulary.
"You my sweet daughter, are going to be your mother's personal welding torch." Is another line that I loved and felt 100% on brand for Pia Nalaar. Just excellent.
Also, Derevi alluding to living with chronic pain and having medicine ready to help himself and others! Its these small details that really bring life to the characters.
Lastly, I love Vraska's characterization in this story. Jace wants Revenge with a capital R on the entire multiverse, he wants to reset everything. In MOM we saw Vraska get her revenge, we saw that to do so she used and abused her entire guild. Yes she was Phyrexian, but now I think Vraska knows that these things come at a cost. That violent change may be necessary but also involves loss, and I can't help but wonder reading the Aetherdrift story if Vraska is realizing Jace has never experienced this for himself. Throughout the story, Vraska begins to question Jace- how he is willing to use people, even Loot, to get what he wants. I feel like this is the beginning of her realizing he isn't... mature, experienced (whatever you want to call it) enough to weild the kind of power he seeks. The story ends with him walking away from Vraska on Tarkir, and I really hope this signifies a split between them. As much as I love them together, I love Vraska more and I think she's realizing that Jace isn't trying to "fix" anything so much as turn it back to the way HE wants it. I wanted them to have a happy ending, but it looks like one of the Multiverse's top assasins may have to take out her beloved if things continue this way.
IlLupo643 He actually worked pretty hard on Ravnica, poor guy. Then there were Eldrazi, Ugin, and other Multiverse ending threats that pulled him away. He lost the Guildpact in war of the spark and was happy to see a Ravnican get it. He's not a great guy but he definitly didn't just split from Ravnica, he did his best.
Also, that is how gods work on Amonkhet? As people return to the Luxa and depend on it, a god is born that represents their work and dependence. When Bolas and Phyrexia etc attacked it's not like they necessarily had a god of interplanar war and defense, ya know? (Aside from Hazoret who did her best) But they've had gods based on the worship of the Luxa and the necessity of community before because those are things that have always been central to the lives of people on Amonkhet since before even Bolas.
January 29, 2025 12:16 p.m.
Then that is lazy writing. One of the big points pointed out in the art of Amonket is that doing another world with gods means that there are similarities in the way they work mechanically on paper but that it also means unique ways the gods come into existence.
Kelhiem they are not born of belief, those gods waged war upon the old gods (elves) and claimed the power for themselves. They are near mortal and grow and can die by much more simple means then gods of other realms. (They are the only to not be indestructible or have a return clause for their mechanics)
So if they are going to just make Theroes 2.0 out of Amonkhet then i am still unimpressed with the story and wish for better in the whole arch.
When the sparks were ruptured and omen paths left to open at random to other worlds i figured that could be cool once in a while to see happen, not replace planeswalking 100%. That kind of defeats the purpose. Stick to your guns and write what you said.
(I think this crossed between posts)
January 29, 2025 12:39 p.m.
My experiences with the story recently is that while the characters are generally well-developed and and the writing itself is incredible (I got into other stuff by Valdez, McGuire, and Rivera through these stories), the actual plots tend to be fairly rushed and wrap up too quickly and cleanly for what's ostensibly a PG-13 series.
I tend to dip in and out of the online stories--I did original Amonkhet through Rival of Ixalan, skipped a ton (but kept up with summaries and wiki articles and stuff), and started again with Wild of Eldraine, getting halfway through Thunder Junction before sliding off again. So I'm not all the way up to date.
Overall, I agree with this post, and I apologize for not being able to discuss it more directly. I just wish the stories themselves would be developed a little better--I don't need, like, endless grittiness and deep moralizing over repercussions or anything, and I know the constraints of short story writing mean things have to keep moving quickly. But, as one example, the Agatha of the Vile Cauldron part of Wilds of Eldraine started and ended in half a chapter, and barely got mentioned again. There's a whole new story arc coming out in four months, let's get this one done.
Main characters: great.
Dialogue: generally strong.
Secondary characters: occasionally flat.
Setting description: excellent.
Main arc plot development: generally good, sometimes cramped.
Secondary plot development: can be missing entirely.
I don't want to be too harsh on the stories; I do enjoy them for what they are, and again, WotC got the right authors on board. But I'd like to see more of the world outside of what's immediately around the main characters of the moment, and there's maybe one story per set that does that. I've seriously considered writing my own fan fiction to fill in some of the details I'd like to see and flesh out the planes for myself.
January 29, 2025 3:04 p.m.
Not harsh at all and nothing to apologize for, I couldn't agree more! Though they had their ups and downs I do miss the novels if only because they gave the writers more time/space to work with the story and bit more. But even then, they often suffered from the same complaints you shared of rushed beginnings and too neat endings.
I wish they had the abbreviated story for those who wanted it and then a longer more complex story for the others. This would give writers a chance to actually tell a story with some complexity and us to enjoy them!
I also wish we could see these worlds and characters when they don't revolve around The Gang (Chandra etc) like you said. At best we getside story and there's just not enough time to cover much. I grew up wih the Brothers War and Thran novels, and the characterisation Xantcha was so well done and will always have a special place in my heart. I was always kind of hoping we might get back to mtg novels one day but that's not looking likely.
I have considered that myself - the weird post war of the spark novel that is no longer Canon definitely inspired a few drafts. There's just a lot of fun creative concepts out there that they haven't touched upon in stories. If you ever write anything I'd love to read it!
IlLupo643 says... #2
Would be about time. Death to all Phyrexians. Jace especially. He has been a failure in my eyes since he got the power of the guildpact and then split from Ravnica. He had one job. And he wanted the hell out of that job. And then he never showed up for work.
At least that wrong has been corrected with Niv-Mizzet. Jace needs to be removed from the multiverse, once and for all.
January 29, 2025 11:58 a.m.