Children of the Nameless – Book Review
3/5 Stars
Children of the Nameless is a novella set on the plane of Innistrad, in the Magic: the Gathering multiverse, and written by the legendary Brandon Sanderson. In it, Tacenda, a young girl with a strange curse, finds herself caught up in a horror-themed mystery as the inhabitants of her village are massacred by spirits and she alone is left to unravel the truth and save the plane from a rampaging horde of ghosts. Her path soon crosses Davriel Cane’s, a wisecracking Diabolist and planeswalker, who lazily rules the hinterlands where the story is set.
Compared to most official Magic: the Gathering fiction, Children of the Nameless is pretty good, but it doesn’t quite stack up to the larger body of Sanderson’s work. The characters are competently constructed, the setting is immersive, and the plot is professional if not inspired. But if you’ve seen the heights of Sanderson’s prose you can’t help but be a little disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, I never considered abandoning the book, I never got irritated by plot holes, or disbelieved a character’s motivations. It was fine. Everything was just ok.
The intro felt a little rushed to me, like an info dump of Tacenda’s origin story. The editing had some issues; a few typos, a couple of [] left in by the editor to indicate word choice repetition that were never corrected, a single stilted sentence that left me baffled as to its meaning, a blank page. Not major issues, but not super polished. My biggest concern was the demonic characters. Davriel Cane’s devilish servants were humanized, and given lines of light-hearted banter, amusing quirks, and hints of genuine affection. It didn’t work. While they brought out Davriel Cane’s foppish, blasé character, the flippant tone of moral relativity clashes badly with the gothic horror setting of the benighted plane of Innnistrad. The central conceit of the milieu is that the things that go bump in the night are terrifying, incomprehensible, and genuinely dark. Having them as punchlines, whose antics we are expected to delight in, and whose deaths we are expected to mourn really undermines the horror elements. Which is a shame, because Sanderson does manage to hit upon a few one liners and gags, that while not hilarious, may elicit a chuckle or two. Ultimately, I think it is a lack of familiarity with the source material. Even though Brandon Sanderson is a Magic player, I suspect that he is not intimately acquainted with the tone of Innistrad flavor quotes and fiction.
Also…there are entirely too many quips about tea. We get it.
Magic is all about well…magic. So let’s talk about the magic of Davriel Cane. First what works: his diabolism. The planeswalker’s clever dealings with devils and his manipulation of spirits was quite interesting to me, despite the aforementioned trouble with humanizing the demons. There is a particularly cool scene with a severed head which I think most will enjoy. However, the rest of the magic has aspects that were less appealing to me. Davriel steals magic from other casters by reaching into their heads and plucking out spells that he can then temporarily use. In theory, it’s interesting. In practice, Sanderson has to explain the provenance of the spell every time Davriel casts one, which get a little eye-rolly by the end. Tacenda’s magic is all about music and channeling the supernatural sources around her. Without going into things that might spoil too much of the story, suffice it to say, it was not particularly compelling. Again, it was fine. Just ok. And again, I think it is a lack of familiarity with the source material and understanding some of the preconceptions of what fans want from a spellcasting protagonist. I think it’s a safe assumption that most Magic fans are also fans of the “old school wizard” trope, and expect magic to conform to their notions of a spell. Breaking from this expectation should only happen if the break is “cool” and “strange” in a good way. For me, this was not the case for Tacenda’s magic.
In general, I think that people who play Magic and are familiar with the lore, and people who are reading the story with fresh eyes may have very different perspectives on Children of the Nameless. Having a long history with the game and its corresponding flavor, it is more important to me than it may be to many readers to get the continuity right.
All in all,Children of the Nameless is not a bad novella. It’s just hard not to judge it in light of Brandon Sanderson’s other truly stellar works of fantasy fiction. Seriously, if you are reading this because of your interest in Magic, and you haven’t read the Mistborn series or Stormlight Archive, do yourself a favor and get on it. Despite the flaws of Children of the Nameless, Sanderson really is a master, and pulls off a competent and mostly well-written story that is a quick read. The characters are memorable, the mystery plot is solid, and the prose is above average. It’s a bit of a catch-22. If you are a fan of Magic, some of that “flavor” will just miss, but the caliber of writing is higher than what you are used to. If you are a fan of Brandon Sanderson, this is not his best work…but the subtle departures from canon will not tickle the hair on the back of your neck. In either case, it is a fine and well-paced read, but don’t expect it to blow your mind.
3/5 Stars
