List of Magic: The Gathering novels


The following is a list of novels based in the setting of the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering. When Wizards of the Coast was asked how the novels and cards influence each other, Brady Dommermuth, Magic's Creative Director, responded by saying "generally the cards provide the world in which the novels are set, and the novels sometimes provide characters represented on cards. But cards also introduce their own characters that might not appear in the novels. In short, the Magic creative team and the novelists work largely in parallel and inform each other as much as possible." All of the novels take place in the multiverse, which consists of an infinite number of infinitely different planes.
The novels from The Brothers' War through Scourge, along with The Thran and the ...of Magic anthologies, are set on the plane of Dominaria and are a roughly chronological timeline of that plane's history. Magic began to venture out of Dominaria and into several new planes in the later novels such as Mirrodin in the Mirrodin Cycle, Kamigawa in the Kamigawa Cycle, and Ravnica in the Ravnica Cycle. The Magic storyline returned to Dominaria with the Time Spiral cycle, and visited Lorwyn with the storyline cycle of the same name. After this, the policy of publishing a trilogy of novels for each year's setting was discontinued; the Alara, Zendikar and Scars of Mirrodin block settings had only a single novel each.
Theros was the last block to receive a companion novel, and only in e-book form, with Wizards of the Coast citing various reasons including a decline in sales and an outdated model as two major contributing factors for the decision. Beginning with the Khans block in 2013, the company decided to tell the storyline through the cards and free online articles and found that more players were familiar with the block story line than were previously when only novels told the story.
This approach continued through 2017. Then, Wizards of the Coast hired novelist and scriptwriter Nic Kelman as their Head of Story and Entertainment. Kelman's task was to assemble all of the lore established from previous card sets and the published novels, comics, and other materials as to create the game's "cosmology" or the story bible that established all the known planes and elements of those planes, the individual Planeswalkers and their connections to others, and other details that then could be passed not only to the teams developing new cards but also to those expanding the franchise with new novels and other content. In 2018, Brandon Sanderson published an e-book, Children of the Nameless, marking the return of novels. War of the Spark: Ravnica by Greg Weisman was the first print book after an eight-year break. It corresponded with the final set of a three part Ravnica storyline and received a sequel. However, the sequel was widely panned and Wizards of the Coast "canceled plans for the book that was intended for the game's next set, Theros: Beyond Death". Then in 2020, with the Zendikar Rising set, the Magic storyline returned via story articles on the official website.
In 2025, Wizards announced a standalone print YA novel entitled Strixhaven: Omens of Chaos, written by Seanan McGuire and published by Penguin Random House, which is intended to release along with the upcoming Secrets of Strixhaven set.

Non-cycle novels

The original ten books were deliberately not numbered as a marketing concern. The publishers thought people might shy away from a multi-book series. Some stories are connected, some not. The heroes of Arena, Garth and Rakel, appear in Shattered Chains. The books Whispering Woods, Shattered Chains, and Final Sacrifice by Clayton Emery are known as the "Whispering Woods Trilogy" or "The Greensleeves Trilogy".
All of the non-cycle books were published by Harper Fantasy.
YearTitleAuthorPagesISBN
1994ArenaWilliam R. Forstchen297
1995Whispering WoodsClayton Emery294
1995Shattered ChainsClayton Emery288
1995Final SacrificeClayton Emery312
1995The Cursed LandTeri McLaren290
1995The Prodigal SorcererMark C. Sumner309
1996Ashes of the SunHanovi Braddock304
1996Song of TimeTeri McLaren304
1996And Peace Shall SleepSonia Orin Lyris304
1996Dark LegacyRobert E. Vardeman368

Cycles and block novels

Cycle novels

All of the below cycled or series books have been published by Wizards of the Coast.
CycleYearTitleAuthorPagesISBN
Artifacts1998The Brothers' WarJeff Grubb409
Artifacts1998PlaneswalkerLynn Abbey359
Artifacts1999Time StreamsJ. Robert King343
Artifacts1999Bloodlines: The Story of Urza's DestinyLoren L. Coleman343
Artifacts1999The ThranJ. Robert King311
Ice Age1999The Gathering DarkJeff Grubb342
Ice Age2000The Eternal IceJeff Grubb320
Ice Age2000The Shattered AllianceJeff Grubb309
Masquerade1999Mercadian MasquesFrancis Lebaron341
Masquerade2000NemesisPaul B. Thompson320
Masquerade2000ProphecyVance Moore311
Invasion2000InvasionJ. Robert King311
Invasion2001PlaneshiftJ. Robert King311
Invasion2001ApocalypseJ. Robert King308
Odyssey2000OdysseyVance Moore320
Odyssey2001Chainer's TormentScott McGough320
Odyssey2001JudgmentWill McDermott320
Legends2001JohanClayton Emery311
Legends2001JeditClayton Emery320
Legends2002HazezonClayton Emery320
Legends II2002Assassin's BladeScott McGough320
Legends II2003Emperor's FistScott McGough320
Legends II2003Champion's TrialScott McGough306
Onslaught2002OnslaughtJ. Robert King320
Onslaught2003LegionsJ. Robert King312
Onslaught2003ScourgeJ. Robert King320
Mirrodin2003The Moons of MirrodinWill McDermott320
Mirrodin2004The Darksteel EyeJess Lebow320
Mirrodin2004The Fifth DawnCory Herndon320
Kamigawa2004Outlaw: Champions of KamigawaScott McGough320
Kamigawa2005Heretic: Betrayers of KamigawaScott McGough320
Kamigawa2005Guardian: Saviors of KamigawaScott McGough320
Ravnica2005Ravnica: City of GuildsCory J. Herndon320
Ravnica2006GuildpactCory J. Herndon320
Ravnica2006DissensionCory J. Herndon320
Time Spiral2006Time SpiralScott McGough320
Time Spiral2007Planar ChaosScott McGough, Timothy Sanders320
Time Spiral2007Future SightScott McGough, John Delaney320
Lorwyn2007LorwynCory J. Herndon, Scott McGough320
Lorwyn2008MorningtideCory J. Herndon, Scott McGough320
Lorwyn II: Shadowmoor2008ShadowmoorPhilip Athans, Susan J. Morris352
Lorwyn II: Shadowmoor2008EventideScott McGough, Cory J. Herndon320

Block novels

Block novels are novels which replaced the trilogy of novels previously released corresponding to each Magic set. They were introduced in 2009 with Alara Unbroken released for the Shards of Alara block. As the name suggests the block novel follows the story of the card block of the same name.
YearTitleAuthorPagesISBN
2009Alara UnbrokenDoug Beyer320
2010Zendikar: In the Teeth of AkoumRobert B. Wintermute320
2011Scars of Mirrodin: The Quest for KarnRobert B. Wintermute320

Other novels

These novels were connected to specific expansion sets without blocks.
YearTitleAuthorPublisherPagesISBN
2019War of the Spark: RavnicaGreg WeismanDel Ray Books384
2019War of the Spark: ForsakenGreg WeismanDel Ray Books416

Planeswalker novels

The Planeswalker novels are a type of Magic novel that was introduced in 2009. Each follows the story of one of Magic's planeswalkers. The first yearly planeswalker novel was released in the winter and the second in the summer of 2009.
YearTitleAuthorPagesPlaneswalkerISBN
2009Agents of ArtificeAri Marmell390Jace Beleren
2009The Purifying FireLaura Resnick400Chandra Nalaar
2010Test of MetalMatthew Stover352Tezzeret
2020ChandraVita Ayala96Chandra Nalaar

Block novellas / eBooks

For the Return to Ravnica block, a 3-part novella by Doug Beyer was released. Similarly a 2 part novella by Jenna Helland was released for the Theros block.
BlockYearTitleAuthorPages
Return to Ravnica2012Return to Ravnica: The Secretist, Part OneDoug Beyer67
Return to Ravnica2013Gatecrash: The Secretist, Part TwoDoug Beyer97
Return to Ravnica2013Dragon's Maze: The Secretist, Part ThreeDoug Beyer90
TherosApril 1, 2014Theros: Godsend, Part IJenna Helland124
TherosMay 13, 2014Journey Into Nyx: Godsend, Part IIJenna Helland139
Blockless e-booksDecember 12, 2018Children of the NamelessBrandon Sanderson127
Blockless e-booksSeptember 4, 2019Throne of Eldraine: The Wildered QuestKate Elliott208
Blockless e-booksApril 7, 2020Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths - Sundered BondDjango Wexler174
Blockless e-books----

Anthologies

The first two Anthologies, Tapestries and Distant Planes were published by Harper Fantasy while all of the others since then have been published by Wizards of the Coast.
YearTitleAuthorPagesISBN
1995TapestriesKathy Ice290
1995Distant PlanesKathy Ice384
1998Rath and StormPeter Archer311
1999The Colors of MagicJess Lebow342
2000Myths of MagicJess Lebow304
2001Dragons of MagicJ. Robert King320
2002The Secrets of MagicJ. Robert King320
2003Monsters of MagicJ. Robert King320

Others

The Planeswalker's Guide Series

The Planeswalker's Guide Series was a planned series of novels which were to start with A Planeswalker's Guide to Alara in September 2008. Each novel was going to contain information, concept art, card art, etc... about the plane it is dedicated to. The series was later changed to web article series after the first book did not sell as well as the publisher hoped.
YearTitleAuthorPagesISBN
2008A Planeswalker's Guide to AlaraDoug Beyer, Jenna Helland160