Pages from Art of Magic. Illustrations by Michael Komarck. Photo courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.
Most people think of the trading card game Magic: The Gathering as being set in a dank, cramped basement somewhere in the middle of America. But the world of Magic goes way beyond heated tournaments, packs of cards, and energy drinks. Aside from being played by all types of people all over the world, the in-world story of Magic contains a deep, richly woven narrative with some of the best fantasy illustrations in gaming. James Wyatt, author of the new art and lore book The Art of Magic: The Gathering—Zendikar talks world-building, ancient monsters, and creating a source book that pleases both die-hards and fans of fantasy art in general.
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The book features 239 pages of artwork from Magic: The Gathering past and present, as well as plenty of background story and information about one of the game’s most popular worlds: Zendikar. “This book is the result of a happy confluence of events,” explains Wyatt. “Adam Colby, our manager for global brand marketing, has been pushing for us to do a book like this for a long time. And Adam wasn’t the only one—our fans have been clamoring for a book like this as well. At around the same time, I was making the transition from the Dungeons & Dragons team to working on Magic, and my experience writing for D&D was great preparation for this kind of work.”
Pages from Art of Magic. Illustrations by Wesley Burt and Karl Kupinski. Photo courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.
The world of Zendikar is “a world of fantasy adventure” constantly under attack from world-destroying creatures named The Eldrazi. “The Eldrazi are alien horrors, to be sure, but they’re also fantasy monsters that you can fight with sword and spell.” Wyatt describes the first run of Zendikar games (which were released in 2009) as being all about “exploration and adventure—crossing dangerous landscapes, exploring ancient ruins, uncovering lost magic, and discovering the secrets of a terrible past. But now [with this year’s release of new Zendikar-themed cards] the people of Zendikar aren’t searching for ancient knowledge for its own sake. They’re scouring the ancient ruins of their world to find any knowledge or magic they can use as weapons in this desperate war.”
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The book is born out of the guides the creative team uses to help shape the story. “We—the Magic creative team—put together a world guide full of concept art and world description, which writers and artists draw on as they work on the cards. So my job was to take the text of the Zendikar world guides—past and present—and turn them into a cohesive, compelling description of this rich world. It’s really all about conjuring up that spirit of adventure.” But is a book about a world of a card game too niche? Wyatt doesn’t think so, “It might be true that the number of people who are craving this kind of deep dive into Zendikar’s lore is relatively small, but the number of people who appreciate awesome fantasy art is huge.”
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