Book Review: 'Children Of The Nameless' by Brandon Sanderson

cover art by Chris Rahn

Really enjoyed this. One of my favourite authors, Brandon Sanderson, writing a novella in one of my favourite fantasy Multiverses, Magic: The Gathering.

We're introduced to the story through Tacenda, one of two twin sisters that have been blessed / cursed with a kind of magic to protect Verlasen, a Kessig village on the plane of Innistrad. But the rub with the magics the sisters have is that they can only see half of the day and becoming blind for the rest. Tacenda can only see during the night, whilst her sister Willia, can only see from when the sun rises. But when the village is attacked and the villagers killed and their souls taken during a period of Tacenda's blindness, she seeks out who she thinks is behind it all, the new Lord of the Manor, Davriel Cane. But when her attempt at exacting justice doesn't go to plan, she gets dragged into the mystery of what happened to her village as Davriel, who claims his innocence, and his demonic cohorts investigate.

I really liked the character of Tacenda, not too pious but she's brave and stands up for herself, wanting to do the right thing. Although being only around 15 years old, she comes across as mature for her age. I guess that comes with the unfortunate burden of protecting a village, and surviving the devastation of the village when her warding magic ultimately fails.

But it's the diabolist Davriel Cane and his demonic companions, Miss Highwater and Crunchgnar, that are standouts for me. Davriel appears to be a foppish Lord of the Manor, mostly taking naps and drinking dustwillow tea (initially he's more distraught at the loss of his beloved tea than at the devastation of the village he resides over). I loved the witty banter between them, that despite the serious situations they find themselves in, brought a very welcome levity to the story, and found myself laughing along, but it wasn't too much that it became a straight out comedy. Used in the appropriate places, it all worked very well.

I found this to be typically Sanderson, with a great cast of characters, excellent world building and of course a good use of magic systems (as you would expect too from a story set in the worlds of Magic The Gathering). Everything that you would expect from a story, no matter who short or long, from Brandon Sanderson. The only minus for me was that it was short, but even with that, Sanderson still manages to pack everything in, including his trademark Sanderson Avalanche as the story picks up and flows to its conclusion. Very enjoyable and definitely worth reading if you're a fan of either Brandon Sanderson or Magic The Gathering, or just looking for a good story set in a world of magic and fantasy.

Available in ebook formats for free from the Magic The Gathering website.