Children of the Nameless (Magic: The Gathering), by Brandon Sanderson

  This is a very Brandon Sanderson novella: the willful youth, the sardonic adult hiding their inherent goodness under a veil of insults and bad puns, the logical puzzles, the world building done while telling a concise and compelling story. The only thing that I dreaded was that it was another Cosmere story, trying to square peg something interesting into this pointless joint universe. And it wasn't! Well, not that particular universe.

  Children of the Nameless is set in the extended universe of the card game Magic: The Gathering. The novella was released for free on the website of Wizards of the Coast, the publishers of Magic, through an arrangement that allowed Brandon increased creative control of the story. It is set on the plane of Innistrad several years after the events of Eldritch Moon. It introduces the original characters Tacenda Verlasen and Davriel Cane and follows their story as they seek to uncover the mystery of Tacenda's entire village being taken by geists. Meanwhile, the story is no longer available on the website, or maybe I didn't know how to find it.

  Anyway, back to the story. It was a bit on the childish side, although it featured some gruesome scenes as well. Overall it made me very interested in the characters and maybe the world. There is a "Magic: the Gathering" collection of books on Goodreads and it contains 75 works. This particular magical literary universe was not on my radar before. I doubt I will delve into it any time soon, but it's intriguing.

  Bottom line: fun, short, intense. I liked it!