What do you think?
Rate this book
Magic: The Gathering - A Visual History #3
Magic: The Gathering - Planes of the Multiverse: A Visual History
An official visual guide to the fantastical worlds and legendary characters of The Gathering
The many planes of The Gathering ’s storied Multiverse have served as host to countless epic battles and dramatic cataclysms—and each world is richly and uniquely populated with its own fantastical creatures, iconic characters, and legendary Planeswalkers. In The Planes of the Multiverse , author Jay Annelli presents a visual guide to the history behind lore-defining events from the Phyrexian Invasion to the War of the Spark, as well as character profiles for Karn, Narset, Vraska, Sorin Markov, and other fan-favorite Planeswalkers.
Planes of the Multiverse pairs original artwork—in many instances reproduced for the first time outside of the card frame—with detailed primers on each plane. This collection offers exclusive insight into the art and mythology of some of The Gathering ’s most popular and enduring locales—and the characters that inhabit them.
The many planes of The Gathering ’s storied Multiverse have served as host to countless epic battles and dramatic cataclysms—and each world is richly and uniquely populated with its own fantastical creatures, iconic characters, and legendary Planeswalkers. In The Planes of the Multiverse , author Jay Annelli presents a visual guide to the history behind lore-defining events from the Phyrexian Invasion to the War of the Spark, as well as character profiles for Karn, Narset, Vraska, Sorin Markov, and other fan-favorite Planeswalkers.
Planes of the Multiverse pairs original artwork—in many instances reproduced for the first time outside of the card frame—with detailed primers on each plane. This collection offers exclusive insight into the art and mythology of some of The Gathering ’s most popular and enduring locales—and the characters that inhabit them.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published July 20, 2021
14 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 3, 2022
This was exactly what I wanted. A primer on the planes of Magic the Gathering and a quick summary of Magic the Gathering lore. I read this largely to help facilitate my understanding of the new incorporation of Magic lore with DnD; but the writing gave me just enough of a taste to leave me wanting more. And, as a bonus, the art was lovely.
January 6, 2022
The art in this book is absolutely stunning. The summaries are a bit too short, but a great way to be introduced to each plane. If you are a beginner to playing Magic the Gathering, I highly recommend.
August 19, 2025
Learned a bit I didn't know
August 31, 2021
Magic: The Gathering is a tabletop card game that was first released in 1993 and now, nearly 30 years later, boasts over 35 million players worldwide. Abrams ComicArts has immortalized the storied multiverse in a gorgeous visual history in the upcoming Magic: The Gathering: Planes of the Multiverse by Jay Annelli.
READ MORE: https://yourmoneygeek.com/review-magi...
Annelli has carefully and diligently created a must-have visual history for the most avid Planeswalkers, providing insightful information into the world of Magic: The Gathering. His detailed primers are paired with beautiful original artwork, reproduced for the first time outside of card frames. This new collection offers exclusive insight into the art and mythology of the most popular and enduring locations — and all of the characters that inhabit them.
The visual guide offers a glimpse into the history behind lore-defining events from the Phyrexian Invasion to the War of the Spark. It also features character profiles for Theron, Narset, Chandra, Vraska, Sorin Markov, and other fan-favorite characters that Planeswalkers will instantly recognize.
Unlike larger visual guides, the full-color hardcover Planes of the Multiverse is easy to fit into your backpack or bag to take with you to conventions or meet-ups. The guide is filled with 256 pages of flawless art, showcasing the fantastical creatures and characters that have made Magic: The Gathering what it is today.
If you are an avid Magic: The Gathering player or looking to brighten the life of your favorite Planeswalker, then you won’t want to miss out on Magic: The Gathering: Planes of the Multiverse. It’s the perfect primer to your MTG-filled life.
READ MORE: https://yourmoneygeek.com/review-magi...
Annelli has carefully and diligently created a must-have visual history for the most avid Planeswalkers, providing insightful information into the world of Magic: The Gathering. His detailed primers are paired with beautiful original artwork, reproduced for the first time outside of card frames. This new collection offers exclusive insight into the art and mythology of the most popular and enduring locations — and all of the characters that inhabit them.
The visual guide offers a glimpse into the history behind lore-defining events from the Phyrexian Invasion to the War of the Spark. It also features character profiles for Theron, Narset, Chandra, Vraska, Sorin Markov, and other fan-favorite characters that Planeswalkers will instantly recognize.
Unlike larger visual guides, the full-color hardcover Planes of the Multiverse is easy to fit into your backpack or bag to take with you to conventions or meet-ups. The guide is filled with 256 pages of flawless art, showcasing the fantastical creatures and characters that have made Magic: The Gathering what it is today.
If you are an avid Magic: The Gathering player or looking to brighten the life of your favorite Planeswalker, then you won’t want to miss out on Magic: The Gathering: Planes of the Multiverse. It’s the perfect primer to your MTG-filled life.
December 28, 2022
A nice primer on Magic lore. If you're a fan who mostly plays the game and only tangentially keeps up with the story, there's definitely going to be some new tidbits for you even in eras you were around for. Some planes get significantly less attention which could be the decision of the author or it could be that some, especially recent, planes just have had less detail in their worldbuilding, which is understandable but a little sad.
It's also worth noting that this would be more accurately called a visual history of planeswalkers and planes since the 'walkers frequently get more attention than the planes. Obviously the story aspects for both are intertwined, but we really get to the C- and D-list as far as planeswalkers go while not fully covering the planes even from the last decade of magic (although, admittedly, they do hit the highlights). It would have been nice to see more detail, in any case.
It's also worth noting that this would be more accurately called a visual history of planeswalkers and planes since the 'walkers frequently get more attention than the planes. Obviously the story aspects for both are intertwined, but we really get to the C- and D-list as far as planeswalkers go while not fully covering the planes even from the last decade of magic (although, admittedly, they do hit the highlights). It would have been nice to see more detail, in any case.
July 24, 2022
Beautiful MTG artbook.
Written as part artbook, part lorebook`, Planes of the Multiverse: A Visual History is a beautiful book. The book is divided in sections, one for each plane. Each section give the general lore of a specific plane accompanied by amazing high-quality artprints. Additionally, that planes inhabitants, geography and notable planeswalkers from that plane get their moment to shine.
Overall this was a very wellmade book, with thick high-quality prints and a wide selection of art. The only negative about this book is that I wouldn't have minded if they had printed this a tad bit bigger. Perhaps like the 'Art of MTG books'.
Other than that I have no complaints what so ever!
Written as part artbook, part lorebook`, Planes of the Multiverse: A Visual History is a beautiful book. The book is divided in sections, one for each plane. Each section give the general lore of a specific plane accompanied by amazing high-quality artprints. Additionally, that planes inhabitants, geography and notable planeswalkers from that plane get their moment to shine.
Overall this was a very wellmade book, with thick high-quality prints and a wide selection of art. The only negative about this book is that I wouldn't have minded if they had printed this a tad bit bigger. Perhaps like the 'Art of MTG books'.
Other than that I have no complaints what so ever!
Read
January 5, 2023Annelli's prose works on a sentence-level, even as his diction becomes repetitious when stitched into paragraphs. But this is still the best of the Abrams ComicArts Magic books: well-formatted, well-curated, and an excellent introduction to what makes the card game's mythos so enduringly compelling.
October 3, 2021
Absolutely gorgeous.
January 14, 2022
Compared to the previous MTG novel I read (Gatewatch) this book offers heaps more. Most of the MTG places are explained in brief, with major races / planeswalkers and more.
April 27, 2023
Lore hyperfixation is sated for now.
July 11, 2024
Telling the general history like this, broken down in Planes, along with the artwork, was a win!
March 19, 2024
Fun to have a great, detailed view of so much of the art. My eyes glaze over the words after a while, just because it’s such a constant stream of names without time to get into the actual stories. But the art is totally worth it.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews