Recommend Mage novels to me

[Erinys]

Hello folks,

I'm thinking of buying WoD novels and Mage has interested me for a long time. I know some stuff about the setting but don't want to spoil any potential to enjoy the game if I ever get a chance to play it. I feel like the Revised setting was a bummer of a place (to live in) and am hoping to read something... more upbeat? More fantasy? More gonzo and bizarre? Also, I hate continuity errors and don't like to read things from the perspective of genocidal extremist characters.

So which Mage novels are the best written, most fun, highest quality? What do you recommend reading?

[No One of Consequence]

I would probably suggest the more recent Truth Beyond Paradox anthology that was published as part of Mage's 20th anniversary edition. I've not read it, but it's likely to be more along the lines of what you are looking for. It's available on DriveThruRPG.com, both as printed paperback and digital.

[hangedman1984]

...hoping to read something... more upbeat? More fantasy? More gonzo and bizarre?

Have you checked out Penny Dreadful? Sounds like it is EXACTLY what you're looking for.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/98228/Penny-Dreadful?term=penny+dreadful

[Thebian]

Penny Dreadful, absolutely. It is a joy.

You might want to check out the two short stories that precede it in Truth Until Paradox(Silver Nutmeg, Golden Pear and Grim Reminders) as well.

[Ambrosia]

I totally agree! If you want something that is upbeat, fantasy, gonzo (oh dear, the gonzo...) and bizarre in the Mage setting? Get the Penny Dreadful book. It is all that in a single package, and a fun read.

[Erinys]

Thanks!

gonzo (oh dear, the gonzo...)

Haha, serious thought-provoking philosophy is also great too!

Penny Dreadful, absolutely. It is a joy.

You might want to check out the two short stories that precede it in Truth Until Paradox(Silver Nutmeg, Golden Pear and Grim Reminders) as well.

Uh... oh, there are multiple editions of Truth Until Paradox, it seems. Which are you recommending?

Has anyone read Truth Beyond Paradox?

Is the Mage story in Quintessential World of Darkness a good one?

[Thebian]

Uh... oh, there are multiple editions of Truth Until Paradox, it seems. Which are you recommending?

They're in all the editions - the PoD one at Drivethrurpg has them, as well as the old paperbacks.

[Erinys]

Huh, well does anyone know what's the difference between editions?

*goes to DriveThru*
*reads reviews*

Oh I see, the revised edition is missing half the stories. *sigh*

[Thebian]

More than half. The original version has seventeen stories.. The Revised edition keeps seven of these and adds a new one. The original edition can be hard to track down for a sensible price, unfortunately. That said, I do think that they kept the best stories for the Revised edition. Some of the missing ones are fun, but none come close to the two Penny Dreadful stories in quality and zest - those two really are special and it's easy to see why Kevin Murphy got the go ahead to write a full novel (it was originally released chapter-by-chapter on the old WW site, iirc). It's a great read. If nothing else, you will come away with a new-found respect and understanding for the Victorian Language of Flowers

[Eldagusto]

I still need to read all of the Penny Dreadful book, started it and got distracted and a decade past. :P But the final Novel Ascension was very interesting, they even name Dropped the Yozis... lot of easter eggs.

[Erinys]

Well I found a copy of the old version for what I consider a reasonable price. Hopefully, I'm not missing out terribly by not reading the added Revised story.

Any other recommendations?

[Alqamar Alaswad]

It is not exactly a novel, but I love "The fragile path".

[rickayelm]

I always liked Mister Magic. It was first printed in The Quintessential World of Darkness anthology. It is about the awakening and initial trading of a Cult of Ecstasy mage.

[Thebian]

It is not exactly a novel, but I love "The fragile path".

Yeah, Fragile Path is really great.

It's a collection of in-universe documents (testaments, accounts, stories, lyrics etc.) that tell the tale of the First Cabal. I span a whole chronicle off the ideas in it. Great stuff.

[Justycar]

I agree with The Fragile Path, it a very good text, based on the renaissance and the creation of the traditions. However, I do not recommend Time of Judgement, the Ascension final novel for the Mage end times. I did not enjoyed at all and the characters were strange and boring to me, a Wu keng infernalist-transsexual-wicht and a New York city shaman of the trash (his avatar was a golem of cans and newspapers). I also do not recommend Road to Hell, even being the antonomasial lore novel, it is a crossover of high fantasy with plain characters, very bi-dimensional, the kind of villains with evil mustaches...