Truth Until Paradox

Probably the best of the first three World of Darkness books, with thatuneasy Mage feeling of being slightly out of step with everything. Theyare obviously feeling their way with this sort of thing, but Mage waswhat appealed to me the most, which is perhaps why I like this bookmore out of the first three.

James Yanni, you have absolutely read my mind and I'm so giddy that someone else feels the exact same way, so I won't go into a long review. My only thing was that I think my personal "tilt" toward some of the best stories was enough to redeem the ones that were less appealing. Don't get me wrong, professionalism and spelling errors aside, I think all the stories are at least a fine read to some extent. But some, like Introit, really grabbed me. The main character altered my perceptions of the Chorus so completely, that I wanted to make my own Chorister Mage. My atheist preconceptions of the Tradition were tossed out the window and I honestly think I'm a better Mage player because of that. ;D I found "When The Moon" a little mysterious, because it didn't really seem to fit into the Mage universe, rather it fed me some really strange imagery that made the story sort of hard to follow. The ending, though a tad cheesy, was very enjoyable as I heard the song floating through my head and humming through my lips for hours after. Overall, it was just weird though. XD "Candledark" was a little between River from Firefly and Penny Dreadful. Good read, but yeah, a little sketchy around the end. Overall, I find that all the themes in the Mage game are here: Nephandi, Technocracy, Marauders, Traditions all at each others' throats. The whole sci-fi feel of alot of the stories really appealed to me, and let's face it, there isn't much Mage fiction streaming directly from White Wolf any more. I think there are 2 other books including this one-Penny Dreadful(which is SUCH an awesome read) and the TOJ series that ran a few years ago which wasn't very entertaining. I ABSOLUTELY recommend you download (for free) and read Penny Dreadful from the old White Wolf site.

I believe this is a very good collection of short stories set within the Mage (RPG) genre. Among its many stories, it hits upon each of the nine Traditions at least once, depicting them in a more 'human' light than the books describe. While its easy for players to read the Core game book and make characters, actually reading a story describing how some of these wonderous beings 'think' sheds a new light upon the whole game. Many parts of the stories delve into the actual gaming rules, which makes it seem all the more real. An experienced gamer can even learn a thing or two about some 'tricks' to use in their own games. Even if you're not a fan of the Game itself, the short stories are entertaining and definately worth the time to read.

This is an anthology of stories, each threaded together taking place over Halloween weekend in San Francisco. While Sleepers believe in a world of physical laws, mages understand that reality is shapable and reshapable as needed. Coicidence does not exist! Great book because no single point pierces the veil that lets you declare absolutely that this is fiction. It just might be true! In fact, everything is true, simultaneously, until the human mind fails and conceives paradox!