Beyond the Barriers: The Book of Worlds (Mage - The Ascension)

Rating:
Summary: Expand your worlds!
Review: A great book which explores the different places you can meet in the Umbra. I specially loved this book because it lets you get your Mages in whole new universes, where rules can be as twisted as you can devise. It also brings information about what Mages seem to know about more obscure subjects, such as the Dark Umbra (Shadowlands) and Maya (The Dreaming), and even information about the worlds beyond the Horizon, which can become a very interesting setting for a chronicle (a deep space etherite exploration vessel chronicle anyone?).

The style is also great, resembling a scientific article compilation made by Alexis Hastings, etherite extraordinare, with the colaboration of several of her contacts. Each section is written by an "expert" in that area.

Rating:
Summary: Just plain incredible...
Review: A note to players: This book is not for you. There is nothing, at all, in this book that it would benefit you to get. Unless you're a Mage storyteller, don't so much as TOUCH this book. Got it? Unless there's no chance you'll ever be involved in an Umbral campaign. Got it?

Beyond the Barriers: The Book of Worlds is an absolutely incredible Storyteller's resource for everything lying within the Umbra, for any of the WoD games, not just Mage. Unlike its partner Umbra: The Velvet Shadow for Werewolf, it actually covers the entirety of the spirit realms, not just one layer. Mages usually involve themselves most in the Astral/High Umbra and the Horizon Realm, and both these are described, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. The Shadowlands and Tempest of Wraith are in here (the Low Umbra), as are the Middle Worlds realms that the Garou are familiar with (but only those that mages have some business in, and from a willworker point of view; for example, the Abyss, Aetherial Realm, and the Cyberrealm are all presented, but they're known to mages as the Chasm, the Aetherian Reaches, and Dystopia), and even the Dreaming of the Changelings is put in its place among the other spirit realms. But in this book, you also find the Hollow Earth, Technocracy outposts on the moon (Darkside Moonbase), in orbit on the opposite side of the sun from earth (Autocthonia), and even a Dyson Sphere the Void Engineer's 'created' around one of the Centauri suns. Each planet in the solar system, the asteroid belt, and a bunch of moons are described, as are the Shard Realms they coexist with and the Shade Realms they reflect on earth's Horizon.

A very comprehensive, coherent, and in-depth work; absolutely fascinating material, and very useful. Between the Barriers is presented almost completely as an in-character narration from a bunch of different sources; there are two main writers (a Daughter of Ether and an Orphan Technomancer) who are compiling a traveller's guide to the Umbra, and they call in a bunch of other mages to write about topics in their specialty (a Euthanatos to talk about the Shadowlands; a Celestial Choruster<sp> about the astral Heavens and Hells; an ex-Void Engineer to blab about Technocracy realms). The bulk of the book is flavor text and descriptions with very little rules (applying too much system to the spirit realms kills the mystique and bogs down the experience), and what rules are needed are presented in an appendix in the back. An awesome, awesome book.

Rating:
Summary: Limitless Adventures
Review: This book is a must for Mage fans interested in dimensional adventures. Whether you're a Void Engineer, Son of Ether, Dreamspeaker, a sleeper etc, this book has something for you. The book is presented as a guide by a charismatic Daughter of Ether and her associates. Not only is it an entertaining book, it also provides a tremendous amount of information on various dimensions, worlds, starships, and creatures from the Void. Story possibilities are endless. Don't hesitate to obtain a copy of this book.

Rating:
Summary: Game Book, or snippets of bad fiction?
Review: While the folks at White Wolf have always been a little guilty of playing hack-fiction-writer when they should have been writing a gaming book, the book of Worlds takes the cake. The artwork is mediocre as well. A large majority of the material therein is covered elsewhere better.