Brother's War by Jeff Grubb

This is one of the first books from the Magic The Gathering world. It is the second Artifacts cycle book (Antiquities).

This book tells the story of two brothers Urza and Mishra and their war that destroyed most of the world they lived in. The brothers are of a noble birth but their parents couldn't take care of them. That is how they ended up in Tocasia's excavation camp. Here both of the brothers took a real interest in artifacts. Mishra was more interested in digging them and Urza was more interested in actually studying them and later building them.

One day the brothers and their teacher discovered the ruins of Halcyon's caves where the portal to Phyrexia can be open. There something weird happened. The result of this was...Mishra's and Urza's planeswalk and one particular stone shattered. You both know the two halves - the weakstone and the mightstone.

Everything went wrong when the two brothers fought over the stones and killed their teacher in the process. Mishra ran away and was caught by Fallaji. He spent some time working there as a slave but was later saved by Hajar. He became the Qadir's son teacher. Urza on the other hand started to work in a clock shop. Later became interested in Jalum Tome which he could only obtain by moving a big statue from one place to another. In doing so he would become the local Princess' groom and would also get the dowry (the Tome was part of it). Urza did that and this way became the Chief Artificer of Kroog. He had almost all he needed to start working on his creations (starting with enhancing Ornithopters).

Later in the book both brothers become the heads of one or another nation. The brothers war that follows is something that strips the land bare. It is a war that is thought with artifacts but amidst all these artifact creatures a group of scholars finds out about mana - the memories of (certain) land. The first to find this out is Hurkyl who is capable to return the artifacts to where they came from.
Not only the group of scholars use magic though. Elves from the island Argoth always used magic and fought against artifacts. Urza himself in the end discovers the power and becomes planeswalker.

The final conflict between the brothers (and the brotherhood of Gix) results in a disaster that provokes an Ice Age.

note: the book also tells the story of Ashnod and Tawnos apprentices to Mishra and Urza.

Personal Rating: 4.5/5
Note: Book based on a TCG but doesn't need to be considered that way. You don't need to be Magic player to know what's going on in the book. Magic players will be surprised about how well Grubb managed to put everything from Antiquities in the book without spoiling it but making it better for us.
There's not a single story going on in the book which is good. All stories are complete and don't really lack anything which is good. The book itself (even though having a prequel and sequel) is good by itself and does not feel like a short novel as some of the other Jeff Grubbs book do.