Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Magnimar, City of Monuments

Disclaimer: I am a freelancer for Paizo, so you could argue I have a biased opinion. If you think that calls for discounting this review, I'm okay with that. On the other hand, I paid cash money for a physical copy of this book, and I've been working with Magnimar as a GM since 2007 (Skinsaw Murders) and long before I was a freelancer. I've read this book cover to cover and more thoroughly than most recent books—so I feel comfortable reviewing it.

Briefly: this really satisfies any itch I have to know about Magnimar and gives me plenty of tools to devise and run adventures, both short and long, in this truly fascinating city.

The majority of the book is broken down into the various districts, each of which are rich with details, plothooks, and NPCs. There is a "Secrets" section in the back similar to Guide to Korvosa, but the district chapters are by no means dry, and also contain a wealth of neat ideas to be mined.

The maps are different than previous books. They're still overhead top down representations, but they're quite clean and crisp (not to imply that the city itself is). When a pointer indicates a noble family's villa, it looks like a villa, the exclusive fenced in club looks like it should—not just one random building in a congested city section. Its laid out with a nice sense of space and proportion. The text compliments the map nicely, and the two authors have spent some time considering why each district is that way it is.. be it for practical reasons or an actual history that is explained. Oh yeah, there is a map for each section of the city. There are location pointers with the tags off of the surface of the map, so you have as much of an unobstructed look at the map as possible while still having specific location pointers.

Few stones have been left uncovered by this book, from the Golemworks, to cults referenced in previous APs and modules, to the Irespan. James Jacobs can be conservative in revealing spoilers on the messageboards, but if you throw down your money on the table, he and Mr. Daigle lift up the hood and let you in on many (if not all) of the secrets of Magnimar. There is a wealth of lore and history here and it all makes easy kindling and fuel for adventures. Some of it intersects with previous products, but in those cases it enriches that content without repeating it. The 'Secrets' chapter can easily spin-off multiple extended adventure arcs for the GM to develop in their home campaigns.

All of the art is top-notch, there is no lame or shoddy illustration in the book. The layout is clean, and the sidebars are check full of interesting highlights.

I guess if I had to make one observation that doesn't try to address any one aspect of the book and just comes right from the gut: the content is meaty and rich (I almost want to say dense). Not because it's a hard or boring read, but if you just flipped through the pages quickly it might not stand out. If you sit down and read it, there's a lot of interesting detail here that you're not going to pull out from just scanning the pages. And it's not boring at all. They pack a lot of value in this book.

I loved the Guide to Korvosa, and while this book doesn't try to copy it 100% I think it is every bit as good if not better. Definitely worth the investment if you love Varisia.