The war is over and we all lost
That's the main point of this new edition of Mage.
Mage: the Ascension is a game dealing with people who can warp and shift reality simply by force of will. These people belong to different Traditions or Conventions, who help them learn how to do these things and shape their philosophies. The Traditions vary from the Akashic Brotherhood (mysic monks and martial artists) to the Euthanatos (who believe that sometimes people need to die for the world to improve) to the Order of Hermes (classic magi, shamelessly ripped off from the game Ars Magica when White Wolf used to own it).
In a retrospective story at the beginning of the book, which is relatively well done, it is explained that mages used to war for reality - for the chance to have all humanity "ascend" (become enlightened, essentially) in their particular way of thought. It was the Traditions versus the Technocracy (the Conventions, or Technocratic Union), with the insane Marauders and soul-eating Nephandi on the sidelines. The prize was all of reality.
Unfortunately, in the meantime, everyone sort of lost sight of their goal. The masses of humanity (collectively known as Sleepers to the Awakened magi) unconsciously chose mediocrity over any other options the world presented to them. We have a phenomenon like this at my college, known as the Apaty Field. Then there was something strange, a huge disruption in the force if you will, and suddenly a lot of powerful magi are missing/dead and it really hurts to enter the spirit world when before it used to be easy. This is where this book picks up.
Merits
Number one: Resonance. The addition of Resonances is a wonderful touch which brings a great deal more color to magic. Each magus has three "flavors" to their magic, and spells they cast which take advantage of these resonances are easier. They help to further define the character, beyond the usual Nature, Demeanor, and Tradition.
Number two: Clear Spheres. Many spheres of magic (different areas that a magus can have power over) have been cleared up from their previous definitions. The best changes have been in Prime (halleluja! Prime makes sense now!), Forces (no more technocratic bias), and Life (miscellaneous improvements). For those unfamiliar with the game, the spheres of magic are Correspondence (also known as Connection), Entropy, Forces, Life, Mind, Matter, Prime, Spirit, and Time. Using those powers and combinations of them is how magi perform magic.
Number three: the Big Magical Reference Chart on pg. 208-209. It is your friend.
Number four: nice layout. This is the usual sort of high-quality page layout that the Mage series is known for. Headers look like headers, pictures don't disrupt the flow of text, boldface is used in the right places to let us know what's most important.
Flaws
Number one: no info on the Technocracy. Mage is all about reality being warped at whim, and nothing really being permanently fixed. Thus, a perfectly detailed setting is not to be expected or desired. However, the amount of information on the Technocracy here is about one page, which essentially sums up their long-term goals and nothing else. From scouring this book, it is impossible to determine exactly what each Convention within the Technocracy does, even in the most general sense. If you purchase this book, I would advise you to get a copy of the Guide to the Technocracy, another excellent book but also another $30, if you are not familiar with the setting of Mage. Mage Revised does not even give the statistics for your typical Man in Black. In addition, practically zero information is given on the Umbra and what lies within it. The Book of Worlds is highly recommended to fill this gap, but is another $15-20.
Number two: lousy index. It is truly horrid. Enough said.
Number three: missing rules. This book needs an errata sheet like nobody's business. Such things as the amount of aggravated damage one takes when stepping through the Gauntlet, whether that damage applies to Garou as well, the Damage and Duration table, how long it takes to turn a magical effect into a Rote (which everyone will want to do, see below), and what the heck Jhor is need to be in this book. They are not, or the rules are contradictory on them. An extremely bad job was done here, which severely mars the book. I look forward to the Mage Revised FAQ and Errata, which should be shipped to every store that sells the book.
Number four: pet peeves. These are a few things that I personally don't like, but which you might. First, it is now easier to cast Rotes than to use Spheres on the fly. Essentially magi are expected to cast spells rather than shape reality with their will. This is a severe detraction from the game's atmosphere in my mind. Ditto for the new rule requiring an Arete score of at least 6 (may not start higher than 3) before a magus can stop using Foci (the basic "tools of the trade" for any given Tradition). Foci need to be more flexible. For instance, if a Verbena, whose main concentration is Life magic, wants to cast a Life rote, he or she may need a cauldron to do so. This is crippling, so I suggest the old rule: ignore the need for one focus per point of Arete over 1. Lastly, I would probably return to an Ascension War theme for the game rather than survival. Survival games are good for a weekend, but boring in the long term.
Number five: Old-school combat I suggest that anyone with a copy of Trinity move to that combat system. I expected White Wolf to update all their products to that combat system instead of the current one, and I don't see why they didn't. It is not a significant difference, but it is definitely better.
Point Balance
For style the book recieves a 4. Art is not bad, but is recycled within the book. Recycling from previous editions would have been better, and made more sense in many cases. The book itself seems relatively sturdy.
For substance the book also recieves a 4. Excellent magic system, much better explanations than previous editions, but a serious problem in catching the mistakes I mentioned above. Fixing those problems and including more info on the Technocracy would bump the book up to a 5. A quick list of rotes would be nice too. The book relies too heavily on readers having read previous Mage material.
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