[ALA]Alara Unbroken novel cover

[MORT]

Alara novel page on Amazon.com was updated with a new name (Alara Unbroken) and with picture of the cover.



I'm not impressed.
I don't like looking at backs of people on covers when there's nothing interesting they're facing...

[MajoraX]

I thought block novels were phased out in favor of those planeswalker stories (Agents of Artifice...)

[heroicraptor]

Originally Posted by MajoraX

I thought block novels were phased out in favor of those planeswalker stories (Agents of Artifice...)

No, there's one Planeswalker's Guide to <block's plane>, one Planeswalker-centric novel, and one <block's plane> novel.

[MORT]

Originally Posted by MajoraX

I thought block novels were phased out in favor of those planeswalker stories (Agents of Artifice...)

No. They changed the policy from three books per block to one book per block and Planeswalker Guide + Planeswalkers Novels from time to time(Agents of Artifice, and Purifying Fire so far) which are not associated with blocks.

[MajoraX]

I guess one is better than none. Planeswalker's Guide is a nice addition, I must admit.
: o

So it's Ajani on the cover, and...?

[brg1007]

Originally Posted by heroicraptor

No, there's one Planeswalker's Guide to <block's plane>, one Planeswalker-centric novel, and one <block's plane> novel.

Two planeswalker novels I believe actually. One in the summer.

And yeah that cover sucks. It's the back of a blurry pair of figures holding swords. I can't imagine a more generic, meaningless, fantasy story cover art.

The title is a nail in the coffin of those theories that Alara would rejoin in Conflux and then get split back up. As if Alara Reborn's title hadn't already put that to rest. This title is pretty generic too though, it sounds like what the title of the third story in a block trilogy would be, and actually is almost identical to the third Alara set's name. The reader has no real reason to care that Alara is "Unbroken" when they see the title, since there were no previous books to establish its brokenness.

I really wonder how they can do this block story justice with one novel, if it's the ~300 page length that the novels typically have been. Defining all the shards and their conflicts and then bringing them together is going to all blow by really fast. I almost feel like they should have done a Shadowmoor-style anthology alongside Shards to define the 5 worlds so they could dive straight into their collision in this novel.



TLDR Version of my rant: Not impressed.

[MORT]

I have to admit, that it is likely they're facing elder dragon planeswalker of certain name, but I'd rather see him on frontcover than backcover.

[brasswire]

Originally Posted by MORT

I have to admit, that it is likely they're facing elder dragon planeswalker of certain name, but I'd rather see him on frontcover rather than backcover.

Good call, the top of the art does look like a large leathery dragon wing.

So that's obviously Ajani, is the other figure just a very masculine looking Elspeth? or is it someone else?

[Sacramento Tzar]

Originally Posted by brasswire

Good call, the top of the art does look like a large leathery dragon wing.

So that's obviously Ajani, is the other figure just a very masculine looking Elspeth? or is it someone else?

I'm sure it's someone else, unless Elspeth got her hair dyed at the same time that she got almost all of it cut off

It looks like a Steward of Valeron as seen from the back but without the smaller swords.

[Dunjohn]

The cover has "stopgap" written all over it. Relax, I doubt the printed book will look like this.

[Bronze Bombshell]

Originally Posted by MajoraX

So it's Ajani on the cover, and...?

Maybe Rafiq?

Don't like the cover but these ones definitely sound more interesting than the planeswalker's guide.

[AlphaSquirrel]

I sure hope the knight is not supposed to be Elspeth. The swords are nothing alike and the figure has a helm, not a hood. Hell, it probably is her, decked out for full battle against he-who-shall-not-be-named. It wouldn't surprise me at all.

[Seppel]

Looks like Rafiq to me!

[NZ.Possum]

How the hell does he hold that sword, it defies all logic.

This reminds me, they really should make some sort of spell in D&D that lets you use great swords as daggers by warping gravity...

Appears that Ajani has calmed down, yes?

[Tezzeret]

Am I the only one who finds it strange that the cover shows Ajani and some unnamed knight? I thought the main character of the novel was supposed to be Sarkhan Vol. Now it seems the book is mainly about Ajani's quest for revenge on the background of Alara's reunion...