Alara Unbroken

I'm not much of a speaker, and I don't have much time either, but this book is awesome. And thats a grave understatement.

I'm a newer magic player and started just after shards block finished, which has been my favorite block I have been around for (of the 2 XD). I liked the book, but it was lacking a bit. Esper and the humans on Grixis weren't really mentioned much until midway towards the end. I loved how the sections where small and it jumped between the shards often. I could read 3 pages of bant, then 4 of naya. It made it helpful for reading while doing other things (like reading a bit while my computer starts up =p). The story was good, but Rafiq and rest of bant never really deal with Bolas as cover may suggest. The thing I dislike the most would be that you never really find out what became of Nicol Bolas in the end, but the worldwake player's guide said he went Sarkhan Vol to Zendikar, who just left Alara at the end (so bit too vague for me). I did find a few spelling error, but only about 3 noticeable ones in the whole book so it wasn't bad. Overall, I think the story could have been presented better so it's not the best book. But it is still good and I would recommend to anyone who likes the Alara block.

Well done. While making a few notes about the attributes of the characters may be reqired for those of us who can squeeze in reading in small increments, it is well worth it and only a small issue. Great character develement, great descriptions, lots of plots and sub themes, dilemmas, challenges and surprises to keep you involved.

Overall, this was an exciting, fast-paced book based on the Shards of Alara storyline. The book is separated into three sections, based roughly on each of the Magic expansions: "Shards of Alara", "Conflux", and "Alara Reborn". From a Magic player's perspective, much of the entertainment of reading the book comes from noticing the planeswalkers or legends using the abilities from the actual cards. Unlike some of the other Magic novels, Doug Beyer creates strong ties between the characters and the cards. I highly recommend the book to anyone familiar with the Shards of Alara block of cards, but not particularly for non-Magic players.