This is probably me clinging onto THE GUARDIAN HERD series but, doesn't it feel weird that it's called RIDERS OF THE REALM?
When the second arc was first being developed, it was under the name of THE GUARDIAN HERD: DARK WATER TRIALS.
To me personally, since my exposure to the WARRIORS series by Erin Hunter, I honestly wished they kept the title of THE GUARDIAN HERD: DARK WATER TRIALS for the second arc.
I feel that by giving this arc a different name it makes the first arc unneccessarily difficult to locate on libraries to new readers.
i have to be honest i had the riders of the realm then thought the guardian herd: across the dark waters was a separate book. XD
I actually like that they changed the name to Riders of the Realm, because it separates it from the Guardian Herd and makes it more of its own separate series, whereas is if they kept the name, it could be confusing because it's about different characters. I do prefer the original cover, because it's just plain BEAUTIFUL, but I am glad they separated the books because otherwise it would be really confusing. Besides, they don't need to be in the same series to be part of the same universe/related to one another. A good example of this is Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse books. There are three separate series in it, but they're all related to each other and are all in the same universe and have a chronological order.
Plus, The Guardian Herd: Dark Water Trials: whatever the name is here. Is REALLY REALLY long! It would be really difficult to put that on the spine of a book XD
DARK WATER TRIALS, not DARKEATER TRIALS. Lol
Yeah I agree a little bit. I really liked the cover for THE GUARDIAN HERD: DARKEATER TRIALS. Then I saw the new covers and was like "really?" But now Ive grown into them, and like the covers. Though they are different, they still looks amazing!
About the name, I do agree that it makes it harder to find them, and I kinda wish they stayed as The Guardian Herd, but the more i think about it, the more I realize it doesn't make sense to call that series "The Guardian Herd" because there isn't a story about a black foal, and it's guardian herd. Only little bits here and there that talk about Star.
Riders of the Realm kinda makes sense because there are Riders in the Realm. Lol. But in my opinion it wouldve made more sense if it was something like The Runaway Herd or Captured by the Clan or something like that because ethat what the stories are about. But all in all, I'll respect Jennifer and her editors decisions.