Another month, another new cover for the latest e-book edition of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. This time around it’s The Shadow Rising a volume regarded by many as one of the strongest in the cycle. Mat Cauthon, featured on the cover, is a fan-favourite, thanks in large part to the effortless humour he injected into an otherwise very serious story. What drew me to Mat, though, was the melancholy hidden just under that superficial humour. Though it may miss on the light-hearted nature of Mat, Sam Weber, the artist behind the illustration, captures that darker side perfectly by sacrificing details for mood and atmosphere.

Irene Gallo, of Tor.com, talks about the process behind the cover HERE.

Thanks to Joe Abercrombie, we’ve got a look at the new cover for Before they are Hanged, the second volume of his First Law Trilogy. Similar to the paperback release of The Blade Itself, this new cover is a definite departure from the original cover. That said, I’m a fan of artist Chris McGrath, and don’t mind the figure-centric cover – it fits the tone of the novel and, though he doesn’t look at all as I pictured him in my head (he’s described as being much uglier, for one, which is the same criticism I had for Logen Ninefingers on the paperback release of The Blade Itself, but it’s nearly impossible for every reader’s image of a character to line up), the image of Glokta with Dagoska burning in the background is certainly compelling. Can’t ever go wrong with blue and a hint of orange, either. It’s hard to stand up to the iconic original, but it’s a decent cover all-around.