Posts Categorized: Cover Art

half-a-war-by-joe-abercrombie

And so ends the transformation of these miraculous weapons from a solid, to a liquid, and, finally, superheated gas. What comes next? No one knows.

Half a War is the concluding volume in Joe Abercrombie’s YA/sorta-YA fantasy the Shattered Sea trilogy, which began with 2014’s Half a King. The second volume in the trilogy, Half the World, will be published in February 2015, and Half a War is expected to be published in July 2015.

EDIT (Dec. 4th, 2014): I’ve been informed by Random House that this cover is not final. I’ll be sure to post the final cover art when it’s officially revealed.

gemini-cell-by-myke-cole

I’ll admit, this cover is totally against my type, but… I can’t stop drooling over it. It’s aggressive and flashy, more Hollywood than Rivendell, but equally arresting and difficult to ignore. Myke’s had some great covers in the past, and artist Larry Rostant is one of the few photographic illustrators that I trust to work on SF book covers. He’s got another winner here.

US Navy SEAL Jim Schweitzer is a consummate professional, a fierce warrior, and a hard man to kill. But when he sees something he was never meant to see on a covert mission gone bad, he finds himself – and his family – in the crosshairs. Nothing means more to Jim than protecting his loved ones, but when the enemy brings the battle to his front door, he is overwhelmed and taken down. It should be the end of the story. But Jim is raised from the dead by a sorcerer and recruited by a top secret unit dabbling in the occult, known only as the Gemini Cell. With powers he doesn’t understand, Jim is called back to duty – as the ultimate warrior. As he wrestles with a literal inner demon, Jim realises his new superiors are determined to use him for their own ends and keep him in the dark – especially about the fates of his wife and son…

Gemini Cell is the first volume in a new follow-up trilogy to Cole’s popular Shadow Ops series. It will be released on January 27th, 2015 by Ace Books.

assassins-apprentice-robin-hobb-new-coverroyeal-assassin-robin-hobb-new-coverassassins-quest-robin-hobb-new-coverassassins-apprentice-blockroyal-assassin-blockassassins-quest-block

I’ve ragged on a lot of covers with sultry-looking dudes in LARPing gear, but there’s something about these character-centric Robin Hobb covers that works for me. While not quite the homerun that the new covers for Hobb’s Liveship Traders trilogy are, the aging of Fitz, from young adult to weathered, handsome dude is a great touch for past fans of the series. Plus Fitz has an axe, so… yay.

Incidentally, young Fitz is the perfect draw for a young adult audience, who will be attracted by the bright colours and familiar design conventions. I discovered and loved Hobb’s work as a teenager, and I can see these new covers opening a lot of doors for a new generation of readers.

I could have done without the floating animal head ghosts, though. (JK, Nighteyes, I still love you.)