Yearly Archives: 2009

I stumbled across the blog of artist Seamas Gallagher, and found some pretty neat artwork based on Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. It turns out that Seamas is involved with the Dabel Bros. and is behind some of the cover variants for their upcoming comic book adaptation of The Wheel of Time. You can click on each of the pictures to see a larger version.

Ran al'Thor from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, painted by Seamas Gallagher.Mat Cauthon from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, painted by Seamas Gallagher. Perring Aybara from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, painted by Seamas Gallagher.Padan Fain from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, painted by Seamas Gallagher. Thom Merrilin from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, painted by Seamas Gallagher.Logain Ablar from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, painted by Seamas Gallagher. Balthamel from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, painted by Seamas Gallagher.Sammael from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, painted by Seamas Gallagher.
 
Trollocs from Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time, painted by Seamas Gallagher.
 

I’ve always been a fan of the over-exaggerated, comic-booky style used here, so these immediately appealed to me, even if they don’t exactly match the images in my head. I suppose they won’t be for everyone, though. Seamas has a ton of art on his blog and online portfolio, including more Wheel of Time artwork. He seems to have portraits done of most of the major characters in the series, so if I left out your favourite, give his blog a look and you’re sure to find it.

Alex Bledsoe released the cover art for his upcoming novel, Burn Me Deadly, painted by Jean-Sebastien Rossbach:

Burn Me Deadly by Alex Bledsoe

Bledsoe, and his first novel in the Eddie LaCrosse series, The Sword Edged-Blonde, popped onto my radar a few weeks ago after a couple of positive reviews from Graeme and Jeff, two bloggers whose tastes run similar to my own.

The artwork for both his novels appeals to me in that pulpy, mid-nineties kinda way. I dunno about the typography, though. The placement of the title sure makes everything a little lopsided. What do you think?

A few weeks ago, I posted the beautiful cover art for the North American edition of David Anthony Durham‘s The Other Lands, sequel to his successful Acacia: The War with the Mein, and now I’ve got a look at the UK edition.

The Other Lands by David Anthony Durham

It’s a known fact that UK covers are generally miles beyond their NA counterpart in terms of quality, but I’d say this is one exception to the rule. I appreciate the granduer of the NA cover, which suggests how mysterious and epic these ‘Other Lands’ are, whereas the UK cover has a nice sense of adventure and tension, but seems to lack focus. Still, either way, Durham’s got to be pretty happy with how the covers of his novels have been handled.

On top of this, Durham is hosting a giveaway for an ARC of The Other Lands. I’ll certainly be entering!

After stumbling across a black and white version of the cover for J.V. Jones’s upcoming Watcher of the Dead, the fourth volume in her A Sword of Shadows series, I shot her a line on twitter to see if she could send me the full colour version. And, well… here it is!

Watcher of the Dead by JV Jones

Pretty typical Fantasy art, but the quality of the artwork and the fonts is nice. I am rather terrified of the size of that fellow’s arm, though. But I guess to heft a sword like that, you have to be physically well-endowed in the, erm… upper body area. Despite not being totally enamoured with Jones’s early work, A Sword of Shadows is something I still have to give a serious shot.

The Hollywood Reporter, via Winter is Coming, is reporting on several majors roles being cast for the upcoming HBO adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire:

In the adaptation of the George R.R. Martin fantasy-book series, Coster-Waldau will play Jaime Lannister, one of the king’s guards and a ruthless usurper of the previous king. The actor, most recently seen in Ron Moore’s Fox pilot “Virtuality,” is repped by WME, Impression and Independent Talent Group.

Another addition is Tamzin Merchant (Showtime’s “The Tudors”), who’ll play Daenerys, an exiled teenage princess.

Also new to the cast: Richard Madden (“Hope Springs”) as Stark’s eldest son, Robb; Iain Glen (“Into the Storm”) as Ser Jorah Mormont, a disgraced knight; Alfie Allen (“The Other Boleyn Girl”) as Theon, Stark’s young ward; Sophie Turner (“Doctor Who”), as Stark’s eldest daughter, Sansa; Maisie Williams as Stark’s young tomboy daughter, Arya.

Martin has been dropping hints about these castings for a while now, and members of the Winter is Coming community manage to figure out the identity of each actor beforehand. Still, it’s nice to have it all confirmed.

Martin had a bit to say about each of the actors cast:

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - Jaime Lannister in A Song of Ice and Fire

he’ll make a terrific Jaime.

Tamzin Merchant as Daenerys Targaryen
Tamzin Merchant as Daenerys Targaryen

Dany is very difficult role. She starts out vulnerable and scared, but blooms on the Dothraki sea, and becomes a powerful leader by book’s end. It’s no secret that HBO’s Dany will start out older than Dany does in the book; that was a change that had to be made, if we wanted to keep the sex scenes, and David and Dan and I were all agreed that the sex scenes were essential. Tamzin can play much younger than her actual age (as she does when playing Katheryn) and her sex scenes on THE TUDORS were as hot as anything I’ve ever seen on TV. In her readings, she showed Dany’s other side as well, commanding and charismatic after Drogo’s death. I think she’ll be marvelous.

Read More ยป