Yearly Archives: 2010

Cover Art

Cover Art | The Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington

By Aidan Moher May 7th, 2010
The Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington

As the witch-pyres of the Spanish Inquisition blanket Renaissance Europe in a moral haze, a young African slave finds herself the unwilling apprentice of an ancient necromancer. Unfortunately, quitting his company proves even more hazardous than remaining his pupil when she is afflicted with a terrible curse. Yet salvation may lie in a mysterious tome her tutor has hidden somewhere on the war-torn continent.

She sets out on a seemingly impossible journey to find the book, never suspecting her fate is tied to three strangers: the artist Niklaus Manuel Deutsch, the alchemist Dr. Paracelsus, and a gun-slinging Dutch mercenary. As Manuel paints her macabre story on canvas, plank, and church wall, the apprentice becomes increasingly aware of the great dangers that surround her. She realizes she must revisit the fell necromancy of her childhood – or death will be the least of her concerns.

One of my favourite covers from last year was Jesse Bullington’s The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart from Orbit Books. Bold and iconic, it set itself apart from other novels due to some terrific art by István Orosz.

The Enterprise of Death, Bullington’s follow-up novel, had it rough, having to follow such a strong cover and, frankly, falls a little short, thanks to the lack of such bold artwork. Still the saucy artwork (based on this art by Nicklas Manuel, who appears in the book!) is suitably macabre for Bullington’s work, and I’ve always felt that Panepinto’s work is strongest when she’s working with interesting typography. While it doesn’t have the impact I was hoping for, Bullington’s got another interesting cover on his hands.

If you’re interested, you can read my interview with Jesse Bullington, which includes more information on The Enterprise of Death and an original piece of flash fiction.

Cheer to Orbit Books and Lauren Panepinto for giving me the chance to debut this cover!

Cover Art

Cover Art | The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan (eBook Edition)

By Aidan Moher May 6th, 2010
Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan

Irene Gallo, Art Director at Tor.com, on the cover:

Julie Bell was on my artist wish-list for this ebook cover project right from the start. There are few artists as comfortable with figure drawing as Julie. The only question was, which book and which scene? Fairly early on, Megan Messinger had described the “Bowl of Winds” as a pivotal point in the book that focus on the strength of character and ability the women in the Wheel of Time possess. Since Julie has a hard-earned gift for painting strong women that are every bit as powerful as they are beautiful, it seemed a natural fit.

Still, some hard decisions had to be made. The scene includes thirteen women working together. If we did a long shot, we could include all thirteen, but then we loose the ability to engage with specific characters. When you add in the thumbnail-size that ebook covers are often first seen at, I thought it best to focus on a few of the key characters: Elayne, Aviendha, and Nynaeve.

The scene fell together pretty quickly after that. I have to say a special thanks to our Leigh Butler who called me in a mild panic after the sketches were approved: it seems that the clothing in the scene was described in the book before this one. Not something I ever would have caught. And further proof that the more people we let into the process, the better it is for the project.

Another winner from Tor.com, this time with art from Julie Bell. Absolutely lovely use of colour, which nicely highlights the visual elements of Jordan’s magic system. Makes me frown to think the screen on many eReaders are black and white!

News

An Aside | And So My Head Swelled Like a Ripe Balloon

By Aidan Moher May 5th, 2010

Last night, I had the opportunity to attend a book signing with Guy Gavriel Kay, author of many novels (including the recently released Under Heaven, which I shall be reviewing soon). He’s one of my absolute writing idols, helping to craft and inspire my own works of fiction.

The reading began like many, Guy Kay was introduced by the always charming Robert Wiersema (reviewer for several well regarded Canadian publications and accomplished writer himself) and proceeded to speak quite candidly about Under Heaven and how he came to find that story amongst China’s history. He speaks with a confident tongue, just like you’d expect, given the tonality and elegance of his work, and, during the reading of Under Heaven, brought his characters to life with a verve that my inner voice is unable to achieve.

The real highlight of my night, though, happened at the end of the long lineup of fans waiting with books in hand. As with most book signings, I waited until the end of the line, not liking to feel pressured for time while getting my chance to meet a favourite author. The last one left, I walked up to the table and Mr. Kay thanked me for my patience. I smiled, then wrote my name down on a little sticky note (no misspellings, right?) and handed it to him. He took it, looked down, read it, paused, then looked back at me.

He said, “Well… I know who you are!”

I probably looked like this guy:

Turns out Mr. Kay knows about and reads A Dribble of Ink. He had some very flattering things to say as he introduced me and my blog to Mr. Wiersema.

Having gathered myself, we had a chance to talk about eBook readers (he took a gander at my new Kobo eReader), the filter writers put over the stories they’re telling and a few other things that were lost to memory thanks to the fanboy seizure I was having through the whole event. Certainly, it was a night to remember and reinforced my opinions of Kay as a person (he’s lovely) and a writer.

Cover Art

Cover Art | A better look at ‘Towers of Midnight’ by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

By Aidan Moher May 3rd, 2010

From The Stamp:
Towers of Midnight by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

Last week, we saw a version of the cover with a juicy black bar slapped across it; not exactly the most effective measuring stick for the quality of the cover (we couldn’t see the characters, which were the biggest failing of the cover for The Gathering Storm), but it was exciting nonetheless. Now, we’ve finally got a look at the full cover (likely in progress, but much further along than the early leak of The Gathering Storm…).

Though it’s not saying much, I’d consider this one of the better covers the series has seen in a number of volumes, thanks mostly to the pretty colours. If the previous volumes have taught us anything, mediocre cover art won’t hurt the sales a lick.

Cover Art

Cover Art | Swords & Dark Magic, edited by Lou Anders and Jonathan Strahan (Limited Edition)

By Aidan Moher May 3rd, 2010
Swords and Dark Magic, edited by Lou Anders and Jonthan Strahan

Gimme, gimme!

  • Check Your Dark Lord at the Door” — Lou Anders & Jonathan Strahan
  • Goats of Glory — Steven Erikson
  • Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company — Glen Cook
  • Bloodsport — Gene Wolfe
  • The Singing Spear — James Enge
  • A Wizard of Wiscezan — C.J. Cherryh
  • A Rich Full Week — K. J. Parker
  • A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet — Garth Nix
  • Red Pearls: An Elric Story — Michael Moorcock
  • The Deification of Dal Bamore — Tim Lebbon
  • Dark Times at the Midnight Market — Robert Silverberg
  • The Undefiled — Greg Keyes
  • Dapple Hew the Tint Master — Michael Shea
  • In the Stacks — Scott Lynch
  • Two Lions, A Witch, and the War-Robe — Tanith Lee
  • The Sea Troll’s Daughter — Caitlin R Kiernan
  • Thieves of Daring — Bill Willingham
  • The Fool Jobs — Joe Abercrombie

A big improvement over the regular edition, while maintaining the general tone and colour scheme. Quality as I’ve come to expect from Subterranean Press. But, really, it’s that Table of Contents that makes my pants a little tight. The art is by Dominic Harman. More information about the anthology can be found on Lou Anders’ blog.