It’s, uhh… catastic? I dunno. I wasn’t a fan of the style when there were Dragons involved, and I’m not really any more keen on it now. Just seems like a strange marketing decision. I do appreciate the consistency in style, though. Long gone are the days of wonderful John Howe art gracing the covers of Hobb’s work.
That said, though it’s an odd fit for this book cover, artist Jackie Morris does have a wonderful portfolio of art, and it’s absolutely worth visiting.
Yummy art? Over-the-top typography? It must be another great Subterranean Press cover! I’ve been waiting for this for a while, and it’s certainly no let down. Sure, it doesn’t have share the stylistic approach of Abercrombie’s general releases (which I still prefer), but it’s a great, moody piece of art that shows a different side of Abercrombie’s series. I’m particularly fond of the deep red font contrasting the cool blue hues of the art.
It’s interesting to see Alex Preuss‘ style veer more towards Fantasy in this piece, given that some people (myself included) felt that the recently released interior artwork felt too much like an image you’d find in a Science Fiction novel. It speaks to a nice diversity, and I can’t wait to see the rest of the artwork.
Opinions? Any guess what the scene of the cover conveys?
I was, frankly, hoping for something a bit, well, colder, I have to admit. For a novel called ‘The Cold Commands‘, there’s certainly a lot of warm reds, oranges and browns. Still, I like the style of the cover, which takes its cue from the paperback release of The Steel Remains (which, frankly, would better suit The Cold Commands, with its cool colours.) Should look pretty once they print it with nice, shiny foil, like The Steel Remains.
A few months ago, I raised a bit of a stink by posting a leaked version of the cover for N.K. Jemisin’s The Broken Kingdoms. Oops. I thought it was awesome, and most people agreed. Now, we get a look at a new, revised (and final) version of the cover. New layout for the type (which I’m not a fan of, I liked the more traditional layout on the early cover) and the colours seem to pop a bit more. Still a damn fine cover.
From Irene Gallo, at Tor.com:
With Crossroads, we wanted to show Perrin at his breaking point. After engaging in a despicable act he, in a fit of justifiable rage, finally chooses to throw away his axe of war. The trick was getting the moment right. Attempts to show the action came across a bit cartoony. Instead, we decided to depict the minutes just after. The point was to show what Perrin, in this character-defining moment, was leaving behind.
Striking the right emotional chord through mood and atmosphere would be no easy task. According to artist Greg Ruth, “There’s a time in winter here in New England where it’s early in the woods and the canopy of trees keeps the snow from getting too high on the ground, but it’s cold as hell and so deathly quiet. I loved the idea of trying as best as I could to convey that silence and chill as a kind of indictment on the bloody events that precede this scene. If the idea was to get the moment after the action, then the world surrounding the figure and the axe had to convey the emotion as much or more than anything else. Capturing that particular lighting was tough.”
The story of Wheel of Time is a fabric of profoundly difficult and personal decisions. In the end, Greg Ruth created a moment when a giant hero with the weight of the world on his shoulders is at his own private crossroads.
Greg Ruth‘s sumi-e styling is initially a little startling, giving the cover a bit of a cartoony, comic book feel, but as I look at it longer the heavy contrast between the white snow and the dark shadows fits the emotional tone of the scene depicted. I also love how we see Perrin through the arc of his axe, such an iconic image for his character.
