Not much to say. It’s par for the course, and will sit nicely alongside Butcher’s other Dresden Files novels, which all feature decent artwork by Chris McGrath. Curious to see Harry Dresden’s name on the tombstone, though I can’t quite make out what’s written below it:
He Died During/Doing (?) the XXXX (?)
Hmm.
A good companion to the previous UK covers, and nice overall colouring and tone. Still, I find the digital painting to feel too unnatural for the series, and prefer the Todd Lockwood art featured on the North American versions (though it’s also digitally created, it captures the feel of the series in a much more organic nature.) Interesting to see that both the North American and UK covers feature a predominantly black and red colour scheme; I wonder if this will tie into the novel at all, or whether it’s just coincidence.
The first volume in a noirish, gritty urban fantasy for adults from the bestselling author otherwise known as Darren Shan. Quick-witted and cocksure, young upstart Capac Raimi arrives in the City determined to make his mark. As he learns the tricks of his new trade from his Uncle Theo — extortion, racketeering, threatening behaviour — he’s soon well on his way to becoming a promising new gangster. Then he crosses paths with The Cardinal, and his life changes forever. The Cardinal is the City and the City is The Cardinal. They are joined at the soul. Nothing moves on the streets, or below them, without the Cardinal’s knowledge. His rule is absolute. As Capac begins to discover more about the extent of the Cardinal’s influence on his own life he is faced with hard choices. And as his ambition soars ever higher he will learn all there is to know about loss, and the true cost of ultimate power!
I’ve not read anything by Darren Shan, nor do I really have any inclination to, but when this book arrived on my doorstep, I thought the cover was pretty damn cool.
From Dragonmount:
Like The Gathering Storm before it, the first image available of the cover for Towers of Midnight was an early mockup, giving a good idea of the final cover, but lacking polish. Unlike The Gathering Storm, the final cover for Towers of Midnightturned out… not half bad! For a Darryl K. Sweet cover, at least. Much, much, much better than flatulent Rand!
Thoughts?
FOR THOSE HUNTING THE HORN OF VALERE: Don’t dig so deep.
I stole this from James at Speculative Horizons:
After their adventures on the high seas, Locke and Jean are brought back to earth with a thump. Jean is mourning the loss of his lover and Locke must live with the fallout of crossing the all-powerful magical assassins the Bonds Magi. It is a fall-out that will pit both men against Locke’s own long lost love. Sabetha is Locke’s childhood sweetheart, the love of Locke’s life and now it is time for them to meet again. Employed on different sides of a vicious dispute between factions of the Bonds Sabetha has just one goal – to destroy Locke for ever. The Gentleman Bastard sequence has become a literary sensation in fantasy circles and now, with the third book, Scott Lynch is set to seal that success.
I’m rather partial to the original style of covers for the series (well, the original UK covers, at least), but can’t deny that the art is astounding. I’m not terribly sold on the nebulous grey background/buildings, but the characters fit the Venetian vibe of the novels, and are suitably garbed in black and red (a colour scheme you couldn’t botch if you tried). I like the originally leaked cover better (or was it the cover for The Bastards & The Knives? I can never tell…). Either way, Lynch has to be happy with the covers he’s been getting. Hopefully the novel’s so successful a mix of sophistication and bloody daggers as the cover!
