Posts Categorized: Art

Art

Cover art for The Last Mortal Bond by Brian Staveley

By Aidan Moher May 15th, 2015
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Tor.com revealed the cover for Brian Staveley’s The Last Mortal Bond, and it’s gorgeous.

Like the first two volumes in the trilogy, The Last Mortal Bond features the artwork of the always awesome Richard Anderson. As much as I liked the first two covers, this one might be my favourite of them all. The blood red highlights and the morass of greys fits perfectly with Anderson’s impressionistic style. It’s engaging and visceral, and, in a sea of same-y covers, manages to use common fantasy cover tropes (wounded soldiers, menacing beasts, blood) but makes them interesting again. Bravo to Anderson and the art team at Tor Books.

“This is hands-down my favorite of Anderson’s three covers for the series,” Staveley told Tor.com. “It captures so many things that are central to the book: the desperation, the camaraderie, and the sheer skull-splitting badassery of the Kettral.”

The Last Mortal Bond is the conclusion to Staveley’s Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne trilogy, and wraps up the deadly struggles of the siblings, Kaden, Adare, and Valyn, around whom the series revolves.

The Last Mortal Bond will hit store shelves sometime in 2016.

Art

Cover Art for Death’s End by Cixin Liu

By Aidan Moher April 30th, 2015
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Death’s End is the concluding volume to Cixin Liu’s critically acclaimed Remembrance of Earth’s Past, which began in 2008 with The Three-Body Problem, which is nominated this year for the Hugo Award for “Best Novel”, due to its first English release in 2014. Like those for the first two volumes in the trilogy, the cover for Death’s End is riveting and gorgeous, and I’m really happy to see the art department at Tor Books continuing their streak of great covers.

Death’s End also marks the return of Ken Liu as translator, after the second volume in the series, The Dark Forest, was translated by Joel Martinsen.

Death’s End will be published by Tor Books in January, 2016.

Art

Cover Art for Speculative Fiction 2014

By Aidan Moher April 28th, 2015

Book Smugglers Publishing revealed the cover art for Speculative Fiction 2014 today, and it’s wonderful! The series has always had a lot of fun with its covers, but I think this cover, designed by Kenda Montgomery, is my favourite so far.

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About the Collection

What exactly is fanfiction?
How are women “destroying” science fiction?
Why are we Sansa Stark?
Why is Nick Fury the Tyranny of Evil Men?

The Internet has the answers. Speculative Fiction 2014 collects over fifty of the best reviews, essays and media commentary from all facets of SFF. From insightful deconstruction of major blockbuster films, to considered arguments for diversity and inclusivity in science fiction and fantasy, this edition highlights many of the most complex, fraught, and important events in speculative fiction fandom from 2014.

Contributors include: Abigail Nussbaum, Adam Roberts, Aidan Moher, Aja Romano, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Amal El-Mohtar, Ana Grilo, Andrew Lapin, Annalee Newitz, Anne C. Perry, Bertha Chin, Betty, Charles Tan, Chinelo Onwualu, Clare McBride, Corinne Duyvis, Daniel José Older, Deborah Pless, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas, Erika Jelinek, Foz Meadows, Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, Joe Sherry, Jonathan McCalmont, Juliet Kahn, Justin Landon, Kameron Hurley, Kari Sperring, Ken Neth, Mahvesh Murad, Martin Petto, Matthew Cheney, Memory Scarlett, Mieneke van der Salm, N.K. Jemisin, Natalie Luhrs, Ng Suat Tong, Nina Allan, Olivia Waite, Paul Weimer, Rachael Acks, Rebecca Pahle, Renay, Rose Lemberg, Saathi Press, Sara L. Sumpter, Shaun Duke, Tade Thompson, Tasha Robinson, The G, thingswithwings, and Vandana Singh.

With a foreword by Kate Elliott and cover by Kenda Montgomery.

I’m quite proud to say that my review of Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Sword will be reprinted in the collection. Speculative Fiction 2014 will be released on May 5, 2014.

Art

Meet Shark’s Den, the Chinese artist illustrating some of the best SFF covers in the world

By Aidan Moher April 17th, 2015
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A Chinese artist, known online as Shark’s Den, is producing some of today’s most incredible science fiction and fantasy book covers. Colourful and frenetic, hyper-detailed and lovingly bold, it’s as easy to get lost in the illustrations as it is in the novels themselves. From John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, The Legend of Korra and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, Shark’s Den has created incredible covers and artwork for some of SFF’s most beloved authors and series.

More of Shark’s Den’s work is available in his DeviantArt Gallery.

Art

Cover Art for Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson

By Aidan Moher April 9th, 2015
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So snow. Much McGrath.

Along with the cover, we’ve got a better idea of what fans can expect from the third Wax & Wayne Mistborn novel:

With The Alloy of Law and Shadows of Self, Brandon Sanderson surprised readers with a New York Times bestselling spinoff of his Mistborn books, set after the action of the trilogy, in a period corresponding to late 19th-century America.

Now, with Bands of Mourning, Sanderson continues the story. The Bands of Mourning are the mythical metalminds owned by the Lord Ruler, said to grant anyone who wears them the powers that the Lord Ruler had at his command. Hardly anyone thinks they really exist. But now a kandra researcher has returned to Elendel with images that seem to depict the Bands, as well as writings in a language that no one can read. Waxillium Ladrian is recruited to travel south to the city of New Seran to investigate, and along the way he discovers hints that point to the true goals of his uncle Edwarn and the shadowy organization known as The Set.

Bands of Mourning is set for release on January 26, 2016.