Covering the Cover - The Stormlight Archive: Book Two - Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

If you haven't seen this yet, on Monday Tor Books revealed the cover for Sanderson's upcoming sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Way of Kings.  The artwork is by renowned artist Michael Whelan.

Words of Radiance is currently scheduled for release in March, 2014.

Michael Whelan has been one of my favorite artists for several decades and is responsible for dozens of amazing Sci-Fi and Fantasy books covers.  For insight on how he created the cover for Words of Radiance, see this post on Tor.com.

What I Found - The Black Prism, by Brent Weeks

This past weekend I was visiting the local mall, and decided to duck into Barnes & Noble for a quick moment.  As I approached the entrance to the store I passed the Bargain Rack that usually sits just outside the entrance, which I usually ignore.  But for some reason this time I stopped to take a look, and what to my wondering eyes should appear?

This:

The Black Prism, by Brent Weeks.

I've been intending to read this series "eventually" but wasn't in a hurry to start it.  I figured I'd just download it to my Nook at some point when I could devour the whole series at once.  But when I realized that the Hardback version of the book was on sale, I really couldn't pass it by.  I mean, really - a hardback novel for under five dollars?!  That's CRAZY!!!

So of course I brought it home, and now it lives in my bookcase.  I'm so excited!

What bargain books have you found lately?

Covering the Cover - Curtsies & Conspiracies, by Gail Carriger

Yesterday, the always fabulous Gail Carriger revealed the cover art for the second book in her new four-book Young Adult series set in the Parasol Protectorate universe - Finishing School - Book the Second: Curtsies & Conspiracies!

The series is set 25 years before Soulless, and follows young Sophronia as she attends a rather unique finishing school, where she and her school mates learn the proper methods for finishing anything - and anyone - as needed.

I think the cover art is amazing, as always, and the detail is incredible.  I'm very excited to read this new series.

Curtsies & Conspiracies is due near the end of 2013, probably in November.  The first book in the series, Etiquette & Espionage, will be released next week, February 5, 2013!

Covering the Cover - Steelheart, by Brandon Sanderson

Earlier this week, Entertainment Weekly revealed the cover for a new novel by Brandon Sanderson that is due out in September 2013.  "Steelheart" is the first novel of Young Adult dark dystopian trilogy. 

The blurb from Goodreads:
"Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics.

But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics... nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David's father. For years, like the Reckoners, David's been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

He's seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge."

I'm crazy excited for this novel to come out; the story sounds intriguing, and I'm a big fan of Sanderson's other works, so I can't wait to read this.  The cover is interesting, but doesn't speak much to me about the story itself.  I don't hate it, but I don't love it, either.

What do you think?

Covering the Cover - Allanon's Quest

Suvudu released new information today about Allanon's Quest, by Terry Brooks, along with the cover art for the short story, which will be available as an ebook on July 9, 2012.  The cover is simply gorgeous!

I can't wait!  Allanon is one of my favorite characters in the Shannara series, and it will be fun to have a look into this enigmatic characters' past.

What do you think?

Covering the Cover - 2312, by Kim Stanley Robinson

Here is yet another fabulous cover for a new Sci-Fi novel to be released at the end of this month.

Here's the cover blurb:
"The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity's only home; new habitats have been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets, and in between. But in this year, 2312, a sequence of events will force humanity to confront its past, its present, and its future.

The first event takes place on Mercury, on the city of Terminator, itself a miracle of engineering on an unprecedented scale. It is an unexpected death, but one that might have been foreseen. For Swan Er Hong, it is an event that will change her life. Swan was once a woman who designed worlds. Now she will be led into a plot to destroy them."

I've already added this novel to my TBR list, and I found it fascinating that the publisher, Orbit Books, took the time to explain a little of the thought process behind the cover design.

So what do you think? Love it or hate it?

Covering the Cover - Wards of Faerie, by Terry Brooks

It seems that this is the week to showcase new covers!  Today's reveal comes from Orbit Books, who are revealing the cover for the first book in a new series called The Dark Legacy of Shannara - Wards of Faerie, by Terry Brooks.

You can read more about the cover and the series on Orbit's website.

I really like this cover, even though I'm not really sure how it might relate to the story as they are describing it.  I love the level of detail, both in the background and on the dragon skull itself. 

What do you think?

Covering the Cover - A Memory of Light

Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series has been a work in process for well over 20 years now.  The cover artist for the first 13 books in the series was Darrell K. Sweet, who unfortunately passed away on December 5, 2011, before finishing the cover art for the final volume of The Wheel of Time series, A Memory of Light, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, who was chosen to continue Jordan's work after he passed away in 2007.  While fans of the series were often divided on the merits of Sweet's work on the various covers over the years, I think most people were sad that he was unable to finish the series that he had devoted so much of his time to over the years.

In February of 2012 Tor.com announced that Michael Whelan had been chosen to create the cover art for A Memory of Light. Michael Whelan is an award-winning science-fiction and fantasy artist who has done some stunning and  amazing work during his long career, including cover art for some of the biggest names in the industry such as Stephen King, Isaac Asimov, Anne McCaffrey and Melanie Rawn, and is also one of my favorite artists.

Today Tor was able to reveal the final cover art, which Wheel of Time fans have been dying to see for months, along with some of Michael's thoughts and sketches as he worked through the project.

 

Michael Whelan manages to capture the style and feeling of some of the previous covers created by Darrell K. Sweet, but at the same time this is unmistakeably a Whelan cover, exuding the light and inner glow that so characterizes many of Whelan's best works.  I personally think it is stunning and simply cannot stop staring at it.

Here's the full wrap-around piece:

 

I love it!

What do you think?

Covering the Cover - Redshirts, by John Scalzi

All the really Kool Kids are talking about this today, so you might have already seen this.  John Scalzi's upcoming stand-alone novel now has a cover!

You can go to Tor.com to read about the cover art process and see alternate version of the cover that were discarded for various reason.   I think they made the right decision, as I like this one the best.

Also, check out what the author himself has to say about the cover at his blog, Whatever.

Synopsis:

Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory. Life couldn’t be better...until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that 

(1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces, 

(2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations, and 

(3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy belowdecks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is...and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

Redshirts is scheduled to be released Summer 2012.

Covering the Cover - Timeless, by Gail Carriger

How on earth did I miss this?!?

Several weeks ago Orbit Books released the cover image for The Parasol Protectorate: Book the Fifth: Timeless, the final novel in the Alexia Tarabotti Series, which is expected to be available on March 1st, 2012.

Alexia, parasol firmly in hand, has apparently arrived in Egypt!  Spoilers suggest something about a vampire Queen in Alexandria and a new outbreak of the God-Breaker Plague.  But who knows?  No doubt Alexia will straighten them all out before tea time!

I do love this cover much, much more than the cover art for Book the Fourth: Heartless! It just "feels" more Alexia to me.  However, I think Soulless is still my favorite...or maybe Blameless?  I can't decide...

Book the Fourth: Heartless will be available July 1st, 2011.  I can't wait!

What do you think of the Timeless cover?  Love it or Leave it?

The first four Alexia Covers:

Covering the Cover - Heartless, by Gail Carriger

As I'm sure everyone already knows, several days ago Orbit Books has released the cover art for The Parasol Protectorate, Book the Fourth: Heartless, by Gail Carriger!

I absolutely lovelovelove the covers of the first three novels, but this one...not quite as much. Something about the way the model is looking directly at you instead of slightly off camera as in the other covers, I think, but I'm not sure.  Also, this one feels slightly less "steampunky."  Nonetheless, this will be a fantastic novel, and I cannot wait until June to read it!!

For more information on the book, and to see a larger image, go here.

So what do you think?  Love it?  Hate it?  Indifferent?  Leave a comment and let me know!!