Archive for Covers

Cover Launch: THE LIGHT OF ALL THAT FALLS by James Islington

Hot on the heels of AN ECHO OF THINGS TO COME [UK/US/ANZ], the bestselling second novel in James Islington’s Licanius trilogy which published last month, we’re delighted to reveal the cover for the final volume – THE LIGHT OF ALL THAT FALLS.

Illustration by Dominick Saponaro, cover design by Lauren Panepinto

We’ll be publishing THE LIGHT OF ALL THAT FALLS in 2018, so if you haven’t yet plunged headlong into this remarkable adventure of powerful magic, ancient secrets and memorable characters, there’s still plenty of time for you to get up to speed!

Praise for James Islington’s Licanius trilogy:

‘Action-packed epic fantasy’ Bookbag

‘A storytelling assurance rare for a debut . . . Fans of Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson will find much to admire’ Guardian 

‘A traditional saving-the-world epic fantasy [with] the flavour of something new . . . You’ll be left wanting more’ SFX

‘Numerous surprises . . . action aplenty’ SCIFINOW

‘Will appeal not only to Wheel of Time readers, but to anybody looking for a coming-of-age fantasy tale with likeable characters and strong worldbuilding’ Fantasy Faction

‘Like the Wheel of Time? This is about to become your new favourite series’ Barnes & Noble SF & Fantasy Blog 

 

Cover Launch: THE TOWER OF LIVING AND DYING by Anna Smith Spark

Anna Smith Spark brings even more murder, chaos, and violence to the forefront in the sequel to her brilliantly bloody debut novel, THE COURT OF BROKEN KNIVES. In THE TOWER OF LIVING AND DYING, we once again follow Marith on his quest for power. But now that he no longer fears death, there may be nothing to stop him. While you’re eagerly anticipating Anna’s next book, take a look at the incredible new cover:

Marith has been a sellsword, a prince, a murderer, a demon, and dead. But something keeps bringing him back to life, and now there is nothing stopping him from taking back the throne that is rightfully his.

Thalia, the former high priestess, remains Marith’s only tenuous grasp to whatever goodness he has left. His left hand and his last source of light, Thalia still believes that the power that lies within him can be used for better ends. But as more forces gather beneath Marith’s banner, she can feel her influence slipping.

Read the second book in this “gritty and glorious!” (Miles Cameron) epic fantasy series reminiscent of Joe Abercrombie and Mark Lawrence where the exiled son of a king fights to reclaim his throne no matter the cost. 

Design by Lauren Panepinto; Art by Gene Mollica

Cover Launch: PERFECT SHADOW by Brent Weeks

Durzo Blint’s mysterious origin is revealed in Brent Weeks’s novella PERFECT SHADOW. And now, his amazing story is getting a beautiful hardcover edition this November. Previously only available as an eBook, Perfect Shadow is finally going to be able to sit next to your other Night Angel books on a real, actual, physical bookshelf! Check out the cover below (which was made using the sword that was designed for the Night Angel trilogy.) And pre-order here (US | UK | ANZ)

Gaelan Starfire is a farmer, happy to be a husband and a father; a careful, quiet, simple man. He’s also an immortal, peerless in the arts of war. Over the centuries, he’s worn many faces to hide his gift, but he is a man ill-fit for obscurity, and all too often he’s become a hero, his very names passing into legend: Acaelus Thorne, Yric the Black, Hrothan Steelbender, Tal Drakkan, Rebus Nimble.

But when Gaelan must take a job hunting down the world’s finest assassins for the beautiful courtesan-and-crimelord Gwinvere Kirena, what he finds may destroy everything he’s ever believed in.

Design by Lauren Panepinto
Photo-Illustration by Gene Mollica

 

Cover launch: OUTER EARTH by Rob Boffard

Welcome to Outer Earth: a vivid, dangerous world where every day is a desperate struggle for survival . . . 

. . . and one wrong move could spell the end for humanity.


OUTER EARTH - a science fiction adventure from Rob Boffard

We’re very proud to present  the cover for OUTER EARTH (UK | US | ANZ), a thrilling science fiction adventure from Rob Boffard.

Outer Earth is a huge space station orbiting the ruins of our planet. Dirty, overcrowded and inescapable, it’s humanity’s last refuge . . . and possibly its final resting place. There are dark forces at work on the station who are seeking to unleash chaos. And if they succeed, there will be nowhere left to run.

This new edition of the OUTER EARTH series contains three adrenaline-fuelled novels: Tracer, Zero-G and Impact. It’s the kind of gripping story which will get a whole range of SF and space opera readers hooked, and it’s already received some very impressive praise:

‘Fast, exhilarating and unforgettable, and once you start it you can’t stop’ Sarah Lotz, author of The Three

‘Sets a new standard for all-action SF’ Ken MacLeod

‘Relentlessly fast pace . . . Vivid action scenes’ SFX

‘Exhilarating and guaranteed to keep you hooked until the very last page’ Glamour

‘If you’re after a fast-paced, action-packed, cinematic space adventure, then [this] is absolutely for you’ Civilian Reader

OUTER EARTH (UK | US | ANZ) will be entering our orbit in February 2018.

And in the meantime, we also have some very exciting news about Rob Boffard: I’m delighted to say we’ve acquired three new books from him!  The first book will be called ADRIFT and will be releasing in June 2018.

Set in the far reaches of space, ADRIFT is about a group of tourists who board a small vessel for a trip around Sigma Station – a remote space mining facility and luxury hotel. But when a mysterious ship attacks the station with devastating consequences, the tourists end up stranded in the depths of space, out of contact with civilisation and with no way home . . .

This is such a dramatic, original SF adventure and we can’t wait to tell you more . . . Stay tuned for details!

Cover Launch: BLOOD OF THE GODS by David Mealing

In June, David Mealing’s debut novel, SOUL OF THE WORLD (US | UK | AUS), stunned readers with its complex magic system, charming characters, and deep worldbuilding. It’s the epic story of three heroes who must unlock and master three disparate forms of magic in order to determine the fate of the world. So, if you’re looking for your next doorstopper of a fantasy, complete with magical creatures and world-ending scope, then we promise you’ll love Soul of the World.

And if you’ve already read it (even if you haven’t had the chance to jump in yet, we’ll let you look too), behold this gorgeous cover for book two, BLOOD OF THE GODS! The sequel promises just as much magic, mayhem, and world shattering action as the first.

The battle for the city is over, but the aftermath of a revolution is never simple…

Sarine begins to experience visions, ones which make her dragon familiar sicker every day. Erris pushes toward conquest and the need to expand her territory and restore her power. And, exiled from his tribe, Arak’Jur apprentices himself to a deadly master. 

Faced with the threat of a return to the days of darkness, the heroes begin to understand the depth of the sacrifices required from them. To protect their world, they’ll have to stand and fight once more. 

Design by Lauren Panepinto
Images by Trevillion & Shutterstock

Cover launch: A PLAGUE OF GIANTS by Kevin Hearne

This October, an invasion is coming.

From the east will come the Bone Giants. And from the south, the fire-wielding Hathrim . . .

A Plague of Giants, a new epic fantasy from Kevin Hearne, author of the Iron Druid Chronicles

Check out our UK cover for A PLAGUE OF GIANTS (UK| ANZ), a colossal new epic fantasy from the New York Times bestselling Kevin Hearne.

You can expect truly great things from this fantasy adventure. Think shape-shifting bards, astonishing beasts and monstrous giants . . .

Kevin is an exceptional storyteller. If you’ve read his bestselling Iron Druid Chronicles, you’ll already know what an original, absorbing and exciting writer he is.

But this entirely new world called the Seven Kennings feels so fresh and is on such an epic scale, fans old and new are about to be wowed.

Readers of Anthony Ryan, Neil Gaiman’s Norse Mythology, Peter V. Brett’s Demon Cycle and Markus Heitz’s Dwarves series: you might just have found your new favourite author here.

But don’t just take my word for it – listen to these guys:

‘This isn’t just a breath of fresh air for the genre, it’s a damned hurricane’
Jason M. Hough, New York Times bestselling author

‘Absorbing epic fantasy, with clever storytelling that allows its many threads to each feel important, personal, and memorable’ James Islington, author of The Shadow of What Was Lost

‘Human-facing, optimistic, a much-needed reimagining of what epic fantasy can be’ Chuck Wendig

‘A rare masterpiece that’s both current and timeless . . . merging the fantasy bones of Tolkien and Rothfuss with a wide cast of characters who’ll break your heart’
Delilah S. Dawson

A PLAGUE OF GIANTS (UK| ANZ) is available for pre-order now.

Cover Launch: BLACKFISH CITY by Sam J. Miller

We’re thrilled to reveal the cover for BLACKFISH CITY by Sam J. Miller, courtesy of Little, Brown’s very own designer, Ellen Rockell. Feast your eyes on this beauty:

Blackfish City

 

Publishing in April 2018, BLACKFISH CITY is a mesmerising, fearlessly imagined novel from an exciting new voice in science fiction.

After the climate wars, a floating city was constructed in the Arctic Circle. Once a remarkable feat of mechanical and social engineering, it has started to crumble under the weight of its own decay – crime and corruption have set in, a terrible new disease is coursing untreated through the population, and the contradictions of incredible wealth alongside deepest poverty are spawning unrest.

Into this turmoil comes a strange new visitor – a woman accompanied by an orca and a chained polar bear. She disappears into the crowds looking for someone she lost thirty years ago, followed by whispers of a vanished people who could bond with animals. Her arrival draws together four people and sparks a chain of events that will lead to unprecedented acts of resistance.

‘Blackfish City is an exhilarating tour of a post-catastrophe future that’s both fantastical and eerily convincing . . . A saltwater-splashed refuge for misfits and cutthroats, teeming with mystery and intrigue, Blackfish City is a place you might never want to live in – but as a reader, you won’t want to leave’
Adam Sternbergh, author of The Blinds

‘Miller gives us an incisive and beautifully written story of love, revenge, and the power (and failure) of family in a scarily plausible future. Blackfish City simmers with menace and heartache, suspense and wonder.’
Ann Leckie, New York Times bestselling author and winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and Clarke Awards

 

Sam J. Miller is a writer and a community organizer. His debut novel The Art of Starving, was called ‘Funny, haunting, beautiful, relentless and powerful . . . a classic in the making’ by Book Riot, and received starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist and Publisher’s Weekly. His stories have been nominated for the Nebula, World Fantasy and Theodore Sturgeon Awards and have appeared in over a dozen ‘year’s best’ anthologies. He’s a graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Workshop, and a winner of the Shirley Jackson Award. He lives in New York City.

Cover Launch: A BIG SHIP AT THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE by Alex White

Alex White’s brilliant new book A BIG SHIP AT THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE has an equally brilliant cover to match. This explosive space opera tells the tale of two women, fighting for their lives and for a treasure so great it could change the universe. Look out for the book on May 15, 2018 and say hello to Alex at his website or on twitter @alexrwhite.

Boots Elsworth was a famous treasure hunter in another life, but now she’s washed up. She makes her meager living faking salvage legends and selling them to the highest bidder, but this time she might have stumbled on something real–the story of the Harrow, a famous warship, capable of untold destruction.

Nilah Brio is the top driver in the Pan Galactic Racing Federation and the darling of the racing world–until she witnesses the murder of a fellow racer. Framed for the murder and on the hunt to clear her name, Nilah only has one lead: the killer also hunts a woman named Boots.

On the wrong side of the law, the two women board a smuggler’s ship that will take them on a quest for fame, for riches, and for justice.

Cover design Lisa Marie Pompilio; Cover art Shutterstock

Cover Launch: ELYSIUM FIRE by Alastair Reynolds

Peer into the darkness! Gaze upon the future! And admire that sweet, sweet new cover for Alastair Reynolds’ latest space opera, ELYSIUM FIRE!

 

That gold band you see on the cover? Nope, it’s not one of Jupiter’s rings, fancy space debris, or a futuristic engagement ring. It’s the Glitter Band, the setting for Reynolds’s latest adventure: ten thousand city-state habitats orbiting the planet Yellowstone, forming a near-perfect democratic human paradise. How’s that for scale? You can get your hands on Elysium Fire in print and eBook on January 23rd, 2018.

Even utopia needs a police force. For the citizens of the Glitter Band that organization is Panoply, and the prefects are its operatives.

Prefect Tom Dreyfus has a new emergency on his hands. Across the habitats and their hundred million citizens, people are dying suddenly and randomly, victims of a bizarre and unprecedented malfunction of their neural implants. And these “melters” leave no clues behind as to the cause of their deaths…

As panic rises in the populace, a charismatic figure is sowing insurrection, convincing a small but growing number of habitats to break away from the Glitter Band and form their own independent colonies.

Cover Launch: BEYOND THE EMPIRE by K. B. Wagers

If you want a heroine as rebellious as Han Solo, as brilliant as Leia, and as capable as Rey—look no further than Hail Bristol, the star of the Indranan War trilogy by K. B. Wagers. She’s back in BEYOND THE EMPIRE, the adrenaline-fueled, explosive conclusion to the series, and where the stakes for Hail’s whole empire are higher than ever before.

Here’s a sneak preview of the cover, designed by the fabulous Lauren Panepinto!

Beyond the Empire

Gunrunner-turned-Empress Hail Bristol was dragged back to her home planet to take her rightful place in the palace. Her sisters and parents have been murdered, and the Indranan Empire is reeling from both treasonous plots and foreign invasion.

Now, on the run from enemies on all fronts, Hail must fight a full-scale war for her throne and her people, even as she struggles with the immense weight of the duties thrust upon her. With the aid of a motley crew of allies old and new—from smugglers to soldiers to alien medics—she returns home to face off against the murderer who has taken aim at everything and everyone she loves. Untangling a legacy of lies and restoring peace to Indrana will require an empress’s wrath and a gunrunner’s justice.

Credits:
Design by Lauren Panepinto
Photos by Arcangel Images and Shutterstock