Archive for Covers

Cover Launch: GERMLINE by T. C. McCarthy

Here’s a fresh new cover launch for everyone this gloomy Monday. For your viewing pleasure, I give you GERMLINE by T. C. McCarthy. It’s a story about a journalist in the vein of Hunter S. Thompson who is embedded with a group of US soldiers in a near-future war. It’s a fabulous look at what a war in the future could be like, but the perspective of the character we see it all thru keeps it really grounded and human. It reminded me simultaneously of The Forever War by Joe Haldeman, Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein, and the Transmetropolitan comics written by Warren Ellis. The author has experience in the CIA and works in biotechnology, so the books are amazingly well-informed, and plausible.

What’s also cool is we just finished the cover for Book 2 (no, I can’t show you yet) and the story is awesome. This is definitely going to be a series to keep up with. Each book is going to be told from the perspective of a different person in the war.

Anyway, back to the art! Steve Stone did the photoillustration and I just love the tone and texture. It definitely says military, definitely says future-but-not-too-far, and it really captures that there’s more going on under the surface here. I love the textures Steve worked in.

Here’s a little teaser: (more…)

Cover Launch: HEARTLESS by Gail Carriger!

Well, as you can tell from the infrequency of the postings from the Art Dept since the holidays, it’s been craaaaaazy busy here. Our Fall/Winter 2012 covers are due in 3 weeks, and we’re killing ourselves bringing you the coolest artists and designs we can. We also have a couple new features in the pipeline which we’ll be talking more about after the evil 2/18 deadline, so hang with us. Meanwhile, we are going to finish posting the rest of the Spring/Summer 2011 Covers for your viewing pleasure, starting with one of my fave series…

Here you go folks, Heartless, the fourth Alexia Tarabotti/Soulless book by Gair Carriger. I love this series, and I am really digging the covers too – who wouldn’t, when I get to work with such fun material as the photos Steampunk icon Donna Ricci keeps sending me? The photographer this round was Pixie Vision Productions.

I tried to find a good British castle as a stand-in for the pack headquarters, and I think the cool heavy stonework here does the job – I can totally picture Alexia going up and down those steps to visit with the werewolves camped out on the back lawn…and whipping some military discipline into them!

After the jump is a teaser, and I’ve tried to take out as many spoilers as I could, but still, if you haven’t read the previous books (Soulless, Changeless, and Blameless) then BE WARNED, SPOILER ALERT. (more…)

Cover post: ECHO CITY artwork

We’ve now received the shiny new cover flat for Tim Lebbon’s Echo City from our production department, so there was much excitement on the Orbit bench. It’s always  seems so much more real and nearly-there than when you just print it on regular paper, but here’s the next best thing here on the interweb …

I think Lee Gibbon’s illustration is terrifically atmospheric and designer Peter Cotton has done a great job putting this together for us. It really portrays the desolate feel of a city stranded in a hosile desert, its dwellers believing there is no other life in their world – until a stranger arrives from across the toxic wastes …

Steven Erikson had this to say about this darkly fantastical novel — so look out for it in July if you’re after something to read on the beach. Or maybe not the beach, if you’ve a particularly vivid imagination:

Brilliantly conceived and exquisitely well written by one of the genre’s most original and inventive writers. Tim Lebbon is one of the few fantasy authors whose new works I eagerly antcipate’ Steven Erikson

 

Epic Loot #8: Necromancer Posters!

Update – This giveaway is now closed!

The year is winding down, and so are our Epic Loot Giveaways. To finish it off, we’ve got posters of the first two books of The Necromancer Chronicles by Amanda Downum. Sign up after the jump for a chance to win these two art prints, along with copies of The Drowning City and The Bone Palace. We’ll select the winner on Thursday the 23rd of December. And thanks everyone for reading!

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Epic Loot #6: Leviathan Wakes Poster

I have to admit, one of the perks of working in the Art Department is never having to look hard for wonderful things to adorn your walls. I admit I have been printing out an extra copy or two of these Loot prints to decorate my office, and I’m definitely making room for this fabulous Leviathan Wakes art by Daniel Dociu.

Enter for a chance to win this art print on fancy glossy paper by signing up after the jump! We’ll choose one winner on Wednesday, December 22nd.

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Epic Loot #5: Night Angel Trilogy Mashup Poster

More Epic Loot today from the Art Department, and it’s a good one! Like Brent Weeks? Like the Night Angel Trilogy? (The Way of Shadows, Shadow’s Edge, and Beyond the Shadows)? Well how about a schnazzy mashup of all three epic Calvin Chu-illustrated covers?

Printed on glossy high-quality art paper, this one is definitely suitable for framing. Sign up after the jump for a chance to win it! We’ll select one winner on Wednesday, December 22.

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Cover Launch: THE DRAGON’S PATH by Daniel Abraham

I’m very excited to launch a cover I’ve been noodling with (yes, “noodling” is an acceptable design term) for a while now. Sometimes you get the elements of a cover set and you just keep working on it and working on it and playing with the elements, swapping stuff in and out, polishing it all in photoshop, etc. until you get the right balance. The Dragon’s Path by Daniel Abraham is an epic fantasy in every sense of the term, and I wanted the cover to feel, you know, EPIC. A sense of history, the ominous threat of storms – and armies – growing on the horizon.

The cool thing about the world of The Dragon’s Path is that the titular dragons are part of the ancient past of the current civilization — without giving too much away, I’d say it’s kind of like imagining that the Roman Emperors had been dragons, and so much history has passed that all that is left is artifacts (like, say, a sword), myths, and folklore that some people believe and others doubt. And of course now, there is an ominous threat of history perhaps not being quite as dead and buried as was hoped.
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Epic Loot 2: Feed and Deadline Posters

It’s that time of the year — good cheer, decorations, warm fires, and of course: Loot! We’ve traveled deep into the Orbit HQ dungeon and returned with a chest of magnificent offerings that we’ll be giving away  over the next few weeks.  So check back here (or follow us on twitter or facebook) for updates, and chances to win.

Epic Loot 2: Win Poster-Size Prints of FEED and DEADLINE!

I have been very pleased to hear how much people have been loving the covers for Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire)’s Feed and Deadline. A few people have even asked for posters, how flattering. So today’s Epic Loot is a fancy art print of both covers, to adorn your bedroom, bathroom, secret lab, etc. printed on super glossy art paper. Totally suitable for framing…and thank you to Art Director Kirk Benshoff for modeling them...
UPDATE! This contest is now closed.

Holiday Studies: A Comparison of Elves

Here at Orbit, we are dedicated to the scientific method, always tempered with a healthy dose of sarcastic humor. We are powered by geeks, after all. Thus we will be taking a hard look at the many ways the Holiday Season and SFF overlap, and serving up our findings in lovely visual form for your end-of-year enjoyment. Stay tuned for more in the coming weeks… and be sure to keep checking back over the next few weeks to enter our Epic Loot giveaways – the first one is here!

Vote Now at All Things Urban Fantasy

Every year the blog All Things Urban Fantasy has Cover Art Awards and there’s a gaggle of Orbit Books nominated. Please go vote! It’s a simple survey form, and every cover is shown in the category, so it’s actually a fun review whether you want to cast your vote or not. Voting closes on December 29th.

BLAMELESS by Gail Carriger is up for “Best Paranormal Steampunk Cover”

THE MIDNIGHT MAYOR by Kate Griffin is up for “Best Male with Animal Cover”

And last but not least, my favorite category….

MARRIED WITH ZOMBIES by Jesse Petersen and TRACKING THE TEMPEST by Nicole Peeler are up for “Most Unique Cover”…tough choice!

So go vote already!

Note: There is not a “Best Title” category, but Saltwater Vampires would definitely win.