Posts Tagged ‘Cover design’

Cover Launch: SMOKE BITTEN by Patricia Briggs

Exciting news for fans of Patricia Briggs: everyone’s favourite kick-ass shapeshifter, Mercy Thompson, will be back in action next year in SMOKE BITTEN (UK|ANZ).

We are thrilled to reveal the gorgeous cover below.

In the twelfth installment of this bestselling series, Mercy encounters a threat unlike any she has faced before. Read on for a taste of what’s in store:

 

I am Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman. My only ‘superpowers’ are that I turn into a thirty-five-pound coyote and fix Volkswagens. But I have friends in odd places and a pack of werewolves at my back. It looks like I’m going to need them.

Centuries ago, the fae dwelt in Underhill. When they were cast out, they left behind their great castles, troves of magical artefacts . . . and their prisoners. Without the fae to mind them, those creatures roamed freely through Underhill wreaking havoc. Only the deadliest survived.

Now one of those prisoners has escaped. It can look like any creature it chooses and if it bites you, it controls you. It lives for chaos and destruction and can make you do anything – even kill the person you love the most. Now it is here, in the Tri-Cities. In my territory.

It won’t – can’t – remain. Not if I have anything to say about it . . .

 

SMOKE BITTEN will hit the shops in May 2020 and is available for pre-order now!

 

Praise for Patricia Briggs:

‘Patricia Briggs is an incredible writer . . . I love hanging out with the amazing characters in this series!’ Nalini Singh, New York Times bestselling author

‘It is always a joy to pick up a new Briggs novel’ RT Book Reviews

‘Patricia Briggs never fails to deliver an exciting, magic and fable filled suspense story’ Erin Watt, No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of The Royals series.

‘I love these books’ Charlaine Harris, New York Times bestselling author

 

Cover Launch: SPLINTERED SUNS by Michael Cobley

Here at Orbit we love an action-packed, galaxy-spanning space opera, and Michael Cobley’s new Humanity’s Fire novel, SPLINTERED SUNS (UK|US|ANZ), ticks all the boxes! With a spaceship crewed by rogues and scoundrels, this latest offering from the author of Seeds of Earth is perfect for fans of Star Wars, Firefly or Farscape  Feast your eyes on the recently revealed cover below:

 

Splintered SunsIllustration by Steve Stone. Design by Charlotte Stroomer.

 

Splintered Suns will hit the shops in December. Read on for a taste of what’s in store:

For Pyke and his crew it should have been just another heist. Travel to a backwater desert planet, break into a museum, steal a tracking device then use it to find a ship buried in the planet’s vast and trackless sandy wastes.
Except that the museum vault is a bio-engineered chamber, and the tracking device is sought after by another gang of treasure hunters led by an old adversary of Pyke’s, the devious Raven Kaligara. Also, the ship is a quarter of a million years old and about two kilometres long and somewhere aboard it is the Essavyr Key, a relic to unlock all the treasures and technologies of a lost civilisation . . .

THE FIRST LAW TRILOGY COMES TO ORBIT!

THE FIRST LAW TRILOGY is being released this September from Orbit! This is the original grim dark trilogy that inspired a new generation of fantasy writers. We envy the readers who have yet to meet the infamous barbarian Logen Ninefingers, the dashing Captain Jezal dan Luthar, the wizard Bayaz and the sinister Inquisitor Glokta for the first time…

 Abercrombie_BladeItself-TP

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.

Abercrombie_BeforeHanged-TP

Ancient secrets will be uncovered. Bloody battles will be won and lost. Bitter enemies will be forgiven — but not before they are hanged.

Abercrombie_LastArgumentKings-TP

The king lies on his deathbed, the peasants revolt, and the nobles scramble to steal his crown. Only the First of the Magi can save the world, but there are risks. There is no risk more terrible, than to break the First Law…

“Bloody and relentless.” – George R. R. Martin

“Delightfully twisted and evil.” – The Guardian

“Heroic fantasy without conventional heroes…Full of cynicism and wit.” – RT Book Reviews

“Bold and authentically original.” – Jeff VanderMeer

“Compelling characters, a complex plot, and style to burn.” – Strange Horizons

“There is a gritty edge to his world and an awareness of the human cost of violence that is very contemporary.” – The Times

“Truly wonderful.” – Forbes

Cover design by Laura Brett

Cover Story: FORTUNE’S PAWN by RACHEL BACH

œF�� $¿�Ƒ$�8Ò�ò¤»�däå¸R8BIFORTUNE’S PAWN (US | UK) and the Paradox Series by Rachel Bach is coming out this Fall in November 2013.

I’ve had a particular attachment to this project. As a father of a three year old girl, I love that the covers for this series are showcasing a strong female character. My kid already has to listen to me quote Ripley to her on a daily basis, now she gets to listen to Devi quips too.

Putting this book together was a challenge beyond figuring out how the series was going to look. It was really executing that vision that was the biggest obstacle. I wanted Devi’s face to be front and center. I wanted a snapshot moment of a badass female with an unamused expression to set the tone of the series, then have the cover of each volume expand on that moment. As if each cover was a visual interstitial for the series.

I had to create the initial illustration of Devi herself which I was going to use in the following two volumes. This was a combination of finding the right face, illustrating the armor and tech Devi uses in the books in a cool way, and bring that together in a badass way.

Once her portrait was done, the next phase as putting the face in the a couple contexts to give more depth to her character. I love idea or her floating I space with that jaded look on her face. As if the reason she’s there is just one more thing she has to deal with before getting done what she needs to get done.

Here is a small gallery showing the various stages of the FORTUNE’S PAWN.

Here are the final covers for all three book in the Paradox Series!

Cover Story: LOVE MINUS EIGHTY by WILL McINTOSH

McIntosh_LoveMinusEighty_TPThis is one of those books you start working on, and once it starts gaining momentum, turns into one of your favorite projects. LOVE MINUS EIGHTY (US | UK | AUS) is a shining example of just that. The final product ended up being a combination of a two concepts using the transparent vellum as a way to play off those concepts together. Getting a chance to do a design with vellum paper is a designer dream.

Having such beautiful material to work with only made this project easier. LOVE MINUS EIGHTY is an absolutely wonderful story. Then, pairing this amazing story with the photography by Erin Mulvehill, a Brooklyn based photographer, kicked the package for this book up a whole new level. Her photography is as vivid and beautiful as the text.

The jacket is a subtle interaction between the female in the picture and the reader/viewer. She’s reaching out and pressing this button in order to start something.

I wanted the rest of the design to really take advantage of the vellum. I wanted the reader to explore the book and find all the subtle details.

To really appreciate the book is to hold the book in your hands and roll the book around. When you look at spine and the back cover on the jacket, you see elements from the books cover peaking through. Here are a couple videos showing the cover.

  

We have an amazing team here at Orbit. Our editors really saw the potential and worked with design to create a stunning package. Erin was a joy to work with. Our production team was a great liaisons to the printer keeping track of all the details and making sure everything was addressed that need to be addressed. LOVE MINUS EIGHTY is a great example of everyone just having fun!

How to make a fantasy book cover: FADE TO BLACK

It’s finally here! Today is the release date for FADE TO BLACK (UK | US | ANZ) by Francis Knight, one of the most hotly anticipated fantasy releases of the year.

The illustrator for the covers of this series, Tim Byrne, did an awesome job representing the vertigo-inducing city of Mahala, the setting for FADE TO BLACK and all the Rojan Dizon novels. We asked Tim to go step-by-step through the process of creating such a cool image:

I started off by doing a very quick sketch of the cover to get an idea of how the perspective might work. I wanted to convey the extreme height of the city of Mahala and how it might be if you were at the bottom looking up. I nearly always start a cover by positioning the type – as once I know where and how that is sitting, I know how much space I have left for the rest of the image.

Sketch by Tim Byrne for FADE TO BLACK by Francis Knight, the first Rojan Dizon novel and a highly anticipated fantasy debut

Next I started blocking in the faces of the buildings/vertical streets using an image of a mud face that I had – which I repeated, scaled and distorted in order to get the perspective to work. This gave me a base on which to start adding bits of buildings and windows.

Stage 1 of a cover by Tim Byrne for FADE TO BLACK by Francis Knight, the first Rojan Dizon novel and a highly anticipated fantasy debut

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