Cover Launch: THE HEROES by Joe Abercrombie
- - March 29th, 2010
And you thought we couldn’t get any bloodier than Best Served Cold? Here to prove you wrong is the cover of The Heroes, by Joe Abercrombie. It’s a standalone story, which is great for readers who haven’t read Joe Abercrombie before, but it’s set in the same world as The First Law Trilogy and Best Served Cold, and fans of those books will definitely be recognizing returning characters.
This is the hardcover version, so we’re keeping the general style of the somewhat controversial Best Served Cold hardcover, then we’ll be repackaging for mass market paperback with the graphic Best Served Cold mass market style. Just a quick note: the map in the background is not final, it’s the one I stole as a placeholder from BSC, until the artist finishes the new map. Steve Stone, an Orbit Books favorite, was responsible for the image reflected in the, um, gore. I’ll repost the cover with the new map when it’s finished, but this one was drawn by Dave Senior. (Yours truly was responsible for the agonizing blood photoshopping.)
Here’s a teaser, to make all you Abercrombie fans writhe in anticipation:
War: where the blood and dirt of the battlefield hide the dark deeds committed in the name of glory. THE HEROES is about violence and ambition, gruesome deaths and betrayals; and the brutal truth that no plan survives contact with enemy. The characters are the stars, as ever, and the message is dark: when it comes to war, there are no heroes…
Meet THE HEROES.
Curnden Craw: a ruthless fighter who wants nothing more than to see his crew survive.
Prince Calder: a liar and a coward, he will regain his crown by any means necessary.
Bremer dan Gorst: a master swordsman, a failed bodyguard, his honor will be restored—in the blood of his enemies.
Over three days, their fates will be sealed.
Here’s the cover fullsize along with the Best Served Cold hardcover:
Available now.
Out in March 2011
Tags: Addicted-to-Maps, Art, Blood, Covers, Heroes, Joe Abercrombie
N. R. Alexander
March 29, 2010
at 10:28 am
Can I just say… *squee*
Looks great, love to see motifs repeated from one book to the next. Can’t wait to have it next to my gorgeous Best Served Cold hardcover on the shelf!
Cover Art & Synopsis | The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie | A Dribble of Ink
March 29, 2010
at 12:15 pm
[...] they are wont to do, Orbit Books have done a fancy ‘Cover Launch’ for Joe Abercrombie’s upcoming novel, The Heroes. Despite my reservations for Best Served [...]
Bleed me a River | Joe Abercrombie
March 29, 2010
at 2:02 pm
[...] US have posted the provisional cover art for the US Hardcover of The Heroes. Cover your face now, lest you be sprayed with [...]
Cover Art: “The Heroes” by Joe Abercrombie «
March 29, 2010
at 2:32 pm
[...] new stand-alone novel, The Heroes, is now blowing across the streets of Blogland thanks to Lauren Panepinto, the creative director for Orbit [...]
Throbkin
March 29, 2010
at 3:49 pm
Can’t wait! Please Kindle it again…
Melissa (My World...in words and pages)
March 30, 2010
at 9:14 pm
WOW! This is a great cover and sounds like a great book. I didn’t realize until this post the faces in the blood splatters. Great cover! I will looking forward to this one. Thank you for the post!
Luke
March 30, 2010
at 11:20 pm
Hmmm, I literally imported BSC because of the horrendous US cover (first and probably only time I’ll ever do that), and I’m starting to regret it because this one is so nice (and I’ll lose the carried-over-motif-feeling, to an extent).
Eluveitie
April 2, 2010
at 3:27 pm
Just import “The Heroes” as well, it would carry over the map and weapon motif!
With an axe supposedly, according to Joe.
ColinJ
April 2, 2010
at 3:16 am
Sounds great!
I’m about halfway through BEST SERVED COLD and it is (in the Australian parlance) an absolute ball-tearer. I’m telling everyone I can about how bad-ass it is.