Posts Tagged ‘Covers’
- Lauren Panepinto - May 24th, 2010
Cyberpunk is not really my cup of tea, so I was surprised when I got into This is Not a Game as much as much as I did. It’s all about connectivity, and how fast information and communication flies around the world now. There was of course also a cool thriller plotline along with it. Deep State is the next book by Walter Jon Williams, and picks up with the heroine & story of This is Not a Game. If you like William Gibson and Snow Crash-era Neal Stephenson, then you should check out these books. Read the rest of this entry »
by Lauren Panepinto • Post a Comment • Posted in: Art, Covers, New Titles, Orbit US
- Darren Nash - May 17th, 2010
Tricia Sullivan is the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author of an impressive body of work, including Maul, Double Vision and Sound Mind. Here’s just a sample of the praise that has been heaped upon her work:
‘A challenging, disturbing, often compulsive read’ Time Out
‘Tricia Sullivan returns to science fiction not a second too soon . . . I haven’t enjoyed a book so much in a long time’ Guardian
‘Painfully gripping throughout – read it if you dare’ The Times
‘Maul confirms an increasingly badly-kept secret – Sullivan is one of the best and most ambitious SF writers around’ Dreamwatch
‘Intelligent, sensitive and engrossing . . . You’ll be thinking about it long after you’ve finished reading’ SFX
‘Tricia Sullivan is why I refuse to give up on science fiction’ Pat Cadigan, Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author
I think it’s clear from the above that Tricia is almost universally regarded as an audacious and original voice in modern science fiction. And what better way to signal that to the reader than with an audacious and original cover. Ladies and gentlemen (and other forms of life – we’re not speciesist at Orbit!), we give you Lightborn:
Lightborn is a revolutionary new technology that has transformed the modern world.
Better known as ‘shine’, it is the ultimate in education, self-improvement and entertainment – beamed directly into the mind of anyone who can meet the asking price.
But what do you do if the shine in question has a mind of its own . . . ?
Lightborn will be published in October. Design by Nathan Burton Design. Art direction by Duncan Spilling – LBBG.
by Darren Nash • 6 Comments • Posted in: All posts, Covers, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK
- Lauren Panepinto - May 17th, 2010
K.J. Parker’s critically acclaimed Engineer trilogy featured three great covers by Keith Hayes. Since then, Parker has been writing stand-alone novels, and any one of them is a great place to jump in without any series-long commitment. Of course, I’m sure you’ll be back at the bookstore buying the Engineer books as soon as you finish any of these books, but you can start slow if you don’t believe me…
The Company was really an ensemble story, so we wanted to show the characters on the cover, but for The Folding Knife and The Hammer, I really wanted to continue the “artifact” look of The Engineer Trilogy.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Lauren Panepinto • 1 Comment • Posted in: Art, Covers, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- Lauren Panepinto - May 10th, 2010
The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart had one of my all-time favorite Orbit covers, and I was thrilled to work with Keith Hayes from the Little Brown Art dept. and the illustrator Istvan Orosz on the design. So when I saw that a new Jesse Bullington book was on this list I was really excited at the challenge — and really curious to see where Bullington would go after his violent, revolting, sensibility-offending debut novel (and I mean that all in a good way!) Well, let’s just say The Enterprise of Death does not disappoint on any count — you’ll either love this book, or you’ll want to burn it at the stake.
Like Brothers Grossbart, the story takes place in a specific historical place and time — this time during the height of the Inquisition and Moorish expulsion from Spain in the late 1400s. Not only are there real-life historical characters in the story, there’s also real-life art that’s critical to the story. That’s actually a challenge for a cover designer. Sometimes when you use fine art on a cover it can give the design a very quiet, even static feel. Luckily for me, I don’t think anyone would call Death and the Maiden by Niklaus Manuel Deustch quiet or static.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Lauren Panepinto • 5 Comments • Posted in: Art, Covers, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Lauren Panepinto - April 14th, 2010
Sorry folks, I know monday is usually cover launch day, but things are a little hectic in the Art Dept. and this week wednesday is cover launch day. But never fear, I have a cover all ready for next monday too!)
Tom Holt is a funny guy. Orbit UK has been publishing him for a long time and I was thrilled to get to redesign his look with his US launch of Blonde Bombshell in June. I can’t wait to start applying the new look to the backlist titles waiting to roll out. But first we have another new book, one which wins for my favorite title of all time* Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Sausages.
Tom Holt is all about funny, absurdist scifi/fantasy, and when I read my first Tom Holt book I was pleasantly surprised how like Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett it felt. and that’s high praise from me. I really like the humorous scifi/fantasy subgenre, and I think we’ve been packaging it well here at Orbit with the A. Lee Martinez books especially, and I’m really happy to add these books to the list.
I love a chance to hand-draw a cover, because most of the time everything happens solely on the computer. I especially enjoy hand-drawing type. I’ll have to try to work it in to more covers, even if it’s not as purposely rough-style like these covers. Read the rest of this entry »
by Lauren Panepinto • 1 Comment • Posted in: Art, Covers, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- Lauren Panepinto - 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.) Read the rest of this entry »
by Lauren Panepinto • 9 Comments • Posted in: Art, Covers, Orbit US
- Lauren Panepinto - March 22nd, 2010
Mr. Shivers, the debut novel by Robert Jackson Bennett, has been getting some fantastic praise around the review circuit, with a lot of comparisons to Stephen King + John Steinbeck, which is pretty awesome in my book. The Company Man is not a sequel, but if you liked Mr. Shivers, you will definitely like this one. It also takes place in an alternate history of America, and I would say this one, to me, feels like H.P. Lovecraft + Chinatown (the movie) happening in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. If that doesn’t sound cool to you, well, then, I don’t know what else to say. Haha.
Read the rest of this entry »
by Lauren Panepinto • 3 Comments • Posted in: Art, Covers, New Titles, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- Lauren Panepinto - March 15th, 2010
I know I maybe say a lot of Orbit books are “favorites” of mine, and considering I was a geek way before I was a cover designer, I think I can be forgiven for this. I’m really lucky, as I have to read books for work that I would have read anyway, so I’m understandably a little overenthusiastic. And luckily, I’m a fast reader. It’s a point of pride with me that I read almost every manuscript before I start designing – the only time I don’t is when for scheduling reasons the full manuscript isn’t available by the time I have to start work. (In that case I resort to mercilessly pumping the editor for as much info as I can get.) A pet peeve of mine as a fan is to have a cover misrepresent a book, and I work really hard to make sure that doesn’t happen on any Orbit books. So, all that said, I read a TON of books. And I have a lot of favorites in Orbit authors. And then above those Orbit favorites, there’s Orbit books I would have preordered, waited on line, had to buy on opening day, if I didn’t work here.
The Matthew Swift series by Kate Griffin is absolutely that series. And this is not just a cover post, it is a love letter. Read the rest of this entry »
by Lauren Panepinto • 8 Comments • Posted in: Art, Covers, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
- Lauren Panepinto - March 1st, 2010
Ladies and gentlemen, I present the cover for the first book of the highly anticipated new trilogy by Brent Weeks. The Night Angel Trilogy (starting with the New York Times Bestseller THE WAY OF SHADOWS) has been a huge success worldwide and I know a lot of people have been dying to see what Mr. Weeks writes next. Well you’re going to have to wait a little longer for the book, but I can give you a little taste by showing you the kick-ass (yes, that’s a technical design term) cover for THE BLACK PRISM.
I don’t want to say too much about the new series (because the editor will kill me if I give too much away) but Brent has created a very cool new world, complete with solid characters and a really interesting magic system. If you liked the Night Angel Trilogy, you’ll love this (And if you haven’t read the Night Angel Trilogy, you should be ashamed of yourself, really.) Read the rest of this entry »
by Lauren Panepinto • 23 Comments • Posted in: Art, Covers, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US, Uncategorized
- Lauren Panepinto - February 22nd, 2010
In book design generally, but especially in sci-fi/fantasy book covers, there’s always a lot of talk about series looks, and sometimes that extends to author looks. Even if an author isn’t writing books in a series, I always attempt to establish a look for them that can tie together all of their books. As a fan, I love it when an author has a really distinctive look, so I can tell it’s a new book by them from a mile away. Yes, I know as a geek AND a designer I do pay more attention to these things, but I think it is safe to say sci-fi/fantasy fans are a design-aware bunch and very much notice these things. I get a little thrill when I see a whole row of books that are recognizably in a unit. That’s why I like to pay attention to spines alot, and try to get as much art (albeit small art) on them as I can.
That is why I am very excited to launch Philip Palmer’s next cover: Version 43. Read the rest of this entry »
by Lauren Panepinto • 5 Comments • Posted in: Art, Covers, Orbit Australia, Orbit UK, Orbit US
Cyberpunk is not really my cup of tea, so I was surprised when I got into This is Not a Game as much as much as I did. It’s all about connectivity, and how fast information and communication flies around the world now. There was of course also a cool thriller plotline along with it. Deep State is the next book by Walter Jon Williams, and picks up with the heroine & story of This is Not a Game. If you like William Gibson and Snow Crash-era Neal Stephenson, then you should check out these books. Read the rest of this entry »
