Here’s the final version of the cover to the Pyr US edition of Always Forever, Age of Misrule Book Three. Another fantastic piece of work by the artist John Picacio. Warning: don’t look directly into Balor’s eye…
There’s a detailed account of the process of creating all three covers for the US editions of Age of Misrule over on Tor.com, with contributions from John, editor Lou Anders, and a few of my own ruminations on how the original idea came to be.
And just so you can see how much thought has gone into the design of these editions, here are the spines for all three books:
Really like those designs.
The spines are great, love the way each one is numbered, makes it so much easier for people to buy them in the right order.
Should really stand out on the shelf too.
And for America it will be continuing with 4, 5 and 6.
What I really like about this series of covers is the progression of reaction from the “the five”. One is almost a reaction of suprise, two a preparation to fight and three is a full on charge of attack, all of which closely mirrors the pace and sense of energy in the series. I’d love to get a print of these if John ever considers doing them.
John put a lot of thought into that progression and I’m glad people are picking up on the subtleties.
And I think he is planning some prints. I’ll post here when they’re available.
The choice of colours for the books- green, blue and red(well, redish) are primary colours. Will the second trilogy have the secondary colours, or was that just how things worked out for this series?
No idea. I’m waiting for John to surprise me!
I can’t believe I missed this post – it looks awesome! Posters are a must!
I like the covers, don’t get me wrong, but the artist seems to be something of a one trick pony… Check out the cover for the Subterranean Press version of Dan Simmons’ “The Terror”:
http://www.subterraneanpress.com/index.php/2009/07/10/dan-simmons-the-terror-update/