Take THIS.
The first rough version of the UK cover of The Heroes. As with Best Served Cold, it’s a collaborative effort. The map is by Dave Senior from my original scrawl. The axe is by Didier Graffet. The design is by Laura Brett. All co-ordinated by the incomparable Gillian Redfearn, of course. Top class work from all four, as before. As with Best Served Cold, it’ll wrap all the way round the book as well, will be all textured and shiny and debossed and all that good stuff. Still a lot to be done to it, in the addition of detail and, probably, some blood, but I think it communicates the general idea pretty well already, don’t you?
When we’ve got a final version I’ll be posting that, of course, along with the wraparound, and I’ll probably go into some more detail about the development of the different elements, but for now I shall merely mention in passing, as I shall be doing frequently over the next few months, that you can pre-order this slab of parchmenty goodness HERE. I urge you to do so. Go on, order two.
GO ON.
23 comments so far
Ooooh… like!
Also, although the maps for both this and Best Served Cold are the sort of yellowing/brown/parchmenty things, this one is slightly darker and redder and conveys just the right tone.
You do get treated to the best!
Nice, very nice. So glad it’s following the style of the other four books cos it’ll blend in well with them on my bookshelf.
By the way Joe when are you going to update the front page of your site and include The Heroes along side the rest?
Joe,
I think it is a great cover – I look forward to it being on my self!
Finally caught up with Swords and Dark Magic, honestly thought your story and Scott Lynch’s were the pick of the bunch. Horrible, horrible cover though, it really did not do justice to the treasures inside.
Oh, if we pre-order your book, we miss out on your yet to be arranged signing session in Bath! (Talking of which, I was in Bath last night, La Tasca waived all food costs for meals consumed during the Cup final if Spain won – I saved £57! RESULT)
Hi Joe,
That cover looks brilliant! I really admire all of the books you ahve brought out with their original skins, they look class lined up on the bookshelf and any one who sees them is always impressed!
I too read the Swords and Dark Magic book, your story was impressive, will any of those characters be in this book, maybe a cloaked smelly bloke with a special sword? Please?
Hope your holiday was good anyhows i think i may go and read the trilogy again now…
Oh one last question, Pat Rothfuss was doing a T-shirt design comp, would you ever want T-shirts of your books and if yes any ideas of what?
That’s fantastic!
I think it could be improved by the presence of a brooding man in a hooded black robe. Possibly carrying a sword in each hand, with another, larger sword strapped to his back. If those swords could crackle with blue energy, that’d be good too – maybe emitting from runes engraved in the blades? The man should be walking down an alley, and flanked by two bikini-clad women – one a vampire, one a demon. Both are clearly in love with him, but should be facing the reader with “come hither looks”.
There should probably be a steam engine in there somewhere as well.
Everybody familiar with “Best Served Cold” will be familiar with this cover too. And although I am not a big fan of stereotypical cover designs I have to say that in this case I like it. Maybe it is due to the reason that I am quite fond of maps and medieval weapons and I have plenty of both on your covers. The map is wonderful and it has that feeling of “what is there?”. Didier Graffet is a master of these weapons and he made some amazing weapons for the covers of the French editions of David Gemmell and K.J. Parker’s novels.
Nice chopper, Joe!
Great to see the continued use of the parchmenty design. Well done to all involved.
Mark C
Ohhh, pretty. *drools* Design continuation is such an awesome thing for the obsessive bookshelf-arranger.
@Jared: Steam engines most certainly improve ANY cover, so I can’t fault you there. However, about having the guy in swimming trunks and the two women in dark, hooded robes? for a change, like? 😉
Also, where can I get an axe like that?
Will this be the same cover as the US version? After the nonsense of the BSC american cover, I just wanna be careful. Also, any clue about the form factor? I would like this to be the same size on my shelf as BSC if possible. Anyways, beautiful cover and I hope one similar will be used in the US.
@Susanne: As long as the trunks are chainmail.
Jared,
I’ve passed your suggestions along. I love them.
Bryan,
There’s a different US cover. Click on the artwork tab at the bottom of the post and you’ll probably see the latest version somewhere on the list of posts. The UK hardcover should be exactly the same as Best Served Cold in size (well, a little slimmer, as it’s a shorter book).
All right, I was waiting to take a peek at the cover before pre-ordering it.
It’s ordered.
P.S. There will be blood!
On the cover, I mean – there must be!
Great cover Joe, can’t wait for the book, but will buy from Forbidden Planet and you’ll sign it for me.
Have to share this story – have started listening to the audiobook of Best Served Cold (already read the book of course, great, brilliant etc. etc.). Was listening this morning on as I walked to work to the part where Shivers is telling Morveer that he’s believes he’s experienced sorcery in his life, but if there’s no such thing as magic what is it then? Day then proclaims “Science”. At that EXACT moment an oriental guy is walking towards me with a crimson red T-shirt emblazoned with SCIENCE in large capital letters over a picture of an atom. Now if that’s not magic I dont know what is…..
Yeah, the US version is here
https://joeabercrombie.com//2010/03/29/bleed-me-a-river/
I love the UK version and think it is much finer. More dramatic, more enticing, less gratuitous. Too bad, ’cause I’m in the U.S. and prefer reading books with American punctuation style.
It’s good, obviously. But somehow I feel like we’ve seen this design once or twice now…
Guess who just crapped his pants? Yea, that’s right: This Guy.
Wow… Nice. I like this one better than the US version. You UK folks get all the perks!
I Like it! But as you said Joe, It needs some blood about the blade of the axe, and maybe… maybe… some scorch marks?? Just around the edges or something… But It holds it’s on feel.
@JenMo
Being In Australia, we get the UK version imported, so we get the perks too. It pays to be down under… mate!
Love the design! My laptop has new wallpaper until version 2 with steam-engine powered hermaphrodite hoodies (only way to please everyone and no-one in equal measure I suspect!) or whatever else ends up coming out of the designers brains plus our suggestions ends up warping into!
Awesome cover!
I like that a whole lot better than the ‘boy band’ cover that we had before.
Excellent cover, very much in keeping with the excellent ‘Best Served Cold’ artwork. Really looking forward to ‘The Heroes’, your short story from the ‘Swords and Dark Magic’ anthology has really whetted my appetite. I suppose I can just about bear to wait the 6 months until the publication date…
Looks like a follow-up Gemmell award winner to me.
I love the quality of these covers, not just the artwork, but also the robust feel and the uniformity.