Today is the book birthday for Brian Staveley’s The Emperor’s Blades, and, what better way to celebrate than to unveil the cover for book two in the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne series! Okay, that might just be my art dierctor’s prespective, but the illustration was created by Richard Anderson and that means I’m excited!
I’ve long been a fan of Richard Anderson’s moody and impressionistic style and was happy that the author and fans both responded so well to The Emperor’s Blades cover. Richard has done an excellent job with the follow-up. Author Brian Staveley said of the two covers, “The first book revolves around the psychology of the three siblings, their struggles to become the people they need to be. The cover to The Providence of Fire, on the other hand, suggests two new developments. First, that Adare has claimed her full place in the unfolding tale, and second, that the fire kindled in book one is raging unchecked in the second volume. Training is over, folks. It’s time to get burned, time to get bloody.”
Anderson was kind enough to share a few of the steps he took along the way in creating this piece. Most paintings go through ugly stages but remarkably, there is something to like about the paintings at just about every step.
The Providence of Fire is currently scheduled to arrive on shelves in January 2015. I’m sure we’ll have a lot more to say about it as the year rolls along. In the meantime, enjoy reading The Emperor’s Blades while I impatiently wait to work on book three.
Irene Gallo is the Art Director for Tor Books and the Associate Publisher of Tor.com.
