Cover Reveal for Elizabeth Bear’s Karen Memory

I’m very excited to show-off the cover to Elizabeth Bear’s upcoming novel Karen Memory—publishing February 2015 from Tor Books. The art is by Cynthia Sheppard. She’s done a brilliant job of depicting a strong and resourceful character, someone that you believe has a story to tell. This is only the second time I have worked with Cynthia, I’m looking forward to many more covers from her in the future.

Head below the cut for the full cover art, and to learn more about Elizabeth Bear’s new novel!

According to Elizabeth Bear:

Karen Memory was one of those books that was a long time in the making. I wrote her first words—“You ain’t gonna like what I have to tell you, but I’m gonna tell you anyway.”—in September of 2009, and I wrote the final words in January of 2014. In between, I lived with Karen’s voice in my head, because she was full of stories, and she wanted to tell them to anyone who would listen. And soon I get to share those stories with readers, which is one of the great thrills of my writing career!

Editor Beth Meacham adds:

I’ve also been living with Karen’s voice in my head for years—she was the one who made me decide I had to buy the book as soon as Bear finished her amazing Eternal Sky trilogy (Range of Ghosts, Shattered Pillars, and Steles of the Sky.) The novel is as amazing as I knew it would be. But the problem was, how to get the cover for it right? Because Karen deserved nothing but the very best, and there were too many tempting scenes to illustrate. But this, this is perfect. This is Karen Memery, practical, spunky, a little sexy and a whole lot dangerous. In her own way.

Karen Memory is due out February 2015. Check out the flap copy below:

“You ain’t gonna like what I have to tell you, but I’m gonna tell you anyway. See, my name is Karen Memery, like memory only spelt with an e, and I’m one of the girls what works in the Hôtel Mon Cherie on Amity Street. ‘Hôtel’ has a little hat over the o like that. It’s French, so Beatrice tells me.”

 

Set in the late nineteenth century—in a city a lot like what we now call Seattle  Underground—when airships plied the trade routes, would-be gold miners were  reading to the gold fields of Alaska, and steam-powered mechanicals stalked the waterfront, Karen is a young woman on her own, is making the best of her orphaned state by working in Madame Damnable’s high-quality bordello. Through Karen’s eyes we get to know the other girls in the house—a resourceful group—and the poor and the powerful of the town. 

 

Trouble erupts one night when a badly injured girl arrives at their door, begging 

sanctuary, followed by the man who holds her indenture, and who has a machine that can take over anyone’s mind and control their actions. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the next night brings a body dumped in their rubbish heap—a streetwalker who has been brutally murdered.

 

Hard on the heels of that horrifying discovery comes a lawman who has been chasing this killer for months. Marshal Bass Reeves is closing in on his man, and he’s not about to reject any help he can get, even if it comes from girl who works in the Hôtel Mon Cheri.

 

Bear brings alive this Jack-the-Ripper yarn of the Old Steampunk West with a 

light touch in Karen’s own memorable voice, and a mesmerizing evocation of classic steam-powered science.

 

And here’s a look at the Cynthia Sheppard art sans type: