stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2016-08-03 08:33 am
stevenpiziks) wrote2016-08-03 08:33 am
BONE WAR and Cover Progression
The covers for the Books of Blood and Iron follow a progression, and it's pretty cool. We start with IRON AXE:
We have an ancient axe, crudely made and battered and chipped. It looks like something from an archaeological dig, which makes sense, since the Axe was made more a thousand years ago, and quickly. An axe, of course, is one of the first tools humans ever created. Stone axes were used first to cut wood by hunter-gatherers, then were adopted as weapons. The volcano-esque surge of power in the background is a great touch. If you've read the book, you know why . . .
Then we have BLOOD STORM:
The weapon is more sophisticated. It's better-crafted, but still well-used. Since it belongs to Pendra, one of the Gardeners (or fates), the well-used part makes sense. So does the blood on the blade. The sickle came after the axe, appearing when people settled down into farming communities and needed something to harvest grain--or slice enemies in half.
Finally, we have BONE WAR:
The sword is the most difficult weapon to forge, and a sword of ivory, complete with runes and a blood-red ruby in the pommel, would be all but impossible to make. Swords were the final bladed weapon to be created by human civilization. We've arrived at the most powerful and sophisticated weapon in the progression, sleek, powerful, and able to slice through fate itself.
I had minimal input on the covers, incidentally. Anne Sowards, my editor, asked me for some images or ideas from each book that might make good covers, and I gave her a list. The Axe showed up on the first cover (I'm afraid I don't know who the artist is), and Anne thought a progression of weapons would look great for the series. She was absolutely right.
We have an ancient axe, crudely made and battered and chipped. It looks like something from an archaeological dig, which makes sense, since the Axe was made more a thousand years ago, and quickly. An axe, of course, is one of the first tools humans ever created. Stone axes were used first to cut wood by hunter-gatherers, then were adopted as weapons. The volcano-esque surge of power in the background is a great touch. If you've read the book, you know why . . .
Then we have BLOOD STORM:
The weapon is more sophisticated. It's better-crafted, but still well-used. Since it belongs to Pendra, one of the Gardeners (or fates), the well-used part makes sense. So does the blood on the blade. The sickle came after the axe, appearing when people settled down into farming communities and needed something to harvest grain--or slice enemies in half.
Finally, we have BONE WAR:
The sword is the most difficult weapon to forge, and a sword of ivory, complete with runes and a blood-red ruby in the pommel, would be all but impossible to make. Swords were the final bladed weapon to be created by human civilization. We've arrived at the most powerful and sophisticated weapon in the progression, sleek, powerful, and able to slice through fate itself.
I had minimal input on the covers, incidentally. Anne Sowards, my editor, asked me for some images or ideas from each book that might make good covers, and I gave her a list. The Axe showed up on the first cover (I'm afraid I don't know who the artist is), and Anne thought a progression of weapons would look great for the series. She was absolutely right.