New Elizabeth Moon out - sequal to Oath of Fealty (cover, fantasy)

[Giesela]

Here is the Amazon write up for King of the North by Elizabeth Moon which will be out Mar 22 according to Amazon. A sequel to Oath of Fealty - the last Paks book that sort of transition from being about Paks to more of the other characters like King Phelan. Got to say I don't like the cover art.


Amazon.com: Kings of the North (Playaway Adult Fiction) Moderator cut: can't post full link, could be affiliate

[Giesela]

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Kings Of the North
"Uneasy lies the head..." Young King Mikeli of Tsaia, having survived several attempts on his life, now faces potential dangers from abroad as well as continued threats within his own kingdom. Moderator cut: sorry but too long a quote; 1-2 sentneces and a link

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by Giesela

Got to say I don't like the cover art.

I was browsing through the SF/Fantasy section at Borders today and was very struck and how absolutely terrible 95% of covers are these days. They seem to be coming in two basic varieties:

1.) The obviously Photoshopped cover showing a wax-chested Chippendale's model looking wistfully into the distance or (for the guys) a scantily-clad Victoria's Secret model looking menacing and holding either a sword or a shotgun, or hugging a wolf. And she probably has various tattoos.

Examples:


Moderator cut: no copyrighted images allowed






2.) Art so awful that you'd feel embarrassed to be seen reading the book. I have to wonder: What was the publisher thinking???

[Giesela]

Wow that is bad. And just in case you didn't get it - "Dune meets Master and Commander"

Honestly don't the authors have any say? I can't imagine they all have this bad an eye.

[Mark S.]

Originally Posted by Giesela

Honestly don't the authors have any say?

Nope. Authors will sometimes get to put in an art suggestion, but in the end, it is entirely up to the publisher's art director, marketing dept, etc. And art directors are famous for giving work to their buddies --- even when said buddies are long past their prime or just downright bad.