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A Tale of Two Covers: Shadows and Tall Trees 7 edited by Michael Kelly

A Tale of Two Covers: Shadows and Tall Trees 7 edited by Michael Kelly

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Michael Kelly’s Shadows and Tall Trees may be the most acclaimed original horror anthology series on the market. It’s been growing in stature and popularity every year, and anticipation is high for volume 7, due in March from Undertow Publications.

Michael had revealed the striking covers for both the trade paperback (at left) and hardcover (right) editions of the upcomnig volume at the Undertow website. About the trade edition he writes:

Very pleased to reveal the cover design for the Trade edition of Shadows & Tall Trees 7 coming March 2017. Art by Yaroslav Gerzhedovich. Design by Vince Haig. The hardcover will have a completely different cover.

And for the hardcover:

Very happy to reveal the cover for the hardback version of Shadows and Tall Trees, Vol. 7. Artwork and design is by the talented Vince Haig. Vince created that font specifically for this project. Kudos to him.

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Medieval Treasures on Display in Madrid

Medieval Treasures on Display in Madrid

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Mirror case, France, 1370-1400. Ivory. It depicts a love scene in a
garden where the happy couple hold a heart as cupids hover
overhead holding a shield and a hooded figure looks on.

One of Madrid’s leading private galleries is hosting a major exhibition on medieval art. The Pillars of Europe: Middle Ages in the British Museum brings together more than a hundred objects ranging from 400 to 1500 at CaixaForum’s Madrid branch.

The exhibition aims to show through objects and images how Europe transformed from the fragmentation after the fall of the Roman Empire through the Middle Ages and into the emerging nation states at the beginning of the Renaissance. An excellent map shows how borders shifted over the century, and a slideshow gives period depictions of Europe’s cities as they grew and became more prominent. The objects are grouped into four themes: Royal Power, Heavenly Treasures, Courtly Life, and Urban Life.

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Cover Reveal: Damnation by Peter McLean

Cover Reveal: Damnation by Peter McLean

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Drake, the first novel in Peter McLean’s new series, was published in January. The highly-anticipated second novel, Dominion, will be released on November 2nd in the US, and November 4 in the UK and the rest of the world. Here’s what I said about Drake late last year.

Peter McLean’s first novel will be released in paperback by Angry Robot in early January, and it sounds pretty darn good.

Don’t believe me? Drake features a hitman who owes a gambling debt to a demon, his faithful magical accomplice The Burned Man (an imprisoned archdemon), the Furies of Greek myth, an (almost) fallen angel named Trixie, and oh, yeah. Lucifer. Dave Hutchinson calls it “a gritty, grungy, funny, sweary noir thriller with added demons. Don Drake is a wonderful creation.” I told you it sounded good. Drake is the opening installment in a new series titled The Burned Man.

Black Gate is very proud to present an exclusive cover reveal for the third novel, Damnation, scheduled to appear on May 2 of next year. See below for additional details of the book, and a high-res pic of the cover.

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Feast Your Eyes on Robert McGinnis’ New Covers for Neil Gaiman’s Early Paperbacks

Feast Your Eyes on Robert McGinnis’ New Covers for Neil Gaiman’s Early Paperbacks

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I know I’m not the only one out there who’s purchased a new edition of a favorite book just because I loved the new cover.

And I’ll definitely be getting in line to pick up the new mass market paperback editions of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods, Neverwhere, Anansi Boys, and Stardust, all gorgeously rendered by famous paperback 50s artist Robert McGinnis, who’s now in his 90s but still doing brilliant work. Neil takes about how the new covers came about on his blog:

About a year ago, Jennifer Brehl and I were talking. Jennifer is my editor at William Morrow… I went off about how paperback covers used to be beautiful, and were painted, and told you so much. And how much I missed the covers of the ’50s and ’60s and ’70s, the ones I’d collected and bought back in the dawn of time. And somehow the conversation wound up with me asking if Harper Collins would publish a set of mass market paperbacks of my books with gloriously retro covers and Jennifer saying that yes, they would….

I sent a note to Jennifer asking if there was even the slightest possibility that Mr McGinnis would be interested in painting the covers for the paperback set we wanted to do. He said yes. I say that so blithely. But he has retired, pretty much, and he doesn’t have email, and it was only because the Morrow art director had worked with him, and he was intrigued by the commission… and ROBERT MCGINNIS SAID YES.

Neil has been talking about each cover in more detail on Tumblr. Check it out here.

The new mass market paperback edition of American Gods was published August 16, Stardust arrives on September 27, Anansi Boys on October 25, and Neverwhere on November 29. All four covers are painted by Robert E McGinnis, with lettering by Todd Klein. Click the images above for bigger versions.

Exploring Historic Cádiz

Exploring Historic Cádiz

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The Santa Cueva Oratory in Cádiz was finished in 1796
and is one of the best examples of its kind. It features some
unusually bright and cheery paintings by Francisco de Goya

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Phoenician and Roman Cádiz, the early history of one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in Europe, on the southwestern coast of Spain near the Strait of Gibraltar. While Cádiz was important throughout its history, its sheltered harbor on the Atlantic made it a good spot for launching the many exploratory vessels that Spain sent out into the world starting in the late 15th century. Columbus made his second and fourth voyages to America from Cádiz, and some of the tropical plants growing in the city squares are said to be descendants of samples he brought home.

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The Ancient Roman Vomitorium: It Wasn’t What You’ve Been Told

The Ancient Roman Vomitorium: It Wasn’t What You’ve Been Told

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The Roman theater at Cádiz sez: “Ugh, I’ve eaten too much dormouse. BLAARGH!”

I’ve often heard an odd rumor about the ancient Romans. Supposedly they had a special room in their villas and public houses called a vomitorium so that after binging on food and wine they could purge themselves and start stuffing their gullets again. You’ve probably heard that rumor too.

I’ve never believed that story, but while exploring the Roman remains at Cádiz, Spain, I discovered that the vomitorium actually did exist, it just wasn’t what we’ve been told.

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Art of the Genre: Top 10 ‘Orange Spine’ AD&D Hardcovers by Jeff Easley

Art of the Genre: Top 10 ‘Orange Spine’ AD&D Hardcovers by Jeff Easley

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Did The Wilderness Survival Guide make the list?
Did The Wilderness Survival Guide make the list?

Now you might be thinking, ‘Top 10, really? How many did he do?‘

Well, the answer to that is 12. And, considering how iconic each one is, how much they meant to D&D players in the 1980s, and how many folks still use these books 30 years later, it is little wonder that this was a much harder list to trim down than one might think. But, I’m going to give it a shot nonetheless!

So I essentially started with the concept that I’d fold in overall book importance to game play, but then decided against it, instead relying on nostalgia for the cover alone. This would be tempered by the fact that the three most beloved and used books in the AD&D series are the Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and the Monster Manual, which were all re-released with different covers in the late 1970s, so a lot of players prefer those versions to the more uniform Easley editions produced in the 80s.

Still, TSR sold a boat load of these books during the initial days of the 80s, so I know Easley’s covers did introduce a good deal of players to the hobby (and likely more in the 2nd Edition cover he also did). My first DMG and PHB were Easley covers, so he was my ‘gateway drug’ so to speak and all his ‘orange spine’ hardcovers still sit proudly behind my desk for easy access since I use them almost daily.

I hope those reading this will remember these books as fondly as I do, and perhaps, want to see another one produced to make it thirteen ‘orange spines’ in total, but I’ll talk about that later. Until then, enjoy this beautiful fantasy art Top 10.

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Phoenician and Roman Cádiz: The Original Pillars of Hercules

Phoenician and Roman Cádiz: The Original Pillars of Hercules

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Phoenician bling.Jewelry found in the Phoenician cemetery dating
from the 5th to 2nd centuries BC. The finds include many imports,
even amulets of Horus and Sekhmet from as far away as Egypt

Europe is known for its ancient cities, with many dating to Roman or even pre-Roman times. One of the oldest continually inhabited cities in Europe is Cádiz, on the southwestern coast of Spain near the Strait of Gibraltar. It has been a city since at least Phoenician times and has been of crucial importance to the region ever since.

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New Treasures: Warren the 13th and The All-Seeing Eye by Tania Del Rio and Will Staehle

New Treasures: Warren the 13th and The All-Seeing Eye by Tania Del Rio and Will Staehle

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Looking over Will Staehle’s art for the book Warren the 13th and The All-Seeing Eye, I’ve never been closer to believing Lewis Carroll’s adage that all good books must be illustrated.

12 year-old Warren is the sole surviving heir to a grand (but rapidly decaying) old hotel. When a strange bandaged guest arrives, Warren’s deliciously self-absorbed Aunt Annaconda soon becomes convinced that he’s after the All-Seeing Eye, a magnificent treasure that family legend says is hidden someone on the property. The result is a madcap treasure hunt and Warren, determined to find his rightful inheritance first, soon joins the search. But first he’ll have to contend with strange monsters, sinister witches, bizarre mazes and secret codes, and a long-forgotten riddle.

This 224-page book is heavily illustrated, with art on virtually every page. The New York Times Book Review calls it “an engaging mystery… with a few nice twists and surprises along the way,” and Publishers Weekly says it’s “stylish, exciting, funny, and just slightly macabre.” That’s good to know, but I can make up my mind on Staehle’s artwork right now — and I think it’s fantastic.

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Underwater Archaeology at the Ashmolean Museum

Underwater Archaeology at the Ashmolean Museum

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3. Amphora with coral. Lent by Soprintendenza del Mare -® Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Roman amphora with coral, from the Levanzo shipwreck AD 275‒300

Sicily has been the center of Mediterranean history for centuries. Positioned at the halfway point between the western and eastern halves of the sea, and between Europe and Africa, it has been a nexus of trade and warfare ever since humanity started sailing. Now a major exhibition at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum looks at the discoveries by underwater archaeologists around Sicily’s shores.

Storms, War & Shipwrecks Treasures from the Sicilian Seas brings together more than 200 objects for a variety of civilizations to highlight Sicily’s importance in ancient shipping.

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