Artwork

Just in Time for Christmas: A Holiday Made Better with Pirates

4 Comments /

Got my own copies of Mike Resnick’s Starship: Pirate this weekend, the second book in his five volume military SF series that began with Starship: Mutiny, and as hot as this book looks, I’m going to brag on a number of very talented people – beyond Mike himself, of course – who have all come together to help make this into something really special.

First, it’s just a great looking book, thanks to illustrator John Picacio for the cover, and to our interior layout genius Bruce Carle, both of whose work consistently blows me away. Both of them continue the great art & design of the first book, and isn’t the purple just a gorgeous color choice here?

However, in each of the Starship books, we include a meaty appendixes of ancillary information – Mike calls them “DVD extras” – and this one in particular incorporates several things I’ve wanted to do for some time. In addition to the background article on Mike’s Birthright universe and his timeline (which will be included, and updated, for each book in the series), this time out we’ve run a number of unique extras.

First, there are two fully playable games. In Starship: Pirate, Mike references a popular pastime in his future history called “bilsang,” said to be “a game that makes chess and toprench look like kid’s games.” He sketches out a few loose rules, though not enough to actually play. So, last February we held a contest in which we invited fans to create the rest of the game according to Mike’s criteria. Alex Wilson won, though Mike Nelson’s runner up was so good that we included it as well, as the other fictional game Mike mentions, the “toprench” referred to above. So, rules for both games are included in the appendixes. Seen on the left, a page from the bilsang appendix, as conceived by Mike Resnick & Alex Wilson and crafted by the wonderful Bruce Carle.

Then, working from Mike’s descriptions and photographs of the physical model John Picacio constructed for his cover illustrations, actual aerospace engineer Deborah Oakes has created six pages of detailed technical schematics of the interior of the starship Theodore Roosevelt. One of Deborah’s pages is seen on the right. Seen with the other five pages, the ship really comes to life as a physical entity. (Can an RPG be far behind?)

Starship: Pirate is out in December, right in time for a Pirate Christmas, but I see that it’s already available for shipping from Amazon right now. When you get a copy – because, how could you resist it, really? – drop in and let me know what you think. Running starship schematics in the book fulfills an ambition I’ve had for years – ever since (I confess) I read the Starfleet Technical Manuals as a kid, really – so I’m really proud of everyone’s efforts. John, Bruce, Alex, Mike, Mike & Deb – you’ve all done amazing! Now, Mike, what the heck are we going to do for an encore?

Just in Time for Christmas: A Holiday Made Better with Pirates Read More »

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Hurricane Moon

3 Comments /

I let this one sit up at Meme Therapy for a bit, where it was part of the interview with artist Brian W. Dow. But now I think we can show it here, along with the front cover layout. Illustration is by Brian, with design from Brian & Prometheus in-house artist Nicole Lecht, who makes her Pyr debut. The book – the first novel from Analog regular Alexis Glynn Latner – is slated for a July 2007 release. A story of planetary colonization, full of danger, romance and interpersonal conflict, Dow captures the spirit of the book beautifully in his wrap-around illustration. Do you trust that guy in the bottom left? I’m not sure you should.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Hurricane Moon Read More »

Brian W Dow Artwork & Interview

Jose Garcia has just posted a short interview with artist Brian W. Dow over on the wonderful group blog Meme Therapy. Along with the interview are covers to four Pyr titles: Genetopia by Keith Brooke, Hurricane Moon by Alexis Glynn Latner (forthcoming), The Prodigal Troll by Charles Coleman Finlay, and Tides by Scott Mackay. This is the debut for Hurricane Moon, which has never been seen anywhere before, and is a full wrap-around of an alien landscape, with space shuttles and an outpost for which Brian actually built models from scratch. We’ll be showing more of Brian’s model work in the future, but for now, go see the full painting in all its glory.

Brian W Dow Artwork & Interview Read More »

Sueños Nuevos Por Viejos

Steven H. Silver’s Reviews has posted an enthusiastic review of Mike Resnick’s short story collection, New Dreams for Old:

“New Dreams for Old provides an excellent introduction to the range of Resnick’s writing and his interests. His transparent writing style allows the reader to fully enjoy the wide variety of stories, which range from personal introspective tales to galaxy-spanning adventures and morality plays. This collection, with ten Hugo-nominated stories (and two winners) and three Nebula-nominated stories is a wonderful addition to any sf collection and a reminder of the vast scope of modern science fiction.”

Meanwhile, just for fun, compare this cover of the Spanish language editon of New Dreams for Old, Sueños Nuevos Por Viejos, to the original cover art by Stephan Martiniere. Hmmm, something familiar about this…

Sueños Nuevos Por Viejos Read More »

Feast Your Eyes On This: Bright of the Sky

3 Comments /

Am I allowed to have a favorite cover? If so, this could quite possibly be it. Stephan Martiniere’s latest, with design by Jacqueline Cooke. This is Bright of the Sky, the first book in Kay Kenyon’s exciting sci-fantasy quartet The Entire and the Rose. Kay, long recognized for her excellent world-building, has outdone herself with a tale of Titus Quinn, a human space pilot thrust into a pocket landscape called “the Universe Entire,” ruled by an oppressive Overlord race and peopled with multiple bizarre creatures. Bright of the Sky is high adventure & high concept, in the vein of Dan Simmons Hyperion or Philip José Farmer’s Riverworld. The world has a somewhat Mandarin flavor, and sits right between science fiction and fantasy – all of which Stephan captures brilliantly. The book is due out from Pyr in April, 2007.

Feast Your Eyes On This: Bright of the Sky Read More »

Infinity and the Infoquake

2 Comments /

SFRevu has just posted a review of John Meaney’s To Hold Infinity. A completely stand-alone novel set in the same universe (but not the same world) as his Nulapeiron Sequence; it could almost be viewed as his Hobbit to the Lord of the Rings. We brought it out after the sequence, in a first hardcover edition that the Jim Burns artwork has always deserved.

SFRevu says, “Meaney delivers a cautionary tale of a future world and augmented humans. Much is taken for granted and not explained, but his world works and his characters come alive. Like other writers, both American and British, he uses Japanese characters, the concept of a warrior culture, and ritual combat to frame a struggle for world or even universal domination.”

Here’s the full wrap-around, cover design by Jacqueline Cooke: (white lines delineating the spine not on the final):

Meanwhile, one wonders if John will write a Silmarillion one day.

In other news, LA Splash has this to say about David Louis Edelman’s Infoquake:

“Infoquake is one of those books that hooks you into the story and makes you never want to put the book down. …find yourself unable to stop thinking about the questions raised by the story. It is a book that describes the ultimate quagmire created when greed competes against decency.”

Infinity and the Infoquake Read More »

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Ivory

5 Comments /

For your viewing pleasure, the cover of Mike Resnick’s Ivory: A Legend of Past and Future, due from Pyr in August of next year. Arwork is by the marvelous Bob Eggleton – our first time working with him and hopefully a sign of many good things to come. Cover design is by our own Grace Zilsberger, her second Pyr cover after Keeping It Real.

Another of Mike’s famous “Africa tales,” Ivory is the story of Duncan Rojas, senior researcher for Braxton’s Records of Big Game, and the mysterious Bukoba Mandaka, last of the Maasai, who hires him to track down the legendary tusks of the Kilimanjaro Elephant. Mike’s Kirinyaga tales, in their collected book edition, form one of my top ten favorite science fiction works of all time. In fact, I have given away or recommended Kirinyaga several times as a perfect “entry level” science fiction novel for the uninitiated since I originally read it back in 1998. But I hadn’t read Ivory until Mike suggested it to me as a possible reprint for Pyr. When I did – it swiftly blew me away, and now ranks as one of my all time favorite Resnick stories. The novel intertwines three narratives – the tale of the ivory tusk’s journey as they change hands through space and time, the story of the narrator as he becomes increasingly suspicious of his strange employer, and the story of the last days of the Kilimanjaro Elephant itself. The work is powerful enough that – believe it or not – I find myself on the verge of tearing up when I describe it here. Sorry, it’s just that I know how the book ends. But you all will just have to wait. Still, one look at that Eggleton cover, and I bet you think the wait is worth it, no?

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Ivory Read More »

Full Cover Spread for The Libery Gun

Because you can never have too much art, right? Here is the full cover spread for Martin Sketchley’s The Liberty Gun, third and final (for now) volume of his three part Structure series (coming from Pyr in November). Artwork is by the wonderful Dave Seeley, layout & design by Jacqueline Cooke. Click to see the larger image.
Of Martin’s deftly plotted action adventures, SciFiDimensions has said that it “will appeal both to fans of Richard Morgan’s cyber-noir adventures and lovers of the kind of martial futuristics published in great quantities by Baen Books.”

Full Cover Spread for The Libery Gun Read More »

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Breakaway

For your viewing pleasure, the front cover of Joel Shepherd’s Breakaway, the second book in the Cassandra Kresnov series. The first book in the series, Crossover, was released this past August. It was described by Publishers Weekly thusly: “Set in the far future, Australian author Shepherd’s energetic debut introduces Cassandra Kresnov, an experimental killer android-with-a-heart….Shepherd’s intriguing heroine and strong female characters bode well for this projected series. Lacing Cassandra’s search for identity and acceptance with plenty of hand-to-hand combat and racy sexual exploits, Shepherd also convincingly presents vividly realized ethical dilemmas….Shepherd grapples with some genuinely thought-provoking questions on the nature of humanity.”

Artwork is by the incomparable Stephan Martiniere, whose cover for the previous Cassandra Kresnov book, Crossover, was shown at the Hugo Ceremony when his nomination for Best Artist was read out. Design is once again by Prometheus’ Jacqueline Cooke. Breakaway appears from Pyr in April, 2007.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Breakaway Read More »

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Keeping It Real

For your viewing pleasure, the front cover of Justina Robson’s Keeping It Real: Quantum Gravity Book One. A tale of sex, elves and rock’n’roll, Keeping it Real has been described by SFWorld as “Justina ‘out to play’. And boy, does she have fun! So – think an enthusiastic melange of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Meredith Gentry, Tad Williams’ War of the Flowers, Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat, a touch of Marianne dePierre’s Parrish Plessis, even The Bionic Woman or Transformers, and you get an idea of how much fun this book is.”

Cover art is by the wonderful Larry Rostant, who also provided the cover for the UK edition. I loved the slick, Matrix-esque depiction of protagonist Lila Black in Larry’s original image, but asked him if we could add an element to speak to the fantasy side of this sci-fantasy as novel as well. (I think the addition of rock star Zal sets up a nice sense of tension and expectation between the two figures. What do you think?) Meanwhilek, layout/design is by Prometheus’s in-house artist Grace Zilsberger, making her Pyr debut. I love the clean, iconic layout she’s come up with and look forward to working with her on many more Pyr covers.

Keeping it Real will be published in N. America in March, 2007. More exciting KIR news soon, I promise.

For Your Viewing Pleasure: Keeping It Real Read More »

Start typing and press enter to search

Scroll to Top