Tuesday 31 May 2011

Cover art for THE RIYRIA REVELATIONS

Orbit Books have unveiled the cover art for The Riyria Revelations, a series of six self-published books by indie author Michael J. Sullivan which they are reprinting as a trilogy. The cover art is by the excellent Larry Rostant.


Theft of Swords is due in November 2011, followed by Rise of Empire in December 2011 and Heir of Novron in January 2012. The cover blurb for the first volume:

Royce Melborn, a skilled thief, and his mercenary partner, Hadrian Blackwater, make a profitable living carrying out dangerous assignments for conspiring nobles – until they are hired to steal a famed sword from the palace of the king and find themselves caught up in a conspiracy to overthrow the empire. Sentenced to death, they have only one way out, to get involved in the plots of the nobles and save the kingdom from itself.

Can one thief and his master swordsman of a friend keep their heads above water long enough to survive? Much less solve the mystery that threatens to topple the crown itself?

…and so begins this epic tale of treachery and adventure, sword fighting and magic, myth and legend.

8 comments:

Justin said...

Those look great. Very exciting to see this process develop for Michael Sullivan.

Jebus said...

I'd been planning on grabbing these from the author himself but three volumes will be cheaper than 6, I can wait, especially as I imagine they'll be getting a little more editing/polishing?

I'd be very interested to see what you think of them Adam.

Roland said...

There is nothing excellent about those pictures, I think.
They look like typical tasteless American fantasycovers, that would embarrass me, if I was seen in public with a book with those covers.

Mavis said...

Jebus, they are a fun, fast heist-type novel with low magic. Depth gets sprinkled in as you get to mid/later in the series (instead of throwing it all at you in the beginning).

I love it as a palate refresher in between some of the longer/darker books I like to read.

And it is definitely for all ages. (I mean that as a compliment, not as "this is YA")

Iain said...

I have read the Crown Conspiracy and it is a very enjoyable slice of fantasy. Not of the 'gritty' school of fantasy but most definitely not childish or immature. Grown up without gore or foul language and a cast of characters you grow to care about.

Top notch and on the strength of the first I bought the whole series.

I am happy that Michael Sullivan is getting the recognition he deserves.

Mavis said...

Roland, am a bigger fan of the original covers (that the author did himself).

http://www.amazon.com/Michael-J.-Sullivan/e/B002BOJ41O/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

I have seen so many generic covers, I can't remember the last time I picked up a book (or didnt read one) based solely on the cover. That is why I come to site's like The Wertzone...

Unknown said...

As much as I enjoy the series, I don't care for these covers. I prefer the originals a thousand fold.

Robin Sullivan said...

Thanks for helping to spread the word about the upcoming re-release. I'm really pleased with Orbit's choice to put the books out in consecutative months (Nov, Dec, Jan).

Orbit had done (IMO) some of the best covers in the industry. If they think depicting the characters will be successful then I trust their judgement. Besides, authors (nor their wives) get to decide such matters when publisined through a bigger organiztions. What's important is to get the books to wider audience, and I'm confident Orbit can accomplish this much better than small little Ridan Publishing could.