Journal Entry
Sly Mongoose cover art progression
August 22nd 2007 at 3:15 am
Irene Gallo forwarded me thumbnails of the progress of Sly Mongoose’s cover art so I can post it up here and talk about it’s progression.
I gave my editor a really, really cool scene towards the end of the book (I’ve written some scenes out of order) that is just super-cool and a lot of fun to write, and I was just squee-excited that he forwarded it on as the scene to have illustrated as I hope it will catch readers’ eyes.
The first rough color sketch by artist extraordinaire Todd Lockwood is below, and features Pepper (you may remember him from the first couple books) and Katerina getting ready to face off against some long odds.
The action and general thrust of it is nifty, and the next sketch that comes in is in black and white with more details. Pepper’s powered armor and a zombie-beheading sword are there, and the giant blimp-ship invasion is progressing nicely overhead in detail.
The final cover art showed up in my inbox yesterday, and here’s a thumbnail lo-rez look:
And here is Pepper a little bit closer:
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27 Responses so far
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1. Lawrence on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 5:28 am
Whoa, that is some pretty nice cover art! I am imagining it will look especially awesome on a hardcover book. The cool thing is, Pepper’s face look exactly like I picture him in my mind.
2. Steve Buchheit on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 7:53 am
Kewl! Although I imagined Pepper a little older and his dreads with a lot more grey in them. I don’t know why. But I love the atmospheric effects. And, hey, laser guns (or at least power bolts), powered armor AND swords! It’s got my inner-teen-geek squeeing all over the place.
3. Jim C. Hines on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 8:26 am
Awesome! You’ve had some great cover karma on these books.
4. Dave Klecha on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 8:28 am
Gah! That’s awesome! Pepper looks badass.
Congrats on the stunning cover.
5. Josh on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 8:52 am
Looks nice!
I had imagined Pepper with a little more gray, not sure why but I love the cover.
6. Paul Abbamondi on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 8:54 am
Wow! This is some stunning stuff. Definitely eye-grabbing, and I’m looking forward to this coming out! Great stuff.
7. Mark Terry on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 9:09 am
Zombie-beheading sword, ey?
Well, you can’t go wrong with that now, can you?
Very cool art. I agree with Jim, you’ve got some great cover karma going.
8. Mary Fitz... on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 9:39 am
I love the airships!
9. Shara Saunsaucie on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 10:27 am
That looks SO AWESOME!!!! Favorite cover of yours by far!
10. Michael Dean on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 11:09 am
Wow! Tight work. I’ll buy the book on GP.
11. Derek on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 11:22 am
Amazing!
12. Joyce Reynolds-Ward on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 11:26 am
Way cool!
Must…go…to…Powell’s….today. Pick up _Ragamuffin_ (among others).
13. Carole McDonnell on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Love it. I love a warrior with flowing mane. And this guy rocks the dreads! -C
14. Rachel on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 12:43 pm
That is so cool!
15. Matt Jarpe on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 1:23 pm
Those flower-petal airships in the background are nifty. Are Pepper and Katerina standing on the deck of one of the airships?
16. Jim Hall on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Wow Toby that is a fantastic cover. You and I have talked in the past about a great cover helping to sell a book. I hope that is the case here. I can’t wait for the book.
17. Rob Vagle on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Cool great cover!
18. SMD on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Wow! Really cool art :). I love that sort of watercolor feel for some reason…
19. Lou Anders on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 9:29 pm
Awesome cover.
20. Jeff Beeler on Aug 22nd, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Cool cover!
You have the best luck with cover art Tobias.
21. Howard Carter on Aug 23rd, 2007 at 9:23 am
It’s great that with such a good series (based on the first two) you’re getting superb cover art to go with them. We all know that doesn’t always happen. Can’t wait for the book to come out…
22. Josh on Aug 23rd, 2007 at 11:39 am
Loving the high-energy scenes that all the covers have shown so far. When you write them, do they ever make your hands jittery? I’ve had that happen a few times, which I hope is a good thing, and not symptoms of some heart attack that’ll drop me in my forties.
23. Tony on Aug 23rd, 2007 at 11:52 am
WOW! The covers keep getting better and better. I’d love to see it bigger.
24. JP on Aug 23rd, 2007 at 4:08 pm
You had me at “giant blimp-ship invasion”. I officially can’t wait for the last book.
Write faster! Unless you’re done, in which case: Edit faster!
25. Tobias Buckell on Aug 27th, 2007 at 1:50 am
Thank you everyone! Yeah, I’m working hard to wrap this up!
26. Pat Logan on Aug 27th, 2007 at 11:58 am
That’s Pepper, all right!
Your covers are the best ones I’ve ever seen. That’s exciting.
27. Nnedi on Aug 27th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Pepper’s kinda hot.