I’m pleased to announce the official cover reveal of the second book in my Steel Empires series: Steel Magic!
You can also preorder the book from Amazon today, ahead of the release on July 6, 2016! Don’t forget that when you buy a hardcopy of an RDSP book, you’ll also be able to download the Kindle version for free. If you’re only interested in the ebook, it will be available soon after release in July.
About the Book:
Funerals are usually the end of the story, not the beginning.
Newly graduated warrior-mages Toria Connor and Kane Nalamas find themselves the last remaining mages in the city when a mage school teacher mysteriously falls ill and dies. But taking over the school themselves isn’t in the cards. They’re set to become professional mercenaries-if they make it through the next 18 months as journeymen first.
The debate over whether to hunt mutated monsters in the Wasteland or take posh bodyguard jobs is put on hold when a city elder hires them to solve the mystery of the disappearing mages. Toria and Kane’s quest brings them to the British colonial city of New Angouleme, where their initial investigation reveals that the problem is even greater than they feared.
But when a friend is kidnapped, they’ll have to travel to the other side of the globe to save her, save themselves, and save magic itself.
Continue reading to learn about the cover artist and my thoughts on the cover!
About the Artist:
Bradley Sharp was born in 1977 in Oxfordshire, UK. From a young age he filled many sketch books, so it only made sense to study Graphic Communication at Nene University, where he received a BA Honors degree in 1997.
But the real world called Sharp away from academics, so he traveled around the globe a couple of times, working as a graphic designer. Now he makes a living by designing magazine spreads, but freelances with vector illustrations, allowing him to create something far-removed from what he does in his nine-to-five job.
Sharp finds vector to be an easy tool and believes anyone can use it. “I’d say my artwork is nothing more than glorified doodling. I like the logical inconsistencies of surrealism and find inspiration from many places such as music or the science fiction genre. Dog Star’s novels lend themselves well to my style. I look forward to working with DSB in the future, and hope fans will like the imagery as much as they enjoy the words.” Find Sharp’s work online at http://www.bradsharp.co.uk.
I thought I’d won the lottery with the gorgeous design of the first book in the series, Steel Victory. But apparently lightning can strike twice, because I love the Steel Magic cover just as much!
Most authors never get to give any input into the covers of their books. If they are lucky, the artist will be provided the full synopsis, and if they’re really lucky, the artist will actually read it. Not only does Brad Sharp read the synopsis, but he also invites authors to submit a write-up discussing the characters and locations in the book, and he even reads some of the books themselves!
And just like it took me a bit to notice the epic fangs hidden in the cover of Steel Victory, I’m also amazed by the detail in the Steel Magic cover that took me a few viewings to see. The latest thing I’ve noticed is the tiny line of Latin text hidden above the skulls.
Please feel free to share this cover around the interwebs (blogs, social media, etc.), along with the preorder link. My friend David has a giveaway going on at his blog if you do so!
There’s fangs?
So I didn’t realize RDSP gave you a free Kindle copy for buying the hardcopy. How cool!
Look behind the word victory!
But…. those are upside-down fangs! What I just noticed that I FREAKING LOVE is that Toria’s reflection shows in the water… but Victory’s doesn’t!