Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday!
*Late Edition*
This is my weekly feature
showcasing beautiful covers!
It also provides information,
if available, on their
very talented creators!
if available, on their
very talented creators!
Here's my choice for this week!!
Spinning Thorns
Anna Sheehan
Trade Paperback, 354 pages
Gollancz
(Imprint of Orion Publishing Group)
December 10, 2015
Fairy Tale Retellings, Fantasy,
Young Adult Fiction
Anna Sheehan
Trade Paperback, 354 pages
Gollancz
(Imprint of Orion Publishing Group)
December 10, 2015
Fairy Tale Retellings, Fantasy,
Young Adult Fiction
I have once again fallen in love with another Gollancz cover! I don't know how this publisher does it, but they actually manage to get the BEST cover artists, and these very talented people produce totally memorable book covers!
The cover I'm featuring today is magical, mysterious, slightly creepy.....and it DEFINITELY has a very obvious Disney vibe. This last quality is what has me LOVING it!! I LOVE Disney art, and have been a fan since I was a child who dreamed of one day visiting Disneyland! (I got my wish, but Disneyland came to me -- in Orlanddo, Florida, and it is called Disneyworld, as everyone know.) And yes, I have been there, although it was quite a while back, and I want to return SO badly!!)
Of course, the very first thing that caught my attention was that most beautiful of all colors -- BLUE!! There just isn't any other color in the universe that can give me the visual delight that blue can! And I LOVE how it's used here! It's not only in the sky, which is also softly shaded in lilac, but on the steep mountain on top of which is perched that very mysterious castle. I also LOVE that the zigzagging road that leads to the castle is a lighter shade of this same blue. The cover has a very harmonious look, and it's because of those different shades of blue.
The twisting, menacing thorns are what give this cover that sinister vibe. They form a barrier at the bottom of the cover, as if daring the reader to get through them. These thorns also climb up the sides of the cover, very effectively framing the castle, leading the eye right to it. Then there are more thorns, and gigantic ones, too, standing like sentinels to the left and right of the castle, which looks menacing, as well.
That font is SO lovely! It is in stark contrast to the rest of the cover, too, and yet, it goes very well with it. I love the "tendrils" that trail off the letters in the word "thorns". This gives a feminine, delicate air to these letters. I also like the very pale yellow tone of the letters, which is also a contrast to the colors in the rest of the cover. Perhaps this is symbolic of the one ray of hope and sunshine in this story. It also helps to relieve the overall dark tones of the cover.
In short, this brilliant cover artist has definitely succeeded in creating a very atmospheric cover that pulls the reader right into the story! At least, it did so for THIS reader, although I'm sureI'm not the only potential reader ever to have felt attracted to this cover.
I was unable to get much information about the artist. For some strange reason, Gollancz doesn't give enough (or any) credit to its cover artists, despite being known as a publisher that consistently releases books with GORGEOUS covers.
What I WAS able to find out about this artist was that her name is Laura B., she's an illustrator and book cover designer based in London, and is also a student at The Oatley Academy of Visual Storytelling. I don't know why her last name is not given, to be honest. Her cover for Spinning Thorns was nominated for The Ravenheart Award in 2016. This award is one of several established in memory of David Gemell, a British author of heroic fantasy whose best-known work is his debut novel, Legend. Gemell passed away in 2006.
The Ravenheart Award is given for Best Fantasy Cover Art in a given year. The award is named after one of Gemell's novels.
So Laura B., whose future DEFINITELY looks VERY promising, is yet another addition to my list of favorite cover artists!
Online Links
What do you think of
this week's cover?
Do you agree or disagree with me?
Please leave a comment
and let me know!
this week's cover?
Do you agree or disagree with me?
Please leave a comment
and let me know!
I'm not a fan of the font for some reason, but it is a lovely cover for sure!
ReplyDeleteHi, Stephanie!
DeleteI'm glad you like it! Although I don't mind the font, perhaps something more elegant would have worked better.
Glad you like the cover!! Thanks for commenting!! <3 :)
That is another great cover.
ReplyDeleteI love atmospheric night scenes. I like them more so if they include aspects of a woodland. I get the impression in this one that the castle is surrounded by a thorny forest.
As someone who has run into a lot of thorns in woodlands, they are really no fun to run into!
Have a great weekend!
Hey, Brian!
DeleteThanks for the good word!! <3 :)
I'm so glad you like this cover! Of course, I, too, love these types of scenes. And I agree -- it's even better if there's a forest or various trees included.
It does look like the castle is surrounded by these thorny branches. And yeah, I can imagine that running into one of these is no fun at all! Lol.
Hope you're having a GREAT Sunday!! Thanks for the nice comment!! <3 :)
I love this cover! I have been having a thing for blue cover art this year, and there have been a lot of them to pick from. Thanks for sharing this one. :)
ReplyDeleteHi, La La!
DeleteSo glad you like this cover!! It's a GREAT one, isn't it?
Since blue is my favorite color, I go a little crazy every time I see a GORGEOUS blue cover. Lol. So I totally understand your having a thing for them. For me, though, it's all the time, not just one year. I do feature covers with other colors, of course, but blue covers will always be my favorite!
Thanks for the nice comment!! <3 <3 :) :)
You are right, this cover is stunning! I'm definitely getting a Sleeping Beauty vibe from the cover, which makes sense considering it is a retelling. It's a shame the publisher doesn't give much credit to the artist, especially when they do such a great job!
ReplyDeleteOh, I adore this cover! I definitely agree about the Disney vibes -- it reminds me of Sleeping Beauty. I love the font and the thorns, as well. And I also appreciate the color of the title; it definitely does help with the darkness of the rest of the picture. This cover artist is very talented! I love how you always research and include so much information about the artist. These posts are so enjoyable but also very helpful! Thank you so much for sharing this lovely cover and your opinions on it, Maria. Beautiful post! *HUGE HUGS AND LOVE* <3 <3 <3
ReplyDelete~Mckenzie
I love the background if I forget the thorns... This thorns make the cover so scary O_O !
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your comment about the thorns and the feeling of daring us to get through them.
I also enjoy the color hues and the "light/dark play" (I don't know how it is said in English Xd) in this cover
However.. I think there could have been a better font for the title (and .. I know this font O_O I've seen it somewhere !!! I might have had it on the former version of my computer -because I enjoy mixing pictures and creating banners/avatar-)