COVER REVEAL: The Magic Is Always With Us by David M Allan

We are delighted to reveal the cover of David M Allan’s new fantasy novel The Magic Is Always With Us. Set in Tirog, the land of the Sidhe that is co-incident to the human world and accessed through portals or lacunae in the barrier that separates the two. There are Realms and Domains in the land of the Sidhe, with population centres that are often in the ‘same’ place as they are in the human world. So, Eideann in Alba is co-located with Edinburgh in Scotland.

The cover, designed by Alison Buck, was inspired by a passage in the book where the main protagonist, Lady Trinafar, is standing in front of the throne of the ruler of Obharden (co-located with Aberdeen):

 

The floor in front of the throne was covered by a yellow and green carpet with a maze pattern. It grabbed Trinafar’s attention. It’s a trap, isn’t it. Start tracing the curves and the magic will ensnare the watcher. She knew she should ignore it, but it was difficult. It must give him an advantage over any visitors. It took a lot of concentration, but she did manage to drag her eyes away from the maze and look somewhere else. Even with the effort she had put into breaking the mesmeric effect it wasn’t until he spoke that she was completely free of the influence of the carpet.

 

The Magic Is Always With Us by David M Allan; Cover artwork: Alison Buck
Cover artwork: Alison Buck

Look at the cover for more than a few seconds, and you too will find yourself being mesmerised!

The action takes place in various places in both Alba and Scotland. Handily, one of the characters has a map:

Map of Alba in Tirog from The Magic Is Always With Us by David M Allan; Map: Alison Buck
Map of Alba in Tirog
© 2024 Alison Buck

The Magic Is Always With Us will be published in eBook on 29th March and is available for pre-order now. It will be out in paperback on 29th April.

COVER REVEAL: Her Gilded Voice by K.C. Aegis

We are delighted to be able to reveal the cover for Her Gilded Voice by K.C. Aegis, which will be published this summer by Elsewhen Press. This book sits at the intersection of cyberpunk and psychological thriller, and the cover design by Paramita Bhattacharjee and Troy Edward Nikolic reflects that perfectly.

Her Gilded Voice by K.C. Aegis; Cover art by Paramita Bhattacharjee & Troy Edward Nikolic
Cover art: Paramita Bhattacharjee & Troy Edward Nikolic

Lacey has a woman living inside her head … or is it the other way around?

Decades from now, technology has advanced, and everyone has a ‘neuro-net’ wired into their brain. This provides each person with a ‘voyce’ inside their head that offers advice that guides and ostensibly protects them; as teen Lacey Clarke puts it: “Voyces help us all make the right decisions. They give us reason, protect us from outside chaos. And in some cases, they protect us from ourselves.”

In this republic, Lacey and her older sister, Yadira, barely make ends meet. Their lives are made worse when they discover they must pay off their late father’s debt and that Lacey has been marked to become a Puzzler in a brainteaser competition in which losers are killed. Alina, Lacey’s voyce, reassures her everything will be fine if only they follow the rules, but when an encounter with Ogden Oliver, a powerful Elite, ends with Alina being temporarily deactivated, Lacey is left alone with her own thoughts. For the first time in her life, she is able to perceive the world as it actually is – without augmented-reality illusions.

As Lacey navigates the competition, she realizes she may be a pawn but one that has hitherto unknown power.

COVER REVEAL: King Street Run by V.R. Ling

We are delighted to reveal the cover of King Street Run, the debut fantasy novel from V.R. Ling. It is a satirical fantasy thriller set among the iconic buildings of contemporary Cambridge.

Thomas Wharton, an archaeology graduate, becomes drawn into the problems of a series of anachronistic characters who exist in the fractions of a second behind our own time. These characters turn out to be personifications of the Cambridge Colleges; they have the amalgamated foibles, history, and temperament of their Fellows and students and, together with Thomas, must enter into a race against time to prevent their world being destroyed by an unknown assailant.

The cover was designed by Alison Buck, based on ideas from the author.

King Street Run by V.R. Ling; Cover by Alison Buck
Cover: Alison Buck

King Street Run will be published in the Spring.

COVER REVEAL: Lacuna by Erin Hosfield

We are delighted to be able to reveal the cover of Erin Hosfield’s forthcoming debut novel Lacuna, the first book in her Chimera series.

The Chimera series is speculative fiction for the senses, a gritty urban fantasy in an alternate present, with rain-laden streets and neon lit bars. A cozy narrative behind fogged over windows, the scent of verdant herbs and earth and petrichor. A sci fi mystery layered beneath fog shrouded skyscrapers, in a modern society juxtaposed with tradition and alchemy. An emotional tale of loss, betrayal, and the unbreakable bonds that carry us through, Chimera is a love story with ties that are thicker than blood, holding secrets that are more than skin deep.

As a tattooist, it’s easy keeping people at arm’s length. Distract them with questions, and when they inevitably ask their own, reply vaguely. Lie. When the lies pile up, disappear.

It’s a cycle Lynna’s all too familiar with. Staying guarded is a necessity, but what keeps her safe is also what keeps her lonely. It’s an empty existence, hiding behind lies, and she wishes she was someone else. Someone not burdened with a secret.

A year into her most recent move, the loneliness bleeds into her work, and she admits a few truths. At the insistence of a client, she explores the city’s night scene, where she meets the enigmatic Rhys. As the months progress, so do her feelings for him, despite the risks of getting too close. When a dangerous encounter leads her straight into his arms, she abandons her past in exchange for a new beginning, only her secret refuses to be abandoned. With her life hanging by a thread, she’s forced to confess, but the secret that will change everything isn’t hers.

Set in an alternate present, Lacuna opens with Lynna’s transition to an atmospheric northwestern city. Derailed from what she’s built, she finds herself immersed in the lush world of medicinal horticulture, enveloped in the kind of close-knit relationships she always craved. Her fantasy has become reality, but not without caveat. As she plunges further into this new life, she begins to expose the conflicting threads holding it together, and what she discovers will bring more questions than answers.

As well as being the author, Erin Hosfield is herself a tattooist and an artist and she also designed the cover of the book. Erin says “The cover art is inspired by the novel’s atmosphere — rainy urban grit and neon lights, Lynna’s story unfolding behind droplet-spattered windows.”

Lacuna by Erin Hosfield; Artwork by Erin Hosfield
Artwork: Erin Hosfield

Lacuna will be published in April 2024 as an eBook and in May as a paperback.

COVER REVEAL: Blood War by Tej Turner

In conjunction with The Fantasy Hive, we are delighted to reveal the cover of Blood War, book 3 in Tej Turner’s epic series The Avatars of Ruin series.

The Avatars of Ruin series, follows a group of people from the small village of Jalard, as they become embroiled in events way beyond their experience that affect them in ways they could not possibly have ever imagined. Conflict that once seemed so distant comes right to their doorstep. Fabled gods and goddesses are soon very real to them.

In Blood War, Sharma stands on the precipice of destruction as Gavendara’s army of shapeshifters surges towards the Valantian mountains. A mutant invasion leaving terror and death in its wake and whose victims rise again, swelling its ranks. Yet still the Synod dithers, its leaders fractured as they plot and scheme against each other.

Once again the cover is by artist Alison Buck, based on an original idea by Tej Turner, continuing the style and theme of the first two books in the series, Bloodsworn and Blood Legacy:

Bloodsworn by Tej Turner; Cover by Alison Buck
Cover: Alison Buck
Blood Legacy by Tej Turner; Cover by Alison Buck
Cover: Alison Buck

Blood War by Tej Turner; Cover by Alison Buck
Cover: Alison Buck

Blood War will be published in eBook format on the 8th January 2024 and in paperback on the 2nd February 2024.

COVER REVEAL: Loophole by Ian Stewart

In conjunction with The Fantasy Hive, we are delighted to be able to reveal the cover of the latest epic science fiction story by Ian Stewart, Loophole. As Ian warns: Don’t poke your nose down a wormhole – you never know what you might find!

In Loophole, two universes are joined by a wormhole pair that forms a ‘loophole’, with an icemoon orbiting through the loophole, shared between two different planetary systems in the two universes. We are introduced to a civilisation with uploaded minds in virtual reality served by artificial humans; a ravening Horde of replicating machines that kill stars; real humans from a decrepit system of colony worlds; and a race of hyperintelligent but somewhat vague aliens.
Who will close the loophole… who will exploit it?

 

Stephen Baxter, award-winning author of the Xeelee sequence, Time Slip and many others, said, about Loophole: “When universes collide … A multicosmos at war in a scenario of staggering, but scientifically authentic, invention … As if the Marvel multiverse collided with 2001: A Space Odyssey … I am awed, and I don’t awe easily. The highest of high-concept SF.”

 

Henry Gee, Senior Editor at Nature, and author of A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth, said: “There’s Hard SF. There’s Wide-Screen Baroque. Now with Ian Stewart’s Loophole we have Wrap-Around Rococo. Daringly inventive, Loophole is a mind-fryingly, Möbius-twistingly intense SF adventure of the first order.”

Loophole by Ian Stewart; Artwork by David A. Hardy

The cover art was created by David A. Hardy. It wraps around from front to back on the print edition. Ian said: “I’ve been a David Hardy fan for fifty years. His elegant cover captures a key moment in the story, and subtly conveys a hint of mystery and menace. You don’t watch a moon disappearing every day.”

Loophole will be published by Elsewhen Press in eBook on the 21st July 2023 and in paperback on the 21st August 2023.

COVER REVEAL: Birds of Paradise by Rudolf Kremers

We are delighted to reveal the cover for Rudolf Kremers’ scifi novel Birds of Paradise, which will be available in eBook from 7th July and in paperback from 7th August. The cover art is by Max Taquet.

Birds of Paradise by Rudolf Kremers; cover art by Max Taquet
Cover art: Max Taquet

Cover Reveal: The Last Star by Terry Grimwood

We’re delighted to be able to reveal the gorgeous cover of The Last Star, the next book by Terry Grimwood. Set in the same universe as Terry’s Interference, The Last Star continues to explore the alliance between humans and the god-like aliens, the Iaen.

As for Interference, the cover was designed by Alex Storer who has created this stunning artwork.

The Last Star by Terry Grimwood; Cover design and artwork: Alex Storer
Cover design and artwork: Alex Storer

The Last Star will be published in eBook formats on the 5th May and in paperback on the 5th June 2023.

Cover Reveal: The City Revealed by Juliet Kemp (Book 4 of the Marek series)

If you haven’t seen it already, go to the Fantasy Hive website to see the glorious cover reveal of the fourth and final book in Juliet’s Marek Series.

Cover Reveal: Harpan’s Worlds: Worlds Apart by Terry Jackman

While working with Terry Jackman to publish her new science fiction novel, Harpan’s Worlds: Worlds Apart, we obviously discussed the cover with Terry. She had a very definite idea of the image: the two worlds that make up the setting of the book, namely Harpan’s World and (the misnamed) Harpan’s Moon. We set about creating two worlds as she had suggested (digitally you understand, we can’t afford terraforming let alone the services of Magrathea) and placed them in space. But Terry was worried that it was too dark, so (as if by magic) they moved across the universe to have a bright colourful nebula as a backdrop. Moon as we had envisioned it was dry and dusty, because it is suffering from drought, but it had terrain that was too flat; so we re-terraformed it (digitally) and got to the final version of the cover. Terry was happy, we are happy and I hope you like this cover which leaves no doubt that this is going to be a classic science fiction story. So without further ado… here is the cover of Harpan’s Worlds: Worlds Apart by Terry Jackman.

Cover art courtesy of NASA and Space Fabricator
Cover art courtesy of NASA and Space Fabricator