A round of covers

First up is the artwork for the second book in the 'a Memoir of Lady Trent' series by Marie Brennan, The Tropic of Serpents (the follow-up to A Natural History of Dragons).  The illustration is the work of Todd Lockwood, the Fantasy artist who could be named the master of dragons. Tor is offering you the wallpaper if you are interested (here).  Nice work!

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Next is the cover for Tom Lloyd's Moon's Artifice, a novel in a new setting by the author of the Twilight Reign series.  Here's the cover art for the UK edition. I like it a lot. The release date for the book seems to be November 2013 but it may be a tentative date since not all the online retailers seems to agree. The blurb follows...

In a quiet corner of the Imperial City, Investigator Narin discovers the result of his first potentially lethal mistake. Minutes later he makes a second. 

After an unremarkable career Narin finally has the chance of promotion to the hallowed ranks of the Lawbringers. Joining that honoured body would be the culmination of a lifelong dream, but it couldn’t possibly have come at a wrong time. A chance encounter drags Narin into a plot of gods and monsters, spies and assassins, accompanied by a grief-stricken young woman, an old man haunted by the ghosts of his past and an assassin with no past. 

On the cusp of an industrial age that threatens the warrior caste’s rule, the Empire of a Hundred Houses awaits civil war between noble factions. Centuries of conquest has made the empire a brittle and bloated monster; constrained by tradition and crying out for change. To save his own life and those of untold thousands Narin must understand the key to it all – Moon’s Artifice, the poison that could destroy an empire.

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Finally for this round, the third book in the Tales of Easie Damasco (you can find my review of Tallerman first book in the series, Giant Thief , here), Prince Thief. Not a big fan of this one.