Fantasy-Faction has been lucky enough to do a number of the UK cover reveals for Myke Cole’s Shadow Ops novels. I must admit that in August last year, when we shared with the world the cover of Breach Zone, I thought there wasn’t any way Myke’s covers would be getting any better. Larry Rostant got that cover spot on. Scylla was as she is in the book: the perfect blend of sexy and threatening; but the colour of the thing too – the yellow and black were such the perfect contrast. An author is always after that perfect cover: one that encourages readers to pick their work up and check it out, whilst at the same time providing them the exact tone and feeling of the book; Myke had got it.
I remember seeing the US Cover for Breach Zone and thinking that it was cool too, but no where near ‘as cool’ as our UK cover. Indeed, the US had gone for quite a different style. They looked kind of video game-y / comic-y, which isn’t a bad thing, I’m sure that a lot of Myke’s fans are from those markets (his style is action packed, fast paced and witty – much like those mediums). However, I always thought perhaps the books could do even better in the US if they had our covers, especially as they got deeper and tighter as the series went on.
When I saw Myke Cole tweet that the US cover for his latest novel had been revealed I was expecting something similar to the original three titles. What I found when I followed the link though was a completely new direction by the US publishers… here, check it out:
Yep! The US Publishers have decided to follow the UK’s lead and hire Larry Rostant for Myke’s future Shadow Ops covers (for those who don’t know of Larry, he does Peter V. Brett’s covers too!). Larry’s techniques of creating the perfect cover involve getting a human model and fantasy/sci-fi-ing the heck out of them with his artistic and technological talents. I think for Myke’s books this technique makes perfect sense – they are set in the real world after all. Here’s the blurb for Myke’s upcoming Gemini Cell:
US Navy SEAL Jim Schweitzer is a consummate professional, a fierce warrior, and a hard man to kill. But when he sees something he was never meant to see on a covert mission gone bad, he finds himself—and his family—in the crosshairs. Nothing means more to Jim than protecting his loved ones, but when the enemy brings the battle to his front door, he is overwhelmed and taken down.
It should be the end of the story. But Jim is raised from the dead by a sorcerer and recruited by a top secret unit dabbling in the occult, known only as the Gemini Cell. With powers he doesn’t understand, Jim is called back to duty—as the ultimate warrior. As he wrestles with a literal inner demon, Jim realizes his new superiors are determined to use him for their own ends and keep him in the dark—especially about the fates of his wife and son…
For those who haven’t read Myke’s books, or for those who have and are wondering, Gemini Cell will be the first volume in a brand new trilogy that will serve as a prequel to the original Shadow Ops trilogy. The story is set during the early days of the Great Reawakening, when magic first returns to the world and order begins to unravel. Sadly, there is a bit of a wait to get your hands on it: late January 2015 is when the book is due to drop. For those of you who haven’t yet read Myke’s first three books though, that just means there is plenty of time to get on it!
Finally, it should be said that Myke Cole has one of the best Twitter feeds in SFF. If you aren’t following him already, you really should be!
Geoff Matthews
Julia Kitvaria Sarene
Amazing! Simply Amazing!