Words of Radiance Cover Reveal

[otomo]

I shall let Michael Whelan and his art speak for itself: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/07/brandon-sanderson-words-of-radiance-cover-reveal-michael-whelan

[Shardlet he/him]

Thanks for the heads-up otomo.

[+eojsmada he/him]

Already set as my iPad background. Will soon make it to my PC. Such amazing artistry. Michael whelan always does great work.

[ADIMORTIS he/him]

The cover has been revealed for the second book of The Stormlight Archive - Words Of Radiance...

 

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/07/brandon-sanderson-words-of-radiance-cover-reveal-michael-whelan

[Shardlet he/him]

It looks like Szeth on the back cover.  The sword is wrong (Szeth's blade is double-edged), but otherwise appears to be Szeth.  Looks like we do indeed get a fight between Kaladin and Szeth in WoR.

[Windborne Sword he/him]

Holy cow that looks nice. It looks like we get to see Kaladin in his Kholin uniform, and is that Szeth we see on the expanded cover?

[Kurkistan he/him]

Here's hoping the pile of bodies Szeth is standing on isn't Bridge Four... 

[Windrunner he/him]

Anyone notice what I presume to be a gemheart in Kaladin's hands?

[flyingtoastr]

Is the gel leaking from Kaladin's hand Stormlight? Or is it some kind of substance that holds Stormlight that we haven't seen yet? Interesting.

 

E: A rough gemheart would also make sense.

Edited July 29, 2013 by flyingtoastr

[Windrunner he/him]

Otomo posted this just before you Adimortis, so I'm gonna merge the two topic really quick. Thanks!

[Crysanja]

ok the cover looks good, but why would anyone get in a stance like this? Oo

for someone so accustomed to combat/readyness, its even more odd - i mean you cant get much more out of balance.

[Windborne Sword he/him]

ok the cover looks good, but why would anyone get in a stance like this? Oo

for someone so accustomed to combat/readyness, its even more odd - i mean you cant get much more out of balance.

 

That's my only critique for the cover is that Kaladin looks like he's going to trip and hit his face into those rockbuds.

[Windrunner he/him]

That's actually what I thought it was. The way I saw it is that Kaladin is midway into a hard landing and trying to avoid falling on his face.

[Meg]

Wow, great . 

 

From the colored picture I don't think it's a gemheart (a gemheart that big lying around somewhere?). But in this draft it really looks more like a gem than a puddle. 

 

I think he's "on the hop" (aware of his surroundings and "jumpy") but he kind of kneels reaching down at the gemheart-puddle. I don't see him out of balance. 

 

 

[Truthless he/him]

It's a super unnatural position. First thing I noticed, and I can't get over it. For the foot to be flat on the ground while the leg is extended so far - I guess Kal has been practicing his gymnastics. The face is distracting as well. He looks like he's 40.

 

It reminds me of a Darrell K. Sweet cover, basically, except that Whelan picked an important and visually attractive scene as opposed to something random.

 

I know I'm being really critical, but art is important to me. Reading the story of the cover, it's clear that getting this done was a struggle for Whelan. To his credit, it's gorgeous, just with some distracting quirks.

[Natans he/him]

OK, I really liked the red head bandana that Kaladin is using to cover his slavemarks, because I was curious to know what he would do about it. Very Rambo like =)

 

Better yet, I already can see Kal taking off the bandana for suprise factor when some noble bad mount the slave or such =)

[Shardlet he/him]

Is the gel leaking from Kaladin's hand Stormlight? Or is it some kind of substance that holds Stormlight that we haven't seen yet? Interesting.

 

E: A rough gemheart would also make sense.

 

It looks to me to be a visual representation of a lashing being done.

 

Edit:  I am a little bit sad that Kaladin's face turned out a bit cartoony for my tastes.

Edited July 29, 2013 by Shardlet

[Pechvarry]

I assume that's a glowing bag of gems, not goo.

This means we don't know which way is _down_. Which might explain some of his posture. Though really, I think he's just action-crouching to get the sweet, sweet gem juice whilst leaning on the butt of his spear.

Headband to cover scar. Ok.

But headband makes me think of the 80s hair Wheel of Time covers. Kinda making me cringe.

[Meg]

... action-crouching ...

 

 

That describes what I tried to say.

 

edit: Trying to take a closer look I think these "things" might be gems indeed.

 

And I found something disturbing: He's an absent look. Not really wary . 

Edited July 29, 2013 by Meg

[IceBaka]

Given the direction Kaladin is looking, I wonder if he and Szeth are not fighting each other (at least at this particular moment) and are instead fighting someone, or something, else?

 

Also, did anyone else notice the flying "beetles"?  Are these new animals, or different forms of something we've already seen?  Mr. Whelan included some insect-like animals in sketches and early watercolors, but I don't recall any shelled creatures with powered flight in WoK.  Based on their placement and coloring, I'm struggling to determine if the "beetles" (not sure what else to call them at this point) are small and nearby or big, perhaps very big, and far away.  If the latter, then perhaps they are pre-pupation chasmfiends?

[rags]

Here's hoping the pile of bodies Szeth is standing on isn't Bridge Four... 

 

Scary thought! But if you notice there are a lot more swords and armor than spears and leather in the pile of bodies.....I think they are mostly of light-eyed soldiers in that heap......at least I hope so. It would suck if Szeth slaughtered bridge four.

 

Also, did anyone notice the weird sketch in Brown of the creature(?) with the strange hair(?), domed skull, angular face and rather pointy ears? Some kind of new creature or was that  an attempt at a hitherto unknown parshendi form?? 

Edited July 30, 2013 by rags

[ADIMORTIS he/him]

stormform maybe.....

EDIT:

Otomo posted this just before you Adimortis, so I'm gonna merge the two topic really quick. Thanks!

Thanks... Edited July 30, 2013 by Windrunner
Please don't double post. Simply edit your first post.

[skaa he/him]

It looks like Szeth on the back cover.  The sword is wrong (Szeth's blade is double-edged), but otherwise appears to be Szeth.  Looks like we do indeed get a fight between Kaladin and Szeth in WoR.

 

I'm not sure if you've seen Wetlandernw's reply to your comment on Whelan's article:

Shardlet @4 – If you zoom in on the picture, Szeth’s sword appears to be double-edged, despite the slight curve.

 

 

I am no sword expert so I really have no opinion on the matter.

 

As for the rest of the scene depicted in the cover, I'm really starting to worry about Kaladin. Szeth has had a lot more experience with Windrunning, and we can see here that Kaladin doesn't even have Shardplate when they finally face each other. My only hope is that Szeth has run out of Stormlight by that point, or that Syl has an awesome trick up her sleeve to help Kaladin fight Surgebinding Shardbearers.

Edited July 30, 2013 by skaa

[Takeshi]

I'm actually disappointed with the cover.  Given that this was going to be Shallan's book, I was expecting her to be the focus of the cover.  It's also strange to me that he used the same setting for both books  (the shattered plains with a storm in the background).  Was really hoping for Shadesmar for the cover.

[Shardlet he/him]

Consider Takeshi, TWoK is Kaladin's book, but Kaladin is not on the cover.  It is Eshonai and Dalinar.