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kdrobertson
kdrobertson

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Heretic Spellblade 4 - Cover

Like with Demon's Throne, there's been a change in artist. In this case, the shift in style is more substantial but the previous covers had an incredibly strong style as it was, so trying to match that was foolish. I like the new cover, and it should enable some different designs with future covers as well. In an ideal world, artists would never change, but such is life.

The cover character is Alice. Ciana was originally planned, but Alice proved surprisingly popular on a poll done earlier on Patreon. It's also fitting given the focus of the book on the civil war in the Empire. Also, Alice's smaller breasts provide an excuse to focus on her legs on the cover, so it's win-win. The original draft had a much more... evil-seductive look on Alice's face (I'll include the draft for Messengers when I post the high-resolution version later).

Ignoring the poll, the reason why Alice is on this cover and not the final book is because HS4 is the culmination of Empire plot line. It's the civil war book that's been hinted at since book 1, and also the narrative midpoint of the series.

Ciana will be on the next cover, and I have a draft that looks pretty good. Whether Seraph gets a cover comes down to whether I split Book 5 into two books, as the final book is reserved for a special lady (you'll know who after Book 4). Compilation covers are something I'll worry about in the far future, once I've finished my current series.

Looking further forward, the semi-realistic painted look is one I love on the covers, but it's tricky to find artists for (and they can be pricey). I will need to improve the typography for future series, however - I've bumped into multiple issues with Demon's Throne and Heretic over typography and lighting, but have been unwilling to change typo mid-series.

Let me know what you feel about the cover, given it's a big shift. I've attached all four Heretic Spellblade covers for comparison (also because it looks cool).

Heretic Spellblade 4 - Cover Heretic Spellblade 4 - Cover

Comments

Regal power is definitely what I wanted from the cover, so I'm glad you and Direwolf like this aspect.

K.D. Robertson

The original design request I sent excluded magic, as Alice isn't a combatant (even if she is capable of magic). With that said, future covers may also exclude big balls of magic in order to emphasize other aspects of the cover (Ciana's cover is still a WIP, after all).

K.D. Robertson

Both artists have strongly defined styles, especially for lighting. Future covers will likely be brighter as well.

K.D. Robertson

I really love this new cover and it blends in well with the previous books in my opinion. And yes.. her legs are amazing 👏

version93

Well said. Even though Alice is shown with a sword in hand, and she does now how to use one, her power is far more of a soft power. She isn’t bashing traitors skulls in with her sword, that’s Nathan’s job. She is the ruler making sure that the armies are fed and paid. This style works perfectly for her.

Direwolf1618

The new artstyle looks a little less 3D and i prefer the former. The others exude kind of combat prowess with their weapons and spells. But Alice exudes more regal power. The big armchair, the way she holds the sword and the lighting support this very well.

Hugo Kater

Like Ryuuma, I noticed the difference in lighting particularly much and then had a moment of "oh hey, it's the first cover that doesn't include magic!". I think that's a large part of why it feels lighter because the previous covers used the light of the magic as a focal point too. You can't really do that if the rest of the scene is bright as well. It's an interesting change and really stark when put next to each other but I like the new style a lot too. It's also good to have a more chest modest character on a cover, it's not all about the harem and big boobs after all (and some people prefer the smaller booba).

Kartaal

I do prefer this cover over the others. There are several things, like the clothing, that are significantly more detailed

Anon_Anon

I really noticed the contrast in lighting - the other covers feel like they're darker, especially when they're side by side, whereas the sunlight coming down on Alice's shoulder makes the whole thing seem brighter.

Ryuuma

On first glance, I didn't see much difference until you actually focus more on the detail, (but that could have been because I was to focused/captivated by the lovely legs) The cover is fantastic. Very much looking forward to this book and the civil war that's going to take place in it. As I am very interested in history of civil wars. ( the year of the four emperors / war of the Roses / American civil war) And you're way of writing wars in general is fantastic, so keep up the awesome work.

Corey Morris

Holy... God Damn... thats amazing. I really really like how she came out in this. Especially when you consider how she was introduced, as the tomboy princess running amok causing chaos.

Direwolf1618


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