I’m really excited to share this one with the world. I have a lot of feeling for it, and I’m exceedingly happy with a couple of the set pieces. One in particular, near the middle, had me a little in awe of myself the other night. It’s a wonderful feeling to reflect on something you’ve written and think, “Wow. That’s bad ass!”
I’ll tease a little more about that chapter: clone. heist.
Anyway, I’m not here today to yammer about the story. I’m here to share some lushly gorgeous art. So take a look at this!
I want you to feast your eyes on the original artwork, without any design elements added in.
I’ve been sitting on it for most of the past year.
I commissioned Ukrainian artist Tony Skeor, whose other work can be found on ArtStation.
I’d looked around at a number of independent artists with cyberpunk works in their portfolio, and when I found his I was blown away by several pieces. One, in particular, made me say “yup, that’s the guy.” So I got in touch, and he was fantastic to work with despite living in a war zone with intermittent access to electricity.
I love what he did with Serotonin Overload. I didn’t ask for the three point superhero pose, but it works! And I think Tony’s absolutely nailed the look of Rand. And DO NOT OVERLOOK THE ROBOTIC WEASEL ON SERA’S SHOULDER! We traded quite a few e-mails on the subject of the weasel drone, and Tony was gracious enough to mock up something like half a dozen different designs.
Tony asked some good questions when getting his ideas, and I love how he incorporated some story elements into the neons. I didn’t even know I wanted a proper logo for the United Earth Government, but that is definitely canon now.
In all, I don’t think I could possibly be happier with the artwork.
OK. So here’s what the actual cover will look like:
The book will be available soon!
John A. Underwood 