The Indivisible and the Void

The author says:

Each year, Master Voider Democryos sends his brightest student into the war-torn countryside to work magic. But when the young Lady Marine leaves him for a mysterious man, he finds his own life ravaged. Forsaking the comfort of the citadel, he seeks to find her—not to gain her back, but to gain understanding. Traveling through the same forgotten lands where he previously sent his brightest students, Democryos picks up three strangers who are each missing something from their broken lives. As a group, they stumble upon a key from across the stars—not only to the war, but to immortality itself.

Nathan says:

Wow. I really have no criticism of this one. The only thing that looks off to me is that too-large space between “D.M.” and “Wozniak.”  I also might try putting the entire byline in allcaps, instead of smallcaps.

Good work!

Other comments?

Two Go to Italy

The author says:

Two Go to Italy is a book describing travels in Italy by motorhome (campervan/RV). It follows on from Two Go to Spain which was published in 2016 and virtually uses the same cover with the difference only being the background image. I used a very dark font colour on the first book but it didn’t really work for this cover so I changed it to white.

Nathan says:

Well, it’s definitely got Italy.

If a major part of the premise and appeal is that it’s an RV tour of Italy, shouldn’t there be some kind of visual reference to an RV?  You may not have or be able to find a photo of an RV in Italy (that is, a photo of an RV which conveys “Italy” in its background), but you could put a clip-art RV behind the title.  That would also give you a visual motif that you could add to the previous volume to tie them together visually.

Also, there’s no reason for the byline to be off to the side, or so small.

Other comments?

 

Luna

The author says:

Present day with available science appealing to all sci-fi readers with romantic interest.

Rebelling against government directed aggression and bond by a pack of nonviolence, Jake Starnes and his Luna Council build paradise where none thought to look. Ruthless eyes turn toward the heavens forcing Luna into conflict. How do you dictate the terms of war without harming those who seek to harm you? LUNA demonstrates that mankind can rise above its base tendencies and act as an example to accomplishment by intellect rather than brute force. The leadership of Luna embraces a brilliantly creative philosophy of nonviolence in bringing Earth’s military to a halt; waging the most humane offensive action ever seen in the history of mankind in a quest towards peaceful sovereignty. Savant intelligence copes with drama on an epic scale with a twist of romance, intimacy and love. featuring a new look at sci-fi adventure and conflict on Earth’s cratered and lava-scorched moon. The lure of fabulous mineral wealth combines with secrets of longevity strong enough to lure those in power toward a brutal and merciless conclusion.

Nathan says:

I think the elements are mostly fine (although the byline font too boring for words), but you’ve got an awful lot of margin around everything that serves no purpose. You’d be better off letting what’s there fill the space:

(That’s not the best font for the byline — I just grabbed the first one I found that was sans serif and tall.)

And while we don’t often focus on the back cover… dang, that’s a lot of words.

Other comments?

Afterlives

The author says:

Private detective and military veteran, Martin Coswell never never expected any special treatment from anyone. But when he awoke at Medicore Nanotech five years after dying of brain cancer, he got a second life to live. A life soon to be turned completely upside down by an AI gone rogue, and a daughter with a missing father.

Nathan says:

A good combination of “thriller” and “sci-fi” imagery.  However, the human silhouette gets lost because he’s against the darker part of the background.  I would exchange the DNA and rainy street images so that there’s something bright behind the silhouette’s head.

Any other comments?

The Fruit of Passion

The author says:

I designed this cover for my mythic fantasy novel. It’s not ready to be published. I’m just playing around with various concepts. The book draws heavily on ancient Celtic tradition and the story unfolds in a fictional island somewhere in the North.

Here’s the blurb: Since the death of her mother, Queen Blodwen of the island of Rumia, Morella has trouble adjusting to the changes in her life and cannot accept her loss. Having to deal partly with her own suffering because of that, partly with the challenges her people have set for her in order to be crowned queen, partly with a consuming love affair with Rhys, the king of the fae, and partly with driving away the military forces of the empire in the South that has set eyes on the islands of the North, Morella embarks on a quest of knowledge and maturity that will take by storm the realms of the Otherworld, offer her strong alliances with their leaders, test loyalties and friendships and, above all, prove the strength and endurance of the human spirit.

Nathan says:

The first thing you notice in thumbnail is that there’s a whole lot of unused real estate.  Negative space can be a major design element, but it takes a lot of skill to make it work.  There’s no reason that the cup of petals shouldn’t go edge to edge, that the title can’t fill two lines (please, some other font than Algerian), and that the knotwork can’t be behind them.

Also, that’s a big block of text for a front cover. Save that for the back cover (or the top of the Amazon blurb).

Other comments?