Cover Reveal and GIVE AWAY: The Gate To Futures Past by Julie Czerneda

Posted by: Redhead on: June 1, 2016

• In: Julie Czerneda | Matt Stawicki
• 101 Comments

 

The next book in Julie Czerneda’s Reunification trilogy, The Gate to Future’s Past, is coming out in September, and I’m super excited to reveal the cover art and talk more about the series all day today.  What’s the gist of the Clan Chronicles, and the newest trilogy in this career spanning series?  I’m glad you asked!

 

The Clan Chronicles is set in a far future with interstellar travel where the Trade Pact encourages peaceful commerce among a multitude of alien and Human worlds. The alien Clan, humanoid in appearance, have been living in secrecy and wealth on Human worlds, relying on their innate ability to move through the M’hir and bypass normal space. The Clan bred to increase that power, only to learn its terrible price: females who can’t help but kill prospective mates. Sira di Sarc is the first female of her kind facing that reality. With the help of a Human starship captain, Jason Morgan, himself a talented telepath, Sira must find a morally acceptable solution before it’s too late. But with the Clan exposed, her time is running out. The Stratification trilogy follows Sira’s ancestor, Aryl Sarc, and shows how their power first came to be as well as how the Clan came to live in the Trade Pact. The Trade Pact trilogy is the story of Sira and Morgan, and the trouble facing the Clan. Reunification will conclude the series and answer, at last, #WhoAreTheClan.

And what will be the fate of all.

 

With stunning cover art by Matt Stawicki, the artwork brings together an epic story told over the course of nearly twenty years.

Julie chatted with Matt Stawicki about incorporating earlier artwork, capturing Sira’s emotions, and more.    Let’s see what they said!

Ta da! Here it is. The wonderful work of Matthew Stawicki, revealed at last. I’ve been waiting to share this cover with you for the better part of a year, for it was complete well before the book.

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Pardon? you say. How can that be?

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Remember the bricks? This image was one of them, firmly in my mind since I started writing This Gulf of Time and Stars.

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Book #2, Sira, meeting her destiny. Triumphant!
Or is she?

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That’s the magic of an image like this. Knowledge morphs impact, grants new meaning and alters perspective. What you think you see now, before reading The Gate to Futures Past, will change once you have.

The moment Matt’s captured won’t. Sira’s passionate desire to help her people. The great building beyond. The spectators watching their world forever change. The incredible stakes.
Let alone the craft. I did ask Matt a couple of questions for you.

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Julie: I love this cover, Matt. An important feature was to incorporate the alien architecture first shown on the cover for Rift in the Sky, by Luis Royo, something I feel you’ve expanded upon, especially with your flying vehicles and pillars. Did this present any particular difficulties or opportunities? (And great job on the “modern” buildings too.)

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Matt: It’s always a bit of a challenge when you are recreating subjects that have been painted by someone else. It seems you are either trying to live up to someone else’s vision, if it was successful or redesign it, if it wasn’t. In this case, I really like the earlier covers by Royo, so I tried to be faithful to what he created and still give it a little of my own spin. The other challenge in this piece is that there are two distinctly different types of architecture. It may seem simple now, but by making one very round and one that is more square and elongated, it helps make the distinction between the two.

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The alien circuit tech was a great opportunity to get in some cool graphics and also add a shot of color!

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Julie: But what really hits home with me is how beautifully you captured Sira’s emotions, that mix of utter I’ll-do-anything desperation, and hope.  What helped you accomplish it?

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Matt: Sira is a fun character to paint. This is more of action pose than the last cover. Her clothing is more that of an adventurer as opposed to the gown she was in last time, which I think gives her a capable appearance. Her expression, looking up, as if to say ‘I hope this works’ shows some vulnerability rather than aggression. Not to mention her animated hair always helps get her emotions across.

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Julie: No wonder I love this cover art. I’ve had it on my screen as I wrote Gate, a privilege, believe me, and an assist. Thanks, Matt!

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This is more, however, than a great cover. My writing career started with a talented artist’s vision of Sira, 1997, Luis Royo, A Thousand Words for Stranger, a vision that made me gasp in amazement. Okay, I cried too. Sira–just as I’d imagined. This makes me cry as well.

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Here, from Matthew Stawicki, is the Sira I will always remember.

::drumroll:: Let the reveals continue!
Remember those feet in the bathroom doorway? I forgot a detail: the legs and so forth checked out that morning.

The title of the final installment of The Clan Chronicles is To Guard Against the Dark, coming September 2017 from DAW Books.

And that would be a clue.

 

 

About the Artist, Matt Stawicki

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From superhero comics to the illustrations of Frank Frazetta, Matt has always had an interest in fantasy. Matt was born and raised in the Delaware area. He attended the Pennsylvania School of Art and Design and graduated in 1991. Since beginning his professional career in 1992, he has created many images for a wide range of products and clients including bookcovers, video game covers, collectible card images, collectors plates and fantasy pocket knives to name a few.

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Like many illustrators, Matt is influenced by the wonderful work and technological advancements taking place in the illustration field. Although trained as a classical oil painter and doing all his work in oils for the first several years of his career, Matt has moved to doing most of his work in ‘digital paint’. He likes to point out however, the computer is not the “push button” solution many perceive it to be. The same craft and attention to design must be present for the artwork to succeed no matter what the medium.

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The paintings of noted illustrators like Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Norman Rockwell and Maxfield Parrish are among his traditional influences. Also the films of Walt Disney, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are sources of inspired imagery.

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In 2001 Matt won the Silver Award for Advertising in Spectrum 8. The first book of his work The Art of Matthew Stawicki was published by Cartouche Press.

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Matt’s work has also been showcased in The Masters of Dragonlance Art and Dragon Art published by Flame Tree Publishing among others.

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Select clients include, Harper/Collins, Tor, Warner Books, Penguin Books, Wizards of the Coast, Daw and Tor Books. Other clients include Milton Bradley, The Franklin Mint and The Bradford Exchange.

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When not painting Matt enjoys playing guitar and wood working. Matt currently resides in Delaware with his wife Cathy and their two dogs.

 

Give away details for a copy of THE GATE TO FUTURES PAST:

Give away is open to residents of the US and Canada only (sorry international friends!).  To enter,  simply comment in this blog post and leave me some way to reach you, such as e-mail or twitter.  Give away ends on June 15th, and winners will be contacted shortly afterwards. Because this give away is  happening so far ahead of time,  the book may not ship from the publisher until August.  Good luck to everyone who enters!

Tags: artwork, give away, science fiction