Friday Cover Art - The Archer's Heart

Friday is the day here at Obsidianbookshelf.com to praise cover art. Today, I'll heap praise upon the cover art for The Archer's Heart by Astrid Amara. I haven't yet read the book, but I will soon. This art was done by Dawn Kimberling (as were some other striking covers in the Blind Eye Books catalog, including Wicked Gentlemen and Tangle Edition XY).

Feast your eyes on this cover. The story looks like it might be inspired by The Bhagavad Gita or some other Indian or Hindu mythology. The cover features a gorgeous saffron band bordered by two hot-orange bands. Very Indian.

This could be a silk tapestry. When you look closer, you'll notice an intricate vine-motif swirling and coiling all over the cover. It could be a paisley design, which native to Persian and Indian cultures. Or it could be reminiscent of the vegetation that flourishes in the subtropical and tropical Indian climate.

Now look at the portrait in the center. It's bordered by a dramatic frame of black spikes that suggest martial arts and medieval, edged weapons such as spears, swords, daggers, and arrowheads.

The portrait itself shows a princely, but stern, young man in elaborate armor and helmet. His armor and helmet look painted red and white. Or perhaps the painted parts are dyed leather. The row of bumps down his spine give him an exotic look as if he has an exo-skeleton or is a cyborg.

However, the intricate chain-mail effect (my favorite part) on his right shoulder and upper arm is clearly medieval. It looks like bamboo (like samurai armor) or possibly disks of beaten bronze.

He has an angular face that could be considered cruel. His long, narrowed eyes give him an intensely focused look. The grayish-blue background behind him forms a soothing backdrop for the wonderful range of skintones and highlights and lowlights on his face. Look at the subtle streaks of pure white on his forehead and the blade of his nose where the light shines off him. Notice the tiny subtle shadow cast by his full lower lip.

This is gorgeous cover art that looks worthy in every way of such an intriguing looking story. Here at Obsidianbookshelf.com I wish all authors could get this lucky with their cover art. Most authors, however, don't get this lucky so for their situations: Let me append the following to all my cover art posts: in general authors have no control over the cover art that they get. Email the publisher with your positive or negative comments about the art. Enough reader feedback could result in better cover art across the m/m genre.

In this case, email editor[at]blindeyebooks.com

Here is a purchase link where you can find out more about The Archer's Heart
.