Cover to The Laughter of Dragons

[torus]

The shadow looks wrong to me in this. It makes the mountain seem tiny.

[Gilrohir Arncelevon]

but is it the shadow of a new dragon come from the north or is it the figurative "shadow of smaug" or even some ghost or shade of smaug?

For what it's worth, I love Jon's art, but I'm also a fan of Sam's (in fact I can't really fault the artwork throughout the TOR books) and its common sense to have more than one artist involved in any product line - just in case one of them decides to move to new pastures (don't be getting any ideas Jon and Sam )

[Mim]

Jon,

I love when you share the covers of your forthcoming books.

You say that you can't reveal too much until you publish 'em, however, perhaps you can consider sharing the tentative Table of Contents from time-to-time?

That way, we can get a glimpse of your plans for each volume.

[Jon Hodgson]

Oh wow, wouldn’t it be great if we could do that!

We can’t, but what would happen if things we told you were going to be in a supplement didn’t pass approval either at our editorial level or higher up the chain? That would be just so disappointing for everyone.

And what if our various partners and colleagues felt we made them look like the bad guy for taking away the cool thing everyone thought they wanted? That could ultimately really damage the future of The One Ring!

Likewise, if we released tentative information, I see many, many occasions where we’ve said “we anticipate X” and that gets spoken back to us as “you promised X”, so I don’t think it would be a good thing to do. We don’t like to disappoint, so we feel it’s better where possible to wait until everything is confirmed before we tell you about it.

And hey, on a less serious note, if you’re absolutely burning to know more? Mission accomplished.

[Yepesnopes]

As much as I would like to know more, I fully agree with that policy.

[DavetheLost]

I like the cover. I'm a little puzzled trying to work out how the light is working, looking at the sky it seems the mountain should be backlit. I like that the only "dragon" is an ambiguous shadow on the face of the mountain.

I am so happy to see Eribor and environs getting more attention. Especially given the power vacuum left by the fall of Smaug. I want to explore the rippples of this event...

Can I send you a small chest of gold now to secure my copy?

[Glorelendil]

We can’t, but what would happen if things we told you were going to be in a supplement didn’t pass approval either at our editorial level or higher up the chain? That would be just so disappointing for everyone.

Oh, we know the answer to that one. You'd be the target of the same sort of disrespect and derision that anonymous internet cowards level at Mike Mearles and (previously) at Greg Street.

And hey, on a less serious note, if you’re absolutely burning to know more? Mission accomplished.

And THAT gets you a Shadow point.

[Moria Firefly]

I disagree. I dont think that the covers on Oaths of the Riddermark or Laughter of Dragons are 'weak' per se, rather a different style. I do like Jon's covers as well but also want to give credit where it's due, Mr Manley has done a great job. Jon's work is stylised and does not aim for realism but rather uses composition and colour to draw out an emotion or feeling, it suits Middle-earth and is quite a unique style ... I love his work for this reason. I can imagine it would be a challenge for Mr Manley to walk that fine line of producing artwork which is consistant with products already out on peoples bookshelves whilst also displaying and exhibiting his own unique talents as an artist. I think he has done a good job of finding that balance. As someone who has a mild case of OCD where I like everything looking like it's part of a set (grrr .... one book is glossy) I feel that Mr. Manleys work is not out of place on the bookshelf and for me it does have that feeling of Middle-earth about it, all be it in a different way.

My first books and look at artwork from the Lord of the Rings was Roger Garland's cover on The Lord of the Rings paperback set released by Unicorn, Unwin Paperbacks in back 1986. I wish I still had that set.

Cheers,
Kurt

I agree with you on this Kurt. Mr Manley has done a great job!

[Terisonen]

Well, one artist specially for a type of supplement (ie Ready to Play adventure) is not absurd.

[Mim]

And hey, on a less serious note, if you’re absolutely burning to know more? Mission accomplished.

And THAT gets you a Shadow point.
[/quote]

Ha! Once again you get a laugh out of me Glorelendil.

Yeah, that was kinda mean of you Jon.

Seriously though, thank you for letting me (us) know.

I kinda figured as much, but decided to ask, just in case.