Antigone’s Wrath, by Starla Huchton
“Captain Rachel Sterling commands the ship that rules the sea and air, but when a chance encounter ends with a strange ring in her possession and a secretive order known only as The Brotherhood out for her blood, gone are her simple days of dodging the law to make a profit. Armed with a loyal crew, an enamored inventor, and an intellect as deadly as her aim, she must fight against an ancient power and those who would command it. What is the purpose of this mysterious ring and what dangerous magic will she face? Join the crew of the Antigone’s Wrath as they sail the waters and navigate the skies to find the information they desperately need before it’s too late.” (for an excerpt of this work, please see the post over on my other site starlahuchton.com)
Oh, how I <3 Steampunk! This was, as you can see, a personal project. It’s the book I most recently finished and is still in the whole agent-editor-query roundabout.
I spent a lot of time looking at vintage labels and posters to get a feel for the layout and typography of this one. In the early days of printing, anything more than simple line art and solid areas of color was beyond the capabilities of even the most advanced presses. I wanted to be sure that this cover reflected those limitations. In the end, I settled on using the framework of an old zwieback toast label (which you can see here), and added the elements to give it almost a circus-poster-esque feel. I’ve kicked around the idea of revamping the cover a bit, on the chance I decide to self-publish this thing, but for now it will stay as-is.
The framework and partial typography was created in Adobe Illustrator CS4, with image completion done in Adobe Photoshop CS4.
Craig Forsyth says
The minute I saw this it screamed steampunk. It also evokes the adventures of Phileas Fogg, transporting me back to a childhood obsession with Jules Verne.
Starla Huchton says
Thanks for the props! If my queries and contest entries don’t work for me, I’ll likely be self-pubbing this one. Glad the cover has the intended effect!