The Stars Now Unclaimed by Drew Williams (Simon & Schuster)
“What happens when you put a war-weary soldier, an AI preacher and a telekinetic girl on the same ship? You end up saving the galaxy, or a small part of it, anyway. Williams’s debut novel The Stars Now Unclaimed is a massive, galaxy-spanning tale of war, betrayal, friendship, and the kind of commitment people make to a better future even at the cost of their own lives. You don’t want to miss this amazing, kick-ass book.” — K.B. Wagers, author of Behind the Throne
Jack Smyth’s captivating cover design integrates the type with an illustration of concentric planetary orbits, using several weights of Mark Simonson’s Mostra Nuova.
Via Dan Wagstaff’s Book Covers of Note 2018 for The Casual Optimist.
Alternative (final?) cover with a smaller title and a different blurb.
The cover of the paperback edition maintains the basic typographic choices, but is more dynamic. The type in the center is set on an angle and slanted, so that straights appear vertical again. Unfortunately, the electronic italicization distorts the letterforms, which is especially painful in a geometric design like Mostra Nuova. See type designer Mark Simonson’s notes about Fake vs. True Italics.
