Okay, so the novels of Leviathan are done. Finished! We will probably have to wait for some major change in medium (movies? comics?) to see more stories from that world.
This is sad, of course, even though we still have the Manual of Aeronautics coming out next August! The Manual will have dozens of pieces of art showing the machines, beasties, uniforms, and equipment of the world of Leviathan. And it’s all in COLOR!
In the meantime, however, I’ve noticed that a few people felt like SOMETHING was missing from the trilogy itself. Like, they needed ONE last illustration of one sort or another for the series to feel totally complete. So Keith and I have decided to create a final piece of art to satisfy your whims. (Yes, we all know that your whims are infinite and will never be satisfied. But we can PRETEND, can’t we?)
We aim to please, after all.
So you will be voting on what this image should be, Keith will be drawing it, and I shall post it here as an early Hanukwanzmas present to you all!
After extensive research into comment threads, Westerforum discussions, and random reviews of Goliath, I have identified four illustrations that the Leviathan trilogy didn’t contain, that you most want to see:
1) Deryn in a dress.
Many of you have expressed a need to see this image, for a certain kind of closure, I suppose. After all, Deryn literally starts out the series by putting on boy’s clothes, so you want to see her come first circle. I doubt she would approve, but Alek would, so we’ll put her in a dress if you want!
2) Alek in a dress.
Because you just want this. Needless to say, Alek wouldn’t approve either, but it would be pretty darn amusing. And Deryn would approve!
3) The Kiss, but a close-up.
There were many complaints that the illustration of a Certain Event at the end of Goliath was from a SLIGHTLY wide angle. Some of you clearly want that image to be shown in close-up. I doubt that either Alek or Deryn would approve of SNOOPING, of course, but it’s not like they don’t do a lot of snooping themselves.
4) Bovril in a dress, or a goatee, or just doing whatever’s funny.
Everyone approves more Bovril, I assume. Including the wee beastie itself.
Vote for the one you want in the comment thread below. Feel free to use this space to cajole, debate with, and pressure your peers! (Despite what they tell you in health class, that’s what peers are for: pressuring!)
Also, if I’m missing anything, say so below. Write-in candidates are welcome.
I’m finally catching up on my FAF backlog. There were two weeks of tour-FAF with a Halloween FAF in between, a missed week due to the Shay’s Story cover (and laziness), and of course all those weeks I missed during tour. But at long last FAF is moving forward!
Here’s one image that was given to me on tour, but was forgotten because it was handed to me on an iPhone, then emailed. (It’s made of PIXELS.) It’s from Alli, is called “NOOOO!” and is a Tesla’s-eye-view of a certain climactic event in Goliath.
Yes, the end of a tesla-sparkle-cane looks like an ouchy place to be.
I like this one of Deryn by Hillary, called “Miss Sharp.” Clearly she’s in female clothing, but this must be a bit after the Great War ends, because it’s 1920s-looking. (I think.)
Really cool clothes, actually. I think Deryn will look excellent in the ’20s, which will also be her 20s. (Alek and Deryn were both born in 1899, after all.)
I LOVE this whale-o-plane combination of Leviathan and How to Train Your Dragon by Adventaim!
It just makes me smile.
And here’s some hydrogen-sniffer love from ladygreyembyr:
I like the texture on this one. But man, hydrogen-sniffers are anxiety-making when you really look at them. That’s what I like about Keith—he’s not afraid to draw some disturbing stuff.
And for you Uglies fans whose ears just perked up, this just missed the Halloween cosplay edition. Specials!
I must say, that line never gets old. I know someone who’s getting it tattooed on their arms, so we may be seeing it here on FAF soon.
Okay, that’s only five FAs, but Friday in the US is drawing to a close, it’s done here in Sydney, and I need to make lunch!
See you early next week for a special poll. (You will enjoy it.)
Oops.
I sort of didn’t do FAF last week, because I was all excited about the Uglies manga AKA Shay’s Story cover. (And lazy. Also because I was lazy.) But here is a FAF for you all! And because I’m in Australia, it’s a day early for you North and South Americans.
This post completes the job started back on October 29, which is showing you all the art I’ve received while on tour. Next Friday (promises, promises) I’ll get back to posting the art I’ve received since tour started.
So here we go, starting with something that’s not quite fan art, but is pretty cool to look at.
One of my favorite things on tour is when people give me books to signed that are obviously well read. Like, in-the-bathtub, on-the-bus, under-the-covers read. Sometimes readers apologize for their tattered copies, but I take it as a compliment. And especially excellent are the signs of notations and post-itting.
So check this out:
This was only DAYS after Goliath came out, and already the book was festooned with post-its and notes. NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL READING.
And in case you think this is a unique event, I got a whole set of the trilogy receiving the same treatment at my Books of Wonder event:
So yeah. That’s cool.
Here’s a painting of the Leviathan in its friendly I’m-a-whale mode.
It’s interesting how for some readers the airbeast is a big, scary monster thing, but others see it more as a friendly animal. Clearly, for some people beasties are always a win.
Here’s a happy sketch of Tazza that makes the same point:
Another type of fan art that I only see while on tour is the GREAT BIG SIGN. As in this one:
Now, you can see why I might like this sign in particular. But all signs are cool.
Also popular with me? Cookies.
The Austin Teen Book Festival folks did these cover cookies for all us authors, but I’m still counting it as fan art. (And, reader, I ate it.)
Here’s a piece of Midnighters fan art! A flame-bringer symbol rendered in clay.
That’s it for the tour fan art. I guess there’s a bit of space left here, and you didn’t get any FAF last week, so let me round up with a cool bunch of images from Lego-master Tyler, who won a prize for this series of Leviathan-inspired works.
The Stormwalker!
The Ottoman Scorpion!
The German monoplane!
The Huxley!
And finally, the Tesla cannon.
Pretty nice work, huh?
Congrats to all you NaNoWriMoers who are more than halfway home. In case you missed them, here are a set of tips that Justine and I did two Novembers ago.
Good luck for the rest of the month, and see you all next week!
Hey, all. It’s Friday and time for FAF, but I’m delaying my weekly fan art feature till tomorrow.
Why? Because it’s time to reveal the cover for the Uglies manga, also known as Uglies: Shay’s Story!
The image is by Steven Cunmmings, the interior artist. It’s a picture of Shay herself, presumably just emerging from being made pretty. She has that pretty vacant look in her eyes. Of course, the book starts way before that, several months before the novels before the novels, in fact!
Click here for an interview with me and Devin Grayson, my co-writer on the manga, with Girls Read Comics Too. You’ll also get some images from the books.
Click here for my own FAQ, answering your questions about the books.
And here for the original announcement about the series back at San Diego Comic Con. More art to look at!
And finally, here’s the back cover of Shay’s Story, with all the promo copy.
See you tomorrow for Fan Art Friday (um, on Saturday).
Bonus Info
Forgot to say: The first book in the Uglies manga series comes out Feb 29, 2012, in just under 100 days! There will be three books in all.
Hey, everyone! I am headed to Sydney in a matter of days. DAYS!
But it’s almost Friday, so instead of packing I’ve spend the morning on this Hallowe’en FAF, starring you guys in wonderful steampunk and Uglies costumes. (Sorry if I’m missing a few names. I had a lot of these pics around.)
Let’s start with this awesome Stormwalker contraption:
That is one cool cosutme, though I fear it would be less than optimal for dancing. (Note that the kid on the right is wearing a Whoopie Cushion costume. Hmm.)
And here’s an awesome Mr. Sharp pumpkin:
I have a theory that the internets have improved pumpkin carving, because the potential audience for pumpkins is so much larger. Instead of mere dozens of people seeing your carving work, thousands will!
Here’s Dr. Barlow by Jett, complete with dog-with-streaked-fur-as-Tazza!
And now for a plethora of Deryns!
Sarah:
Lauren:
Sabrina:
Dixie:
And Lizzy:
And, because I am disorganized, another anonymous!
Julia sent me this goggle-gif:
And here’s a Deryn and Alek pair, anonymously (as in, I forgot the names) from Twitter. Wear your steampunk geekery with pride! At work!
A quartet of steampunkers from Mallory, because more is better!
And this comic from (argh, can’t find the name!, showing what Alek and Deryn dressed up like this Halloween:
The dialog is, of course, a joke about Alek’s sticky-outy ears.
Finally, a Special Tally-wa from Ally-wa, complete with hoverboard:
Don’t forget, the Show Us Your Steampunk contest is still happening over on FaceBook. Just take a picture of yourself in a steampunk outfit holding a copy of one of the Leviathan books, and you’re in. Just click here for details.
As you can see, my website has had its first makeover in many years. This is to celebrate the fact that my first new series in years, Leviathan, comes out this autumn. (October 6, to be exact.)
Things may be wonky for a while as we play around under the hood. But I hope you enjoy the new look. Let me know what you think!
Click here to contact Scott Westerfeld.
Jill Grinberg
Jill Grinberg Literary Management
info@grinbergliterary.com
