Covering Covers: Percepliquis - Michael J. Sullivan

Cover Artist: Michael J. Sullivan

The Riyria Revelations is one of the most popular self-published/small-published fantasy series of recent years. As much as we're led to believe that a book should not be judged by it's cover, the undeniable success of Sullivan's work has been, at least in part, a result of the simple yet professional looking covers with which he has encased his stories. The cover of the latest (and last book), Percepliquis debuted today on Sullivan's blog. I've posted it above and for reference the first five books are shown below.



I really admire these covers. They aren't flashy but they aren't cheesy either, which is more than you can say about most self-produced cover. Sullivan appears to be cognizant of his own limitations, playing to his strengths rather than being overly ambitious. I like the clean imagery and the consistent style, even the repeated color scheme which I hadn't noticed before writing this piece. Pecepliquis isn't my favorite cover of the series - that honor goes to Avempartha or Nyphron Rising - but I'm happy the design and level of quality remained more or less consistent. Given that each book in the series sold a lot more copies than it's predecessor, Sullivan could have easily outsourced the cover art if he desired.

As for the book itself, Percepliquis is a strange story, one that really appeals to the book collector in me. As I discussed with him earlier this summer, Sullivan's series has been promoted to the majors with Orbit planning to republish the six books as a trilogy later this year. Even cooler, Orbit was gracious enough to allow Sullivan to publish Percepliquis under the Ridan Publishing imprint with the release of the Orbit omnibus, much to the delight of series completists everywhere.

I saw a great journey. Ten upon the road, she who wears the light will lead the way. The road goes deep into the earth, and into despair. The voices of the dead guide your steps. You walk back in time. The three-thousand-year battle begins again. Cold grips the world, death comes to all, and a choice is before you.

Percepliquis is the final installment of the epic fantasy, The Riyria Revelations. In this saga that began with The Crown Conspiracy, two thieves caught in the right place at the wrong time were launched on a series of ever escalating adventures that have all lead to this moment. Three thousand years have passed and the time for Novron’s heir to act has arrived.

The Ridan edition of Percepliquis should be available in the neighborhood of January 2012. You can send an e-mail to riyria6@gmail.com to make sure you are notified when it is.