BrooksBlog: Wards of Faerie Interior Artwork Finished

A tiny selection from the centerfold!
Just finished a close study of the Todd Lockwood rendition of the centerfold for The Wards of Faerie, due out late this August. Boy, is she a looker! Okay, but doesn’t the word ‘centerfold’ suggest that image? Todd’s rendering is a reworking of the one that was included in The Sword of Shannara, way back when. It is a visualization of the little band of heroes setting forth on the quest that will dominate their lives for three books. It is rendered in color and with close attention being paid to the descriptions in the book and also to comments I made to him about the characters when he asked about what the readers should be seeing in each one. We chose a selection of five or six from some thirty characters that comprise the group which the images are based on, and hopefully you will not only be able to identify them from the book but will also see them as representative of how you see the characters in your mind. This was such a different process this time, 35 years later. The Hildebrandts worked with the Del Reys to come up with cover, centerfold and additional black and white images in my first book. I never spoke with them. This time, Todd worked closely with me to make sure I was happy with what he was doing. Really, he probably could have done it without me. I only had a few suggestions to offer. He got it right in almost every case even before he asked me for my thoughts. I want to say to all of you that I think he is extremely talented and I love his work on this book. I miss the days when fantasy, in particular, used images on a regular basis in their books. Now they seldom do. I don’t know that I will ever do this again, either. But for now, life is good.


9 responses to “BrooksBlog: Wards of Faerie Interior Artwork Finished”

  1. I must admit that this little taste of what is in store of the artwork in the “Wards of Faerie” is causing me to be very excited that I am such a Terry Brooks fan. Words can simply NOT describe my hopes for every new addition to the Brooks portfolio. When a new part of the story (Shannara) is published I feel like “A kid in a candy store” waiting almost breathlessly for my piece. I am so glad that August is nearly here. Just a wee bit more than three months to go! Whoo Hoo!!!
    I must get all three books of this story as soon as they are hot off the presses.
    Question. Will there be artwork in all three books or just “Wards of Faerie”?

  2. I am looking forward to the release of Wards of Faerie!!! Each and every book is a new adventure you just can’t put down until you get to the end and then, they leave you wanting more, even when the set of books is finished!!!!

    I was also fortunate enough to pick up an ARC of the Wards of Faerie yesterday but I have to say my most precious ARC is the one I received in the mail as a reviewer (Elves of Cintra). It was an honor to be selected to review the book before its release and as such, that copy will always remain with me!

  3. mmm I iike this image…looks quite like Spock with longer hair but a good work of illustration 🙂

    Look forward to a special trilogy and hope it is more of a fullfilling story than the recent works

    Harjinder

  4. I am quite impressed with the selection shown. It looks like you made a good choice in the artist. What I always loved about the Hildebrandt’s work was the way they used lighting to create certain feelings in each piece. From the looks of it Todd uses lighting very well too. Can’t wait!

  5. It’s exciting to hear of the included artwork. It is too true about it not being used often these days compared to times in the past. I look forward to seeing it and reading The Wards of Faerie.

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