Cover Story

When I first published The Zhala Trilogy I had the notion that I wanted them to look austere and anachronistic. In particular I was attracted to the aesthetic sensibility of the designs Romek Marber did for Penguin paperbacks in the 1960s. To me they communicated a stylish austerity that complemented and, at the same time, partially concealed each book's subject matter. So with character art commissioned from Brent Skinner that's what I did. I made my Marber Grid template and created my covers being very much pleased with the end result. The font used on all of the cover text elements was another wilfuly bleak choice and, in a final iconoclastic, flourish I reversed the normal orientation of the spine aping the style of a Russian or French novel.

While the covers greatly appealed to me it had somehow slipped my mind that I'm not the person who's supposed to be buying these books. Something more professional and commercially compelling was required. New covers were commissioned from Sarah Waites who did an absolutely oustanding job of capturing the essence of the books. The colour sequence of the originals has been retained in modified form and the character on the cover of the final book switched to Zhala from her father.

The Map of the Monarchy

I hate fantasy books with a map in them. However, I have learned from experience, that it is an oft requested feature from the reader. So here is the map of the Monarchy.  This was painstakingly constructed during the editing of all three books to remove geographical and temporal inconsistencies.

The Zhala Trilogy

After three years of not inconsequential effort the trilogy is complete. I enjoyed almost every aspect of creating these books. One would have to as the immense amount of mainly unrenumerated work would otherwise be impossible.

The trilogy sketches a distant world in a distant future in which Zhala rules as king using the same combination of deceit, guile and caprice that she used to become the Monarchy's ruler. She is assisted and occasionally hindered by her father and the diverse group of friends that form her cabinet.

Book I : A DYING KING
Book II: SORROW'S CROWN
Book III: OUT OF DARKNESS