I’ve written a few things set in the Victorian era (Forged in Combat takes place mostly in 1882 and Four Walls and a Heart in 1884). But with the Mysterious Fields trilogy, I got to spend quite a lot more time in the period. These three books are set between March of 1889 and June of 1890 (with the last chapter in October of that year).
For the last of our current series of posts about cover design, it’s time to share the covers for the Mysterious Fields trilogy. I love the elements Augustapulled together to evoke just the right feeling for these covers.
Overall design : Mysterious Fields
Because these three books form a tight continuous trilogy (unlike any of my other books!) we really wanted the covers to fit well together. All three have the same basic elements:
Damask background (for the late Victorian feel)
Appropriate clothing! Augusta worked off a number of reference images for this.
Electricity (a key theme in the books)
An inset item
Silhouetted figures who – over the course of the trilogy – move from distance to togetherness.
And then we have the pipes, to lean a bit more into the gaslamp feel of these books. People are exploring the intersection of science and magic, not always with the best results.