Cover Reveal: Shadow And Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Plus an Interview & Giveaway!)

Not only do I have the cover of SHADOW AND BONE to share with you, I also have a short interview with author Leigh Bardugo and a giveaway for THREE copies of SHADOW AND BONE!

But first off:
Interview with Leigh:

What are your thoughts on the cover of Shadow and Bone?

I love it. Rich Deas and Jen Wang captured the feel of the world without being too specific about it. It’s romantic, dangerous, and there are elements of the design that will mean more once you’ve read the book. (See how I did that? Now it’s a puzzle!)

Did you have any input into the creation of the cover?

I’d been warned that debut authors have no say in these things, but the people at Henry Holt and Mac Kids were really good to me. The one thing I pushed hard for was some kind of Russian influence on the cover because I wanted people to know this was a different kind of fantasy.

What makes Shadow and Bone different?

Well, for one thing, there are guns. Ravka is a country facing the advance of modern warfare and the reality that magic is no longer enough to keep them safe. Add in a corrupt monarchy and a serf army, and you have a whole lot of tinder just waiting for a spark.

Also, people hear “high fantasy” and they think Medieval England– broadswords, flagons of mead, leather jerkins, elves, and orcs, and “yes m’lord.” Believe me, I love all of that stuff (maybe a little too much), but the world of Shadow and Bone draws on completely different sources. It’s saints and samovars, muskets and sabers, power held in a seal’s tooth or the claws of a fox. It’s gold-domed churches with whitewashed walls, refugees housed in the dacha of an absentee duke, skate fried in butter, glasses of kvas. I tried to take the reader someplace new.

Can you tell us more about Alina?

She’s a little different, too. She’s a true outsider– sour and scrawny, quick to laugh at herself before you get a chance to. I wanted to write a book about a girl who might have the power to save the world, even if there was no place for her in it.

What can you tell us about Shadow and Bone that we won’t learn from the synopsis?

In the synopsis, the Grisha are described as the kingdom’s magical elite, but they would never call what they do magic. They practice the Small Science, the manipulation of matter at its most fundamental levels. Anything else is just peasant superstition ;)


Leigh Bardugo was born in Jerusalem, raised in Los Angeles, and graduated from Yale University. She lives in Hollywood where she indulges her fondness for glamour, ghouls, and costuming in her other life as makeup artist L.B. Benson.

Summary for Shadow and Bone (from Goodreads):

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near-impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one unlikely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life– a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha… and the secrets of her heart.

The COVER:

Official Contest information:

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  4. Author Interview: Cat Patrick & Giveaway
  5. Author Interview: Anna Carey & Giveaway
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