New York Times bestselling authorNalini Singhis behind some of the most iconic stories in paranormal romance. From Changelings to Psy, vampires to angels, she’s acquired a devoted fanbase from the very beginning, with new readers constantly discovering the captivating characters and expansive, epic worlds that are familiar touchstones within her work. Now, with the upcoming fourteenth(!) book in her long-runningGuild Hunterseries, Singh returns with a much-anticipated romance that’s half a millennia in the making whenArchangel’s Lightreleases on October 26, and Collider has your exclusive look at the breathtaking cover featuring Illium and Aodhan.
Over the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many industries — including romance, as social distancing and CDC regulations made it tricky to coordinate cover photoshoots with more than one model present before vaccinations began to roll out. What makes the cover ofArchangel’s Lightthat much more impactful is the knowledge that it was created under entirely unprecedented circumstances. Collider had the chance to chat with several members of the team at Berkley, as well as Singh herself, about how the cover came to be.
“One of the things when I was talking about potential cover ideas with Nalini before presenting them to the art department, was to really try… not to think about the limitations, basically. To really have a vision for it. Even if there were limitations in terms of execution, we really didn’t want that to be on our minds,” said Singh’s editor and Berkley editorial directorCindy Hwang. “We really wanted to just go for it. Tony Mauro has been the artist working on theGuild Huntercovers from the very beginning, so one of the things that we always knew was that he was very open to something that looked more cinematic.”
“We thought the best thing would be to shoot and use models that represented the characters physically as best as [Tony] could find,” saidRita Frangie, senior art director for Berkley. “And he took over. … I think they shot the images that he worked from at a gym. They used some of the gym equipment to help them capture the positioning.”
Photographer and illustratorTony Mauro, who told Collider he loved the idea of this cover from its conception, also expanded on how the unconventional location facilitated the shoot forArchangel’s Light. “The limited hours at the gym that I go to actually worked in my favor, and I was able to get both my models and the location at the same place. One of the personal trainers there was the model for Aodhan, so I was able to come in after-hours with my lights and do the shoot right there in the gym.”
“I was really fascinated that he actually wanted to have a shoot, and to actually have the bodies to work from,” Hwang said. “So, it was really great to know from the get-go that Tony was going to figure out a way of doing this safely. … He wanted to really convey that aspect of flight. The muscles straining, that real visceral attention to detail that could only happen if he had a live model to work from.”
“The biggest challenge was capturing the tension in the image of the two archangels reaching for each other… just before they touch,” Mauro added. “I wanted Aodhan to actually be suspended in the air, rather than just shooting him reaching up and rotating him. We ended up using an ab machine that secured his legs so that he could straighten and extend his body outward, which ultimately worked really well.”
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Beyond the fascinating creative staging, however, there was definitely a pressure felt to get the cover itself right — not just for the fourteenth installment in an admittedly popular series, but for a book bringing Illium and Aodhan, two beloved characters, to the forefront of their own story. “This was particularly challenging, because it was featuring two characters who have been fan favorites from the beginning,” Hwang told Collider. “It’s very much like when you see casting news of a book that is being made into a movie, or series, or something like that. … We knew that a lot of readers would have a similar reaction, [and it’s] very different from the first in a series where there are no preconceptions of what the characters look like except what the artist brings to it.”
“It does all go back to Nalini, what she describes. We go by her words, the picture they paint in our minds,” said Frangie. “And I think they were the seeds that made it all kind of bloom into this beautiful painting.”
But what does Singh herself think about the finished product? “My breath stopped when I saw this cover. I’ve always admired Tony’s art and his ability to bring my characters to life, but I was not ready for this. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at the cover since I received the file. Each time, I’m stunned anew by the visceral impact of it.
“When Cindy and I were discussing ideas for the cover, I really wanted to show these two warrior angels in beautiful, dangerous motion. Then Cindy mentioned this concept as a possibility, and boom, that was it. It instantly became my favorite, it so embodies the book. Because Illium and Aodhan’s story? It’s beautiful and powerful and a journey.
“The emotional resonance of the cover, the vibrant tones, the sense of movement, the colors of the text and how it’s placed, it all works together to make it an extraordinary piece of art. I can’t thank Cindy, Tony, and Rita enough for all they did to bring the cover concept to such gorgeous reality.”
Check out the official U.S. cover forArchangel’s Lightbelow, whichreleaseson October 26:
Nalini Singh returns to the world of the Guild Hunters for the most highly anticipated novel of the beloved series—a love story so epic it’s been half a millennia in the making…
Illium and Aodhan. Aodhan and Illium. For centuries they’ve been inseparable: the best of friends, closer than brothers, companions of the heart. But that was before—before darkness befell Aodhan and shattered him, body, mind, and soul. Now, at long last, Aodhan is healing, but his new-found strength and independence may come at a devastating cost—his relationship with Illium.
As they serve side by side in China, a territory yet marked by the evil of its former archangel, the secret it holds nightmarish beyond imagining, things come to an explosive decision point. Illium and Aodhan must either walk away from the relationship that has defined them—or step forward into a future that promises a bond infinitely precious in the life of an immortal…but that demands a terrifying vulnerability from two badly bruised hearts.
