The Art of The Freedom Maze

Posted by Niall Harrison

28 December 2011

An interesting post at Fantasy Matters dissects the cover of Delia Sherman's new novel, The Freedom Maze:

The posture of the girl in the foreground is worth a look. She doesn’t seem like she’s in hot pursuit of the girl in yellow, and her body language doesn’t express desperation or anger. She looks forward more in wonderment, or in a position of exploration. The composition also reinforces the structure of the maze walls. While shrubbery obviously doesn’t have the permanence of concrete, it is enough to make a person feel boxed in. It necessitates immediate, polarized choices: forward or backward, left or right, staying or going.

... and links to this detailed post by the artist, Kathleen Jennings, about the creation of the cover. I like this sort of discussion; see also some posts by Martin Lewis, and the Black Tentacle, a juried award for sf cover art.