Stone & Sky – 25th Anniversary Gallery

"Stone & Sky" by Graham Edwards - 25th anniversary gallery of cover design sketches

It’s 25 years since my epic fantasy novel Stone & Sky was first published in paperback by HarperCollins.

The novel begins when Victorian adventurer Jonah Lightfoot is mysteriously transported to the seemingly infinite world-wall of Amara, also known as Stone. Exploring this strange tilted realm, Jonah experiences an extraordinary collision between history and myth … and begins his quest to secure the future of humanity’s very existence.

While writing the book, I enjoyed an ongoing conversation with Joy Chamberlain, my editor at HarperCollins, about what the cover should look like. Knowing how I like to sketch ideas (the initial pitch I made to Joy and commissioning editor Jane Johnson involved an awful lot of scribbling), she encouraged me to send her my thoughts in visual form.

The original paperback cover was illustrated by the amazing Les Edwards (no relation). In 2022, I reissued Stone & Sky with a new cover illustrated by myself.

I’ve gathered together some of those early sketches to create a special 25th anniversary gallery. I hope you enjoy browsing these drawings as much as I enjoyed digging back into the archives.

Welcome to Stone!

A quick overview of the world of "Stone & Sky." I drew this as a kind of visual primer for the cover artist. It mentions a few story elements, and includes some key images I thought might work well on the cover, plus a few possible layouts. The two layouts in the top right corner are pretty close to the final cover design. — A quick overview of the world of “Stone & Sky.” I drew this as a kind of visual primer for the cover artist. It mentions a few story elements, and includes some key images I thought might work well on the cover, plus a few possible layouts. The two layouts in the top right corner are pretty close to the final cover design.

Some more key images drawn from the story of "Stone & Sky," to help the cover artist get acquainted with the material. — Some more key images drawn from the story of “Stone & Sky,” to help the cover artist get acquainted with the material.

More of my thoughts on the cover design for "Stone & Sky," scribbled during lunch break in my day job (I was a graphic designer at the time). — More of my thoughts on the cover design for “Stone & Sky,” scribbled during a lunch break in my day job (I was a graphic designer at the time).

Castle concept for "Stone & Sky." — Castle concept for “Stone & Sky.”

More concepts for "Stone & Sky," specifically exploring the silhouette the castle makes against the sky. — More concepts for “Stone & Sky,” specifically exploring the silhouette the castle makes against the sky.

A refinement of my favourite cover layout for "Stone & Sky." I imagined this being executed as a clean, graphic silhouette. The final cover illustration by Les Edwards followed this composition quite closely, only rendered as a gorgeous full-colour painting. — A refinement of my favourite cover layout for “Stone & Sky.” When I drew this, I imagined it being executed as a clean, graphic silhouette. The final cover illustration by Les Edwards followed this composition quite closely, only rendered as a gorgeous full-colour painting.

Original paperback edition of "Stone & Sky," published 1999 by HarperCollins. Cover illustration by Les Edwards. — Original paperback edition of “Stone & Sky,” published 1999 by HarperCollins. Cover illustration by Les Edwards.

In Stone & Sky, Jonah Lightfoot meets Annie West, a Kansas settler, who carries with her a wooden box filled with Mahjong tiles. The lid of the box has a metal clasp designed to hold a single tile in place, enabling Annie – an accomplished artist – to paint a miniature scene on the back of the little ivory block.

The original HarperCollins paperback edition of Stone & Sky features illustrated chapter headings. I drew these as abstract graphic representations of some of Annie’s tiles, sitting snug inside the clasp. After exploring a few concepts, I created finished artwork for three variants, which repeat through the novel, shown below.

“Stone & Sky” chapter motif 1 – “Krakatoa and Archan””
“Stone & Sky” chapter motif 2 – “The Memory Rods”
“Stone & Sky” chapter motif 3 – “The Castle”

The visual treatment of Stone & Sky came full circle in 2022, when I reissued the novel as a new self-published edition. After exploring a number of cover concepts, I settled on a reimagined version of the original design, which I’d first sketched all those years ago.