Page & Wick #8: May 2025
My May box of Page & Wick arrived in early June. This time, it wasn’t a brand-new release, but a book that had been on my radar for a while – which made it even more appealing to buy.
The monthly theme was Bones of the Forgotten, which immediately created a nice dark and epic atmosphere.
And that perfectly matched the selected book: Talonsister by Jen Williams – a mature fantasy and the first book in a duology.
This book was first published in 2023, which turned out to be more recent than I initially thought. It was already on my TBR, and upon rereading the blurb, I completely understood why. A complex, layered story with multiple plotlines gradually converging – that always makes me happy. So yes, I’m still very curious about the story itself.
Leven has no memory of her life before she was a soldier. The process of turning her into a Herald – a magical killing machine – was traumatic enough that it wiped her mind clean. Now, with the war won and the Imperium satisfied, she finds herself unemployed and facing a bleak future. Her fellow Heralds are disappearing, and her own mind seems to be coming apart at the seams. Strange visions, memories she shouldn’t have, are resurfacing, and none of them make any sense. They show her Brittletain, the ancient and mysterious island that the Imperium was never able to tame. Leven resolves to go to this place of magic and warring queens, with the hope of finding who she really is.
Envoy Kaeto has done a number of important little jobs for the Imperium, most of them nasty, all of them in the shadows. His newest assignment is to escort the bone-crafter Gynid Tyleigh as she travels across the Imperium – as the woman responsible for creating the Heralds, his employers owe her a great deal. But Tyleigh’s ambition alarms even Kaeto, and her conviction that she has found a new source of Titan bones, buried deep in the earth, could lead to another, even bloodier war.
Ynis was raised by the griffins, and has never seen another human face. She lives wild, as they do, eating her meat raw and flying with her talon-sister, T’rook. The griffins fiercely protect their isolation – the piles of skulls that litter the mountains of Brittletain are testament to that – but the magic they guard will always make them a target for the greed of men. By choosing not to kill Ynis when she was just a baby, the griffins may have doomed themselves – because the girl’s past is coming for her, and it carries a lethal blade.
But what about this Page & Wick edition? Well, it did surprise me a bit.
The new cover was illustrated by the talented @vitkovskaya_art. And let me be clear: it’s absolutely beautiful work. The colours, the composition, the details—there’s clearly a lot of craftsmanship and care put into it.
And yet… when I opened the box, I had to blink.
The vibe of this cover felt so different from that of the original edition. While the standard cover exudes a certain menace and heaviness—how I imagine the story to be—this new version seems noticeably lighter and almost… friendly? That contrast caught me off guard for a moment.
Perhaps that feeling will change after reading, as I get to know the characters and better understand the symbolism of the illustrations. It’s quite possible that this cover perfectly captures the heart of the story, in a way that you can only fully appreciate afterward. And who knows—perhaps the original cover gives a misleading impression. Time will tell!
What I immediately loved were the foil illustrations on the hardcover. These were also done by @vitkovskaya_art, and both the front and back covers were illustrated. It really gives the book a luxurious, polished look.
The spray-painted edges further enhance that luxurious feel: the front features an atmospheric illustration by @alyesasworld, which stylistically complements the cover perfectly. The top and bottom edges have a solid colour finish – simple, yet elegant.
Inside, both endpapers feature another illustration by @vitkovskaya_art, further enhancing the overall feel of the cover.
The book also includes a digital signature and an author’s letter – a nice extra touch that always adds a little more meaning to a publication.
All in all, this is a very well-crafted and cohesive edition, with great attention to detail and visual unity. The style of the illustrations all aligns beautifully, creating a clear artistic vision.
Yet, I found myself a little hesitant, especially because of the difference in tone between this cover and my expectations. But perhaps that’s precisely the captivating thing about special editions: they give you the chance to approach a story differently. And honestly? The more I look at this cover, the more curious I become about how it all comes together after reading it.
So who knows: maybe this surprise will ultimately be a hit.
Have you read Talonsister yet? What do you think of this cover style?
Cheers,
Charlotte
