Today, the Fantasy Hive released the cover for Ai Jiang’s sequel to A Palace Near The Wind, and it is STUNNING!
According to Titan Books, A River From The Sky is a “powerful, beautifully told novella [that] explores the bonds of family, the pain of leaving all you have known behind, and the terrible price of our industrial future.”
It sounds like the perfect thematic counterpart to A Palace Near The Wind, which combined family ties and loyalties with an ecological twist.
One of the things I love about this cover is the growth of Lufeng between books one and two. Take a look at both covers together and you’ll see what I mean.
As you can see, Lufeng has gone from facing away with her eyes almost closed to looking straight ahead with eyes wide open. Her hair is more wild. Her expression more fierce. The artist, Nat Mack, has brilliantly captured a story between these two covers that matches the progression of Lufeng’s journey. And don’t even get me started on how cool the fish and clouds are!
I apologise in advance to your wallets, but if the cover hasn’t already made you instantly click the pre-order button, then the blurb Titan Books have released for it definitely will:
Fleeing from the bone palace and crashing into the waters below its steep walls, Lufeng and her siblings reach Gear, with its huge deadly water wheels, where their sister Sangshu is waiting for them. In the chaos of the enormous waves, within moments they’re snatched away and taken into rebel territory, where they learn more of the deadly experiments Zinc has wreaked upon the people.
Loyal to Copper now, Sangshu herself is a victim of Zinc’s experiments. Desperate to find her family, she races through Gear to Engine, ruthless Zinc’s industrial heartland, where she burns with a desire to fix her own mistakes and those of others and find a way to save her world.
Amazing, right? For those of you who like the stats, here they are:
Title: A River From The Sky (book #2 in the Natural Engines)
Publisher: Titan Books
Publication Date: 26th April 2026
Cover Artist/Designer: Nat Mack (@missnatmack)
Pre-order Link: https://titanbooks.com/72039-natural-engines-a-river-from-the-sky/
Ai Jiang is a master storyteller who has already given us something special with A Palace Near The Wind. Check out my review here. I can’t wait to find out what happens next!
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