Stunning, Knightly Artwork (Black Library)

I know I’ve been offering a lot of artwork posts, recently, but there really has been such a great slew of recently-unveiled, eye-catching pieces. And, really, who doesn’t like to look at nice artwork? Exactly.

I saw this particular cover appear rather quietly on Black Library’s website without any apparent fanfare or even announcement, but… damn it really should have. This is one of the best book covers I’ve seen in a long time, for any genre/publisher…

Despite extensive googling and internet searching, I couldn’t find out who the artist for the piece was, but it’s frankly stunning:

The colours and composition (while a tad busy) are just very evocative of the Warhammer world, and what I imagine will be quite a grim and dark tale of fantasy combat. I really want this so I can have it on my shelf (as well as really wanting to read it, of course).

Here’s the novel’s short synopsis:

The Knights of the Blazing Sun are a noble and venerable order of templars dedicated to the warrior-goddess Myrmidia. The young knight Hector Goetz is sent to the distant island of Svunum to investigate the disappearance of a group of knights. Reunited with his comrades, he battles vicious pirates and bloodthirsty raiders, but from his increasingly disturbing nightmares Goetz realises that there is more to the place than meets the eye. As northern savages lay siege to the island, a deadly secret is revealed that threatens to damn his order for all eternity.

Knight of the Blazing Sun will be published by Black Library in March 2012.