Umbra
Yana Barbelo
Pleroma Press (2020)

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The Three Courses of Umbra's Cover Design

Ohno Hoia is a guardian of a mysterious collection of seeds and a lonely soul tormented by her hideous, malignant shadow. She can't remember who she is or where she came from. Driven by the desperate wish to break free from the shadow and save the seeds, Ohno arrives at present-day California's desecrated shores. There she plants a garden, the likes of which had not been seen since the days of Eden, shocking humanity out of despair. Ohno's shadow grows fiercer and soon begins to threaten everything she holds dear, taking Ohno into the surreal, terrifying wilderness of her own soul - the Forest of Everlasting Night.

A spellbinding blend of horror and satire perfect for fans of Clive Barker, Haruki Murakami and Neil Gaiman, this debut novel falls in a genre the author calls 'archetypal fantasy'. To convey this concept, the author wished for a cover with the look and feel of a holy book, although less austere and more sinister.

Set in Adobe Jenson Pro 13/14

The design, overflowing with symbolism, adopts Art Nouveau occultist imagery with a composition reminiscent of an alchemist's hourglass as a metaphor of the dichotomy of light and shadows. Other symbols derive from the tension between opposite forces in this dark fairy tale: a nautical rope knot in the shape of the infinity symbol conveying the ability to stand your ground, opposed by the Leviathan cross to the right; or the black sun as a destructive force countered by the Kabbalistic power of Merkabah descending from Heaven.

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