About the Cover

The artwork on the cover of this book, and that interspersed amongst its pages, is by Cowboys & Beans house artist Vigdís Ljósadóttir, a stylistic construct of style and aesthetic so compelling she got her own origin story. Vigdís is an Icelandic painter whose mother is a mathemticaian, botanist, creator of agent-based systems, Lisp programmer, and actor in a community theatre troupe. Her father is a physicist, scifi nut, 1970s progressive rock fan, and part-time stage manager in said community theatre troupe. Vigdís discovered her love of colour and light early in life, gazing upon the waters, stones, and space around Iceland during its long summer days and longer winter nights. She has her father’s love of scifi and 70s prog rock, and her mother’s love of botany to thank for most of of the subject matter that pushes her to stand in front of the easel.

Vigdís’ first project for Cowboys & Beans was the cover of a scifi novel. They loved her work so much, she was asked to paint for the author’s various and related world-building projects, and thanks to this work ultimately decided that the novel would, in a certain sense, be illustrated. When Lykn was cleared for publishing, she was contacted even before this author started writing the first chapter. Only a fraction of her studies on lichen, moss, fungi – not to mention wholely imagined biomes draped in these – has made it into the pages herein. The rest will soon be included in her yet-to-be released online gallery and exhibition site.