Artwork and blurb for Mark Chadbourn's 'Lord of Silence'

Here's the artwork for Mark Chadbourn's forthcoming novel Lord of Silence (Solaris, 3 August 2009), and here's the blurb:

When the great hero of the city of Idriss is murdered, Vidar, the Lord of Silence, must take his place as chief defender against the mysterious terrors lurking in the dense forest beyond the city's walls.

But Vidar is a man tormented—by a lost memory and a vampiric jewel that demands the life energy of others. Now, with a killer loose within Idriss, and the threat from without mounting, Vidar must solve a three thousand year-old religious mystery to unlock the terrifying secrets of his own past.

I must admit that the cover doesn't do much for me (unusually for a Solaris novel, as normally I really like the covers they produce). I like the colours and the architecture, but the rather clichéd warrior image makes me wince a little. On a more positive note, I do find the premise of the novel quite exciting and will hopefully get my hands on a review copy later down the line.