# Eden's Rise — Full Site Content > Eden's Rise is an epic fantasy novel by O.E. Bruening, set in a dwarven underground empire where humans are second-class citizens. Published by Ironthale Press LLC, releasing Oct 24th, 2026. This file contains complete content from all pages for LLM crawlers seeking depth. Last updated: 2026-09-19 > Note: only pages with existing HTML files are included here. --- ## Home Page (https://edensrise.com/) **Title:** Eden's Rise — Epic Fantasy Novel by O.E. Bruening **Genre tags:** Epic Fantasy · MG–Adult · Oct 24th, 2026 · No AI ### Book Description Eden's Rise: The Empire Under the Mountains A Novel by O.E. Bruening In the underground dwarven empire, humans are second-class — tolerated, exploited, forgotten. One boy and his friends are destined to discover that belonging and justice are not the same thing. ### World Locations (Illustrated) **The Crystal Cave** Deep beneath the mountains, where the walls glow with ancient light. **The Underground Empire** A city carved into living rock, sprawling across vast canyon walls — grand, ancient, and merciless. **Dragon City** Beyond the mountains, where sea meets stone and ancient towers rise above open sky. **Irridur — Town Square** The beating heart of the dwarven quarter — where commerce, tension, and torchlight never sleep. ### Collaborators - **Roberto F. Castro** — Illustrator (robertofc.com) - **Greg Rutkowski** — Illustrator (greg-rutkowski.com) - **Pascal Wijnberg** — Illustrator (@pas_draws on Instagram) - **Audrey Rouvin** — Illustrator (@audrey_rouvin on Instagram) - **Michael Kramer & Kate Reading** — Audiobook Narrators (katereadingaudiobooks.com) ### About the Author (excerpt) O.E. Bruening was born in Germany before he eventually made his way to Boston, then San Francisco, and now Cleveland — where he finally found his own worlds to build. ### Newsletter Sign up for: release news · exclusive content · 1–2 emails/year max. --- ## Pre-Order & Editions (https://edensrise.com/preorder/) **Title:** Pre-order the Author's Edition — Eden's Rise by O.E. Bruening Eden's Rise is available to pre-order in several editions. The standard editions (eBook, audiobook, paperback, and hardcover) release on **October 24th, 2026** through major retailers. The **Author's Edition** is a website-exclusive collector's hardcover sold only at edensrise.com and ships in **late November 2026**. ### Limited Author's Edition — $34.99 (10% pre-order discount) A special collector's hardcover of *Eden's Rise: The Empire Under the Mountains*, designed to be treasured and sold only on this website. It includes: - A special edition cover with embossing - 16 pages of full-color illustrations by Greg Rutkowski, Roberto F. Castro, Pascal Wijnberg, and Audrey Rouvin (the standard hardcover and paperback carry the same artwork in black and white) - Deleted-scenes bonus content - Full-color endsheets, sprayed edges, and a bookmark ribbon - Printed with sustainable soy inks in a limited print run - Suitable for ages 12 and older Price is $34.99 plus tax and shipping. The full amount is charged at checkout. You can cancel any time before your book ships for a full refund; after delivery, returns are accepted only for damaged or defective books within 14 days. Additional print runs are possible but not likely. **Why it's only sold here:** it is nearly impossible for an independent author to get a custom-printed book into general bookstore distribution — those channels only carry print-on-demand titles, which is what the standard hardcover and paperback use. Because the Author's Edition is custom-printed, it is sold directly here. ### Standard Editions (release Oct 24th, 2026) - **eBook — $8.99:** Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Kobo, Apple Books, and other retailers. - **Audiobook — ~$19.99 (varies by retailer):** narrated by Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, the voices of Sanderson's Stormlight Archive and Jordan's Wheel of Time. Runtime 13 hours 17 minutes. - **Paperback — $17.99:** standard edition with black-and-white illustrations, at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, Waterstones, and more. - **Hardcover — $26.99:** standard edition with black-and-white illustrations, at the same retailers. The book is about 400 pages, roughly the length of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. --- ## Author (https://edensrise.com/author.html) **Title:** O.E. Bruening — Author of Eden's Rise Oskar Bruening was born in East Germany and grew up crossing borders: East to West Germany, then to boarding schools in Germany and the UK, and eventually to MIT, where he earned two degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He co-founded Peek.com and serves as its CTO. But his earliest love was the Saturday morning library, where fantasy and science fiction novels built worlds large enough for the quiet kid who never quite fit in. Eden's Rise is the first book in a planned series. Oskar lives in Cleveland, Ohio. **Contact:** info@ironthale.com **Instagram:** @oebruening --- ## AI Disclaimer (https://edensrise.com/no-ai.html) **Title:** AI Disclaimer — Eden's Rise Eden's Rise carries a "No AI" label on its cover. This page explains what that means. Not a single sentence in the novel was written by AI, and not a single illustration was created by AI. AI was used for: spell checking and grammar fixes (the author is a non-native English speaker), thesaurus lookups, and self-publishing logistics including research, task planning, LLC formation, CMYK conversion guidance, and building the website. --- ## Newsletter Signup Page (https://edensrise.com/signup.html) **Title:** Newsletter — Eden's Rise Updates Dedicated signup page for the Eden's Rise mailing list. Powered by Brevo. Promises release news and exclusive content from O.E. Bruening. Frequency: one or two emails per year, maximum. Linked from the "Get Notified" button in the site navigation. --- ## Privacy Policy (https://edensrise.com/privacy.html) **Title:** Privacy Policy — Eden's Rise Privacy policy covering the Eden's Rise newsletter signup. Explains the three signup options (email, physical postcard via Tally, SMS) and what each collects. Lists processors: Brevo (email and SMS delivery), Tally (postcard form), Cloudflare Turnstile (spam protection), Google Analytics (aggregate traffic), and GitHub Pages (hosting). Covers cookies (theme preference, analytics, Turnstile), retention, user rights (unsubscribe, access, correction, deletion, GDPR/UK GDPR/CCPA), children's privacy, and contact at info@ironthale.com. No data is sold or shared with advertisers. --- ## Reviews & Press Page (https://edensrise.com/reviews.html) **Title:** Reviews & Press — Eden's Rise Page collecting press coverage, reviews, and blurbs for Eden's Rise by O.E. Bruening. Each entry shows the source, a pull quote, an attribution, and a link to the full review. Featured reviews: - "Atmospheric and tense... ambitious fantasy for readers who like their worldbuilding earned." — Kirkus Reviews - "Fresh take on classic fantasy... fans of classic fantasy alive with feeling and ideas will relish an ending that feels like a new beginning." — BookLife (Publishers Weekly) - "I really really enjoyed this book... Amazing debut, and I'm looking forward to more work from this author." — The.Book.Monster, Goodreads The page also includes a press inquiry section for journalists, bloggers, and book clubs seeking review copies. --- ## Eden's Rise — The Book (https://edensrise.com/edens-rise/) **Title:** Eden's Rise: The Empire Under the Mountains Dedicated book page with the full synopsis, cover art, and details about the novel. Features illustrated world locations, character introductions, and links to the illustration gallery, deleted scenes, and expanded chronology. Serves as the central hub for all book-related content on the site. --- ## The Author's Edition (https://edensrise.com/edens-rise/authors-edition.html) **Title:** The Author's Edition — Eden's Rise An overview of the Author's Edition of Eden's Rise: a limited collector's hardcover made to be treasured. What makes it special: - A special edition cover with embossing - 16 pages of full-color illustrations by Greg Rutkowski, Roberto F. Castro, Pascal Wijnberg, and Audrey Rouvin (the standard editions carry the same artwork in black and white) - Deleted scenes bonus content - Full-color endsheets, sprayed edges, and a bookmark ribbon - Printed with sustainable soy inks - Suitable for ages 12 and older - A limited print run The page includes an interactive preview of the book and a personal note from the author about the illustrations serving as the book's "map." It links to the pre-order page for pricing and to reserve a copy. --- ## Expanded Chronology (https://edensrise.com/edens-rise/chronology.html) **Title:** Chronology — Eden's Rise Timeline of the dwarven empire, dated in years since the crowning of Casovan as first emperor (YC). Events central to the novel are marked with *. ### Before the Empire - 48 BYC — Birth of Casovan - 37 BYC — Invention of blast powder - 25 BYC — Crowning of King Casovan - 21 BYC — Casovan unifies the dwarven kingdoms through conquest; invasion of the Outlands - 20 BYC — Truce between King Casovan and Dragon Queen Imaril - 17 BYC — Construction of Casovan's Wall ### The Imperial Era - 1 YC* — Crowning of Casovan as first emperor; founding of the dwarven empire - 3 YC — Birth of General Teanna - 5 YC — Birth of Aleena - 17 YC* — Aleena escapes - 19 YC* — Aleena meets Sophia - 22 YC* — War between the dragons and the dwarves; Aleena becomes Scorch's rider - 23 YC* — Eden's Rise: Prologue - 24 YC — Death of Ember - 28 YC — Birth of Lotrair - 31 YC* — Battle of Dyindur; death of Aleena; dwarven civil war begins - 33 YC — Founding of the Maidenhairs - 41 YC — Birth of Doens - 52 YC — Birth of Sal - 57 YC — Birth of Lolin - 63 YC — Dwarven Renaissance begins - 66 YC — Death of Casovan; crowning of Emperor Doens; Lotrair marries Irida - 67 YC — Death of Irida - 68 YC — End of the dwarven civil war - 71 YC — Founding of Second City - 75 YC — Lotrair publishes his proclamations - 76 YC — Birth of Yorrek - 84 YC — Birth of Faras; Lastadur proclamation published - 97 YC — Birth of Eden and Anya - 99 YC — Faras rescued - 101 YC — Eden rescued - 102 YC — Anya rescued - 110 YC — Eden becomes mapper apprentice - 114 YC* — Eden, Faras, and Anya flee Iridur - 115 YC* — Fall of Second City; death of Lord General Ashmace --- ## Deleted Scenes (https://edensrise.com/edens-rise/deleted-scenes/) **Title:** Deleted Scenes — Eden's Rise Chapters cut from Eden's Rise. These scenes didn't make the final book, but they deepen the world and its characters. Five deleted scenes are available: 1. **Lost in Iridur's Catacombs** — Underground burial chambers beneath the dwarven town 2. **Pythius** — Elven food, exotic fruits, and backstory about a rescue 3. **Trouble at the University** — Eden in a library past midnight, resentment about dismissal from the Planning Department 4. **The Emperor's Speech** — A confrontation at an inn, high stakes and urgency 5. **The Dwarf in Black** — Ashmace's miners breaching a city through dark alleys --- ## Illustrations (https://edensrise.com/edens-rise/illustrations/) **Title:** Illustrations — Eden's Rise Gallery of original illustrations from Eden's Rise, presented in a magazine-style viewer. Features work by four artists: Roberto F. Castro (14 concept illustrations of underground spaces and cityscapes), Greg Rutkowski (physical painting of the Battle of Dyiundur), Pascal Wijnberg (ink drawings of the Purl Fox and Skitterback), and Audrey Rouvin (Master Halin's study with hidden QR code). Each illustration includes artist credit, a caption, and navigation to adjacent works. --- ## Playlist (https://edensrise.com/edens-rise/playlist.html) **Title:** Playlist — Eden's Rise Curated playlists on Apple Music and Tidal that feel related to the themes of Eden's Rise. Music for the long road through the mountains, the quiet of the deep, and the moments before everything changes. Page features two large branded buttons linking to the playlist on each streaming service. --- ## Artists (https://edensrise.com/blog/artists.html) **Title:** Meet the Artists — Eden's Rise Blog Topic page collecting all blog posts about the illustrators and artists behind Eden's Rise. Links to individual spotlight posts for Roberto F. Castro, Greg Rutkowski, Pascal Wijnberg, and Audrey Rouvin, with thumbnail previews and short descriptions of each artist's contribution to the book. --- ## Blog (https://edensrise.com/blog/) **Title:** Blog — Eden's Rise Blog index page listing behind-the-scenes posts from O.E. Bruening on the world, characters, and craft of Eden's Rise. Topics include worldbuilding, illustrations, and writing updates. --- ## Writing (https://edensrise.com/blog/writing.html) **Title:** Writing — Eden's Rise Blog Topic page collecting all blog posts about the craft, process, and long road of writing Eden's Rise. Includes the post on 800 hours and six drafts. --- ## Blog Post: $0.12 a Book: The Unit Economics of an Indie Author (https://edensrise.com/blog/entries/19k0-unit-economics-of-an-indie-author.html) **Title:** $0.12 a Book: The Unit Economics of an Indie Author — Eden's Rise Blog **Author:** O.E. Bruening O.E. Bruening breaks down what an indie author actually earns on a printed book, and why the same paperback can cost $18 from him and $12 from Penguin. The post covers printed books only (ebooks and audiobooks are promised a future post). There are three routes to get a physical book to readers. Ingram, via its print-on-demand arm IngramSpark, is the wholesaler behind almost every bookstore including Barnes & Noble, so being on it is unavoidable; print-on-demand means never paying to print unsold copies but brings constraints (limited sizes and paper, high per-unit cost). The author sets a list price ($17.99) and grants a ~55% discount split between Ingram and the bookstore. On that $17.99: the bookstore takes 40% ($7.19), Ingram takes 15% ($2.70), print costs $7.64, a small extra fee is $0.33, leaving the author just $0.12. Amazon runs its own pipeline through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP): it is disliked in the industry for cutting out middlemen, but is faster (a printed copy in about a week versus two-plus weeks and slow support at Ingram) and takes a flat 40% ($7.20) with no extra fees and lower print costs ($6.18), leaving the author $4.61 on the same book. Most indie authors list on both: Ingram for bookstore access, Amazon for the margin. The third route is printing yourself through a third-party printer (as with the Eden's Rise Author's Edition), paying for a print run up front to lower per-unit cost, but taking on inventory storage, packing, shipping, unsold-copy risk, and self-marketing through your own site (e.g. Shopify), since it cannot be sold via Amazon or Ingram. Ingram will distribute third-party (non-POD) printed books only if you show at least $50,000 in sales in each of the past two years, which is out of reach for a starting indie. Traditional publishers like Penguin price lower because large offset runs cut per-copy cost and they own or control distribution, though their margins are also slim. Bruening reflects that self-publishing was still the right call for the control it gives, but the $0.12 stings, raising the price barely helps ($0.55 at $18.99, $0.99 at $19.99) and won't pay the bills, so he keeps the price low. A key lesson: watch word count, since paper is the primary print-cost driver. Eden's Rise ran 108,000 words (standard for fantasy); his next novel targets 80,000 to 90,000. --- ## Blog Post: Going Indie: Why I Chose to Self-Publish (https://edensrise.com/blog/entries/16n0-why-i-chose-to-self-publish.html) **Title:** Going Indie: Why I Chose to Self-Publish — Eden's Rise Blog **Author:** O.E. Bruening O.E. Bruening explains why he decided to self-publish Eden's Rise under his own imprint rather than pursue traditional publishing, after researching the path, talking to people inside it, and working with editors who came out of it. He gives four reasons. First, gatekeeping: agents and publishers have a genuinely hard job and must reject most submissions, but from the author's side it feels like begging into a slush pile, and a rejection often has nothing to do with a book's quality (a full fantasy list, a spent budget), with zero visibility or control. Second, creative control: he had a specific vision, hired and paid for his own illustrator, wanted a cover that stood apart, and produced an audiobook with narrators he admires (Michael Kramer and Kate Reading) whom he chose directly; a debut author carries little credibility, and the biggest trap is "the formula," where a rights-owning publisher can demand changes to make a book sell. Conflicting editorial feedback (one editor disliked his loosely connected timelines that Kirkus praised; another wanted more dragons) made him trust his instinct to keep the core of the book and set the rest aside. Third, marketing: budgets flow to established names with track records, and debut authors are largely expected to build their own platform anyway, so he reasoned he might as well keep the control and upside as an indie, a read confirmed by a friend who took an editing job at a publishing house. Fourth, editors: with a publisher you don't choose your editor and may be paired with someone just collecting a paycheck; some freelance editors he encountered were openly cynical on LinkedIn. He wanted collaborators excited about the book, so he sent a paid sample (first twenty pages or first chapter) to three or four editors and worked with the one who connected with the story. The post closes with what he's come to appreciate about traditional publishing now that he's in the trenches: distribution (getting into Ingram as an indie, especially with a self-printed illustrated book, is nearly impossible without IngramSpark), the money (indies front every cost while a publisher absorbs the risk), the sheer amount of work (disconnected systems, varying file requirements, the same cover printing differently on KDP and Ingram), and the loneliness (no team, no shared excitement). None of it changes his decision, but it made him more clear-eyed about what he gave up and more grateful for the infrastructure of traditional publishing. --- ## Blog Post: Certified Human (https://edensrise.com/blog/entries/1660-certified-human.html) **Title:** Certified Human — Eden's Rise Blog **Author:** O.E. Bruening O.E. Bruening on having Eden's Rise certified as human-created by the Human Intelligence Institute. Though he finished his first draft around the time the first version of ChatGPT appeared, the certification matters to him as a way to head off unnecessary doubt. He uses AI heavily at his software company and believes that, like the internet and the industrial revolution, AI's long-run upsides will outweigh the downsides, while acknowledging real costs such as data centers' environmental impact (drawing a parallel to Cleveland's once-burning Cuyahoga River, later cleaned up through regulation). He sees AI as a force for democratization, citing people using it to navigate legal statutes and file pro se lawsuits, while noting it also enables scams. But he argues this productivity boost is much harder to apply to art, because art is inherently human: it connects us to emotion and has always been about the artist as much as the work (the example of van Gogh). Even if AI one day writes a coherent novel, he questions the point, recounting the 800 hours he poured into his own book and how his life experiences bled onto the page. We can feel the human attention in real art and sense its absence in "AI slop." Past technologies (industrial paints, photography, YouTube, Instagram, Venmo) augmented rather than replaced artists, and he hopes AI will be the same. Until society learns to handle it, human certification offers trust in uncertain times. --- ## Blog Post: 800 Hours and Six Drafts — Part 1 (https://edensrise.com/blog/entries/1310-800-hours-and-six-drafts.html) **Title:** 800 Hours and Six Drafts — Part 1 — Eden's Rise Blog **Author:** O.E. Bruening O.E. Bruening's reflection on writing Eden's Rise. Started during NaNoWriMo in November 2022 with a mad 60,000-word first draft. Tracked time using a phone focus-mode shortcut that logged timestamps, totaling around 800 hours of focused writing and editing — not counting research, thinking, or planning. Each writing session was typically an hour or so; the work happened through consistency rather than marathon sessions. Six drafts over three and a half years. Draft one got the story out. Draft two restructured and built toward a climactic battle. Draft three was the biggest transformation: moved the Aleena timeline to eighty years before the main story, connected it to the Battle of Dyiundur, sent Halin to prison, developed Faras's arc with Sal, and nearly doubled the book from 60,000 to 110,000 words. Draft four was line editing down to 105,000 words. Draft five added Aleena's epilogue fate, a new Yorrek opening, and combined two characters into Richard. Draft six incorporated editor feedback and gave Anya more agency. Every draft read cover to cover. The hardest moment came after draft three, when beta reader feedback made clear how much more work remained. Prose quality improved noticeably across drafts: sentence rhythm, word choice, pacing. A love letter to writing as a passion. --- ## Blog Post: 800 Hours and Six Drafts — Part 2 (https://edensrise.com/blog/entries/12s0-800-hours-and-six-drafts-part-2.html) **Title:** 800 Hours and Six Drafts — Part 2 — Eden's Rise Blog **Author:** O.E. Bruening A month-by-month diary of writing Eden's Rise, companion to Part 1. Sep 2022: the idea takes shape. Oct 2022: outlining and the Prologue. Nov 2022: bulk of the first draft written during NaNoWriMo. Dec 2022: first draft at almost 64,000 words; last 10,000 actually belong to the next book. 2023: world-building through backstory stories (Halin's betrayal of Lotrair, Aleena's hatred of the dwarves), a three-act structure matrix, the prologue rewritten from Aleena's POV, Brandon Sanderson lectures and Jurassic Park structure analysis, Part 2 rearranged so Aleena opens, the spider scene reworked, the second draft finished at 88,500 (then 90,591) words, General Teanna's reveal feels right, first editor Kat delivers the key note: "The characters react too much. They don't cause the plot." 2024: beta feedback from a dozen readers; the third draft adds the "At the Palace," "The Prisoner," "A Daring Escape," "Casovan's Residence," "Ember's Fate," "Pebble & Gemshine," and "Dark Mother" chapters; Richard and Ian merged; Aleena's timeline moved to before the Battle of Dyiundur, making her the cause of the war; third draft at 109,256 words; Draft 3.5 trimmed to 105,037; developmental editor Julie Eshbaugh hired; epilogue rewritten so Teanna finds Aleena dead at Dyiundur. 2025: new "Ben" chapter, "Dark Creatures" split into "Crossroads," "Dark Creatures," and "Primal Fears"; 79 consecutive days of writing; decision to self-publish; spiders replaced with skitterbacks; line editor David Gatewood hired; Audrey Rouvin, Pascal Wijnberg, and Greg Rutkowski commissioned. 2026: narrators Michael Kramer and Kate Reading hired; Kirkus Review submission; cover designer Spiridon Giannakis hired. Final draft at just under 108,000 words. --- ## Blog Post: Narrator Spotlight: Michael Kramer & Kate Reading (https://edensrise.com/blog/entries/13e0-narrator-spotlight-michael-kramer-kate-reading.html) **Title:** Narrator Spotlight: Michael Kramer & Kate Reading — Eden's Rise Blog **Author:** O.E. Bruening Profile of Michael Kramer and Kate Reading, the married narrating duo best known for Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time and Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. O.E. Bruening chose them for their ability to give each character a distinct voice rather than simply reading text. The novel has two timelines: Michael narrates the main Eden timeline, while Kate narrates the Aleena timeline (set years earlier) and Anya's POV chapters in the Eden timeline. The collaboration was smooth and professional, with a clear refined workflow. Despite being a debut self-published author, Bruening found Michael and Kate open and welcoming, in contrast to some other artists who decline to work with self-published authors. The audiobook represents a different kind of collaboration from illustration: one built more on trust and interpretation than visual direction. Website: katereadingaudiobooks.com. --- ## Blog Post: Illustrator Spotlight: Roberto F. Castro (https://edensrise.com/blog/entries/13f3-illustrator-spotlight-roberto-f-castro.html) **Title:** Illustrator Spotlight: Roberto F. Castro — Eden's Rise Blog **Author:** O.E. Bruening Profile of Roberto F. Castro, a Spanish concept artist whose credits include Marvel films and Amazon's Rings of Power. O.E. Bruening found him on ArtStation while searching for an illustrator who thinks about space architecturally rather than focusing on objects — essential for a novel set in underground spaces never seen before. Roberto created 14 illustrations for the book. The standout piece is the three friends approaching Empire City: the moment when the reader first sees the full scale of the dwarven underground city. Describes a collaborative process in which details Roberto invented found their way back into the novel. Portfolio: robertofc.com. --- ## Blog Post: Illustrator Spotlight: Greg Rutkowski (https://edensrise.com/blog/entries/13f2-illustrator-spotlight-greg-rutkowski.html) **Title:** Illustrator Spotlight: Greg Rutkowski — Eden's Rise Blog **Author:** O.E. Bruening Profile of Greg Rutkowski, born 1988 in Zgorzelec, Poland. One of the most recognized fantasy illustrators working today, influenced by Tolkien, Frank Frazetta, and Simon Bisley. Created a full-scale physical painting (not digital) of the Battle of Dyiundur — a catastrophic battle between dwarves and dragons that left generational trauma in dwarven culture. The painting depicts General Teanna and her Berserkers alongside dwarven legionnaires in a losing fight. Inspired by Renaissance battle paintings. O.E. Bruening's father was a painter, giving this physical work personal significance. Described as collaborative and open to feedback despite his strong reputation. Portfolio: greg-rutkowski.com. --- ## Blog Post: Illustrator Spotlight: Pascal Wijnberg (https://edensrise.com/blog/entries/13f1-illustrator-spotlight-pascal-wijnberg.html) **Title:** Illustrator Spotlight: Pascal Wijnberg — Eden's Rise Blog **Author:** O.E. Bruening Profile of Pascal Wijnberg, originally from Holland, now based in Perth, Western Australia. A designer by trade who developed a distinctive illustration style through drawing as a break from screen work. Found on Instagram. Created two naturalistic ink drawings of creatures invented for Eden's Rise: the Purl Fox and the Skitterback, animals that evolved entirely underground. Both rendered in ink with no color or background, as if sketched from life by a character in the novel. Known for meticulous, disciplined attention to how animals actually look. Instagram: @pas_draws. --- ## Blog Post: Illustrator Spotlight: Audrey Rouvin (https://edensrise.com/blog/entries/13f0-illustrator-spotlight-audrey-rouvin.html) **Title:** Illustrator Spotlight: Audrey Rouvin — Eden's Rise Blog **Author:** O.E. Bruening Profile of Audrey Rouvin, a French illustrator based in Bretagne. Found on Instagram. Created an illustration of Master Halin's study — a cozy dwarven scholar's room in the town of Iridur — designed to contain a hidden QR code that bridges the physical book to the website. The QR code sits at the center of the image surrounded by overflowing bookshelves, embedded naturally in the scene. The study contains small details from the novel for readers to discover: a map, a human-scale desk that looks out of place, and the axoscope (a dwarven instrument). Described as a warm, intimate counterpoint to the epic illustrations from Roberto F. Castro and Greg Rutkowski. Instagram: @audrey_rouvin. --- ## Blog Post: Cover Designer Spotlight: Spiridon Giannakis (https://edensrise.com/blog/entries/13f4-cover-designer-spotlight-spiridon-giannakis.html) **Title:** Cover Designer Spotlight: Spiridon Giannakis — Eden's Rise Blog **Author:** O.E. Bruening Profile of Spiridon Giannakis, a German designer and publisher who has designed countless art books, many for publishers like Editions Caurette and for artists including Kim Jung Gi, Abigail Larson, Björn Hurri, and Even Mehl Amundsen. Recommended to O.E. Bruening by Greg Rutkowski after a long and frustrating search for a cover designer who could break from the template-driven look of most contemporary fantasy covers. Spiridon picked an unexpected Roberto F. Castro illustration the author had set aside and, a few weeks later, delivered a first draft that used three colors with clean typography, evoking 1970s mass-market paperbacks and movie posters while feeling contemporary. Bold, unconventional, and unlikely to have cleared approval at a big publishing house for a debut author — framed in the post as a concrete example of the creative freedom of self-publishing. Website: artbook-news.com/about. --- ## Key Facts - **Title:** Eden's Rise: The Empire Under the Mountains - **Author:** O.E. Bruening - **Publisher:** Ironthale Press LLC - **ISBN:** 979-8-9933029-0-4 - **Genre:** Epic Fantasy - **Audience:** Middle Grade to Adult - **Release date:** Oct 24th, 2026 - **Setting:** Underground dwarven empire; humans are second-class citizens - **Core theme:** Belonging and justice are not the same thing - **Language:** English - **Domain:** https://edensrise.com/ - **Author social:** https://www.instagram.com/oebruening/ - **Content note:** Written entirely without AI (labeled "No AI" on cover)