If you missed my post a few weeks ago, I recently got into the Goodreads group Top Five Wednesday, which is a group where a topic for a top five list is given, and everyone gives their rankings for that list. (Check out the group right here, and you can see my previous top five here.)
You may have noticed that I didn't do Top Five Wednesday for the past two weeks, and that's because I just didn't connect with the last two topics. I looked at them, and couldn't come up with anything whatsoever.
This topic, however, made me SUPER EXCITED!
IT'S TIME TO TALK ABOUT BOOK COVERS!!!!!!
I. Love. Book covers. I'm a really visual and artistic person, and beautiful book covers make me so VERY happy.
And that also made this list a bit...difficult, since I had to narrow down the book covers I love to my top five.
But I did it. Somehow, I did it.
So, without further ado and not actually in any particular order since I love them all and there are many others that could also rank up here with them, here are five of my favourite book covers.
The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1); by Brandon Sanderson.
Cover art by Michael Whelan
In the fantasy art world, Michael Whelan is a bit of a legend. After doing cover design for series like Anne McAffery's Pern books and Stephen King's Dark Tower series, as well as many others, he has made a massive name for himself.
So, naturally I had to start with my favourite cover by him.
The picture I took really doesn't do it justice.
The cover of this book really does the story justice for me, though. From the approaching storm, the sweeping landscape of the Shattered Plains, to the Shardbearer making his challenge across the canyons to his enemies, it really captures the sheer scope of the epic story that Brandon is telling.
I actually like this picture enough that it was my desktop background for quite a long time, so there is also that to consider...
Overall, I love this cover. It represents the series well, and continues to draw me in all these years later.
A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1); by V. E. Schwab
Cover art by Will Staehle
What can I say about the design and art for the Shades of Magic series that hasn't already been said?
Will Staehle outdid himself with these books. The art for A Darker Shade of Magic is what got me wanting to read the series in the first place. I had heard of them beforehand, but then I saw how beautiful these books looked in person. The red, black, and white theme fits the story itself beautifully, and it creates an overall striking image to look at on the shelf.
Simple and striking, the design for these books is a definite attention-grabber.
The Vagrant (The Vagrant #1); by Peter Newman
Cover art by Jaime Jones
This book immediately pops to my head when I think of cool covers. I mean...just look at it. This cover, like the ones before it, is a perfect reflection of what is inside the book.
You'll see that comment a lot in this post. It's one of my criteria for a good cover...
Jaime Jones managed to capture the bleak, dark, and mysterious feel of The Vagrant in this piece of art. The dystopian-fantasy-high-technology-magical-post-apocalyptic feel of the world is somehow caught. The dark and mysterious atmosphere that is present in the story is present in the picture.
I love it. I love it so much.
Also, read this book. It's fantastic.
Kill the Farm Boy (The Tales of Pell #1); by Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne
Book design by Caroline Cunningham
Ah...yet another one where my picture does not do the beauty of this cover justice...
The title of this book is what got my attention, but the cover drew me back to it again and again. The colours are beautiful, the design really eye-catching, and the overall look of it is beautiful and illustrative. I particularly love the border design and the silhouette effect for the farm boy, goat, and chicken.
There's also the tagline on the cover. As a lover of wordplay, how could this cover not catch my attention?
This book may be a hilarious spoof on classic fairy tale tropes, but the cover is certainly worthy of a great and heroic tale.
The Legends of the First Empire Books 1-3; by Michael J. Sullivan
Cover art by Marc Simonetti
...okay, so I might have cheated, but if I didn't then this entire post would just be covers done by Marc Simonetti. These three are my favourites by him, and I really couldn't just pick one, so I'm putting them all together for this one...
If you couldn't tell, Marc Simonetti is my favourite cover artist. The man's artwork is incredible, and the art that he does for Legends of the First Empire is absolutely stunning. His greatest skill truly lies in creating fantasy worlds and landscapes, and that is exactly what he does for the world of Elan in these books, from great trees to massive cities. The atmosphere of these covers fits the stories within the pages, and he somehow manages to make every character identifiable even as a tiny silhouette before the true focus of the worlds.
Anyway, those are some of my favourite covers from my shelves. What are some of your favourite covers? Let me know in the comments down below, I'd love to hear about them.
Have a great day, and I'll talk to you again later.
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