Most gorgeous bookcovers

[j d worthington]

Sorry, I should have specified; yes, I meant the artwork. And thank you very much. Very striking. I think what I like about Howe's work is the fact that, without seeming like, as Tolkien once derisively put it, I believe, a "snapshot from fairyland", he does seem to capture a dynamic moment in time, yet it retains very much the feel of art rather than the photorealism school (which can be good art, but is too often dreadfully dull).

Again, thanks for sharing; no, I've never seen those.

 

[Nokia]

I like the covers for the UK versions of the black magician trilogy by Trudi Canavan.

I don't think I would of picked up the books otherwise. Very eye catching.

Yeah, I've found the covers quite tempting more than once. Have you read them? Would you recommend them?

 

[Mark Robson]

I would recommend them, Nokia. I found them an easy read with a fascinating backdrop. I was a little disappointed with the ending, but as a debut series this was most impressive. I suspect that Trudi Canavan is going to become a big name in fantasy.

 

[Kettricken]

Nokia, I would also recommend the 'black magician trilogy'. The first book wasn't really striking, but the second and third book I thought were quite good.

The (cover)art from Dave McKean (who worked a few times with Neil Gaiman, e.g. 'Coraline', 'Mirrormask' and 'Sandman') is also very good:
http://www.mckean-art.co.uk/
I like the surreal feeling which triggers your imagination. Something very important in Fantasy/SF, IMO.

 

[purple_kathryn]

Yeah, I've found the covers quite tempting more than once. Have you read them? Would you recommend them?

Definitely! I plan to read them again at some point!!

 

[speedingslug]

I love cover art.

But I did sort of build a site about it

Geoff Talyor does some great covers, Mark Salawowski's Moorcock covers are some of my fav's.
If i've missed any artist off the site that you know please let me know


http://www.speedingslug.com/

 

[Tau Zero]

While these covers may not be beautiful, they are stiking to me simply because they would never, EVER, be published in America.

 

[j d worthington]

Yes, the Mayflower Moorcock covers always were different. I still have a handful of those, though quite a few of them got lost in one of my various moves (*sigh*).

 

[Tau Zero]

Yes, the Mayflower Moorcock covers always were different. I still have a handful of those, though quite a few of them got lost in one of my various moves (*sigh*).

They always were original. Remember these?

 

[j d worthington]

Indeed. The Eternal Champion is one of those I still have, along with The Winds of Limbo, The Blood Red Game and The Shores of Death. In fact, quite a few of the Moorcock I first read were from that set -- they certainly had something oddly special about them. Thanks for putting them on here -- nice to see them again.

 

[Tau Zero]

I have those too, and some others yet. I have so many because they were the only Moorcock i could get; they weren't printing them in the US. So i had to pay import prices, a shocking $1.75. US paperbacks were going for $0.75. Boy, did that upset me, but i had to have them!

 

[Lunatic]

This one caught my eye. The cover for Gary Wassner's 4th book in his Gemquest series.

 

[tiny99]

Re: Most gorgous bookcovers

One recent accquisition of mine was a library classic collection of 26 short stories by HG Wells, it has a beautfiul cover reminsicent of those 1950s SF movie posters.[/quote

Have only just started reading Wells. Just finished The Time Traveller and War of the Worlds but this sounds like it may tickle my fancy also.

Any good????

 

[Brys]

Re: Most gorgous bookcovers

Gary Wassner's books seem to have some of the best covers of any fantasy novels. I don't know how he managed to get them, but they are certainly eye catching.

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/1590920783.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/1590920805.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Yeah, I've found the covers quite tempting more than once. Have you read them? Would you recommend them?

I've only read Magician's Guild, but it's one of the three worst novels I've read this year (and I've read nearly 75). It was badly written, very predictable, filled with deus ex machinas and poor characterisation. There were one or two interesting ideas, but they weren't explored. It was what you would expect from an debut novel of a hack fantasist - it may not have been a copy of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, but it's nonetheless filled with cliches. Unlike the other awful fantasy novel I read this year (Ian Irvine's Geomancer), it was readable - but then again it lacked any of the redeeming imagination of Geomancer. I've heard it improves later on, but it certainly wasn't an impressive debut when you compare it with the likes of Bakker's the Darkness that Comes Before, Erikson's Gardens of the Moon or even Sanderson's Elantris.

 

[Milk]

I realize it doesnt have sword weilding dragons or spaceships rendered by famous artists or anything, but its my favorite book cover of all time.
The book inside is my favorite Sci-fi book too.

It was the amazing cover that drew me in. I had never heard about the movie or comic relating to the novel till I saw this book cover and had to check it out. I like the fonts the cover uses and the minimal art.

It was this cover that let me explore the most enjoyable book ive ever read.

This is why I regret the direction that books sales are turning, nowadays I can only find the books I want to read from searching them over the internet, instead of seeing the cover in real life at a store and thumbing through them to make the decision.
I miss the days of walking into a book store and having the cover of a novel draw me into purchasing it. Seeing a picture on amazon.com just isnt the same to me as holding the book in my hands and walking to the cash register to buy it.

 

[SpaceShip]

I only seem to notice covers if they have a definite fantasy content - has to be very artistic with faeries, dragons and the like in groves or mountains. Has to be very magical.

 

[SpaceShip]

PS - but then again, the ones I remember I cannot remember the title of the book or anything else about them - just the covers! Getting lost in fantasy again!

 

[aarti]

I like the US hardcover for Guy Gavriel Kay's A Song for Arbonne. But I admit I don't spend as much time looking at bookcovers as I might- anything beyond, "Oh, that's a cool cover!" is pretty much lost as I look at the blurb.

 

[Riselka]

I quite like the artwork for the hardcover of Pauline Gedge's "The Eagle and the Raven".

I own the mass market version of the book that maintains a portion of the hardcover artwork and am actively searching for the hardcover to replace my mass market copy.

 

[Joel007]

Geoff Taylor does indeed rule at cover art