Wheel of Time Cover Art for the US Hardback Editions
Some time ago, I posted the cover art for the ebook editions of The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan. For the sake of comparison, here is the art for the US hardback editions. All of these covers were done by Darrell K. Sweet except for the last book, A Memory of Light, which was done by Michael Whelan.
Click each image to see a larger version.
Prequel — New Spring cover art
1. The Eye of the World — outside cover art
The Eye of the World — inside front cover art
2. The Great Hunt cover art
3. The Dragon Reborn cover art
4. The Shadow Rising cover art
5. The Fires of Heaven cover art
6. Lord of Chaos cover art
7. A Crown of Swords cover art
8. Path of Daggers cover art
9. Winter’s Heart cover art
10. Crossroads of Twilight cover art
11. Knife of Dreams cover art
12. The Gathering Storm cover art
13. The Towers of Midnight cover art
14. A Memory of Light — Darrell K. Sweet unfinished concept art
Mr. Sweet passed away before finishing the cover.
A Memory of Light cover art — Michael Whelan
Not fond of any of these. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly why, but I don’t like the style.
They all feel kind of static, and the proportions in a few of them are really weird. Like what’s up with that Trogdor-style bicep on the Crown of Swords cover? And why is Moiraine so midget-sized on the Eye of the World?
I dunno. I can’t draw to save my life, and I don’t really know what makes good cover art either, so I’m in no position to judge. All I know is they don’t do anything for me.
I think the worst thing about these covers is the badly proportioned human figures. A lot of these people look practically deformed. I’m also not font of some of the cheesy medieval trappings like the ornamental cloth harnesses on the horses. The use of color is great sometimes, but other times seems awfully gaudy. Anyway, I’m kind of like you, Ing. I’m not well versed in art for book covers or otherwise, but I do know that there are lots of elements of these covers that turn me off. I like the Michael Whelan cover much better, though.
Sweet does have his supporters. Some people point out that his art for these covers revitalized cover art for the fantasy genre at a time when it was pretty awful. If you look at Sweet’s web page, you’ll note that he’s actually quite good at landscapes and does some really great wildlife. I don’t know why he didn’t seem able to translate that into his fantasy paintings.
These covers…..are terrible. They don’t give a good first impression when picking up these books for the first time.
Honestly, the best one in the lot is the Path of Daggers cover :\
Hamza, I agree. The cover for Path of Daggers is the best by far. I also like the covers for The Eye of the World and The Dragon Reborn to a lesser extent.
Sweet died? That’s… terrible? I’ll miss his carefully researched depictions of characters and people from the books his art covered.