12 thoughts on “2009 Speculative Cover Finalists”

  1. I have to go with Warbreaker on this one, very engaging (though see my comments on Fantasy novels to understand that my opinions aren't all that trustworthy) The Dragon one was a close runner up, however.

    PS–all the 'Lee' comments are me–I'm too lazy to log out of my husband's account and keep forgetting to manually fix it when I publish the comment. Duh.

  2. I like The Dragon War Relic and Within The Flame the best. I'm a fan of an interprative graphic statement instead of a picture that can mess with my own vision when I'm reading.

  3. Ooh. I love The Dragon War Relic and Within the Flame. They both have a simple kind of look but are still intense in both color and meaning. I'll have to go with Within the Flame though. That one's just cool.

  4. CHAOSBOUND!!!!

    Its done by a great Philipino artist (I think) thats captures a fantasy essence I love.

  5. I'm going for The Dragon War Relic on this one, because the picture makes me wonder if there's space travel involved.

    I almost chose The Princess and the Sword, but decided that she looked too wimpy and her grip on the sword was much too loose.

    After seeing the cover of Within the Flame, I immediately started thinking of it as The Flame Within, because I see the flame inside the eye. I'm not sure that's a good thing.

  6. Chaosbound looks like a traditional cover, the kind that its readers expect. It receives my vote. The artwork supports the story. The Flame Within cover reminds me of a vampire book so I rejected it.

  7. Warbreaker. I think it's wicked awesome, with the blue hair and colorful flourish on the left side. I need to read this one–I loved Sanderson's Mistborn series.

  8. None of these covers are to die for. But Warbreaker is fairly compelling. It also goes with the book and helps the reader to visualize the main character.

  9. Least fav to most fav…

    Princess of the Sword — epic fantasy from the look of the cover. I like the draping of her clothing, the wind, the strength in her. But like another commenter said, she doesn't quite look fierce enough or grip the sword tight enough.

    Within the Flame is captivating. I like the gray tones with the spot orange, the flames in the eye. Absolutely captivating. But it's a little reminiscent of The Host, which did it a bit better.

    I like the swirls and love the colors of The Dragon War Relic. I like the whole look of it and would pick it up because of it. But I don't see how it relates to the title. It looks like outer space science fiction, but it sounds like dragon fantasy. Makes me wonder a bit. Whether or not I'd buy it depends on what the back said.

    The last two I went back and forth on. Tough choice for me. But I finally decided…

    Chaosbound – The embodiment of epic fantasy. You have the strong muscled hero, fighting the fierce white bear. You see the challenge, the struggle. I love the title font. Looks like that bear has taken some bites out of it. I love this type of story and I love the illustration for it.

    But… that color pop on Warbreaker broke the tie. It is gorgeous! I love the woman, the white hair, the white swirl of the dress, the placement of the sword, the rainbow swirl – and the way all of it pops against that black background.

Comments are closed.