A little while ago a fantasy author completely dissed what sure seemed like an okay fantasy cover to me (if that’s bad so’re 95% of fantasy covers). This got me wondering which covers I’d consider really good- which turns out to mean “gets me curious about the characters and what set up the scene shown.”
I did a little poking and came up with a list probably about when I read frequently more than art. And I have to disqualify awesome art for TTRPG splat books and modules. (1/2)
Some of these aren’t great books but;
Kender, Gully Dwarves and Gnomes
Weasel’s Luck
Yvgenie
Talismans of Shannara
The Sword of Shannara
The White Dragon
The Kif Strike Back
Chanur’s Homecoming
The Vanishing Tower
The Sailor on the Seas of Fate
Conan
Conan of Cimmeria (both these actually give a clue what happens in the Conan stories, which is a qualification that knocks out a lot of Frazetta paintings)
Special mention to Robert Gould’s Elric covers; something about them really grabbed me.
Like if I were going to include TTRPG covers for “makes me want to pick up the book when I might not otherwise” there’s some awesome Angus McBride and Wayne Reynolds covers, but the winner hands down is Keith Parkinson’s cover for Adventures in the Northern Wilderness.
And yes I’m including Larry Elmore’s cover for 1e Shadowrun, and 3e Call of Cthulhu, which I consider the best main rulesbook covers ever.
Actually though I have to include Forest of Doom because while technically a game cover, it did get me into the book- and it’s literally the first place I’d ever seen Iain McCaig’s art.