...along comes this monstrosity. I've had more than one dig at some of the awful Wheel of Time covers in the past, but this one doesn't just take the biscuit - it wolfs it down and shits it back out.Brandon Sanderson has attempted to allay fears by stating that this cover is only a 'mock up' - let's hope so, because it blows a huge hole in the credibility of Sanderson's novel before it's even been released.
"It certainly looks like Mr Sweet's work," Sanderson opines on his blog (through gritted teeth, presumably). He's right too, because Sweet's artwork is highly distinctive - for all the wrong reasons (ie, being crap).
The only reason I've not featured this as one of my 'crap fantasy book covers' is simply because it's not yet been confirmed as the proper artwork (it does look rather rough, admittedly). But if I did feature it, then I'd give it the full 10/10 on the crap-o-meter because it's simply the worst fantasy book cover I think I've ever seen.
Seriously, what are they thinking? Maybe they've just decided that WOT is so popular that it doesn't matter what goes on the front (which is probably true, to be honest). If I was Sanderson though, I'd be fuming if that was the cover that was going on the book I'd put so much effort and risk into (which he has).
Cover aside, a veritable shit-storm is brewing over the news that the novel may be split into three, rather than two, volumes (recessions - don't you just love 'em?) and that they may be published up to a year apart (talk about beating WOT fans over the head with a shitty stick). Not only that, but rumour suggests that the first editions may be published in trade paperback rather than hardcover (though that would seem like an unbelievably dumb decision).
For the full news, check out Adam's feature over at The Wertzone.
10 comments:
You know, as I've been a bit out of the Fantasy loop for a while and buy most of my books online (and hence don't see as many random covers) I didn't even know until I visited this blog that cheesy covers like this were still being made! It looks like something from a few decades ago, as if somebody made a 'Shit Generic Fantasy Cover Generator' and this is what it came up with. This is part of the reason people take the piss out of SFF. I couldn't, in all honesty, abide having that on my bookshelf.
Did Rand get his legs broken at some point and then put together by an inept and drunk surgeon? Because they look really twisted. :)
Alex, you could hide it between some Fabio Neckbiter Romance covers. :D
While not a super-big fan of this style of cover now, I know back in the day it was all the rage. So seeing this cover lets me know where the book fits in the genre chronologically. In other words, the cover tells me it's a "classic" fantasy novel.
Naff cover, for a naff series. I read the first book years ago and was not at all impressed by it. A couple of my mates have read all of the books, poor bastards, and even they say that the last books Jordan wrote before his death were a bit of a trial.
Now, Jordan's Conan novels are another matter. He and L Sprague De Camp helped me while away many a happy teenage hour taking my mind of zits and girls.
Have I mentioned that Conan T. Barbarian is my all time favourite fantasy character?? I will quit before I witter on yet again about the mighty Cimmerian.
Iain: I haven't actually read any Conan yet, keep meaning to but the fact that everything else I've read by Howard has been massively, unrelentingly pulpy and chock full of dodgy racial stereotypes/theories has put me off a bit.
After reading the Solomon Kane stories for instance I felt like I'd just binged on junkfood, and vowed to stay away from glowering, mightily thewed protagonists til the indigestion'd subsided.
It's the angle of the dude's head that gets me - the dimensions are all wrong, as usual.
In terms of the series itself, I read and really enjoyed TEOTW, then gave up a third of the way into the second novel because it got rather strange...and a bit dull.
The cover is a total embarrassment for the publisher. It looks like Rand is dancing a drunk jig...without a hand? Not exactly what I would expect for one of the most anticipated fantasy novels of the year, of the decade...completely underwhelming...
It reminds me of the box cover from the movie Saturday Night Fever.
Spoiler Alert!: referring to the comment about Rand seemingly not having a hand, in the last book he lost his hand. Hence the lack of a hand.
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