I love the WoT ( you might have figured it already) but the one thing I never liked about it was the first Orbit's covers. If I did not know the books were amazing before seeing those covers I would never picked those books up from a bookstore shelf. The covers look childish and I truly have no patient for young adult fantasy books ( My apologies to all Harry Potter and such fans but I just can't stand that type of fantasy literature - in my book, fantasy literature is a very serious and profound type of art, the characters and plots always so rich and meaningful, bringing us the memories of lost values and imaginary realities that I cannot compute with schools of wizardry and teenage dragon tamers- big respect to the authors but not my cup of ale ). Anyways, so you just have an idea of the type of covers Orbit did for WoT that I dont like, here is one example:
Although those Orbit covers for the first Wheel of Time books are considered collectibles nowadays, I just don't like them. Now the "new" Orbit covers I really love, they can make even the most demanding fantasy reader wonder about what's inside those black mysterious covers. Here's one :
But enough about the past and lets focus on the present. Tor is publishing the e-book versions of the entire WoT saga and is inviting great fantasy digital artists to do them. This post is intended as a praise for the new Knife of Dreams e-book on Tor, by the artist Michael Komarck. It displays Min and Rand Al Thor battling one of the forsaken,
Semirhage. Don't you love it?
Here's an excerpt from Tor's article about this cover :
"
Knife of Dreams, volume eleven in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time, will be available in ebook form on August 24th. In celebration of Jordan’s work, we have commissioned fourteen artists to interpret one of the Wheel of Time books in their own style. (Previous editions can be seen here. The first seven ebooks can be purchased here.)(...)"
"At this point in the series Rand’s physical and mental stability is breaking down. Komarck’s tight composition and unconventional angles make the viewer feel that imbalance. Komarck engages you by making you feel slightly uncomfortable, almost wishing you could take a step back to regain your composure."
To see more of Michael Komarck’s illustrations visit his website.
