Cover Love – Five Book Covers I Adore

I’ve seen a few covers lately that have caused me to fawn over them more than usual, and I’ve decided that my delight must be shared with the rest of you.  These covers also happen to be for books I wholeheartedly recommend, so if they catch your eye, please go check them out!

THE REPUBLIC OF THIEVES by Scott Lynch
I just absolutely  love the aesthetic of this cover.  I have a special place in my heart for Venetian masquerade and another special place for a lady with lots of knives, so the artwork checks a lot of boxes.  It’s elegant and bloody, which basically describes the GENTLEMAN BASTARDS series.

SKYWARD by Brandon Sanderson
This was the cover that made me think about writing this post to begin with.  It’s seemingly simple artwork, and when I first saw it, I thought it was pretty, but unremarkable.  After I finished the book, I looked again at the cover as I was shelving it and suddenly it clicked that the cover was a specific moment and it filled me with glee.  I loved that it was a cover that took on new significance once you finished the story!

NEVER DIE by Rob J. Hayes
What I love about this cover is that it gives you the anticipation of the team to come.  Whenever I met someone whose description matched someone on the cover, I would get a little rush of excitement.  It might seem spoilery, but in this case, I knew that each member was supposed to be a legendary warrior, one with a special gift that made them truly stand out, and I was eager to see what that was.

THUNDERHEAD by Neal Stephenson
The artwork for book two of ARC OF A SCYTHE is absolutely gorgeous. Main characters Rown and Citra are featured stylistically, together but against each other in a way that captures their very tenuous relationship at the beginning of THUNDERHEAD.  Besides loving the way the cover plays with the colors of their Scythe cloaks, I love that there’s an hourglass quality to the arrangement, important imagery in a book dealing with death, immortality, and an impending conflict.

BLOODLINE by Claudia Gray
The STAR WARS cover art lately has been ON POINT.  This cover does a great job of juxtaposing the tensions in Leia Organa’s life: the looming legacy of her father, the burgeoning New Republic, and the Resistance that will begin to coalesce by the end of this story.  The colors themselves are arresting, and you can see the weight resting on Leia’s hunched shoulders.

So what artwork do you love?  Send all your gorgeous covers my way!