While thinking about book covers, I decided to survey recent book
covers in adult historical fiction. I wanted to see which ones most caught my
eye and try to figure out what made them good covers.
I went through more than 130 recent covers by searching on Amazon and
Barnes and Noble using keywords such as "historical fiction" plus
"Anglo Saxon", "medieval", or "Viking". I was
surprised to find so many recent books depicting the early medieval years; when
I searched about two years ago, I found relatively few works of fiction based
in Anglo-Saxon times. I noticed that most covers for such works of historical
fiction fell in one or more of the following categories:
Person – drawing
Person – photo
Animal – photo or naturalistic drawing
Object – photo or realistic
drawing
Symbol or abstract representation (of person, animal, object, idea,
etc)
Building or other built structures in the landscape
Natural landscape
I will show the recent book covers I liked best in each of these
categories. There were more good covers than what I include in this posting; a
few more good covers will be discussed in my next posting (part 3 on book
covers). The covers highlighted in these postings are ones that I like, but
they don’t necessarily follow all the standard “rules” of good cover design.
For example, some articles suggest that pictures of persons should be avoided
on book covers unless the face is hidden. The face can be obscured when the
person is facing away, when only part of the body such as the torso is shown,
when the figure is shown in silhouette, or when hoods or other articles of
clothing hide the face. However, as mentioned in
part
1 on book covers, I like to see people with faces on book covers, so I have
included some examples here.
I will add a few comments here on each book cover, and my next posting
(part 3) will go into more detail on some attributes that I think make certain
book covers more desirable. Most of my examples of excellent covers in this
posting are from 2013 or 2014. In this post, I am only commenting on the
covers; at this time, I have not yet read most of these recent books with the
best covers. I have read two of them – you can find my reviews for
Edwin:
High King of Britain and
God’s
Daughter on this blog.
Person – drawing
The nicely composed image shows a battle-weary warrior against a
battleground scene. The main image is detailed enough that I am not sure
whether it is a drawing or a photograph.
This image is from the Bayeux Tapestry. Sometimes medieval-era
illustrations can appear flat and stilted to modern eyes, but the colors and
fonts on the cover frame an attractive presentation of this ancient image that
helped
inspire the
book.
This book is older than the other books in this posting but is included
here due to my special interest in medieval healers. The cover is simple but appealing
with the color illustration and the title font that resembles uncial writing.
Person – photo
I think that photos are incredibly difficult to use well on historical
fiction book covers depicting long-ago times. Clothing styles, hair styles, and
make-up are very different today from in the distant past. Attempts to replicate
older styles often result in a model who resembles a first-timer at a SCA
event. However, when a cover designer finds the right model and the right
background, the results can be stunning, as is the case for the God’s Daughter cover image. The model conveys
just the right balance of beauty and toughness that corresponds very well with
the character of Gudrid as described in the novel, and the water in the
background also goes well with the setting of the book.
One disadvantage of using stock photos for cover images is that someone
else may create a cover using the same model. The model is facing in opposite
directions on the covers of God’s
Daughter and Lady Danger; both
books came up in Amazon searches using the keywords I have indicated.
This cover appears to feature the same model as God’s Daughter and Lady
Danger, but in a different pose so the similarity is not as obvious as for
the other two books.
This book did not turn up in my keyword searches; I came across it
while searching for more information about Edoardo Albert’s book
Edwin. I am glad I found this book, with
its striking and luminous cover image of a veiled model against a background of
Bamburgh Castle along the Northumbrian coast. I’m not sure that either the deep
black dye of her dress or sheer veils with such fine (machined-quality)
stitching would have been found in 9
th century Northumbria, but some
have argued that fine silk textiles may have been widely
available
in late Anglo-Saxon England, so I will not count this image as a definite
anachronism! The way in which the veil is draped is consistent with that shown
in some Anglo-Saxon drawings.
The horse and rider going through the snow provide an excellent
representation of the title of the book. The image makes me wonder where he is
traveling in such weather.
Animal – photo or naturalistic
drawing
The raven silhouette is the component that first caught my eye in this
image, but it blends in nicely with the photo of the longship on the water.
One main bee image and several lighter ones are perched on a honeycomb
background that resembles the vellum used in manuscripts of the time. Bees were
recognized as important in Anglo-Saxon times. Bees make appearances in an Old
English metrical charm, in the famed name of Beowulf, and in the Exeter book
riddles (according to some widely accepted solutions). Bees also made the honey
for mead, an essential beverage at social gatherings of the time. At a time
when refined sugars were not available, honey was highly valued as a sweetener
and it was also included in many medicinal remedies.
Object – photo or realistic
drawing
I tend not to be drawn as much to covers depicting objects as to book
covers with pictures of people or animals. But the crown on the Cornwall cover
is visually compelling. When I saw the title and the image, I immediately started
to wonder whose head should be wearing the crown.
The Sutton Hoo helmet and other Anglo-Saxon helmets appear on many book
covers about Anglo-Saxon times. In Jim Gardener’s artwork for Wall’s cover, a
skull is wearing an Anglo-Saxon style helmet. The image made me curious about
why the helmet would be on a skull and not on a living person. Along with the
bare trees and ravens at the base of the picture, the overall effect is
somewhat eerie. It definitely demands attention and makes you want to find out
more about the book and the person who wore the helmet during his life. The
author and cover designer elected to have only the image with no text on the
book cover. I can understand why they would want to let the image have its maximal
effect, but I prefer the usual practice of listing the title and author on the
front cover. I considered placing this cover under the next category (symbol or
abstract representation), but the helmet is drawn with a realistic level of
detail so I left it under the “object” category.
Symbol or abstract
representation
The boar on the cover resembles the boar crests on the Pioneer and
Benty Grange Anglo-Saxon helmets. Such helm ornaments are described in Beowulf,
and Albert places boar crests on the helmets worn by Edwin’s followers.
|
Boar
crest from the seventh-century Pioneer helmet. From the original photo
by Nathandbeal, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
License. |
|
Boar
crest from the Benty Grange helmet, made around 650 AD. Photo copyrighted by Museums Sheffield and
used with permission. More information on the helmet and its boar image is
available at the Museums Sheffield website (search for “Benty
Grange helmet” or for Accession number J93.1189) or at the I Dig Sheffield site
for the helmet
or the boar
ornament. |
The boar on the Edwin cover
would be at home on a medieval illuminated manuscript. The combination of the
boar image with the uncial-like font of the word “Edwin” provides a nice
seventh-century feel that is still attractive today.
The dragon in this image is stylized in a manner typical of Anglo-Saxon
design, and the page looks like vellum. In combination with the font, the
overall effect evokes a page from a medieval manuscript.
Building or other built
structures in the landscape
These covers are very simple, with a color wash over what appears to be
a photo from West Stow Anglo-Saxon Village or a similar reconstructed
Anglo-Saxon site. There is nothing fancy to catch the eye, but somehow I kept
going back to look at these images when they were among many covers on a page
of search results.
The Changeling and The Loom of Battle comprise an expanded
version of The Saxon Tapestry, first
published in 1991. Although the new covers are attractive and certainly do
their job of drawing the potential reader in, I prefer the old covers from Hodder
and Stoughton:
|
Cover
from the hardback edition of The Saxon
Tapestry, Hodder and Stoughton (first
published in 1991 in the UK) |
|
Cover
from the paperback edition of The Saxon
Tapestry, Hodder and Stoughton (first
published in 1991 in the UK) |
Natural landscape
Natural landscapes play in important role in many covers as backdrop
for a person or other feature. For beautiful examples, see the covers above for
The Northumbrian Saga, God’s Daughter, and Shadow of the Raven. Although I enjoy looking at pictures of
natural landscapes, I do not ordinarily think a landscape alone serves as an
effective cover. However, the peaceful shoreline image on the cover of Place of Repose nicely sets the tone
expected in a novel with that name. In the acknowledgements, Tiernan mentions
that photographer Adam Ward captured the image of light on Lindisfarne, an
appropriate place for a novel honoring the final journey of St. Cuthbert.
My next post (part 3 on covers) looks more fully at the usual features
of good book covers. In that post I will list about ten more excellent book
covers in medieval historical fiction.
Do you agree with my list of the best recent book covers in this genre?
Or do you have other favorites?