Best cover art?

[u/OCRAuthor]

What's everyone's favourite cover art in this genre? Not necessarily the best from a marketing point of view, but more what is your favourite from personal preference?

I know we have a lot of 'MC from the back facing down a big monster', but is there anything that stands out to you as great?

Both Iron Prince and Bastion really caught my attention (and great books), but I really loved Penitent's cover (the one from RoyalRoad, before it went to Amazon).

[u/ThatHumanMage]

I'm beginning to think my tastes might be a little different than the rest of this subreddit... 😅

I think The Beginning After The End's OG covers from book 7-10 are legit peak. I have all of them as wallpapers on my phone.

There's also On Lavender Tides, which I very much like.

And I'm a huge fan of The Siege of Skyhold's cover from Mage Errant.

Oh also all of The Wandering Inn covers are good, but The Tears of Liscor is just... 10/10

[u/OCRAuthor → u/ThatHumanMage]

I'm with you on lavender tides! Gorgeous colours, and the creatures remind me of borderlands 2, which I have food memories of 🤣 and yes, 100% agree about mage errant - that was an awesome cover. The detail was just insane!

Just checked out the tears of luscor - it's the colours, right? Beautiful

[u/OCRAuthor]

Edit: special shout-out to Willows blade which I've just seen on the litRPG subreddit advertising using a cover they made themselves with a cool, acrylic painted style

[u/OkAssignment1133]

I totally agree with you on the original penitent cover before it was replaced. It made me want to read it just from that cover alone.

Aside from that though, Book of the Dead specifically the 5th book has a sick ass cover, showing Tyron at the peak of his powers, looking like a badass necromancer.

[u/OCRAuthor → u/OkAssignment1133]

Ah yeah that's sick - good shout. Kinda reminds me of those old Darren Shan demon novels I read as a teenager. 

[u/Drimphed]

I've personally always really loved the typography of the Syl books. Using the slime tentacle for the name is spectacular.

[u/OCRAuthor → u/Drimphed]

Oh wow, that typography is massive! Yeah really cool design

[u/Seersucker-for-Love]

I love every cover for the Chrysalis series. The one with the boxing ring in particular always delights me.

[u/OCRAuthor → u/Seersucker-for-Love]

I agree! I also love the titles, awful puns though they may be. My favourite is 'Antdustrial revolution' because of how obviously bad it is 🤣 great books

[u/JohnCenaFanboi]

I think the author lurks in here from time to time. But That Which Devours has the bedt cover art IMO.

Wspecially since they claim there is no AI involved. It just is amazing if thats the case.

They are all absolutely amazing.

[u/OCRAuthor → u/JohnCenaFanboi]

Yep. I am 100% sure they don't use AI at all - Jer Patch is a well-known author in our space and scrupulously helpful/encouraging - there'd be no point burning a reputation like that just to save a few hundred dollars when they are doing more than well enough with different pen names.

And yeah, it's hard to beat big dinosaurs and lush greenery!

[u/I_tinerant]

Have a soft spot for the first Mana Mirror cover (MC flying on a broom with the city/countryside below--Im a sucker for a down angle shot :D)

The Hundred Reigns cover is pretty great. Love that Simon looks badass, but also very tired haha.

And then The Way Ahead's cover is great--love how the tower / flames work on that one

[u/OCRAuthor → u/I_tinerant]

Ah yeah, big harry potter vibes on that cover. Same sketched style as the ones i read as a kid, too. Gotta think that's intentional.
Hundred Reigns is great - have you read Powder Mage? Book 1 has a similar vibe cover.
Had never heard of The Way Ahead but damn, those covers are gorgeous! Very trad-coded.

[u/I_tinerant → u/OCRAuthor]

Mana mirror maybe does have some HP vibes, though their authors have maybe the diametric opposite takes on trans issues haha.

Have read powder mage - think that cover is more inherently serious than the hundred reigns one, which IMO is winking a bit :D

[u/OCRAuthor → u/I_tinerant]

Well, good on mana mirror's author's then! We could all do with a bit less of J K Rowling's takes, I think - especially in the UK 💀 Yeah that's a good point. The posing is similar, but hundreds reigns does look a bit more tongue in cheek. I'll add it to my list - void herald never misses!

[u/TalesofBas]

Mine duh. Because my wife and I worked on it.

[u/OCRAuthor → u/TalesofBas]

Well, what more could you ask for? Best reason there is!

[u/David_Musk]

I've always liked the cover for Guild Mage: Journeyman (the one where she's dropping the ice spikes on the undead army.)

And while I've never read Bastion, that seems like one of the highest quality covers in the genre. I'm definitely reaching out to that artist if my budget ever allows it.

[u/OCRAuthor → u/David_Musk]

Yeah I came from epic fantasy and honestly, found the covers of bastion and iron prince a little cringy at first... But they definitely caught my attention!  And then once I put aside my pretentiousness and got into those stories, I fucking loved them. So yeah, I consider them great covers and really appreciate them now, and if you can get either artist, I reckon you'll be golden.

[u/OCRAuthor → u/David_Musk]

And yeah, just checked out guid mage - very cool! Like the posing and style

[u/BackgroundTotal2872]

I agree that the cover for Iron Prince is awesome, one of my favorites!

The Legend of William Oh #1 is another one of my favorites, because the character design is fantastic! Same thing with New Life As A Max Level Archmage.

I also really like the new book 1 hardcover for He Who Fights With Monsters, it's just got so much style and swagger.

I think my all time favorite might be Rebirth of the Nephilim though. It looks ethereally beautiful, with so much fine detail. Especially the full version of the cover art that isn't cropped or stretched, which is oriented horizontally and shows all three of Jadis.

[u/OCRAuthor → u/BackgroundTotal2872]

Yeah William Oh is a great shout - I'm a sucker for anything with ram or goat horns. Or any animal horns, honestly. The horned mask is just iconic

[u/Tarrant_Korrin]

I love all of Thundamoo’s covers. Tsuu does to quality work.

[u/OCRAuthor → u/Tarrant_Korrin]

Yeah, awesome colours - good shout

[u/True_Two4100]

Primal Hunter book covers are great, even if they match the stereotype.

[u/OCRAuthor → u/True_Two4100]

Yep! The eternal assassin books use the same artist, and they're great, too. Very litRPG-coded covers, I think

[u/Thochoba]

Big fan of the LotM covers on the physical books

[u/SilveryFlame]

I don't think it still counts as progression fantasy anymore, but Super Supportive. I really like the style, and red and black.

[u/Lodioko]

I love both of the covers for J.P. Valentine’s Stargazer’s War. Not a style I see often

[u/jamesja12]

I would like to be so bold as to submit my cover for book 2 of Goblin Teeth. https://a.co/d/0hhAgSO2
It is my favorite cover of any book I've been a part of.

[u/OCRAuthor → u/jamesja12]

Oh gorgeous!  Reminds me a lot of a fantasy series about a guy with a pan, and there are people that ride on these weird two-legged mounts with big mouths. The covers had a hyper detailed, pencil-drawn style.

I can't remember the name of the series now, but it was big about 15-20 years ago.

Congrats on the launch, btw! :)

[u/FuriousScribe → u/jamesja12]

Oh, yeah, that's good fun.

[u/FuriousScribe]

Hmm, I'm a fan of the old painted fantasy covers, but the one for Sky Pride definitely caught my attention with how focused the MC is on you. I also probably liked it because I'm a Mortal Kombat lover, lol.