Michelle’s Reviews > Sword-Breaker > Status Update

There seems to be a complete reversal in the cover art in this edition and the german edition, depending which character i guess they thought was more important.

The covers are atrocious! I wish that the publisher would upgrade them.

I do not like a whole lot of art on recent fantasy books.... and as bad as it is there are many books that are even worse because instead of paying money for a cover artist they just swipe photos off shutterstock or alamy and use that. Seriously I have seen easily identifiable examples from those websites. Say what you like about how kitschy 70s art by boris, frazetta, whelan, acheillos, jones are... I still think its preferable to what I see these days. They say you cannot judge a book by its cover but good cover art and book design do make a huge difference and if the effort is not made, then I have a hard time looking past it.

Yes, I've noticed an increase in those shutterstock covers myself. I never had a problem with Michael Whelan of Chris McGrath covers, though. It's this cover with the heavily-applied make-up that drives me crazy!

hmm I do not know Chris McGrath I do not think.

The shutterstock thing just screams unprofessionalism. A few years ago there were news stories about people creating fake misleading websites that you could often spot for the clipart photos all over them... Whenever it was reported the reporter always made fun of the people who thought that was actually going to fool anyone. That association alone should make people think twice before plastering that stuff on their books.

I did not notice the make up thing right off... the thumb isnt very big but now that you mention it that would be annoying. Daw published a bunch of Marion Zimmer Bradley books that that reminds me of. super tacky.