Cover Story is a feature I host here at the beginning of each month which showcases genre cover art for works scheduled for publication within the current month*.
I do judge books by their covers, at least on the first pass.
It was the art on science fiction book covers that drew me in as a young reader, and I believe it is important to promote the artists and designers, and the book companies that employ them, for the efforts made to keep alive the grand tradition of eye-catching genre cover art.
(Monthly Disclaimer: I am not an art critic and have no formal artistic training. “Eye-catching” means exactly what it says, these images caught my eye and drew my attention to the works they grace, compelling me to search out more information about the book. Opinions contrary to mine, and suggestions for works that I missed that caught your eye, are always welcome.)
The opening image for this post was created for the current issue of the New Yorker by artist Jeffrey Alan Love. It was commissioned to accompany a piece on the recently released Tolkien translation of Beowulf.
*due to changes that can happen in publication dates, covers featured may have already seen publication prior to the current month or could possibly be delayed.
With those formalities out of the way, let’s get to the cover art, shall we?
