Shelf Candy Saturday #31: The Hound and the Falcon, by Judith Tarr

This meme/blog hop was originally started by Stephanie @ Five Alarm Book Reviews. After many excellent and visually exciting posts, she decided to stop hosting it, and asked me if I would be interested in continuing with it. Of course I enthusiastically agreed to do so!

The purpose of the meme remains the same -- to display a beautiful book cover that has caught our eye. We can also include information, if available, about the cover illustrator, designer, and/or photographer.

If you'd like to participate, just write your own post, grab my button (or create your own), and link up in the Linky widget at the bottom of the post. (Be sure to click on "Read more" first, so that the entire post will open up.)

Here's my choice for this week!

The Hound and the Falcon

Judith Tarr

Hardcover, 728 pages

Doubleday Book Club

1986

Genre: Fantasy

Why do I love this cover?

The very essence of magic is perfectly illustrated in this beautiful cover.  The people pictured on it are elves.  Their power shines between them, connecting them through their hands, which don't quite touch, but share the same misty light...

The woman's gown flows from head to toe in soft folds of pristine white.  A pastel blue ribbon girds her hips, and a gracefully billowing cloak of an even lighter shade is draped around her shoulders.  Her jewels are also of the same hue.  The effect is nothing short of otherworldly.  If it weren't for her pointed ears, she could be an angel.  She does look celestial, however, and that's mainly due to the colors of her gorgeous clothing.

The man also wears a cloak, but, in contrast to the woman's, it has an earthy brown tone.   His tunic is also rather earthy, being a soft red-orange.  The contrast between these two magical beings is very interesting.  Her hair is blonde, while his is white.  The colors of his clothing , as well as his posture, anchor him firmly to the earth, while the colors of hers, as I have already mentioned, are those of the sky. 

So it seems as if earth and sky are meeting, destined to fall in love...They are surrounded by the indigo night, which forms a perfect backdrop to this scene. 

The magic blazes between these two; they recognize each other as members of the same ethereal race, and share a powerful moment of bonding. 

The font used for the title and author's name is classical in style, and yet, it has a touch of the medieval about it.  The lettering is enclosed in a rectangle suspended above the scene.  While I do like it, I'm wondering if an elegant script wouldn't have been better -- something that would have added to the mystical, magical feeling of this cover...

I found this book in a bookstore that specialized in used books, some years ago.  It's actually an omnibus edition of the author's trilogy, the volumes of which you will find mentioned on Judith Tarr's Goodreads profile page, when you click on her name above.

Daniel R. Horne

is the highly talented illustrator

who created this gorgeous cover!

He is a multi-faceted artist,

being equally proficient in design,

painting, and sculpture.

You can check out the Wikipedia

article detailing his career

HERE.

You can access his page, located at

hyaenagallery.com,

HERE.

You can also see more of his

book covers at

Crydee,

which is the official website

of renowned fantasy author,

Raymond E. Feist.

What do you think of my choice?

What beautiful cover(s)

are you featuring this week?