Welcome to Shelf Candy Saturday!!
This weekly feature
showcases beautiful book covers,
and provides information,
if available, on their very talented creators!
For more information
about Shelf Candy Saturday,
just click HERE.
Here's my choice for this week!
Interestingly, I have found two
slightly different versions
of the same cover!
Arrows of the Queen
(The Heralds of Valdemar #1)
Mass Market Paperback, 320 pages
DAW Books, Inc.
March 3, 1987
Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction
Why do I love this cover?
The most obvious reason is that I totally adore horses! The one pictured on this cover is sooo beautiful.... Although I grew up with the Black Stallion books, and thus, have a very special love for black Arabian stallions, white ones have a special beauty all their own (the Lippizaners of the Vienna Riding School come to mind). The stallion on this cover seems to be an Arabian. That's an especially gorgeous breed, and my favorite one!
I also love the blue highlights in this stallion's mane, tail, and body, which are a reflection of his blue harness and saddle. Also, the mane and tail are so detailed, and they're ruffled by a slight breeze. Just gorgeous!
Well, enough gushing about the horse...lol. I also love the composition, with the mountains and forests in the background. Of course, the abstract elements of the composition are very effective, as well. The large, vertical, peach-colored rectangle balances everything out very well, as do the smaller, horizontal ones.
The font used for the title is very graceful and elegant, contributing to the overall look of the cover. The one used for the author's name is very similar to the one I use for my SCS posts -- Georgia. This font has a very pleasing look, in my opinion.
There's a difference between these two covers. I prefer the first one in regards to the colors; they're much brighter and more appealing. The ones of the second cover are much too muted and dark. However, I do prefer the placing of the title and author's name on the second cover. They fit in more harmoniously with the total design. I also like that they're black, thus, the horse stands out more.
The creator of this wonderful cover is Jody A. Lee, who has a breathtakingly beautiful portfolio! According to Wikipedia, she "...is a professional fantasy artist from San Francisco known best for her book cover illustrations. She graduated from the Academy of Art College in 1980, with a BA in Illustration." For more information on this tremendously talented artist, see the links below.
Here's another stunning cover by this illustrator! This book brings together all the information pertaining to Lackey's Valdemar fantasy series. I was very disappointed to discover that it's very hard to find, since it's out of print....
The Arrows of the Queen
Concordance
Juanita Coulson, compiler
Terri Lee, editor
Michael Longeor, introduction
1994
(out of print)
**UPDATE!!**
(11/1/13)
I have written directly to the publisher,
and have been able to order
this book!! YAY!!!
I don't know why I haven't found it
on any of the sites
mentioned above, but the important
thing is that this book is on the way!!!!!
Jody A. Lee Online
What do you think of my choice?
Leave me a comment and
let me know!
These are really good covers, Interesting that there should be twi almost identical but with slightly different covers. I have seen that before and I wonder why that happens.
ReplyDeleteHey, Brian!
DeleteI'm sure the actual cover looks even better; the quality of these images is not on a par with other images I've posted on SCS in the past Still, I just HAD to feature them, because I love horses so much!!
I, too, wonder why books come out with covers that are very similar, but yet, do have a couple of slight differences. Maybe the top cover above is from an earlier printing, and the second one is from a reissue of this book. It could be that the Art Director decided to change the look of the title and author's name between the two printings, either to differentiate them, or because s/he thought they needed to improve the cover image. Who knows....
Thanks for commenting!! : )