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!
Storm Breaking
(Valdemar: Mage Storms #3)
Mass Market Paperback, 464 pages
DAW Books, Inc.
October 1, 1997
Adventure, Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction
Why do I love this cover?
This cover has it all for me -- a lovely, light blue background, a horse, lots of detail, and an overall magical feel! I think it's exquisite, and I have to get it for my collection. Absolutely!
The blue background is actually composed of what appear to be streamers, in slightly different shades of blue. They seem to be moving to a slight breeze, flowing gracefully, contrasting with the horse's rather abrupt rearing stance.
The young man at the bottom appears to have been startled by something, just as the horse has, and he's instinctively throwing up a hand to ward off whatever that might be. This is intriguing; I want to open this book and find out what startled, and alarmed, both the young man and the horse.
Although the young man is dressed in medieval clothing, the interesting, triangular designs are obviously reminiscent of the Art Deco style, which flourished in the 1930s and 1940s. I can also see a slight influence of Byzantine art, with yet another influence -- that of the artist Gustav Klimt. Both of these are present in the stylized patterns within the triangles, but I see the Byzantine influence mostly in the young man -- in the way he's portrayed, his facial features, and that strange, intricately twisted circle around his head. It reminds me of a halo, and adds to the intrigue!
The font used for the title and author's name is typical of the Art Deco style, and definitely enhances this cover's visual appeal. Also, I love that Byzantine-looking box framing the author's name.
This is another example of the stunning work created by illustrator Jody A. Lee, whom I featured in "Shelf Candy Saturday #91". Lee has created many covers for Lackey's books, and this is indeed a fruitful partnership, since the fantasy worlds imagined by Lackey are perfectly brought to life by Lee.
I'm immensely attracted by Lackey's novels because of the gorgeous covers, and I know the tale inside each one will be a mesmerizing one, since she's a well-respected writer in the fantasy and science fiction genres. I already own the three books in the Heralds of Valdemar trilogy, as well as the Concordance. I intend to own (and read) more Mercedes Lackey books!
Jody A. Lee Links
What do you think of my choice?
Leave me a comment
and let me know!
My first impression of this cover was Byzantine. Now that you point it out I can see the Art Deco. I know very little of art. Is it common to combine these styles?
ReplyDeleteI took a quick look at the Wikipedia article on Klimt. I can clearly see the Byzantine influence in his work.
Hey, Brian!
DeleteYes, the Byzantine influence is really quite strong in this cover, and of course Klimt's work shows it, too. I love this art style, by the way. I also love Klimt's paintings and drawings, except for those that actually contain pornographic subject matter. It's too bad he did that....in my opinion, doing this cheapens the quality of an artist's work.
Anyway, to answer your question -- I don't think it's common at all to mix Byzantine-influenced art styles with the Art Deco style. Here's where I see that Jody Lee is a brilliant artist, because the two styles blend seamlessly in this cover, and I'm totally enchanted!
I'm so addicted to gorgeous covers, I'm somehow going to have to collect all of Lackey's books! Of course, the contents are great, too!
Thanks for the interesting comment!! : )