The saying goes: don’t judge a book by its cover.
No…
Put it down.
Don’t make me get the hose!
The Ravenheart award, one of three categories in the David Gemmell Awards for Fantasy, does just this. It invites you, anyone and everyone, to judge a selection of books by their covers and vote for your favourite.
Here’s a quick reminder of this year’s shortlist nominees:
- Alessandro Baldaserroni for Black Rift by Josh Reynolds (Black Library)
- Jason Chan for Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence (Harper Voyager)
- Sam Green for The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson (Gollancz)
- Kerby Rosanes for Nevernight by Jay Kristoff (Harper Voyager)
- Paul Young for Wrath by John Gwynne (Tor)
Previous winners include covers for big hitters like Mark Lawrence, Joe Abercrombie, and Brandon Sanderson, as well as lesser known authors like Tansy Rayner Roberts.
One element of debate with this category (and stay your pitchforks, please!) is that the shortlist often bears a remarkable resemblance to the Legend (best novel) category, in that it’s a line-up of the usual names and faces and names (faces of the books e.g. cover designs, names attributed to the cover e.g. the author and the artist). And whilst 2017 is arguably little different, you can see why they keep on coming back. This year’s covers are an established brand, both in name and design; with followers and fans, whilst being potentially recognisable to newcomers browsing the shelves/Amazon.
Which is your favourite? Are there any covers you think should have made the shortlist, but didn’t? What style of fantasy cover do you prefer?
Voting on the shortlists closes on Friday 2nd June. Cast your votes on the David Gemmell Awards official website HERE. The awards will be presented on the 15th July 2017, at the Edge-Lit 6 event in Derby.
Title image courtesy of FantasyMagazine.it
Richard Marpole
Jennie Ivins