You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, right? We all know this – it’s one of those sayings that’s just so obvious that it’s wheeled out in all sorts of situations, whether actual books are involved or not. And yet…we all do it, to at least a certain extent. There’s a reason why publishers invest time and money into commissioning cover artwork, and it’s simple – a really, genuinely great cover will help a book sell. Simple as that. The question of what makes a great cover is an entirely different thing, of course – there’s no secret recipe for success, and a cover which is hugely enticing to one reader might be a massive turn off for another.
Why am I wittering on about this? Well, you might have seen that the Warhammer Community page posted the brand new cover artwork for five upcoming Black Library titles in an impressive example of a cover reveal (I sort of hate that term, but I can’t deny it’s a clear description of what’s happening)! I’ve included the images below, but if you want to take a closer look I’d also recommend checking out the original article as it’s got some really cool close-up shots as well as a couple of little hints as to what you might expect from these titles.
This is cool for multiple reasons. First up – OMG those covers are lovely! I don’t often slip into text-speak acronyms, but I feel like this justifies the exclamation, as each of those covers is, in my opinion, an absolute beauty. It’s not just that, though. If you’ve been a Black Library fan for long I’m sure you’ll remember that it really wasn’t that long ago that the idea of getting ANY information about upcoming titles, never mind cover reveals, was a total pipe dream. The Coming Soon page on the BL website was a hugely positive step in the right direction, and this cover reveal, coming a week in advance of when I’d expect the next month’s worth of new titles to be added to the website, is another hugely positive sign.
But…you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, right? Just because a book’s cover is AWESOME doesn’t mean the book is automatically going to be great as well…
Very true. There’s no denying it – we’ve all read books which had great covers that the actual stories (the most important part) didn’t live up to. I’ve definitely experienced that. And yet…I still get excited by a great cover, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. And so, rather than worry too much just yet about the quality of the stories (although looking at the authors…I’m fairly confident on that front) I wanted to take a quick look at each of these covers and pick out something that gets me excited about each one. I always think it’s better to be positive where possible, so I’m going to act on that…
Ciaphas Cain: Choose Your Enemies by Sandy Mitchell
I’m not sure I really need to say much about this. It’s a new Ciaphas Cain novel! What’s not to get excited about?! Seriously – there’s not a lot of humour in 40k, but the Cain books have for a long time offered a welcome slice of levity amongst all the grimdark. It’s been quite a while since the last one (2013’s The Greater Good) so this comes freighted with a fair amount of expectation. The title is classic Cain, and artist Vladimir Krisetskiy has absolutely NAILED the look of the main man himself, while subtly referencing the old Clint Langley covers. I’m a huge fan of this cover – just look how smug he is! Considering how much fun the previous books all were…I’m feeling positive.
Blood of Iax by Robbie MacNiven
If you’ve read the short story A Brother’s Confession then you’ll have already met the two protagonists portrayed on this cover. I’m sure there will be plenty of people grumbling about ‘another’ Ultramarines story, but I’m looking forward to this one. Robbie’s track record is already impressive, the short story was good fun, the artwork is super cool, and I am VERY MUCH interested in a novel exploring the way in which Primaris Marines integrate into one of the big First Founding Chapters. I think this is going to be cool.
The Lords of Silence by Chris Wraight
I’m yet to read a Chris Wraight story that I didn’t like…simple as that. His books are pretty much auto-buys for me, so the artwork arguably doesn’t have to work that hard to get me interested. As it is, I think the artwork for this is disgustingly brilliant, filled with tons of gross-but-also-awesome details and brilliantly capturing the essence of the new Death Guard minis without feeling like a slavish recreation of them. Also it has nurglings – as the Community site says, ‘everyone loves a good nurgling’ – right?!
The Tainted Heart by CL Werner
Now this one is VERY interesting, I think. These two characters first showed up in Clint’s short story The Witch Takers, which to my mind felt full of promise even if it didn’t quite deliver what I was after. It’s always great to see new Age of Sigmar content, especially stories which focus on (for lack of a better word) ordinary characters, rather than Stormcast Eternals, and so a book about a pair of Witch Hunters sounds intriguing. What I particularly like about this cover, however, is how understated it is. Gone are the usual grand, epic Age of Sigmar stylings – no dragons, Stormcast, huge battles or stylised film poster-esque depictions – and instead we get a pair of characterful, expressive portraits over a rather muted background. I think it’s a stunning cover with an intriguing, grounded feel – and I’m looking forward to seeing if the story conforms to that as well.
Slaves to Darkness by John French
You always know that a Neil Roberts Horus Heresy cover is going to be cool. A cover featuring FIVE Traitor Primarchs, though? Awesome. If I’m honest I’m not entirely sure what I think about Fulgrim – I think I need to have the book in my hands to take a really close look – but I LOVE the creepy, vampiric daemon Angron and the expressions on the faces of both Perturabo and Lorgar. Also…it’s John French. Writing about Traitor Primarchs. In the Horus Heresy. It is BOUND to be awesome – I’ve no doubt about that whatsoever. BRING ME THIS BOOK I WANT TO READ IT NOW! Ahem. I’m quite looking forward to this one.
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So there you have it. Five beautiful covers, for what I very much hope are going to be five excellent books. Yes, we all know that a great cover doesn’t equal a great book…but it’s good to be positive about these things! Huge kudos to Rachel, Black Library’s art director (not sure if that’s the right title but you get the idea) for each of these pieces of artwork. I really, really hope we continue to see fantastic covers like this, and more cover reveals getting us all excited about more great new books. Great work Black Library!
Got any thoughts about these covers, or what I’ve mentioned here? Let me know in the comments below, or find me on Facebook or Twitter and start a conversation!
Damn, they look great!