Indie Book Covers of 2012

One of my favorite parts of posting book reviews is looking at the cover art, even on ebooks.  Some of the finest art out there is on Indie Books and I am well-known for buying a book for its cover!

 

One of the most beautifully illustrated books I have read in a long time is Ravenwild by Dr. Peter J. Plasse. The gorgeous illustrations are by the incredibly talented Michael Longenecker. Even if the book were a dud, I would recommend it just for Longenecker's richly detailed paintings and drawings which are sprinkled throughout the book! However, this book is a very good read. I spent a snowy day in March reading this tale, and I am now a confirmed fan.  This is definitely my cover of the year, and the artwork within is awesome.

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Hemlock and the Wizard Tower (The Maker’s Fire) by B. Throwsnaill. This was the best .99 that I have spent in a long while and the cover art was also fabulous.

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The Sum of All Men This book was first published in 1998, but for some strange reason I had never read any work by David Farland. That omission, however, has been rectified. He isn’t an indie, but I am now a drooling fan.

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Darkness Rising 3, Prism is the long awaited third installment in the sweeping Darkness Rising Series, by Dr. Ross M. Kitson. I love, love, love Hunor!

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FireseedOne by Catherine Stine – this was a guest review by Alison DeLuca. An awesome book!

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Northman is an excellent novel by an indie author. J.D. Hughes twists time and history into a paranormal page-turner that is one of a kind. The cover is simple and powerful, and caught my eye when I first saw it on his blog.

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‘The Time Weaver’ by indie author Thomas A. Knight was an excellent first novel, and I think it bodes well for his future efforts. He also opted for a simple cover design, one that is intriguing in its simplicity.

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Jeffrey Getzin’s breathtaking epic fantasy, ‘Prince of Bryanae’ is exceptionally well covered, in a fabulous fantasy cover that is as fine as we could find on a Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson novel. I would have given this book my cover of the  year vote, if I hadn't fallen in love with Peter Plasse's Ravenwild.

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Alison DeLuca's wonderful Steampunk books, The Crown Phoenix Series has three amazing covers, all of which really catch the eye, but there is something about this cover that I just love. Maybe it is that she reminds me of Wednesday Addams, only sweeter...

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I was also fascinated by the simple yet intriguing covers on LornaT. Suzuki's and Nia Suzuki-White's wonderful Dream Merchant Saga. I felt compelled to pick them up and take a good look when I first saw them and I am so glad I did!

 

All of these covers prove that even ebooks need good covers on them, because every one of these books was a Kindle or Nook purchase, and as I said before, I usually buy a book for it's cover.

These are by no means all of the fine covers which were featured on the Best In Fantasy this year, but they were the ones with most quickly caught my eye and while I could go on and on, there is only so much you poor readers are going to put up with.

Sigh.

I always loved looking at the pictures as much as reading the books when I was young, and I'm no different now!