I’d never heard of Larry Rostant, but when Anne Lyle posted up the fabulous cover for her upcoming Elizabethan fantasy, I knew I had to check out more of his work.
I like so much about this cover: the movement implied in the swirl of cloak, the “I’m coming to get you” look of the protagonist, the dark colors and the torch in the background that evoke another time. Right away I can tell that this is not some kind of sanitized world, and the protagonist is competent and dangerous.
Turns out that Rostant has done many covers I’ve admired over the years.
I love the exotic backgrounds and the concealing black costumes of these:
And the way movement and aggression is captured on this cover (or, I may just have a thing for veiled and turbaned figures):
Rostant’s also pretty good at the “Girl In Flowing Period Costume”-type covers, as you can see here. I find the covers of Kristin Cashore’s Graceling and Fire the most striking of that bunch–they’re much starker (and darker) and the poses just exude strength and spirit.
Check out his website for more eye candy.
What I like particularly about the cover for Anne’s ‘The Alchemist of Souls’ is the character has his face showing and that gorgeous reddish back-glow. There is something different about that cover compared with the others you’ve posted but can’t quite put my finger on it yet.
Possibly a sense of menace rather than a sense of the mysterious and hidden?
Menace. That’s the perfect word. That’s exactly the sense one gets from the cover.
The Amanda Downum covers are more about mystery and intrigue–which suit the books, btw–and The Desert Spear is more overtly aggressive. Anne’s cover has this threatening aspect to it. Love it. 🙂
You have a great blog! Thanks for introducing me to Larry Rostant’s work. I admired Anne’s book cover and have adored many other of his work but I wouldn’t have realised they were made by the same man without you. So kudos.
Thanks, Reetta. I do love pretty covers, and I’ve recently made it a point to seek out the cover artists’ websites and ogle their creations. 🙂
I love book covers that make me want to read the books just because the cover itself tells a story. I think Rostant nails that element, just looking at these.