Cover Art and the Earthsea Trilogy

I discovered the Earthsea trilogy by Ursula K. Le Guin with Pauline Ellison's stunning Bantam paperback overs. I remember thinking of the covers like wrapping paper--a beautiful introduction to the books, but with little connection to the actual stories. Only the image of the dragon wrapped around the towers carried through from the cover art.

But I picked up the books and bought them. That is the first requirement of cover art. Get the book in the reader's hand. I would love to see covers similarly lush, but with the true flora, fauna, and people of the Archipelagos across the artwork.

Over at Amazing Stories Magazine at Asni's Art Blog, the cover art from the introduction of the books through the 1970s is discussed. Hard to find the people of the Archipelagos in these covers, except for the first one. Have things improved since then? We'll check back in two weeks for part two, the 1980-2014 covers.

Here's a recent cover. It would be in this post except a half-dozen attempts and Live Journal still won't let me post it.

Here's Part Two.

A kind review from a reader and editor....

One of sartorias's fans has taken to checking out books that Sherwood has enjoyed. She tried Night Calls and Kindred Rites, and has enjoyed her visit to Allie's world. I am always amused by people who think of the book as Little House on the Prairie with magic. I have to confess--I simply read tons of period books, books about period, and pulled what intrigued me. I was inspired to find out what the women in Manly Wade Wellman's works were thinking about. I also got into Anne of Green Gables as an adult. But other than a few episodes of the TV show, I still haven't gotten around to Little House. I guess I need to read at least the first book.

Over at the blog Dead Houseplants (at a guess, she's much too busy to keep them alive!) the author talks about what she found fun in the first two books. And although I am humbled and sure I am way out of my league with my idol Austen, it's a fun comparison.

"I like frontier America as a fantasy setting: there are so many possibilities to explore. I really enjoyed Patricia C. Wrede's Thirteenth Child series: it's big and adventurous with grand, sparkling magic and fantastic dangerous beasts. Night Calls is the Jane Austen version: it's cozy and quiet with creepy dark demons (okay, pretty sure there were no demons in Jane Austen; ditto werewolves, vampires and witches. But I stand by the comparison.) Kimbriel is all about the characters—great, vivid characters!—and their relationships, about towns and how they function, about families. One of the early dramatic moments is Alfreda's confrontation with the minister about having a service for dead werewolves. It's a credit to Kimbriel's writing that this scene is just as gripping (if a tad less scary) than a later confrontation with a vampire."

I'm glad Kim enjoyed the books, and hope she likes Spiral Path, too. (And the third incarnation of the Night Calls cover.) Also--the Night Calls magic is going to get splashier. I just felt that a child transitioning to adult needed a little time to grow....

The sun is moving away from us....

Watching the sun progress across the house each day, night drawing down sooner...

It's still hot, but it's definitely autumn.