Ranking and roasting all the original Wheel of Time covers
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
- With the Amazon adaptation of the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan coming out, my hype is slowly growing off the charts (even if I'm trying to keep low expectations!) Today I'm ranking (and tbh roasting, we all know it's true) all of the original 14 WOT covers. I also ended up going down a rabbit hole of what Robert Jordan thought of the covers, what the artist thought, and some fun and trivia and history about the covers. Don't forget to tell me what your favorite cover is in the comments below!
Chapters
00:00 - What this vid is
00:36 - WOT and me
01:32 - What did RJ think of the covers?
03:58 - The artist: Darrell Sweet
07:39 - Brief spoiler warning (no spoilers really)
08:26 - The Eye of the World
12:34 - The Great Hunt
13:35 - The Dragon Reborn
15:34 - The Shadow Rising
16:36 - The Fires of Heaven
17:32 - Lord of Chaos
19:02 - A Crown of Swords
21:34 - The Path of Daggers
23:22 - Winter's Heart
24:31 - Crossroads of Twilight
25:21 - Knife of Dreams
26:46 - The Gathering Storm
28:55 - Towers of Midnight
29:42 - A Memory of Light
32:20 - Final ranking / Bonus books ranking
34:52 - Final thoughts
Sources
www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1353
thewertzone.blogspot.com/2009...
www.tor.com/2012/04/20/a-darr...
www.theoryland.com/intvsresul...
Socials
bookborn.reviews - Розваги
OK so on most of the covers it's Aviendha, not Elayne. My bad. I forgot that she wears that outfit when... [redacted for spoilers]. I still maintain that her attitude is all wrong and I won't stand for it 😂
In the Great Hunt, the woman is Lanfear.
12:42 as stated by the prior person, it was the Daughter of the Night, Mieren, on the cover. She's one of the characters I was hoping would receive a deathbed vindication like Verin but she just vanished into the hell of loose ends like Moiraine.
I always thought the front of the great hunt was Lanfear and Rand for some reason, mostly cause they spend a lot of the book traveling together
@@azurastar3223 I thought it was Lanfear and Rand too. And she's in white which Lanfear wore.
haha i actually yelled that at my t.v. when i saw this segment
Bookborn: Hey let's just do what most people would consider a quick, easy, fun video
also Bookborn: does a ton of research
I can't help myself, what can I say
Yes, we were still unhappy when the real Gathering Storm cover was released. It's the "Rand Yells at the Dark One to Get The Hell Off His Lawn" cover.
I do miss the days when Books had epic paintings on their covers that you'd want to find a print off and hang on the wall.
So way before wheel of time was released.
I really enjoyed how you put in the quotes of Robert Jordans thoughts, made this cover ranking a lot more interesting and engaging than the other ones I have seen.
Thanks for watching!
The cover for eye of the world is what drew me to the series initially in my late teenage years, I think it's a great classic fantasy book cover which gets the imagination churning
As long as you don't look too hard at the sizes, I totally agree. Something about that moon!
Cool, me too :) Caught my eye in the library when I was 16. I ignored it for a few weeks because it was such a huge book, but then I said sod it and took it with me. Best decision of my life when it comes to books.
I love the center section in the 1998 book "The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time"
by Robert Jordan & Teresa Patterson,
the book covers are reproduced in a section titled "Some narrative paintings of questionable authenticity".
Great video! Really didn’t expect it to be this fun and informative.
I remember finding the cover weird when I started reading the books. That was around 2003, and these are very 90s covers. But I got fond of them eventually. And I agree, The Eye of The World is the best and most memorable one, as flawed as it is :)
It’s hard not to start loving a cover when you love the inside contents. It becomes special even if we can all agree some of them aren’t the best lol
For the Great Hunt, I always thought it was Rand, Selene and Loial. The Fires of Heaven gets the iconic look of Mat right, which is good. You are not entirely correct about a Crown of Swords. They had the DKS art on the physical copies here, but I think they introduced alternative versions around that time that bookstores could choose. Agree that the Path of Daggers cover is great. The woman on Winter's Heart should be Berelain or Alliendre or one of the Aes Sedai in that camp? The Gathering Storm: given what scene it is, it makes more sense for it to be Min, but wrong hair color.. A Memory of Light: Rand is on the mockup cover though.. on top of the pyre. In general, it is not just the size of people being off, but their internal proportions and poses. And all the horses except for Lan's are too small, not just Moraine's.
Yeah, my copy of Crown of Swords was the full art cover version but it was the first edition hardcover, this is actually the first time I've seen the version that Bookborn showed on the video. I bought it in Oregon, right around the time of release.
Yea, Great Hunt I assumed it was Rand, Loial, and Selene
Yea, I have Crown of swords on paperback as well
Just found your channel and I’m really loving your takes and content. Hope more people keep finding you.
Thanks for the support :)
As a huge fan of cover art, I love this deep dive you did! And very nice touch doing the research to give us RJ's thoughts on the covers as well. Great video! 💯
Thanks :) As a connoisseur, what's your favorite cover art?? Or better yet, who's your fav artist?
@@Bookborn oh I wouldn't call myself a connoisseur lol. But I'll mention that for a long time I've searched for a set of LOTR books with the just the right covers, and recently I think I found them! Look up the Christopher Moisan/Johan Egerkrans covers. I love the atmosphere and the color palette, and they have a fittingly classic style while still feeling modern to me. I have them and they look even better in real life. I also love the cover for Circe! Also, I completely agree with you in your video where you showed the SPFBO covers (your husband's site that displays them is terrific!) There are some great ones in there! You're right, indie authors and their illustrators (sometimes the same person) have really stepped up their game. I love a lot of those covers much more than most trad published covers.
Revisiting this because it’s fun, and I’m in a WOT mood given the Jordancon video/interviews from the set of season three (with a very cool/important location!)
I've been ignoring all news because I like to be surprised...but sounds like the set of season 3 is looking cool?? I'm just waiting on season 2, I thought it was supposed to be out by now!
The 90s covers of the books remind me of some of the artworks in various cards of Magic: The Gathering in those days. But I'm still looking for a convincing bit before I get started with the WoT series. 😍🤓🥰
I mean it's a long journey, I don't blame you for hesitating lol
Nick Cage! I died. I'll never unsee it! And now, someone is gonna edit the show and plaster Nick's face on Rand. lol
That giant Rand in Lord of Chaos must be a little jab at Jordan. Hey, you want him taller? Here! lol That Office insert was hilarious.
I got into Wheel of Time pretty late tbh. But it's the cover for Memory of Light that made me realize I should love myself more and start reading the entire series.
lol one of my insta followers and I were discussing if they cast Nic Cage as Rand. CAN YOU IMAGINE. What a fun and disturbing thought exercise 😂
I love the idea of Sweet being like IS THIS BIG ENOUGH FOR YOU JORDAN??! And that's not my canon about Lord of Chaos.
i loved this video! i think it was creative of you and fun. i often stared at this art thinking the same things 😝 i was wondering if you would be willing to do another episode just like this but with the new fancy covers. 🙏i personally love the new art.
Are you talking about the art that was originally on the digital versions and now they are making into physical? Because I LOVE that art too. That would be a fun part 2!
Great channel, really excited that this series is getting more attention from people who would might never have known it existed if not for the show.
I'm really curious as to what the covers would have looked like if Jordan had a direct hand in them, honestly that goes for *a lot* of writers, I had no idea the publisher had such a big hand in this - to the point of not even taking critique from the author himself seriously(on that note, I'd love to see more "lore" videos on Robert Jordan and his comments/thoughts on the series through the years)... That aside, I will now ALWAYS see Nick Cage on the EoTW cover lmao.
Yes, until recently I also had no idea that a lot of authors have ZERO say in their book covers. I find that fascinating, and if I was an author...I'd probably be annoyed lol.
I love all the research you did for this.
Thanks for watching!
This topic is dear to my heart. The WoT covers have given me many a laugh. AMoL cover is easily my favorite. The following covers crack me up:
EotW: Lol the Nick cage thing is killing me. Like you said, I will never unsee it.
TGH: The "trollocs" are funny. I assume the cover is Rand, Selene, and Loial during the scene when they recover the horn from Fain and the trollocs midway through the book. Selene is supposed to be the most beautiful women you'll ever see and she looks hilariously awful on the cover.
TDR: Rands renaissance fair outfit kills me.
LoC: Fabio Rand
TGS: Rand's tiny hand after breaking out of the Haunted House ride at disneyland lol
This was a very fun video. Thanks for making it.
Ok you're totally right it IS Selene but I literally never thought it was because....how....HOW is that SELENE??? 😂
For Fires of Heaven, I think the red head girl is Aviendha.
You would be very correct
Just wanted to point out that Rand is actually in Sweet's art for Memory of Light. Personally like it way more than the final cover. Great video!
I mean he's *technically* on it (I didn't mention what that was to avoid HUGE series spoilers) but he's not REALLY on it. I mean I like that there is a very clear version of Rand on the final cover. I do quite like the cover, though, like I said, but I will admit I wouldn't love it for the last book.
LOVE the Cap shield behind you. Perfect backdrop, I think.
Yeah I mean honestly I hated that romance so I wouldn't mind if it was gone 😅 I'm sorry forgive me
I’m gonna follow each book commentary as soon as I read them! AND I’m so thrilled that a book tube channel is featuring them prose-packed compact portable and RELATABLE quintessential paperbacks of WoT series! And nobody had yet mentioned Jordan’s thoughts on the Sweet cover! Kudos! (As for other channels, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the featuring of wishlist special edition covers and ooh, aah, when you have the moolah, but I also very much appreciate the featuring of the famous covers that we can do all enjoy!) and reminded below of the gorgeous evocative Raymond Feist covers! Will you be doing those? For me, rather than shelling out for special edition hardcovers, oy. I rather get the Feist covers for re-reads after the Sweet paperbacks down the line and library display!
Yeah I think it would be fun to do more cover talks! I like a lot of the covers for the digital WOT books and it might be fun to rank those. I don't have many special editions either - other than my Sando leatherbounds, I usually just keep the regular mass paperback covers haha. I like the memories they give me of reading them!
Because of that first cover I always imagined Egwaine as blonde :D awesome video, especially loved the quotes you got from Jordan!
I wondered why I had the same feeling. I thought it was just me liking blondes.
@@ElrohirGuitar same 😂
The video I’ve been waiting for.
This was a fun journey through the cover art of the books, thanks!
I actually have the Darrell Sweet cover art on my paperback copy of A Crown of Swords, I had no idea until seeing this video that there was a boring maroon version. You learn something new every day...
Yeah I’m confused because a ton of people have the normal cover. So now I’m wondering if they released both or something? And one they pushed more on bookstores? Such a mystery…
@@Bookborn there's certainly logic to the theory of them pushing the bland cover more aggressively. But why they'd start doing that in the middle of the series vs re-releasing books with a more generic cover to get people hooked at book 1 is a real head scratcher.
Do you know, is that the only book that did not get cover art?
Fun video! My favorite cover is The Dragon Reborn.
I have been really burning through some of your videos and just want to say that they are awesome. You talk very fast and elegant, and the amount of research / visuals is impressive.
I have never seen that Crown of Swords I have only ever seen the blue one which I bought but it was probably somewhere around 2005. Maybe they stopped selling the text one after an initial run?
Or maybe it was an america only thing?
I think I would have Fires of Heaven much higher, mainly because I like Mat's weapon but also because I think it is more actiony, which I was just thinking when you said it wasn't. I guess I find Rands casual stance a showcase of his power, he is confident and casual when Mat and aviendha are worried and on edge. The best part is my memory of pretty much all the "horned" enemies is that they must be Seanchan with their "insect" like helmets but now I feel incredibly foolish. I guess they are Trollocs with human bodys but with animal heads under different animal head styled armour ha.
I mean the fact that you didn’t know they were Trollocs is not your fault- they literally look nothing like how they are described 🤣
My biggest mistake is apparently Egwene isn’t on any of these covers and it’s always Selene/Lanfear!
Nicholas Cage Rand, Fabio Rand, and Jean-Claude Van Damme Rand are such a gift to us. I see great (if obscure) Halloween costume opportunities for when ‘Rand al’Thor’ is a household name.
I agree, a memory of light is a great cover. When the book was released I lived in England and I was initially disappointed at the cover, but then came to love the simplistic British release cover. If you havnt seen the covers from other countries its worth a look. My copy of a memory of light is the only one I have not in original cover art. But I like it just the same
I can't seem to find it! Give me some details on what it looks like, I really want to see some of these other editions. Whenever I look it up, it just gives me the Sweet/Whelan covers.
@@Bookborn its not typical cover art, its just a simple snake eating snake WoT symbol in gold on a white cover.
So much nostalgia in these covers! Sad to say, it was because of the covers I was not interested in the series when I first saw them many years ago. I'm now in book 4 on my first(ish) read through and can honestly say I wish I had the set with these covers!! How the wheels have turned.
I don't blame you, honestly lol. It's pure nostalgia that makes the covers "good".
Have you done this for the new edition covers that eventually came out? Love this video!
I love this style of campy pulpy fantasy art and it's super nostalgic for me with this series in particular. These books started to come out when I was a really little kid (too young to read this kind of book), and I remember seeing them in the bookstore and the library, etc., and I would make up stories in my head about what happens in the book, based on the cover. I think they appealed to me because they kind of looked like cartoons from the 80s that I would have watched around this same time (like The Last Unicorn, He-Man, etc.) I hope they never stop printing these covers even though the original artwork is so ridiculous sometimes. The newer artwork is probably closer to descriptions in the story, but it makes it more realistic sort of, and removes some of that magical 90s cheesy fantasy feeling that I've always associated with these books.
Great video! Fair assessment all round, I think. Surprised at how my kind quickly went to romance books for a couple of covers 🤣 Now I really I don't count myself as a proper WOT fan, so, from a purely aesthetic perspective, my favourite cover has to be 'Memory of Light'. There's just something about the subject, colours and pose that gives it a certain dynamism 🤩
I think most people's favorite cover is AMOL. It's just...so special. It honestly is my favorite piece of art - only nostalgia made the first book beat it out.
@@Bookborn It's impossible to separate art and feelings, so I can't blame you for your choice 😉
SO COOL!!
Thanks for watching :)
Ohhhh! So THAT was the guy who designed my Sourcery and Wyrd Sisters books I had as a kid!! Even back then, I knew something was not right about those covers - they lacked the busyness and fun weirdness of the Josh Kirby Discworld covers that I so loved :D Thanks for clearing up that lifelong mystery, Bookborn :)
I just read Eye of the World for the first time a month ago(!) I still can't get over the tiny Moiraine/huge Lan discrepancy. It just kills me every time I see that cover...
OHHH did you like it?? Are you going to continue? Also so glad I could solve a life long mystery 😂
@@Bookborn I did like it and I do plan to continue 🙂
I think my favorite would have to be the Great Hunt. I liked it because the main characters went their separate ways only to be reunited again in the battle against the Seachan.
When I started reading the books I read the swedish translation of them as I am swedish, lol. Fun fact, they actually split all books into 2 installments probably for the same reason you mentioned. Knife of Dreams was the last book that was actually translated into swedish so 11 books turned into 22, the books after that were never translated though. I have read through the full series in english a few times afterwards, lol.
A crown of swords was originally released with the fantasy artwork. The plainer covers were done for all of the books not just number 7. I have been following the series religiously since the first book was release when I was 18 so I saw it first hand when it came out.
Yeah I've gotten super conflicting reports about this. Some say the hardcover came out with regular art but not the paperback. Some say the paperback came later. I'm not sure which is right, but there is a copy out there with the art and so I need to track it down and get rid of my boring one lol
@@Bookborn I used to own it with the fantasy artwork until I went through a rough patch in life and had to leave it behind in a rushed move. So it does exist.
This is increasing becoming my favorite booktube channel. By chance, are you familiar with Daniel Greene content ? I am curious, because I was able to glean more info re wot from you than him and I love his work ! You are amazing.
Thank you so much ☺️ Of course I know Daniel Greene's content! He's a legend in fantasy booktube.
Great Ranking! I always assumed it was Aviendha in that FoH cover. Overall I don’t love the covers outside a couple…but they do feel a bit nostalgic and I do like them for how they transport me back to my first time reading. Eye of the World cover is just iconic even if it’s inaccurate. I would actually love to see a Michael Whelan take on each of the other books. My cover rankings:
1. A Memory of Light
2. The Eye of the World
3. Path of Daggers
4. Dragon Reborn
5. Fires of Heaven
6. Tower of Midnight
7. Gathering Storm
8. Shadow Rising
9. Crossroads of Twilight
10. Winter’s Heart
11. The Great Hunt
12. A Crown of Swords
13. Lord of Chaos
14. Knife of Dreams
It def is Aviendha lol I forgot she wears that skirt outfit thing when she's training to be a leader and has left the Maidens.
Ooohhh Knife of Dreams as your last one! Is that because of the Perrin terribleness? Lol Otherwise we aren't that far off from each other's ranking!
@@Bookborn yeah the depiction of Perrin combined with the scene they chose. Together it’s just frustrating. As you pointed out, many of the books have some fantastic scenes that would otherwise have made great cover choices…but they chose something generic. Knife of Dreams is one of my favorites in the series, but the cover doesn’t do it justice, IMO.
Your comments about LoC looking like a romance novel are spot on. I remember explaining to people that, no it's not a romance novel, it's a very good fantasy novel. While I had never heard most of these comments from the authors about the artwork, I had heard Brandon express that he is fortunate to have more control over his artwork than most authors get.
On another note, related to comments from the authors, but not to the cover art . . . Robert and Brandon are very different in their stance to pronunciation. When fans asked Robert questions, he is reported to have sternly corrected their pronunciation before answering their questions. Brandon never does this, and when he is asked about pronunciation I have seen him refuse to answer, by explaining that when you read a book, you get to be your own director and you may use any pronunciation you like. I thought of this, because in this video many of your pronunciations are different than the pronunciation I use. Part of me wants to say you're wrong, but the kinder part of me stops and realizes that you pronounced a name, I understood whom you were talking about and therefore I understood you. You communicated successfully and made a fun video. So, you're not wrong, just unique . . . just like everyone else. With that in mind. Thank you for the fun video.
One of my least favorite names, however, became one of my favorite names when I saw a video with Robert answering a question about how to pronounce a name. I wish I could find the video now, but I have tried and failed several times. The interviewer asked him how to pronounce one name. Robert gave an exasperated sigh, pronounced the name, then went on to pronounce a string of names and words that are often mispronounced. Before that point, I had no clue how to pronounce Semirhage, which was in that string, but nothing I had tried appealed to me. I didn't like the name. Then, when I saw that video and heard him pronounce it, it became a very cool name and nobody pronounces it the way he did. But, I wish they did. Earlier books didn't include her name in the glossary, and later books dropped the pronunciation guide (probably because it was worthless), so without being able to find that video we can only take Brandon's advice and let each of us be our own director. I keep telling myself that I'm fine with that. In case you're curious about the pronunciation I heard, he pronounced it with the 'se' from the word semi (the truck) or 'sem' from semester followed by or blended with the word mirage. The soft 'g' somehow makes the name much more feminine and that pronunciation makes the name much more pleasing than anything I had tried before.
I first encountered Sweet's artwork on the covers of Stephen R Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Pushed me to purchase.
I was one of the people who believed that the unfinished cover should have been used as the cover.
Lastly, I absolutely LOVED the digital edition cover of The Fires of Heaven, featuring Moiraine. I was fortune enough to meet artist Dan dos Santos and I purchased a print, which he signed for me. It is framed and hanging in my library now.
I think you had a solid ranking of the covers. I like the point that the art isn't necessarily about what's in the book as much as a poster to sell the book. It seems to me that it fails on both levels. As a man of 55, I feel that the cartoonish covers poorly display what a deep series it is. I don't feel that way about Michael Wheelan art in Asimov and Anne McCaffrey books. Often, I feel some of the perceived YA nature of the genre comes from how it appears on shelves. I feel the "dwarf Moiraine" comment. I wish they didn't say she it short in the books as I picture her more as a Kate Beckinsale in my mind. The character on the cover never would have physically been able to execute her confrontation with Lanfear in book 5. I'm in book 6 and the only thing I can guess about the Fabio scene is that maybe he looks so confused is because this might be where he's getting bonded uninvited. What I now find are trollics I thought were Seanchan based on how they were dressed more like insects than animals dressed like men. BTW, I've heard book 7 called "Rand never misses arm day" cover.
"Rand never misses arm day" 🤣 We need to rename the entire series after this naming convention
Happy Fall reading to you 😊🍁📚
Same to you!
The Great Hunt cover is Rand, Loial & Lanfear in her Selene guise.
When watching "Wolf" with Jack Nicholson, you can see "The Dragon Reborn" with the distinctive Ba'alzamon head on the spine of a book on a bookshelf behind him in his office.
Shadow Rising cover, I think feels like they mixed up a couple of different scenes. Egwene never cooks in the book and neither Mat nor Rand brought a bow to the Aiel Waste. There were peddlers with wagons there, but not Tinker wagons. Those were in the Two Rivers, and if you ignore the clear desert setting, that scene would work better if it was a pre-beard Perrin confronting Lord Luc (not that it happened in a Tinker wagon, but whatever...).
For Lord of Chaos, I thought that was Sheriam on the cover, because of the red hair, until I read it. It's strange that people think the redheads are Elayne, since from book 3 on she was mostly described as blonde or golden-haired. Not coincidentally, that was when Aviendha showed up, and I think Jordan decided that having two redheads with Rand, whose red hair is such a distinctive trait, would be weird.
For Crown of Swords, the hardcover was released with the Sweet art. I have also seen paperbacks with the same cover. Also, the original sketch for the cover had him holding a sword with two hands, which might explain the two clenched fists. I think he looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger on it.
Mat was 21 in Crossroads of Twilight (he & Rand & Perrin turned 21 near the end of Lord of Chaos)
Whose body do you think Elayne, Aviendha and Min are looking at in the Sweet cover to aMoL?
The was also a painting by Darrell K Sweet for the original novella version of New Spring, which appeared inside the cover of the "Legends" anthology, in which it first appeared. It shows Lan and Bukama's confrontation with the city guards.
I never been the biggest fan of the original covers either, so this video is interesting. Like you, I haven't read Wheel of Time in awhile, for about ten years. I was a huge fan of the series, but I actually never finished the series. By the time the last book was out, I wasn't reading much fantasy and was very busy. I keep telling myself to re-read the books and actually finish it, but I'm afraid like you had been. But after you said it was a great read with nostalgia, I'll like to try and read it again. I really do miss the characters and I would like to see what I think of it now compared to when I first read it at 20 (I'm 36 now).
I first read them at about 22 and I'm 31 now, so it's a similar change. I can't vouch for the rest of the series yet, but I def enjoyed rereading the first one. There's so much nostalgia with the characters. I'm sure I'll notice some things I don't love later on, but doesn't mean it still won't be enjoyable (Hopefully!)
That’s so weird that they published A Crown of Swords without the cover art! I actually have a physical copy of it with the cover art so I wonder at what point they put it back on? Loved the video and all the research you did!
A lot of people say they have it! So I don't know if Jordan said that and then they changed their mind, or everyone was mad about the cover and so they re rereleased? I have to go dig into it
@@Bookborn I had a version of Path of Daggers that had the same cover artless design, so they tried it a couple of times at least.
The mock up was interesting that's min's vision of Rand's death. I also think shadow rising is the "merchant" dark friends.
I knew there was something else I meant to say, and forgot by the end of the video! The Great Hunt cover, isn't it meant to be Rand, Loial and "Selene" after they come back from the portal stone world and nick the horn back?
Yes, it is def that scene! I didn't realize that Selene was featured on TWO covers, which is why I always thought it was Egwene. I think that's a...weird choice for some reason.
@@Bookborn I don't know about it being a weird choice, I'm probably surprised there aren't more of the group she is a part of on the covers tbh, as they are pretty integral to the story. And at least she isn't on a horse...
i also love the eye of the world cover, but not because it's good haha but you are totally right the nostalgia and classic fantasy vibe
Yes! Like individually the parts aren't that great but somehow as a whole it works lol
I purchased the hardback version of 'Crown of Swords' when it was originally released, and it had the illustration of Rand in Shadar Logoth on it. I also own a very early paperback copy of CoS, it also has the illustration of Rand in Shadar Logoth. I didn't realise some places only got the basic maroon cover of Crown of Swords, but that certainly wasn't the case everywhere.
Have to politely disagree regarding the 'The Fires of Heaven' cover, it's great imo. Mat looks protective of Rand the way he's looking over his shoulder at what might be lurking behind them, whilst Rand looks entirely menacing in his famous red coat, the first time on a cover when he actually looks the Dragon Reborn as opposed to an out-of-proportion side-character in Robin Hood clothes.
Covers I really like: Path of Daggers, A Crown of Swords, The Eye of the World and The Fires of Heaven. They're all awesome imo, especially Path of Daggers and Crown of Swords, when Rand looks a legit BAMF. Whilst the rest are at best meh, and at worst p terrible. Lord of Chaos is okay, despite short-legged Rand in his open-necked white shirt and the Dragkhar flying overhead, the latter ofc being ridiculous considering it's a depiction of Dumai's Wells with literally loads of male channellers milling around below, who would have blasted it out of the air!
The formal issues with the illustrations and problems with perspective often leave a lot to desired: the dwarf Moraine, the too-short legs of numerous characters, and ofc Rand's shrunken arm on The Gathering Storm, to name but three. That said, they remain hugely nostalgic for me, and I prefer them over the covers that had no illustrations that eventually replaced them. Real shame images from the tv show are finding their way onto the covers now. I refuse to watch the tv show, just don't want to spoil how I see the WoT world with someone's else's idea of it and, considering the revisions I've heard they made, I really don't think the tv show is enough of an accurate portrayal of the books that they should be using stills from it. I didn't like stills being used from the GoT tv series on book covers either tbh.
Great video, really loving the coverage of the Wheel of Time books on your channel. Keep up the good work!
Although my first book in the series was The Great Hunt (loved the horn and the trollocs), I'd still put A Memory of light as my number one with Eye of the World second. AMoL because how magnificent Rand looks and EotW because blue is my favorite color and loved the moon contrasting Lan, just iconic in my eyes. Least favorite are prolly Path of Daggers, Winter's Heart and Knife of Dreams. Haha might be a coincidence with them being the least favorite books to read through. Thank you for sharing.
Completely agree with your opinion about LoC as being the worst one; proportions are a complete mess, the art doesn't show anything relevant, and... is that a giant bat flying over Rand? the heck? 😂They really dropped the ball on that one.
And then we've a Memory of Light. The color contrast is great, Callandor looks amazing, and the best part, it doesn't give you spoilers about Rand's left hand. Chef's kiss
"Ok Rand...just turn a bit more...a bit more. Ah yes, perfect pose to not show your left hand!" lol I didn't even consider how well that was done!
I think the bat thing is supposed to be Draghkar?? But...it's bad. lol
As a kid, Ba'alzamon's head on the Dragon Reborn's cover freaked me out when I saw it on my parent's bookshelf. I was legit scared of it.
Ten years later, I started reading them and laughed when I got the third one and realized: this was the same book that scared me.
You weren't wrong though it's actually terrifying 🤣 I love the full circle moment though that you got to read it as an adult!
You could check out the covers of the Swedish translations. They split some of the books so there are a total of 20 covers. The first one named "Farornas väg" painted by the artist Luis Royo mirrors the cover of "the Eye of the World", except the scene is depicted from the front.
Moiraine the halfling wizard on her white gelding beside Lan who’s ready to go to war! Followed by Rand al’Castor Troy! (Nic Cage - Face/Off)
QUICK, get this into production!
Pretty sure the woman on the cover of the great hunt is Lanfear. (Selene) (It's when they are in the mirror of the wheel place)
It totally is. I'm just confused now at why Jordan was talking about Egwene on covers...
I am back in crown of swords second time through btw. And this series really makes me happy.
I think it would be cool to do a cosmere version of this video.
I’ve thought about doing all the Sanderson covers! Maybe I’ll get around to it this year
Omg I actually stopped reading the WoT in 2013 because I brought Lord of Chaos to a beach. 😂 I feel kinda bad that I cared so much what others thought about me back then but I was mortified by this cover. Also Crown of Swords' cover was probably in response to people who had similar experiences to me with Lord of Chaos at the beach.
LOLLL! I'm sorry but it IS sort of embarrassing, I don't blame you 🤣
The Crown of Swords art cover one is what I've always had in paperback. I got it back around 98.
Dannil Lewin is a Two Rivers man of an age with the boys and is featured prominently throughout the series starting in book 5
Have you seen the Japanese version of the covers? There are 64 of them (so I guess they divided one book in 5 parts?). They look amazingly drawn, so beautiful.
Ok just had a look and that's so fun! And also crazy that each book was divided into so many parts - some had seven covers! I find it super interesting that instead of horses, literally 95% of the covers only featured a single individual. I wonder if that was a trend in Japanese fantasy art at the time? I really love how they portray Rand, and find it interesting that their Mat presentation on Fires of Heaven 6 is practically identical to the new representation of him on the ebook covers/ new books.
@@Bookborn Maybe the new book cover artists took inspiration from the Japanese covers, especially Mat. I saw there are more than 64 volumes, there are 72, wow! Reminds me of Kaoru Kurimoto Guin Saga, one of my favourite book series. It has 130 volumes but they're super short (between 100-200 pages). Only 5 volumes were translated into English >.< That really bums me out. Something similar happened to the Japanese Wheel ofTime translation it stopped at "Knife of Dreams", the 11th book. Maybe they didn't ant to translate books 12-14 because they're not written by Jordan but by Sanderson?
You're really great to listen to.
I loved hearing what Jordan thought about the covers. Everyone is too kind to artist Sweet... I would be beyond thrilled to see new skillful, more accurate covers. Especially, improved depictions of Moraine and the women characters.
I do love some of the ebook covers for the books. I think they are printing some of those on physical ones now and they are pretty cool
I will look at ebook covers! I just started reading the books because of the show. I like both they add to each other and things like the long chain of taverns in book one could have been edited more. Still Jordan comes out with some real gems of thought and I love that.
Ebooks cover are much better-beautiful!
Dannel the 4th boy also appeared in a later book and said to Perrin something about "If I had joined you" been a while since I read it, can't remember too well.
This was a good video
Thanks for watching :)
What do you have against horses?? 😆 I read the ebooks and didn't realize how many of the covers are just them on horses, doesn't make much sense to me either. I am glad that Brandon has taken control (as much as possible) of his art and I really like his covers. Even though some don't make sense with things like Wayne holding a gun, they get a lot right. I think my favorite WoT cover is the last one, but the first is so iconic and representative of the series so I get the nostalgia factor for it. They need to release a photo of the actors on the show recreating the first book cover!
Okkk I didn't know I needed that but now I MUST see the actors recreating the cover art. That would be an AMAZING piece of promotion! (Although maybe not. They probably don't need to advertise to fans, since they know we will watch. They probably have to make it appeal to others 😅)
@@Bookborn We wouldn't see Lan very well... unless Moraine just so happened to be steering her horse through a 3ft deep ditch beside the trail? Yes! Do that, and release it on April First! And get Nicholas Cage in at the very edge of the shot with a confused, "why don't I get a horse?" expression on his face.
I would love to see different drafts of the covers, the ones before Jordan talked to sweet, and see which discrepancies didn't make it onto the covers.
ME TOO. Like knowing all the discrepancies that made it on to the covers, what else changed?? I wonder if I can find them somewhere (probably not). I did see some different versions of AMOL from Whelan, which was interesting.
@@Bookborn they’re probably deleted or burned. And some of them even might be better, like a non-hobbit looking Perrin
Re: "Memory of Light" cover, the mock-up art absolutely does include Rand. I won't say more, but he's definitely in that image. With that said, I definitely understand why a different direction for the actual cover art that was used. I don't understand why Rand is holding Callandor in his right hand, but that's a different issue.
I just discovered that I *can* get the MoL cover as a print. The artist, Michael Whelan, has a website and sells prints of many of his book covers, including this one.
Needless to say, I bought a print right away! 😀
Oof, these covers are making me glad I didn't discover this series until recently!
I’ve always thought that in the Great Hunt cover, the woman on it was Selene/Spoiler, not Egwene, but maybe I’m wrong. Just, in the book, Egwene and Rand weren’t with each other very often, so it didn’t make sense for them to be together on the cover.
No it def is Selene, I looked it up after people said that! I'm just now so confused at what cover Jordan was talking about Egwene in. Also...not how I pictured Selene 😅
@@Bookborn yeah, it isn’t how I pictured Selene either. In the books she was described as incredibly beautiful and elegant. In the cover art…I don’t want to be rude to the artist, but she just…wasn’t.
Eye of the World and Memory of Light are the only two covers that ever drew me in. The rest were just there.
I think the redhead on the cover of Fires of Heaven and Gathering Storm is supposed to be Aviendha
You are absolutely correct
Cool video. I so prefer these book covers to the newer dead-boring ones even if not all are that great. These at least show it's fantasy we are talking about while the new ones with their plain look could be books about woodwork. Btw, totally disagree with the ridicule about the Lord of Chaos cover, I think it's one of the best ones (with Rand in focus, an Aes Sedai and a Draghkar, very cool) and the book might be the best in the whole series too imo (though I know The Shadow Rising has many fans). The other covers I especially like are for books 1, 3, 8, 9 and 14.
Great hunt cover - i thought that was Lanfear, Lioal and Rand when they recover the horn...
It is lanfear you’re totally right! Idk why but like it did not go with my mental picture lol
FYI- Crown of Swords has that blue cover in paperback in Australia. I have it in my right now
I'd rank the original WoT covers:
#1). The Eye Of The World
#2). The Great Hunt
#3). Winter's Heart
#4). Towers Of Midnight
#5). The Dragon Reborn
#6). Crossroads Of Twilight
#7). The Shadow Rising
#8). A Memory Of Light
#9). The Fires Of Heaven
#10). A Crown Of Swords
#11). Lord Of Chaos
#12). The Path Of Daggers
#13). The Gathering Storm
#14). Knife Of Dreams
Oooh you rated Winter's Heart super high! What is it that you love so much about that one?
I really like the hearing the stories behind these. You never do things halfway.
Thanks for the support :)
So...Dannil on the cover of tEotW becomes an important side character for Perrins arc later in the books...also, he shares a surname with Natley Lewin. Natley Lewin married a girl named Laila Dearn (sound familiar?). Perrin muses in tSR that he used to have feelings for her and she for him, but they both moved on.
The woman on the cover of "Fires of Heaven", and "The Gathering Storm" is most likely Aviendha. Any time there is a redhead female on the cover, that is most likely her.
Selene is on the cover! Just read The Great Hunt.
Book 5 & 12 is Aviendha. Yeah 12, Avi didn’t wear open top dress.
i stg i JUST started reading these books a month ago (about to finish book 2) and i literally told my friend who recommended me The Eye Of The World that Rand looked like Nicholas Cage 😂😂 can’t believe someone else noticed it too
You do that thing with ur arms 21:56 in quite a bit of videos...it's cool I'm not making fun....I enjoy it...ur awesome
I definitely read the books despite the covers, not because of them.
I wish I could say I was getting excited about the upcoming show, but that would be a lie. I'm not hating on it, but very little of what I have seen or read is doing anything for me. I am harbouring some hope that I will be pleasantly surprised by it, but I'm just not going to hold my breath. Things like them recasting Mat for season 2, with no explanation given, isn't inspiring much confidence for me either.
Yeah, or just even changing the Myrddraal to be more scary monsters rather than just people without eyes (like they seem described in the book) doesn't inspire confidence. Like whenever they change stuff like that it makes me worried they are more worried about "action" and "surprise" then telling the story that's there.
@@Bookborn Yeah, I mean changing minimal things like having Thom play the guitar, rather than a harp, I don't really care too much about. I get that, as you either need to spend time teaching the actor to play the harp, or have someone else play it and always focus on the hands in shots then cut away, which can be distracting as you then start thinking "that wasn't them" and it breaks the immersion. But changing something fundamental, just for the sake of it, is a no no, especially when the changes make no logical sense. It's why I'll never forgive Peter Jackson for what he did to Faramir's character, among other things.
Robert Jordan went to Comic Con in 2005, I asked him a few questions, and had Eye of the World signed. This is the catcher, I stayed at the Omni hotel next to the con, went to breakfast the next day, and the table next to me was - Robert Jordan! He was reading a newspaper and I was straining to see what he was reading, but didn't bother him.
Rand was on the Sweet Memory of light cover, his body is on the top of the funeral thingy
I purposefully didn't say this because it's a no-spoiler video lol and I feel like saying Rand is on top of a funeral pyre is....a pretty big spoiler. However, I stand by the fact that he's not central to the cover, making the new one my preference.
I actually love the covers❤
The "Elvis" cover may just be referring to the crown on Rand. Elvis had been known as "the King"
Lord of Chaos has a good cover and I’m tired of pretending it’s not. I will die on this hill.
LOL YES this is the hot take I needed today
You might be interested to research in the Jordan interviews how he felt about how some people say Egwene's name.
Are you saying that because I'm saying it wrong 😂
I'm familiar with the black European covers with the coloured wheel and snake logo, which are far more elegant
I think literally all of these covers are bad, with Eye of the World and Path of Daggers being the only ones with a passing grade from me. I'm so glad fantasy covers have gotten sooooooo much better. I congratulate you on all of your hard work here, though.
Side note, it's great that Jordan would mention that people would write to him about picking up WoT due to the cover, however this man was clearly deluding himself because it's impossible to know how many people saw the covers and decided to NOT pick them up :P
Well, I think that quote from Jordan was him trying to extend a hand of friendship since he literally crapped on all the covers constantly. Like there were a thousand quotes of him complaining about them 😂
I love your analysis and critiques here...but to respond in part...Mat Cauthon pretty much lives in the saddle for many books doesn't he? I remember him being on campaign with his men, like non-stop. Do I remember that correctly? But, you're right it's not like they were cowboys...who don't need a reason to ride a horse every day, they just do.
MoL would be my #1. I just love that cover. The movement, the sense of power that Rand gives off, the drama. It’s too bad that they never put it out as a poster!
The worst part of Lord of Chaos is that there's actually a whole battlefield in the complete image. You can see it on the back and wrapping the side. It's a pretty important and identifiable part of the book. But because of the layout all you see on the front is Muscles McSexy there.
Egween 😭😭😭 why my ears I’ve never heard that before
Yeah my good friend in the booktube community was like "oh girl, please no how could you say it that way". I'm going to try to change but no promises 😂