Been a while since I’ve done one of these. Also been a while since I talked about this series. Today’s gonna be one for nostalgia.
Today, we return to analyze another cover in the Stormlight Archive series. Book five is coming this December, so I’ve been re-listening to the audio books at work.
A few years back, we covered the covers for ‘The Way of Kings‘ and ‘Words of Radiance.’ Now we’re on to book three: ‘Oathbringer.’ Luckily for me, it isn’t a particularly difficult cover to decipher. All the better to appreciate the quality of the art itself.
The first thing your eyes will be drawn to is one of our favorite Radiants: Jasnah Kholin. She stands on her floating Soulcast stairs, her shardblade glowing in her gloved safehand. Behind her, she closes the gap in the wall with further Soulcasting. As always, the princess of Alethkar is poised and collected even in the face of an apocalypse.
If you’ve read the book, then you know which scene this is. The Battle of Thaylen City, the climactic finale. Specifically the chapter, ‘The Spear That Would Not Break,’ near the end of part 5. In case the front cover were not indication enough, all you need do is look at the back half of the piece.
At the giant stone Thunderclast tearing the city to pieces beneath the Everstorm’s red glow. You can even see the red banner of Sadeas’ army!
This is a fantastic cover. It depicts one of the book’s best scenes without spoiling too much. Perfect for rewarding repeat readers and intriguing new ones. Besides, it just looks awesome!
By the by, artist Michael Whelan goes into further detail about the creation of this piece on his website (linked above). He even provides his early sketches, so we can see what the beta version of the cover looked like. You can get a print of it, too, if you’d like to directly support the artist. Which I very well may splurge on myself…
Cool as this cover is, it still isn’t my favorite of the Stormlight Archive. Ironically enough, that honor belongs to my least favorite book in the series: ‘Rhythm of War.’
But that’s a conversation for December, when book five finally drops. Until then, remember: life before death, friends.
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