Michael Whelan will be providing the final cover artwork. He is working from a totally different image from the book and will not be re-using any of Sweet's ideas.
Sweet's rough cover is interesting. Obviously, the three women are Elayne, Min and Aviendha and the funeral bier is presumably Rand's, with the unified Aes Sedai symbol in the background. More curious is the pyramid-like structure on the left, which does not appear to be a familiar location from the books.
A Memory of Light is currently scheduled for release in January 2013.
Looks like Mount Dhoom to me.
ReplyDeleteIsn't the pyramid structure supposed to be Dragonmount?
ReplyDeleteIt's Sweet, so that could easily be Dragonmount, I'd say.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a stepped pyramid (although a weather-beaten one) to me, not a mountain like Dragonmount or Mt. Dhoom.
ReplyDeleteOf course, this is a draft, so maybe Sweet was using a pyramid structure as a guide and would paint it over later?
It looks like a stepped pyramid (although a weather-beaten one) to me, not a mountain like Dragonmount or Mt. Dhoom.
ReplyDeleteOf course, this is a draft, so maybe Sweet was using a pyramid structure as a guide and would paint it over later?
There is no Mt. Dhoom in WoT... it's Mountains of Dhoom. I would guess it's supposed to be Shayol Ghul or Dragonmount. Sweet has never been known for being accurate so wouldn't surprise me.
ReplyDeleteHard to judge a rough draft, and I'm curious what the finished product would have looked like, but this does absolutely nothing for me.
ReplyDeleteIt ain't perfect, but it looks better than some of his other finished covers. I would've used this. I'm surprised they didn't. Seriously, looks fine to me.
ReplyDeleteThey seriously ought to use this.
ReplyDeleteIt looks better than any Sweet cover yet, and it retains the traditional WOT style. And frankly, using an unfinished painting by a dead man would be a moving and fitting thing for a decades-long epic series that had to be completed by another author after the creator died.
Tor have no sense of beauty.
Man I don't care how rough or incomplete that artwork is, and maybe I'm a sucker for original art and sketches, but that so could have been used as-is for the final cover. Slap the title on it and that would have made a fine book jacket for the final novel. It's a shame Sweet's art will not be used in some form.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Whelan will do a fine job though, and I'm interested to see his version.
Mt. Doom, Mt. Dhoom, Mountains of Dhoom, it's all blurring together :-)
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't even read the WOT-books (yet) but I have to admit I *LOVE* that cover art. Makes me interested in the series.
ReplyDeleteFunny how he painted a yin yang instead of the actual Dragon symbol.
ReplyDeleteIt's Nynaeve crossing her arms under her breasts, obviously.
ReplyDelete