Cover Art – ‘Elemental: Destiny’s Embers’ (Bradley Wardell)

Or, as I was going to call this post, ‘When Good Publishers run out of Inspiration...’



To be fair, this book is based on a computer game with similar artwork on the box so maybe the cover art people were told to go with the same imagery (kind of a ‘brand’ thing). I can’t help thinking though that the person who designed the cover art looked right into the depths of my very soul and picked the one thing that would make me go... meh’. There is nothing here that actually catches my interest and gives me a clue on what the book is about. I mean, come on! There’s a whole book’s worth of story here, surely there has to be something new and original that would make for a cover that would have people eager to pick it up and give it a go. You would think, wouldn’t you...?

Lets have a look at the blurb and see...


At a frontier outpost on the fringes of the civilized world, an orphaned messenger named Xander witnesses the destruction of all he knows at the hands of the Fallen, the great enemy thought vanquished during the War of Magic.

Abruptly, Xander’s life is changed forever. Now he must seek out an ancient artifact of legendary power in the hopes that it can stop the Fallen hordes from destroying the entire kingdom. Little does he realize that the hope of all mankind rests on his young shoulders, as powers of unimaginable might set out to stop him at all costs.

Aided by his friend Genica, a mysterious thief named Vreen, and a crafty Sion of unknown loyalty, Xander journeys into the heart of the world, where long-hidden secrets will be revealed that could shatter the delicate balance established by the great Cataclysm a thousand years earlier.

OK, maybe not then...

EDITED TO ADD: After a rant like that, I totally forgot to include the cover art! How red is my face right now...?