Harry Potter Cover Art Reimagined

By way of a tor.com article, I stumbled on M. S. Corley’s interpretation of the Harry Potter book covers as they might appear in a Penguin Classics or Oxford World Classics printing. This iconic Order of the Phoenix cover is my favorite, portraying cupped hands holding a prophecy globe billowing black smoke. Corley has composed similar interpretations of the Lemony Snicket book covers as well.

Since we’re on the subject, I’d just like to state for the record that I wish more fantasy and science fiction cover art were in this “less is more” vein. Too often the very mature and complex themes of our genre are minimized or overthrown altogether by cartoonish book covers depicting grim-faced warriors or buxom heroines. There are, of course, many exceptions to this rule, and many excellent fantasy artists who can pull off evocative, true-to-life (true-to-fantasy?) interpretations of an author’s work. In general, however, I feel that tasteful simplicity conveys a much more powerful message than garish grandiloquence.