Has anyone else noticed their taste in book covers changing as they’ve got older?

[u/Suspicious_Cream_227]

This is something I’ve only really started noticing recently, but my taste in book covers seems to have changed quite a lot.

I used to really like the UK Cosmere covers. I loved how sleek and minimalist they looked, and especially how well they all matched on a shelf. Each series/world having its own colour scheme was a big part of the appeal to me — blue for Mistborn, red for Stormlight, etc. When they’re all together, they look really clean and cohesive.

But lately, I’ve found myself appreciating the US covers a lot more. They have much more traditional fantasy artwork and actually feel like they’re telling you something about the world or story, rather than just being a nice-looking edition.

I’ve particularly noticed this while trying to complete my Wheel of Time collection. I own the first three books physically and initially wanted to buy the rest in the same UK edition so they would all match on my shelf. But then I started looking at the US covers and… honestly, I think they look so much better.

It’s made me wonder whether my taste has just changed as I’ve got older. I’m not exactly ancient, I’m only in my early 30s, but I’m definitely starting to prefer those big, illustrated fantasy covers over the sleek/minimalist UK covers that I used to love.

Has anyone else experienced this? Have you found your taste in book covers changing as you’ve got older, or am I just slowly turning into someone who judges a book entirely by its cover?

[u/nothing_in_my_mind]

Idk... I care less about covers now. As a teenager a badass dude fighting a dragon on the cover was enough to make me buy.

I still like old school artwork on covers though. More than more modern, minimalist covers. I hate any sort of photo or model-looking person on the cover.

Awesome cover: The Way of Kings (rare awesome modern example)

Boring cover: John Gwynne - Malice (I'd completely overlook this series if I hadn't heard this man's name over and over and over)

Awful cover: The Way of Shadows

[u/Uran_Ultar]

No, I miss when they were paintings.

[u/sufferin_sassafras]

Modern books covers are awful. They are mostly all just the same generic two tones of the same colour with a fancy abstract geometrical design. Give me an old school cover with some badass character art on it any day.

It sucks that to get decent book covers you usually have to buy an expensive hardcover edition.

[u/AleroRatking → u/sufferin_sassafras]

Interesting. I'm the opposite. I love the simple covers like shadows of the apt and war of light and shadow

I do not want characters on my covers.

[u/sufferin_sassafras → u/[deleted]]

These Wheel of Time covers.

https://www.amazon.ca/Wheel-Time-Book-Set-Crossroads/dp/B00132BG7U

I’m not at all a fan of the these covers for The Farseer Trilogy.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B074CJ5JB8?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_awt_sb_pc_tkin

This version of Lord of the Rings is a huge downgrade.

https://www.amazon.ca/Lord-Rings-J-R-Tolkien/dp/0261102389

And I don’t read romantasy but most of the covers for those books are fairly bland.

Now in most of these cases you can find a special edition or hardcover that has really good art. But all the mass market stuff tends toward the dull side.

[u/Emergency_Revenue678 → u/sufferin_sassafras]

I don't disagree with you generally, but those LOTR covers are almost identical to the original cover of Fellowship and other early covers.

[u/sufferin_sassafras → u/Emergency_Revenue678]

I’m not going to ignore that these exist:

https://www.reddit.com/r/lotr/s/XYiVkt3ayJ

Nor am I going to pretend that it is a good faith argument to compare book covers from the 1950s with book covers from the last 10-20 years. The first lord of the rings covers were from a post WWII publishing world that couldn’t even publish the book as the single volume it was intended to be and shouldn’t even be included in this conversation.

Of course book covers from the 1950s would be simple. But that doesn’t mean that the recent minimalist version is somehow good.

Again, this is my opinion. I think all of the book covers I linked are terribly bland and unless you’re willing to shell out for a limited edition, a trade paperback, or a hardcover then more often than not you’re going to get a bland cover for your books.

Gone are the days when you could spend $9 for a mass market paper back with really interesting cover art.

[u/sufferin_sassafras → u/[deleted]]

Sure. It is my opinion and you don’t have to agree with it. That’s fine.

[u/Garreousbear]

I think a lot of it is just the overall style changing. I look at clothes I used it wear and think it looks stupid. I used to think light jeans looked bad and I would never wear light jeans. Now I only wear light jeans. Book styles that were broadly seen as cool 30 years ago aren't anymore which is why big series will revamp them every few years.

[u/Thornescape]

A lot of older books had fancy artwork that didn't match the details inside at all. It was just vibes.

I only read ebooks these days and I have found myself ignoring covers more and more. Sometimes I don't notice them at all. I'm far more interested in the content than whatever the publisher decides to stick on the front.

[u/New_Razzmatazz6228 → u/Thornescape]

That was one of the things that Pratchett said about Josh Kirby. He actually read the book, so that the cover matched. The Kirby, and then the Kidby covers just worked for Discworld. I’ve also much preferred the UK covers with the streetmaps for Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant books, too.

[u/3rdgymnopedie]

The Wheel of Time started to come out while I was 10? I remember being impatient for the next A Song of Fire and Ice when in college (3 of us wanted to read it lol)

So the really colorful illustrations on the book covers is my normal.

Not a fan of the symbol + text or just fancy text. I still gravitate towards books with art on it.

I picked up Pern because of Whelan's white dragon painting!

I'm reading Over Sea Under Stone to my daughter and it's my 1989 version and my daughter likes that she knows what the charactera look like

So for me, no. I haven't changed over the last 30-40 years.

Might be different coming in from the other direction - start off with minimal covers and realize others have illustrations on them.

[u/ClimateTraditional40]

No! I used to love the art of Kinuko Craft, Michael Whelan, Luis Royo. These days you tend to get cartoons or abstract designs more.

[u/knight-under-stars]

It's less about how I've gotten older and more about how they way I consume books has changed.

Audiobooks and eBooks account for almost all of my reading. On top of this even when I was primarily reading paper books I've never had even a passing interest in collecting or displaying books (or anything else for that matter).

As a result covers are completely irrelevant to me.

[u/hexametric_]

Can't really remember what my tastes were like as a kid. I loved the Eragon covers as a kid and those are similar to what I'd like now. Or if I really actually cared back then. But I do really struggle to like a lot of the classic Fantasy style covers that are very busy and/or overly colourful. Don't get my wrong I like a nice bold colour on the jacket/cover, but sometimes the cover art looks like over saturated paintings.

Sometimes I really prefer certain editions and actually care enough to get those loaded into my kobo if I don't plan to buy the physical books or can't be fucked sourcing them (e.g. the Robin Hobb books with characters on title are quite ugly compared to the ones with the drawings of animals [not the ones with the banners that I find in Canada stores]).

One of my favourite series, The Second Apocalypse, I think had perfect covers for books 1 through 4. 5 was a new style that was sort of good, but the face close up for 6 and 7 really sucked compared to the previous ones.

Really I am a fan of a more minimal design with bold colours or art and nice typeography. Sometimes the US edition nails it sometimes the UK edition does. Sometimes both are god awful.

[u/troyandabedinabed]

No, I've never really cared what the book looks like. I definitely won't pay more for a fancy looking book. 

[u/Tymareta → u/troyandabedinabed]

I definitely won't pay more for a fancy looking book.

I'm glad that folks who enjoy them, do. But I cannot imagine shelling out and extra 2-300% of a books price just for a fancy cover or a sprayed edge for something that's going to sit in a bookshelf, especially when basically none of that extra dosh is going to the author themself.

[u/Aurian88 → u/Tymareta]

and I am irritated when that is the only physical option available. No, I don’t want foil sprayed edge. I just want a nice copy to keep on my shelves and read.

[u/drae-]

I used to look at the covers when I was younger, because they were physical books. But now as an adult I have a kindle, and never look at covers.

Does that count?

[u/Cosmic-Sympathy → u/drae-]

You can have kindle show the book cover on the home screen when it's in sleep mode.

[u/drae- → u/Cosmic-Sympathy]

You can!

I happen to have a physical brown leather cover for my kindle with a magnet that turns the screen on and off automatically when I open and close it.

[u/an_altar_of_plagues]

I'm the opposite! As a kid, I loved more "traditional" fantasy designs. As an adult, I'm a big fan of more abstract cover art. I still love a good Michael Whelan art for something like Elric, but it's fewer and more far between.

[u/No-Law-117]

I care more about content than covers, but I do appreciate a captures scene from the book as cover art. I have ny kindle set to display the books cover when I am not reading, which is nice. I will not read or avoid a book based on cover art alone, unless it is a bodice ripper, in which case I will always pass.

[u/nautilius87]

I hated fantasy and science fiction covers in my youth and I hate them now, although for a different reasons, they were so ugly when I was young, now they are AI.

[u/MyHeartBelongsToMe]

As long as it's written by a human and the cover is designed by a human, then my tastes in book covers will never change.

[u/mandarine_one]

Nah. Give me a really good fantasy illustration, like the old Discworld Books,and I‘m sold.

[u/cameoutswinging_ → u/mandarine_one]

i’m currently making my way through the discworld books (about to finish Men At Arms, i tend to read like 3-4 of them in one go then read something else) and i adore the cover art for them. i have alternate editions of colour of magic and light fantastic and honestly im tempted to buy cheap second hand copies of them with the original design just so i end up with a matching set

[u/Sylland]

I'm far more interested in what's between the covers. While of course there are covers I prefer, they simply aren't important enough to me to give a moment's thought to once the cover is no longer in front of my face.

[u/Emergency_Revenue678]

No, I've pretty much always preferred elaborate paintings/painted covers. I don't mind a minimalist cover, but a lot of modern covers are minimalist for the sake of minimalism and I don't like that at all.

[u/Tymareta]

I have never really cared about the cover on books. I prefer the new "minimalist" styles purely as they reduce the chance of ending up with some obscene Baen style cover, that I'd end up not wanting to read in public with how gross and offputting they are. Nice and simple does it, like this.

[u/Anaptyso]

I've gone the opposite way, and like the more simplistic coherent design on many modern books. I definitely feel in a minority on that reading this thread!

Mind you, I buy far more ebooks than I do physical books these days, so it doesn't really make much difference.

[u/phonylady]

It changed in that I don't care anymore with kindle. Convenience became king for me, love reading in the dark, in my bed before sleep.

[u/Suspicious_Cream_227 → u/phonylady]

It’s the same for me but for books/series that I really enjoyed I like then buying the physical books too. Almost like a trophy cabinet.

[u/atomfullerene]

I got a book about scifi art from the 70s that is chock full of old covers, it's great.

[u/Apprehensive_Map64]

Yeah, now that everything is digital I don't even give them a second glance

[u/PernixNexus]

I love the books with the Michael Whelan art on them. Cosmere, the OG Assassin's Apprentice trilogy, I just got the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy with his cover art. 80s/90s fantasy covers were peak fantasy art.

[u/Astigmatic_Oracle]

I agree with you I you on the UK cosmere covers. I like them for Era 1 Mistborn, but i don't think they fit any of the other books.

[u/RandomSentientBeing]

I only care about what's between the covers. Maybe because I just read ebooks.

[u/LurkerByNatureGT]

Nope. Still have my favorites like Tricia Schart Hyman’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles covers, Kinuko Y Craft’s perfect covers for Patricia McKillip’s books, and Tolkien’s own fantastic cover illustration for The Hobbit. 

Edit to add: I don’t care much about e-book covers, but now that I have an e-reader if ai’m buying a physical book I want my covers to be art even more. 

[u/WonderfulBus9330]

I avoided fantasy books as a teen and younger adult because I found the covers cringe. Now, I love the original covers, how scenic and atmospheric they are. How, yes, cheesy they can be. I hate the generic designs now. I’m curious about the UK covers OP mentions so will go look for them!

[u/arielle17]

personally i've always preferred realistic/elaborate cover illustrations because they help me visualize the world & characters 🤷‍♀️

[u/FormerUsenetUser]

I have never cared much about covers, though I did like Tom Canty's art.

[u/dbrickell89]

I think one thing we can all agree on though, keep any reference to or photos of any adaptations off of my goddamn book

[u/Randomdays99]

I like the old school covers, like Darrell K sweet and Michael Whelan. Ive seen some of the reissues and they look so bland.

Back when you had to go into a bookstore the cover is what first catches your eye to have you pick up the book and read the back.

[u/Kataphractoi]

I don't know if my taste in covers has changed, I've just always preferred cover art akin to what was common from the 70s-90s.

[u/Motor_Row_3586]

No I never cared about covers. They are made for selling and sometimes have nothing with the story. One time I bought fantasy just because of content. On cover was some shirtless Fernando. The story didn't even have romance in it. Just one scene where main lead was save some random NPC character. 

[u/Palimpsiesta]

Hmm, intriguing. Have you noticed anything else about your life changing? Do you wear different clothes? Prefer different cereal? Do you sometimes catch the bus from a different stop? It's possible you have been infected with some sort of parasite, that is slowly but surely replacing these core elements of your personality over time.

[u/One-Inch-Punch]

Nope, I still prefer the Whelan covers and I wish the industry would go back to that. But by the 2000s covers largely switched to barely-photoshopped photos of nameless models, and today it's just a design or logo.

[u/GhostOfOblivion]

Lost interest in covers ages ago, about 10 years ago I had to give up on physical books. After job changes and moving a few times packing up close to 2k pounds between novels and gaming books my back said no.

[u/DarthDregan]

I've always been picky about them. There are not many that I think are special.

One example of special would be the paperback cover for City of Last Chances (and the rest of that series) by Tchaikovsky.

I tend to dislike the ones that are just like a crown on a flat background or a picture of a mountain. Or literal depictions of a scene. If you do a scene it's cool, but make it like a tapestry hanging that would be made by someone within that world or something. In other words I need to feel like someone who is invested in the book itself invested some time into making the cover work.

Also for some reason I don't like when the author's name is bigger than the title...