Previous entries in this re-imagining of Abercrombie’s covers have come under fire for featuring too-pretty portrayals of his famously violent characters. And, really, should a man called ‘The Cripple’ really look this good? How about a scarred and battle-worn Barbarian? Still, this time around you have playboy Jezal Dan Luthar adorning the cover, and he’s anything but ugly in the text of the novels (though they’ve left out a certain scar attained by our pretty-boy in Before They Are Hanged.) I’m a fan of Chris McGrath, the artist, and generally like the set of covers, but it’s an odd decision to go with a trio of handsome (if slightly grizzled) figures that more or less completely miss the point being made by Abercrombie and fail to capture the tone of his work. War is ugly, mates, you just wouldn’t know it from these covers.

Complaining aside, I do like the general design of the covers and the artwork is among McGrath’s best. These will no doubt look quite sharp all lined up in a row on a bookshelf.

Thanks to The Mad Hatter for the heads up.