Cover Characteristics: Book Covers featuring Arrows

 
 

I suppose this could be interpreted in a couple different ways, but my mind immediately thought *bow and arrow*, so that’s what I went with.

And luckily, fantasy books seem to have lots of bows and arrows! It just seems to be the weapon of choice, even if the stories exist in a time and place where higher-tech weapons are available. I suppose there’s something romantic about them. Even when they’re killing people.

o.0

Have you ever tried to use one though? I took a class once at a shooting range when I was a kid. I was, of course, given a kid-size bow, but I don’t remember anything about it other than the bow was hard to pull back. And that, folks, pretty much summarizes all my knowledge and experience with bows and arrows 🙂


Cover Characteristics is a weekly meme hosted at Sugar & Snark. This week’s topic is:

Books Covers featuring Arrows

 
Vamparazzi by Laura Resnick
Wicked Path by Eliza Tilton
The Inquisition by Taran Matharu
Naughty Cupid by Deanna Wadsworth
The Paladin Caper by Patrick Weekes
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Oaken by Melody Robinette
Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief by Gabrielle Kent
Circle of Thieves by C. Greenwood
Make Me a Match by Lori Brighton
 

Pin the Collage!


 

Make Me A Match by Lori Brighton

 
Make Me a Match by Lori Brighton | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
 

It’s such a unique-looking arrow!

 

Legends of Dimmingwood Series by C. Greenwood

 
Magic of Thieves by C. Greenwood | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
Circle of Thieves by C. Greenwood | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
Redemption of Thieves by C. Greenwood | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
 

These are just super fantasy-esque, and the glowing bow is pretty.

 

Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief by Gabrielle Kent

 
Alfie Bloom and the Talisman Thief by Gabrielle Kent | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
 

A nice, bright, graphic-y cover. (Seriously though, can anyone help me think of the right word for graphic-y? What word am I thinking of???)

 

The Underground Series by Melody Robinette

 
Oaken by Melody Robinette | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
Ash by Melody Robinette | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
 

These are just so pretty, and the flaming, glowiness really adds something.

 

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

 
Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
 

This one’s nice, and she looks pretty badass.

 

Rogues of the Republic Series by Patrick Weekes

 
The Paladin Caper by Patrick Weekes | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weekes | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
 

I love the quirky array of people on each cover, they make me so interested in reading these books! (Ok those might be crossbows, but what do I look like, a weapons expert? It’s close enough lol.)

 

Naughty Cupid by Deanna Wadsworth

 
Naughty Cupid by Deanna Wadsworth | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
 

I just think this cover is really pretty.

 

Summoner Series by Taran Matharu

 
The Novice by Taran Matharu | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
The Inquisition by Taran Matharu | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
 

These are so pretty and detailed, and he looks like an interesting character. (Ok, I admit it, I’m a sucker for trench coats or dusters or whatever that is.)

 

Wicked Path by Eliza Tilton

 
Wicked Path by Eliza Tilton | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
 

I’ve just always loved this cover. I LOVE the white and brown combination, and it’s kind of simplistic but also has the interesting splotchy, artsy thing going on.

 

My Favorite:
Vamparazzi by Laura Resnick

 
Vamparazzi by Laura Resnick | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
 

I just couldn’t resist the Dan dos Santos cover. It’s so gorgeously painted and has so much detail!

 
 
 
 

Talk to me!

Which book cover with arrows is YOUR favorite?
And have you ever shot a bow and arrow?

Book Covers featuring Arrows | books, reading, book covers, cover love, arrows
 
 
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Your Thoughts

 

32 thoughts on “Cover Characteristics: Book Covers featuring Arrows

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  1. Angela @ Simply Angela

    I’ve never actually paid attention to bows or arrows on the cover of books, now I’m going to be looking for them. lol Although I have to say, I found covers of The Underground Series to be the most eye-catching.

    Archery has always been something that has intrigued me. In college, I actually got the chance to see how medieval and renaissance weapons worked and I remember shooting arrows through arrow slits in a castle wall.

    1. Kristen Burns

      Haha, I never pay attention to things on covers either until it comes up on the list of topics 😛 I do love those Underground Series covers which is why I think I managed to snag either one or both for free on Amazon at some point.

      Archery really does seem cool. I think it’d fun to try it again now that I’m an adult. What you got to do sounds fun!

  2. Paula Berinstein

    Could the word you’re looking for be “stylized,” Kristen?

    I must say that you are really inventive. You come up with the most interesting takes on things. I just love reading your blog. 🙂

  3. Barb(boxermommyreads)

    I absolutely love Dan dos Santos covers and that one is no exception. I actually own a crossbow. It was a Christmas gift a year ago from my husband…might clue you in that we are not your traditional family – haha. They take arrows so in my opinion, they totally count for this feature. I’ve heard pretty interesting things about the Novice book so maybe I will give it a go some day! Great feature.

    1. Kristen Burns

      I’m so obsessed with his covers! But that is so cool that you own a crossbow! I didn’t know if they used normal arrows or not and was too lazy to look it up, so thank you, I learned something new lol. And that Novice book does look good. I haven’t read it, but I wouldn’t mind reading it some day either.

  4. Greg

    Vamparazza is definitely my favorite. Although I wouldn’t have known it was dos Santos if you hadn’t mentioned it. Could it be I’m becoming a fan of his stuff lol?? And I thought it was just photographers trying to get in at first, then I noticed the claws. Nice!

    I like Heir of Fire too. The Paladin Caper looks medieval-ish. Circle of thieves isn’t bad, and and I like the threatening hooded figures on Redemption of Thieves as well. But yeah the dos Santos is the best.

    I kinda liked this topic…

    1. Kristen Burns

      I’m pretty sure I always mention when it’s Dan dos Santos, so you’ll never have to worry about not knowing that, haha. But hurrah! I’m totally turning you into a fan too! 😛

      I really want to read that series with the Paladin Caper. It looks fun. Circle of Thieves is a nice cover, but not necessarily my type of book. I think I’m just automatically more drawn to the ones that also look like things I’d like to read. This did turn out to be a good topic!

  5. Lola

    I used a bow and arrow once during a vacation and I can remember it was quite fun. We had four people or so and at the end of the less we did a little competition to see who could get the most points. It was fun. And arrows is definitely a topic you could go into multiple direction with.

    I like your picks for this topic. I haven’t seen most of these covers before, except the Cupids one in your post yesterday and the Heir of Fire one. And Dan Dos Santos makes such gorgeous covers, I think that’s my favourite as well. There’s so much detail in his covers and I also like how it’s pretty original with the pose and the arrows all around her and how she seems to try and press the door shut and all those hands and camera’s poking out from behind it.

    1. Kristen Burns

      That’s so cool! I think it’d be fun to try again now that I’m adult.

      Thanks 🙂 Yeah, the Cupid one was perfect because I had ten covers, but there was one I really wasn’t crazy about, and then I got that Cupid book for review and was suddenly like, “Oh! It has arrows!” Haha. I’m so obsessed with the Dan dos Santos covers though. They really do always have the most amazing detail! And I agree, they’re so original too.

  6. S. J. Pajonas

    There are some gorgeous covers here! I really want to try Japanese archery, Kyūdō, as it’s something I’ve written into my books but never tried. Maybe someday!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Arrows just turned out to be a really great topic for pretty covers! Huh, I’ve never heard of Japanese archery, so I don’t know how it differs. I’ll have to look it up 🙂

        1. Kristen Burns

          Huh. I looked at your Pinterest board and then read about it and then watched a video and then watched a regular archery video to compare it to lol. They are huge, and that’s different how it spins around and everything. You learn something new every day!

  7. Vlora

    I like covers with bows and arrows! My favorite is Fire by Kristin Cashore (the cover where you can see her with the red dress, not the one with just the bow and arrow). There IS something romantic about them even though they kill people. 😀 I HAVE actually tried to shoot a bow and arrow a few months ago. I was surprised by how easy it is to hit the target! Obviously it takes more time to become a really accurate shooter, and I’m sure it’s hard as hell to hit moving targets, but it was definitely easier than I expected. And it IS hard to pull back the string, and I also let it snap back against my arm so many times that my whole lower arm was legitimately purple/yellow – biggest bruise I ever had haha.

    1. Kristen Burns

      I know exactly what cover you’re talking about because I almost used it and switched it at the last minute lol.

      Oh my goodness, that bruise sounds awful! I feel like I shouldn’t be laughing, but I kind of am, haha. That’s cool though that you got to do that!

  8. Yvo @ It's All About Books

    Wow you found so many covers with bows and arrows! It’s hard to pick just one favorite out of these, but I like the colors in the Summoner series and the Alfie Bloom book. (plus I love covers without actual models on them in the first place). My boyfriend actually owns a bow and I tried to shoot with it once, but it’s set too ‘heavy’ for me to actually be able to pull the string all the way backward lol. I prefer watching while he uses it. 😉

    1. Kristen Burns

      Yes, the colors are really pretty for that series! I don’t mind models on the cover if they’re painted or altered in some way rather than just a photo (especially a stock photo), but I get why some people don’t like models on the cover, and the Alfie Bloom one is a good one. Haha I also totally get why you’d prefer watching him use the bow 😛