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People vs. Objects on YA Fantasy Covers

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Written by: Kimberly Francisco on November 21, 2012.

While girls in pretty dresses are still ubiquitous on YA fantasy covers, I’ve noticed more and more are featuring objects much more prominently, particularly in high fantasy (as opposed to paranormal or other subgenres). It’s a refreshing change for someone like me. I remember many books I read as a teen featuring the (usually) magical objects within the stories, leaving the look of the main character up to my imagination.

I admit that I may just be seeing an increase in these types of covers
because high fantasy itself seems to be making a comeback in YA, but the covers are beautiful. They work really well for high fantasy, since they enhance the world-building so vital in stories like these.

(I also think it’s interesting to note that two of the biggest YA book series right now, Hunger Games and Divergent, both feature objects, rather than people, on the covers.)

Sometimes, the object is a sword or knife:

Sometimes it’s a crown:

Sometimes it’s a jewel:

Sometimes it’s a key or set of keys:

Are there any others you find particularly striking that I’ve missed?

Comments

  1. I love the objects on covers look, and I, too, noticed how prevalent it is on fantasy covers (vs. other genres). I've been looking at a ton of 2013 covers, and one of the things I've noticed is that there are more objects donning covers than people and the bulk of them ARE fantasy.

  2. Freaking butterflies of course, and mason jars (sometimes butterflies IN mason jars). It's odd that we see so few guns on YA covers, given that so many young people meet their end that way (around 3000 per year in the USA)

  3. I love this post! I guess I hadn't thought about how many times objects appear on fantasy covers but it's a lot! I like the objects look, but it has to be interesting enough to catch my eye. I like the keys of Incarceron and Bitterblue, the jewels on the Girl of Fire and Thornes, and I think Graceling is my favorite sword cover. I also really like The False Prince because the crown is broken-tells the story with just a picture which is really cool. I also agree with Gabrielle that there have been a lot of butterflies and mason jars lately. And I think birds have been showing up more on covers too.