We all know about judging books by their covers – but taking pleasure in quirky, innovative, and just plain beautiful book covers? Absolutely okay with that. A great book cover can intrigue, entice, and add another dimension to the reading experience. When it comes to cover design, fantasy books are in a class of their own. From weird and wonderful ’70s sci-fi, to artistic editions of old favourites, to illustrated covers for much-loved best-sellers, we’ve compiled a few of our favourites.

Got a favourite fantasy cover we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments below. If you’re interested in dark fantasy, check out our Fantasy with a Dark Edge workshop on June 23.

So much green never felt so right:

What is the creepiest element of this cover? Hard to decide, but we love it anyway:

Ursula Le Guin is always a good idea. Even better if it’s this slightly surreal edition of Planet of Exile:

Another Moorcock, this time featuring the world’s most shredded leggings:

Sara Douglass! So much love for this book, and for this cover:

If you purchased A Game of Thrones in Finland, you may have received the excellent cover below:

A psychedelic cover for Arthur C. Clarke:

Simple. Effective:

A giant cat: not as cute as it sounds:

An engrossing read with an equally engrossing cover:

Liking the wizardry happening here:

Would read:

What fantasy book list would be complete without a classic space cover?

…Or for that matter, dragons and knights?

See point above re: dragons/ knights.

The Hobbit goes dark and minimal:

A wood-cut feel cover that pops out from the shelf:

Speaking of simple:

Two for one. Both from Terry Pratchett:

A particularly fetching cover of Dune:

Not sure what we Googled to get this one:

Dark:

Dragondrums: featuring a dragon…and drums:

A virago in a pink onesie:

Trippy: