Someone asked how he chose the cover artist, and we got a nice long spiel with some previously unknown information. Jordan and his wife went through bookstores picking out books based on their (if they liked it) cover art and finding out who did the cover. It came down to two artists, Darrell K. Sweet and Michael Whelan. The deciding factor was that Whelan wants the manuscript to read for a year before he will deliver a cover, and they just couldn’t wait that long.
They are apparently considering a later reissue of the entire series with different covers, perhaps by Whelan, once it is complete.
Some stores simply won’t carry fantasy, so all the books have been issued without cover art to expand the market. This came up in response to the A Crown of Swords paperback being artless. Why we haven’t seen any of these others without art, I don’t know.
Sweet Criticism and General Commentary:
—Rand is NOT tall enough.
— The Path of Daggers details are mostly right, at least.
—Rand has a different face on each cover.
—DKS has never done the Trollocs right: “They are NOT hairy men with animal-like helmets.”
—Detail problems with Sweet are due to communication difficulties; there is not much time or opportunity for input.
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