About this site...

"Never judge a book by its cover."  Growing up, that's what I had been taught.  But when I wanted to explore the worlds of fantasy and science fiction - judging books by their covers is exactly what I did.

Five or six years ago my only exposure to fantasy fiction was the the character Conan The Barbarian, and the work of Robert E. Howard.  Similarly, my only experience of science fiction was a few Star Trek novels.  Wanting to expand my horizons and broaden my reading in these two genres, I decided to go the local used bookstore (at that time, a Half Price Books in Dayton, Ohio) to see what I could find.  The fantasy/sci-fi section was vast - with hundreds of authors and titles.  I found myself in a state of awe and indecision.  How was I to choose?

It was then that inspiration struck.  While browsing the shelves I stumbled upon Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword and John Norman's Tarnsman of Gor.  Both sported fantastic cover art by Boris Vallejo.  Thoroughly enchanted by the covers, I broke the rule of "never judge a book by its cover" and purchased both.  The stories thrilled me - and the cover art was a very cool extra bonus.  From then on, whenever I found a book with a Boris cover (and eventually a Rowena or Kelly cover), I bought it.  Some have, delightfully, turned out to be as good as the first two; while others have not.  Regardless,  thus began my immersion into the world of Fantasy and Science Fiction - and my obsession with collecting books for the cover art.

This site is an attempt to provide a portal for entry into the world of fantasy fiction via the book covers painted by fantastic artists.  Within this overall concept, I will strive to post complete checklists to the cover art of my favorite fantasy artists.  Over time I plan to make the site more exhaustive and interactive by adding book reviews, author bios & bibliographies, publisher histories & bibliographies, and much more.

My vision for this site as a true portal into the entire world of fantasy fiction is probably well beyond my individual reach (working on this by myself, it will take years for it evolve). Therefore I ask you, fellow fantasy & SciFi enthusiasts, to help make this site all that it can be.  I would greatly appreciate and be happy to include your quality reviews and articles on the site.  If you would like to submit a review for any of the books listed on the site; or if you would like to submit an author bio or bibliography or a publisher history or bibliography - please post one to the Paperback Fantasies Google Group. 

Most of the cover scans on the site are from my personal collection.  And the checklists are the result of my own personal research.  I am sure that there are covers out there of which I am unaware.  If you know of additions or corrections that should be made to the checklists please post them on the Paperback Fantasies Google Group. 

I hope that you will enjoy this site, and that you too may be enchanted by the artistic visions of these fantastic artists and authors.

Jeff Elmquist - webmaster