Fantastic Figures of Fantasy Book Covers – June 2011

Another month’s end has come and gone, we’re back on schedule after the holiday weekend, and it’s time for Elena and Damon to review headshots for the coveted title of SFF Cover Hottie of the Month for June 2011.  This was a good month for numbers but not clear-cut winners. 

MEN

My favorite cover with a man on it is definitely Miserere by Teresa Frohock, she of the fabulously hirsute surname.

This is just a great cover.  It would make me stop and take a second look.  The dude on it is getting to jump like three spots higher than he would be if the whole of it wasn’t so compelling to mine eyes. Cause he’s okay, but he’s no Ian Somerhalder or Matthew Bomer.

Kevin Hearne makes back-to-back appearances with his Iron Druid Chronicles, because they got an excellent cover man for the first one and he holds up just as well for Hexed.

I am still concerned by that soul patch, but his eyes look really amazing here and his bone structure is wonderful.  Probably my favorite dude based on him and him alone this month.  (If you are Kevin Hearne’s cover model:  call me!)

Third favorite cover, and another in the “this is just a frakking awesome cover” camp is The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, can’t see his face.  But he’s tall and well-built and clearly of means. And I could never say no to such a dapper gentleman.  Unless he’s a zombie.  Or…yeah, pretty much it stops there.

The Sword of Fire and Sea by Erin Hoffman is, admittedly, a bit cartoonish.

But let’s zoom in on the dude (and no, Damon did not pick the girl as one of his…he likes the urban fantasy types). 

He’s…nice-looking, if you imagine that face in real life.  Maybe an elf, or just possessed of unfortunately large ears, but imperfections can be endearing! And he looks brave and competent and not totally dim-witted, so I think we’re kind of batting a win.

If the cover above is an argument against cartoons, Songs of the Earth by Elspeth Cooper is an argument against photo-realism.

This dude would be significantly hotter if his hair looked more magical and less greasy (even if greasy is realistic) and if his nose were just slightly more aquiline (even if this is more realistic). 

My last cover man is on Frank Tuttle’s Banshee’s Walk.

I feel like I have to pick this cover as a nod to my soon-to-be-resuscitated romance cover column, because it has the three basics: no face or half a face; open shirt; an argument for or against chest hair.  Generally I find all arguments to be for it, because waxed chests are not okay with me, and this is such a pleasant amount that it doesn’t make me long for the glistening acres of waxing the way were-wolf chests do. Because, OMG, no.  But where was I? Oh, yeah:  this guy would be hotter if I could see his face, because he is not sartorially blessed enough that I don’t need to.

WOMEN

Damon didn’t give me rankings on these girls so we’ll assume they are just ordered as he encountered them.

That being said, the first is Hit List (Anita Blake) by Laurell K. Hamilton, which just makes me want to make puns about an “I’d Hit It List”:

She is naked on the cover, I don’t think I even need to go any further than this.  Smoking body.

Up next is Hunt the Moon (Cassie Palmer) by Karen Chance.

She’s cute and has a gun. Also I think it is the dress that is really working for the cover.

Then we have Naamah’s Blessing (Kushiel’s Legacy) by Jacqueline Carey.

This is true fantasy at work here. I wish we could see her whole face, but the awesome jewelry brings that sexy factor back.  I mean, look at her back–it is stunning.

First runner up is Black Heart Loa by Adrian Phoenix.

She has a good body, but I am still not sold on the face.  This one is borderline, but she has a rifle (even if she may not actually know how to use it), and the month was tough.

Another borderline was Everdark by Elle Jasper.

Too many tattoos or not? That is the real question; for me it is too many.

And finally we have Kitty’s Big Trouble by Carrie Vaughn.

This girl is wrapped up in more clothes than an Eskimo.  WTF is up with that? She is a nice-looking present in terrible packaging.

So there you have it, our picks for this month’s sexiest SFF cover models.  Did we miss yours?  Get the ordering wrong? Tell us in the comments!