I love the cover of this edition of Alan Garner's classic 'Elidor'. The image of a boy in a parker jacket (identical to mine and countless others in playgrounds across the land at the time), with a spear in his hand, blew me away. Add to that, the rather Anglo-Saxon looking warrior, standing stones and castle, it promised so much richness, and sums up everything I adore in fantasy stories that overlap with our own world.
There's something very sombre about the image too, with it's broad and bruised skyline, reflecting the tone of the book.
Nowadays, this would be called 'Young Adult' fantasy, bridging the gap from children's books to adults, but back in the day, this felt more grown up to me, and the cover sold this beautifully.
I've included the full artwork image, by illustrator Stephen Lavis, as it's beautiful, and one of my favourites of the Narnia / Garner covers he contributed to Lion in the 70s/80s.
Classic book, classic cover.
Thank you for presenting these classic covers
My all time favourite book cover I think, so perfectly evocative of the feel of the book Stephen Lavis was a genius