Cover Battle of 2012: Help Us Find the Year’s Best Cover!

This December, The Ranting Dragon is trying something new: an epic cover battle! We will pitch sixty of the best covers of the year against each other—half of these selected by our team, the other half submitted by you—and our readers get to decide which of them wins the ultimate title of best cover of 2012. Any book released in 2012 is eligible—all it needs is a gorgeous cover!

So how does it work?
During the next five days, we will open up a new round every day. Each of these rounds has twelve of the best covers of the year. By voting in the attached poll, you can pick which covers are your favorites. The four covers that get the most votes continue to the next phase. Twenty covers will survive phase one. These will again be pitched against each other in two rounds of ten covers each, after which a total of eight covers will be left. These will battle each other head-on, one-on-one, in a bracket-style tournament. At the end of the year, we will know which cover you love most!

.

So that means there will be a total of fourteen polls, over the course of a month, for you to vote in. We will need your help for that. Here is a list of polls, with their dates:

• Phase 1, Round 1: Twelve covers; the best four win. December 1 – 6.
• Phase 1, Round 2: Twelve covers; the best four win. December 2 – 7.
• Phase 1, Round 3: Twelve covers; the best four win. December 3 – 8. 
• Phase 1, Round 4: Twelve covers; the best four win. December 4 – 9.
  
• Phase 1, Round 5: Twelve covers; the best four win. December 5 – 10.
  
• Phase 2, Round 1: Ten covers; the best four win. December 11 – 15.
• Phase 2, Round 2: Ten covers; the best four win. December 12 – 16.
  
• Quarter Finals, Match 1: The Emperor’s Soul vs. Wide Open. December 17 – 20. 
• Quarter Finals, Match 2: King of Thorns vs. The Serpent Sea. December 17 – 20. 
• Quarter Finals, Match 3: Assassin’s Curse vs. Dis. Armageddon. December 18 – 21.
• Quarter Finals, Match 4: The Killing Moon vs. Blackbirds. December 18 – 21.
• Semifinals, Match 1: Blackbirds vs. The Serpent Sea. December 22 – 25.
• Semifinals, Match 2: Discount Armageddon vs. Wide Open. December 23 – 26.
• The Big Epic Finale: Blackbirds vs. Discount Armageddon. December 27 – 30.

.

Here is the bracket of the finals:

.

And here are all the competing covers:

.
Thank you for all your votes!

If you like this, you might also like:

	Discuss this article on our forums!
	Visit the Ranting Forums, where you can discuss many topics with our reviewers and other readers, including recent reviews, upcoming books, the fantasy genre, your favorite books, movies, characters, authors, and much more.

	Blackbirds vs. The Serpent Sea — Cover Battle S...
	Two phases and a total of seven rounds have reduced the competition in this Cover Battle of 2012 from sixty to eight covers. These eight cover met head-on in four quarter finals. Now, only four...

	Cover Battle Final: Blackbirds vs. Discount Arm...
	Ladies and gentlemen, the grande finale of the Cover Battle of 2012 is here! Unsurprisingly, the two biggest favorites made it to the final round. Which book goes away with the title of best cover of...