Need to see what the backside of the cover looks like before making judgements. On a lot of these the scenery is what makes the piece more than the character in it.
I like that its a counterpoint to the original cover, with the yellow and blue switched... I just wish there was more to really counterbalance the two.
@andre said in The Brandon Sanderson (Cosmere) and other Fantasy novels thread:
I dig the cover. I'd rank it as the third best after Oathbringer's and Rhythm of War's. Way of King is more iconic, but doesn't commit to any of the books character designs.
They actually talked about that a lot in the most recent livestream about the RPG kickstarter.
15 years ago they were really hesitant to lock down designs because they wanted creative freedom for their artists, but after Words of Radiance had multiple different versions of Kaladin from the cover artist, they realized they needed to actually officialize some things and lock in some characters and design elements, for the eventual event of adaptations. (Or miniatures, as the case may be.)
So not having a character design locked in for Way of Kings was intentional, but they've rethought the process in the decade since.