The cover art for The End of the Matter by Alan Dean Foster features a whole lot of action. One guy has a companion slung over his shoulder, attempting to carry him to safety and away from the volley of arrows that is raining from the sky. There’s also a sentient vegetable of some sort who doesn’t look like he (or she?) is going to make it through this one.
Oh, and don’t forget that there is a shirtless mercenary wielding a comically oversized laser gun. This is interesting, because Alan Dean Foster also wrote a book called Midworld, which also features a man holding a bazooka-like laser gun.
The End of the Matter is just one of Foster’s many works that includes the protagonist Flinx, who chums around with a minidrag named Pip.
Now, Alan Dean Foster is no small name in the world of science-fiction novels. He’s had a hand in Star Trek — he wrote the famous Star Trek Logs book series, which included novelizations of several episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series. He also ghostwrote the novelization of the original Star Wars movie, which was credited to George Lucas at the time.
As for that amazing cover art, it was created by Darrell Sweet (August 15, 1934 – December 5, 2011). He did art for many science fiction and fantasy novels, and was responsible for the illustration for Piers Anthony’s Xanth series. Sweet’s art got him nominated for the prestigious Hugo award in 1983.
Aside from his enormous contribution to science fiction and fantasy literature, Darrell Sweet also created art for trading cards and calendars.