Sometimes, a cover comes along that’s less fantasy epic and more AI cosplay convention flyer gone rogue. Enter Darkstocking, the debut of Codex Tenebris, Book One — a title that sounds mysterious until you realize the execution looks like it was generated by a very tired algorithm that just learned what lace and eyeliner are.
Let’s address the most obvious element: the central figure. She’s not a heroine. She’s a wax museum exhibit that somehow escaped into Canva. Her skin glows with the kind of flawless plastic sheen you only get from AI, Botox, or Barbie. Those piercing blue eyes? Less “haunting enchantress” and more “FaceApp filter cranked to maximum intensity.” And the stockings — oh, the stockings. Instead of empowering gothic allure, we’ve got something closer to Hot Topic’s clearance rack for adults who never outgrew their eyeliner phase.
The title, Darkstocking, sits across the cover like an inside joke nobody told us. It doesn’t inspire fear or fantasy; it screams lingerie catalog reject. Pair that with the subtitle — Codex Tenebris: Book One — in what looks suspiciously like Times New Roman, and you’ve got the aesthetic of a poorly formatted term paper disguised as literature.
And then there’s the background. Is that the moon? A glowing searchlight? A portal to another, less embarrassing dimension? Whatever it is, it’s so badly integrated with the model that she looks like she’s been green-screened into the middle of a Renaissance fair photo booth.
All told, Darkstocking is a masterclass in how not to do fantasy covers. It doesn’t whisper gothic mystery. It doesn’t shout epic saga. It mutters awkwardly, “Do you want to see my cosplay Instagram page?” while fumbling its way through a photo editing app.
Verdict: A horrible cover. Dress it up however you like — this one belongs in the cosplay generation’s recycle bin.