One of the more chilling moments in Fire and Blood by George RR Martin concerns a kraken rising from the deep.
"The waves rose higher than our masts, and there was thunder all around, and lightning such as I had never seen before, great cracking bolts that burned the eyes. One struck the Autumn Moon and split her mast from the crow's nest down to the deck. In the midst of all that madness, one of my hands screamed that he had seen arms rising from the water, the last thing any captain needs to hear."
"I saw the Autumn Moon founder with my own eyes. One moment she was there, broken and burning, but there. Then a wave rose up and swallowed her and I blinked and she was gone, quick as that. That was all it was, a wave, a monster of a wave, but all my men were screaming 'Kraken, kraken!' and not a word I said would ever disabuse them."
"To a man, they were convinced they had seen a giant kraken pull Autumn Moon beneath the sea. Had I given the command to sail on, they would have fed me to the waves and found another captain."
Or they can be, you know, kinda silly.
These are some of my favorite covers with sea monsters.
the most striking monster I've come across recently is the one from Aquaman at the end and the thought of Julie Andrews voicing the character gets me every damn time.
ReplyDeleteOoh I haven't seen that yet, now I'm curious!
DeleteThere is some beautiful artwork for some of these! Love the old timey feel to so many of them!
ReplyDeleteI do too. :)
DeleteThere is something both beautiful and terrifying about the sea. Love the artwork on these and I am especially digging that little red fella.
ReplyDeleteI agree! And yes that one cracks me up!
DeleteSo many great covers! I love The Voyage of the Basilisk 😁
ReplyDeleteThat is an awesome one.
DeleteSea monsters are fascinating! The Scooby-Doo cover is adorable!
ReplyDeleteI loved the Scooby cover. It's not even a monster (well I guess a shark that big COULD be) but I had to include it!
DeleteWow, who knew there were so many sea monster covers? I love the colors on The Voyage of the Basilisk.
ReplyDeleteAj @ Read All The Things!
I like that one too. And there was a treasure trove of covers- I had to fend em off with a stick!
DeleteAnd now, I'm definitely never going on a cruise xD
ReplyDeleteRight? No krakens allowed :)
DeleteI love sea monsters too. And Godzilla always wins in my book. :-)
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental
Godzilla always wins!!
DeleteI'm not super comfortable with large bodies of water and I think all of these covers have just explained it! That whole big unknown where anything could jump out and get me!
ReplyDeleteI don't know where you find all of these, but they are so much fun. I've always loved the cover of Voyage of the Dawn Treader and those Edgar Rice Burroughs' covers make me want to read more of his stuff. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great collection of covers! Loving the artwork and am impressed actually because I had no idea there were so many sea monster covers out there. Cool post!
ReplyDeleteVery fun post! With the ocean as vast and deep as it is, it wouldn't surprise me if there were creatures like that out there!
ReplyDeleteOkay look these are cool and all, but you missed THE most important sea monster of our time. https://i.imgur.com/scyhLjX.gif
ReplyDeleteAnd you bet your ass I just made that GIF so I could post it here. Also, you're welcome.
Tarzan being underwater just doesn't sit well with me. LOL.
ReplyDeleteI also love sea monsters, they're the best. I love that first Dragon one, too, it's the perfect illustration. These are all awesome, what a fun post idea!
ReplyDeleteGreat Choices! I like the Andre Norton and Tarzan covers :D
ReplyDeleteGreat choices! I love the cover of The Voyage of the Basilisk. :)
ReplyDeleteThe cover of Voyage of the Dawn Treader really takes me back. I remember that one well from childhood.
ReplyDeleteI love the dragon covers!!
ReplyDeleteKaren @ For What It's Worth
Sea monsters are the coolest things ever to read about! Whether it is sharks, megalodons, squid, krakens, eel hybrids, slimy things, crabs, crustaceans, I just love reading about them!
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, I love sea monsters. 👍👍👍✨
ReplyDeleteThere should be more krakens in books. What even is that gif of the King Kong thing??? Lol. These are some awesome covers! You're right, this is a fun topic. Sea monsters are terrifying but cool. Although it's funny there's one with a dinosaur because I just had a nightmare last night that I was trapped in my house but in an air bubble at the bottom of the ocean, and there was a t-rex outside ramming into the house trying to get in. It was so weird, I have no clue why there was a t-rex under the ocean lol.
ReplyDeleteSome of them are silly but they are awesome at the same time. I loved Godzilla growing up and although it is corny with the graphic stimulation of today it's still amazing!
ReplyDeleteMary