I personally feel it hurts the series.
I agree with you 100% on that one. I think WOT is one of the best fantasy series out there, but I think it has the worst cover art. It would probably be even more popular if the covers were appealing instead of ... awful.
I like the UK covers
much more.
http://www.dragonmount.com/Books/Gathering_Storm/Images/tGS_Uk_01.jpgYou'd think Tor would recognize that Sweet's covers are hurting the series and do something simplistic, like the UK version.
I'm assuming Brandon was trying to find something positive to say about it when he said "My thoughts? I like it a lot better than the sketch that was floating around." If that's the best thing he can say about it, then he doesn't care for it either. Oh well. WOT isn't his baby. We're just lucky he's finishing it.
Someone on Dragonmount made up a caption for the art that made me laugh:
“Blood and ashes!! I said no Traveling inside the house!”
Hahahaha!
After reading that, the first caption that popped into my mind was:
"Light blind you, Semirhage! I wanted that hand!"