The 1st cover assignment was a little different because the series hadn’t blown up yet. IIRC Michael hadn’t done a cover since Dark Tower 7. It took some effort to convince him to jump onto a 10 book epic. He hadn’t read Brandon at the time, but Tom Doherty was asking himself.

— Michael Whelan is no longer here (see sticky) (@whelanmichael) August 18, 2020