The Magic Goes Away: Esteban Maroto

My Copy of Larry Niven's "The Magic Goes Away" is the mass market, paperback edition, with the Esteban Maroto interior artwork. The novel is roughly 200 pages, but nearly 70 of those are Maroto illustrations. The principal characters are the Warrior, the Witch, the Warlock, the Medicine Man and a living Skull (all shown in the above art).

We meet the Witch and the Antagonist (both in the above illustration) early on in the story. Her hair turns from white to black as she finds sufficient magic to refresh her youth spells.

I'm partial to black and white illustrations, and I don't think it's merely because my earliest introduction to D&D art was from the original collectors edition set. I prefer black and white as the illustrator must dazzle me with technique rather than color.

Here's a picture of the Witch holding one of here travelling companions, the living Skull. Even when employing the starkness of black and white , Maroto is able to capture a feeling of softness and voluptuousness.