The Web of the Chozen by Jack L. Chalker
The Web of the Chozen is a 1978 science fiction novel by Jack L. Chalker. The book stars a man named Bar Holliday, an apparently unbeatable space explorer who meets his match when he is transformed into a quadruped by a mysterious virus. It's possible that one of the strange creatures on this book's cover is Holliday himself.
This title was penned by Jack L. Chalker, a former history teacher that is best known for the Well World series. While this particular title received mixed reviews, Chalker won numerous awards over the course of his career, including the Daedalus Award and the Skylark Award. He was nominated twice for the Hugo, and was also a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award.
The most notable thing about this book is probably the cover, which was created by Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie. McQuarrie created the original designs for many Star Wars locations and characters, even suggesting that Darth Vader should wear a breathing apparatus. He created additional concept art for The Empire Strikes Back and even briefly appeared in the film, playing a character named Pharl McQuarrie.
Although McQuarrie is most famous for his contributions to Star Wars, he worked as a concept artist on many other science fiction films, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and Cocoon (which won him an Academy Award). He dipped into the world of video game cover art, painting an incredible cover for the Atari game Vanguard, and he designed ships for television shows like Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica (1978).
McQuarrie passed away in March of 2012, but his influence is still seen throughout pop culture today. His unused Star Wars illustrations were used in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels animated TV series, as well as in Rogue One. One of his unused Star Trek designs served as the inspiration for the ship in Star Trek: Discovery.