Looks like Orbit Books is re-issuing Daniel Abraham‘s The Long Price quartet, which is good. It also looks like they’re saddling them with atrocious covers that seem to miss the point completely, which is bad.

The Long Price by Daniel Abraham The Long Price by Daniel Abraham

Now, I’ve not read Abraham’s novels, but based on the original cover art, and the times I’ve browsed through the first volume, it seems to me that these aggressive, character-focussed covers completely misrepresent the novels. Though, maybe that’s the point if Orbit feels they are going to need to find a new demographic with this re-release.

I wonder how people will feel when they pick up Book One of a duology and find two completely independent stories between the covers?

Discussion
  • Adam Whitehead May 23, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    It appears that the second cover is at least more accurate (at the risk of spoilers, there is a big war that takes place). The first one is also a big step up from the existing cover for Book 1 which was a muddy brown smear. Not very exciting.

  • sean May 23, 2009 at 3:32 pm

    I like the covers as far as artwork goes, but am a little less hot on them as far book covers go.

    Is it just me, or is there anybody else that is sternly opposed to book covers having a picturesque quality interpretation of the hero or characters on the cover? Very few books have pulled this off to my liking.

    One notable exception: the high druid of shannara. It was the perfect representation of walker boh, for me anyways, which made it great. But its just as likely that it ruined someone else’s interpretation of the Druid.

    The thing is, we all mold the hero’s looks, subconsciously, into someone we would like. And when you put a picture of him on the cover, you steal something from me :D

    but then, i am rather creative, so maybe uncreative people appreciate it. IDK.

  • aidan May 23, 2009 at 4:14 pm

    Adam – The NA cover for the first book (and all the books in the series, for that matter), is fantastic:

    Sean – Totally agree with you there. It’s the same problem as the US cover for Joe Abercrombie’s Best Served Cold.

  • The Mad Hatter May 23, 2009 at 4:31 pm

    Orbit is just trying to replacate covers for hits such as Weeks’ Night Angel and Millers’ Kingmaker Kingbreaker. I like Tor’s versions better.

  • James (Speculative Horizons) May 23, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    Yeah, Orbit are fond at the moment of sticking figures on their books (Miller, Canavan, Weeks, etc). They rarely tend to look good, but commercially they seem to work.

    I’m not a fan though.

  • Adam Whitehead May 24, 2009 at 5:11 am

    Aidan, I was referring to the existing Orbit cover for their omnibus of Books 1/2:

    http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/c3/c19228.jpg

    Seriously, what the heck is going on with that?

  • aidan May 24, 2009 at 8:01 am

    Yeah, that cover’s a bit of a mess. I didn’t realize that was also published by Orbit.

    They definitely went in a different direction with the new one!

  • Alexander Field May 24, 2009 at 8:47 pm

    I agree with you Aidan, that A Shadow in Summer cover is amazing. They went off track with these news ones. I just do not jive with covers like those.

  • […] once I’m actually holding the things in my hands. Also, it’s much, much better than the atrocious omnibus editions coming from Orbit […]

  • dribble June 26, 2009 at 5:31 am

    im loving the cover for “A Shadow in Summer”

  • […] good book with such a misleading and off-putting cover. (After a Google search, it looks like I’m not the first person to complain about this, either. The link also features pictures of the specific covers I’m talking about in this […]