After yesterday’s travesty, I thought it was time to redeem the Cover Art section of the website to its former glory. As with most Pyr novels, The Dervish House by Ian McDonald is a marvel to look at.
Lou Anders, who wears many hats at Pyr has another hit on his hands. Patrick, over at Stomping the Yeti, sums up my thoughts rather accurately:
This is a great, great cover. Stephan Martiniere is responsible as usual. I can’t count the number of times I see a cover and think to myself, “Wow, I wonder who did that” and then go on to find its a Martiniere. The computer circuitry gives a subtle touch to an image that otherwise appears fairly timeless. I also really dig the text box and the way the horizontal banners and building interplay with the sharp angles of the title and author borders. Sometimes great cover art is ruined by bad font choice or placement. This is not one of those times.
And, hey, the book itself sounds like a winner, also:
In the sleepy Istanbul district of Eskiköy stands the former whirling dervish house of Adem Dede. Over the space of five days of an Istanbul heatwave, six lives weave a story of corporate wheeling and dealing, Islamic mysticism, political and economic intrigue, ancient Ottoman mysteries, a terrifying new terrorist threat, and a nanotechnology with the potential to transform every human on the planet.
McDonald’s books have been on my radar for a while now, but every time I think about buying up, I get a little intimidated. The Turkish setting of this one appeals to me more than India and Brazil, which might just push me over the edge.
Excellent. Ian only confirmed on his blog a couple of weeks back that the book had been handed in, so I was expecting a longer wait before we saw the cover. Interesting that the US one is up first as well.
Kind of annoys me how all the previous books in this semi-series (Brasyl, River of Gods, Cyberabad Days) were blue and now this one is red.
Well, to be fair, blue’s not exactly a prominent colour in Turkey.
[…] we were asked about recent covers that, on an artistic level, blew us. One of my choices was the beautiful cover for Ian McDonald’s The Dervish House. As he usually does, Lou Anders at Pyr Books took some […]
Considering having been to istanbul couple of times I find the cover art highly orientalist, those female figures are not what you come across in that city but i guess that’s what sells and how “west” wants to see “east”.
Yes I agree with Jungwoo, women don’t wear black burqas in Turkey. That was the point of the Ataturk revolution after the Ottoman family was disbanded. Typical western orientalist projection on what they think Turkey is. Who cares, it’s sci fi, maybe the idea is Turkey will return to that Arab style burqa nonsense, which I strongly doubt knowing the culture. Maybe this will inspire and actual Turk to write something more creative, either way it’s great.