An astute poster over at Brooks’ official forums, ardrhys11892, dug out the cover for Terry Brooks’ upcoming novel, The Gypsy Morph, which is the conclusion to The Genesis of Shannara Trilogy.
I’m a huge fan of the trilogy, which is the best stuff Brooks’ has written in ages, but I’m not sure how much I like the cover for the third and final volume. Definitely a disappointment after the wicked cover for his previous novel, The Elves of Cintra.
Tim Holman, Publishing Director at the US branch of Orbit Books, recently put together an interesting post on why US and UK covers for novels differ and also pulls back the curtain a bit on the process.
This is the issue, I think, at the heart of the Great SFF Cover Debate/War. It’s nothing to do with where the book is being published in the world; it’s to do with the question that every genre publisher has to ask themselves: do we want our books to stand out or do we want them to fit in? Most genre publishers would say both: they want their books to stand out by looking exceptional, but they also want them to fit in by being immediately recognizable to readers of similar books within the genre. Depending on where you put the emphasis, though, the cover for a particular book can go in some very different directions.
Of course there are always exceptions, but I think it’s safe to say that the UK editions of novels generally sport better cover art. It’s interesting to hear from Orbit, who publishes both in the US and the UK, and just why they change the covers for each region, sometimes just subtly, sometimes quite drastically.
You can read the whole thing HERE.
Much thank to Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist for pointing out the recently revealed covers for George R.R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons (the UK edition) and Scott Lynch’s upcoming Omnibus (awesomely titled) The Bastards and the Knives, which is a collection of two of his novellas, The Mad Baron’s Mechanical Attic and The Choir of Knives both of which chronicle the world of up and coming fantasy star Locke Lamora.
Check ’em out!
These are easily two of my most anticipated novels of the year (I’m being optimistic about A Dance with Dragons, so sue me…), so it’s great to get an early peak at these covers. Be sure to take a look at Martin’s Not a Blog and Lynch’s LiveJournal for a good glimpse at the men behind the novels.
Ahh, it must be a special day. I ran across not only the (awesome) cover for the fifth printing of Patrick Rothfuss‘sThe Name of the Wind, but also the cover for George R.R. Martin‘s upcoming (sometime) A Dance with Dragons
I must’ve done something special to get a cover for one of my favourite books and one of my most eagerly anticipated books released in the same day! To top it off, they’re both terrific! Between the recently revealed cover blurb and this new cover, an optimist might actually start to wonder if we might not see A Dance with Dragons before the end of the year.
Thanks goes to ardrhys11892 of the Official Terry Brooks Forum for pointing out the A Dance with Dragons cover!
Pat, from the Fantasy Hotlist, recently dug up the (completely awesome) cover art for Richard Morgan’s upcoming foray into the Fantasy genre.
Enjoy!
When a man you know to be of sound mind tells you his recently deceased mother has just tried to climb in his bedroom window and eat him, you have two options. You can smell his breath, take his pulse and check his pupils to see if he’s ingested anything nasty, or you can believe him. Ringil Angeleyes had already tried the first course of action with Bashka the Schoolmaster to no avail, so he put down his pint with an elaborate sigh and went to get his broadsword. And he’s not the only one to be dragged from the serious business of drinking for something as mundane as the walking dead. Archeth – pragmatist, cynic and engineer – is called from her work at the whim of the most powerful man in the Empire. Ekar Dragonbane finds himself entangled in a small-town battle between common sense and religious fervour. And after a personal encounter with the vengeful gods Poltar the Shaman is about to be an awful lot more careful who he prays to. Anti-social, anti-heroic, and decidedly irritated, all four of them are about to be sent unwillingly forth into a vicious, vigorous and thoroughly unsuspecting fantasy world.
I’ve got to say, if his novel is anywhere near as cool as the cover, then we are in for a treat. You can check out Morgan’s web site HERE.
