Seems alright. Inoffensive, at least. The trilogy (Wards of Faerie (REVIEW), Bloodfire Quest) as a whole has a nice continuous look, including the screaming red I’m-not-a-sticker sticker. Still, we all know it’s the big, juicy name of the author that will sell these books, not the cover. In all, I’d say it’s a wash with the US cover.
There has long raged a debate about the quality of UK vs. US cover art and the different ideals behind design aesthetics in the two regions. In general, fans seem to consider the UK to be the stronger market, and for a long time they were, but it’s my feeling that in the past couple of years, thanks to publishers like Tor, Night Shade Books, Pyr Books and Orbit Books, that the US has eclipsed the UK and is generating much more interesting cover art in general. Hurley herself said, “I am told the UK market is way more stuck-up about their covers. I adore my Conan covers, but $1 says the more mainstreamy-cover sells more books.”
If this is a ‘mainstreamy’ cover, I’m not sure I like where Del Rey UK is taking the series. Still, It’s nice to see Hurley seeing a release from a major publisher. What some people might not know is that Del Rey was originally meant to publish Hurley in the US, first picking up her novel, God’s War, before, for a variety of reasons that I’m not clear on, deciding to let Hurley and the series go. It, and its edits, were then picked up by Night Shade Books. Read More »
You guys/gals criticized me for saying that the cover for Peter V. Brett’s The Daylight War wasn’t over-sexualized. Maybe you were right, maybe I was right. Maybe we both were. I think there’s a line between positive sexual energy and being over-sexualized, but it’s a thin one and often hard to discern. But, to follow up, I thought I’d post this absolute gem from Baen Books for Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMaster Bujold. You know, the author with 10+ Hugo nominations, and various other lauded awards, to her name. Doesn’t she, and don’t we, deserve better? Sadly, this is hardly new territory for Baen.
In somewhat related news, it worth following the recent discussion titled #1reasonwhy about the struggle that women face while trying to find equality and fair representation in the videogame industry. The coverage on Giant Bomb is a good starting point for following the discussion.
Art by Larry Rostant
I was yelled at quite significantly in the comment thread for the North American cover for The Daylight War, so I’m just going to mention that I prefer this cover, blue is nice, and then shut my mouth.
Art by Chris McGrath
Well, I applaud Tor for putting an old(ish) guy on the cover, and leaving his face unobscured by a silly cloak/hood. Otherwise, it looks a lot like a Dresden Files novel, and not a whole lot like the awesome covers that the series originally debuted with. I don’t mind Chris McGrath’s art, but I think it’s a poor fit for Scholes’ series.
And, to meet my ‘obscure videogame culture reference of the day’ quota, the man’s a dead-ringer for Jeff Green (not this Jeff Green), formerly of Computer Gaming World Magazine, then Games for Windows: The Official Magazine, then Electronic Arts, then PopCap Games, then, by virtue of the universe’s perverse sense of irony, Electronic Arts, again, thanks to their acquisition of PopCap Games. *Phew*
