Larry. Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Since it seems we enjoy talking (even if often it is but to bitch about the quality) about cover art, I thought it'd be a good idea to have a thread where we can post links to images of just-released cover art for books that we are eagerly awaiting. The new Lynch cover art in particular reminded me of that. [url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/two-more-just-released-cover-art-images.html"]So here are[/url] two images, of the Lynch and of Felix Gilman's upcoming second novel, [i]Gears of the City[/i], that I posted on my blog (future links will be to the authors' sites, publishing firms, etc., since I rarely blog about cover art). What do you think about these two? What other upcoming releases have cover art that people might want to see? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 I think the cover for Gears of the City is beautiful, it has a nice steampunk feel to it and just has a nice dark look. Republic of Thieves: Well, not so sold on that one. I do very much like the architecture on display, it does give a pretty view of the city which is very colourful. However the woman does not look interesting, features very prominently at that, and added to the purple colour of the girl it does make the book look girlish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share Posted July 25, 2008 Never thought the Lynch cover would be "girlish," but I wonder if that's because of the color shadings we're accustomed to seeing on certain types of novels. Perhaps I ought to contact one of the artists and ask questions related on this, as it would be intriguing. As for the Bakker cover, it's interesting how many [i]hate[/i] the Canadian/US hardcover cover and prefer the "Cat Stevens" artwork. Conditioned, perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcelo Rebelo Firqoralas Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 Not a fan of any of them. Both strikes me as pretty mediocre photoshop art and I really don't like medicore photoshop art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 [quote name='Calibandar' post='1456690' date='Jul 25 2008, 15.19']I think the cover for Gears of the City is beautiful, it has a nice steampunk feel to it and just has a nice dark look.[/quote] I agree, and it is 100X better than the cover of [u]Thunderer[/u] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Warpechowski Posted July 25, 2008 Share Posted July 25, 2008 [quote name='Chriskele' post='1456680' date='Jul 25 2008, 16.07']I don't like either of them much. I like my cover art very non-descript. In fact, I usually take the covers off hard copies. The Canadian versions of the Bakker books have the exact type of cover I would preferr. Maybe this is just a personal problem of mine but I like to read in cafes and such and I don't like having a book that screams "Wizards! Magic! Swords! Dragons!" I hope that doesn't make me seem too much like Raidne's "Too cool for fantasy" guy. But to me, the problem with those covers is that they make the book look childish or trashy or something.[/quote] Completely agreed, even through I liked the cover of the second one. I really dont like to show Im reading a fantasy book, through sci-fi is ok with me. And yeap, Im not a big fan of photoshop covers either. My favorite covers are the very simple ones (like ASOIAF ones) or those that are diferent and classic at the same time, like this one: [url="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c7/Fitzpatrick%27s_War.jpg"]Fitzpatrick´s War[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted July 26, 2008 Author Share Posted July 26, 2008 Interesting to see how much opinion diverges on these covers. Cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted July 26, 2008 Author Share Posted July 26, 2008 I wonder which of [url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/cover-art-and-possible-different.html"]these Sapkowski covers[/url] would be the best/least loved here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
childe roland Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 [quote name='Dylanfanatic' post='1456957' date='Jul 25 2008, 21.51']I wonder which of [url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/cover-art-and-possible-different.html"]these Sapkowski covers[/url] would be the best/least loved here.[/quote] i like the first. a fantasy feel without bashing me over the head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted July 26, 2008 Author Share Posted July 26, 2008 That was my second favorite, as I did like the Spanish edition of [i]The Sword of Destiny[/i] quite a bit as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gertiekeddle Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Jim Butcher's Dresden Files [url="http://www.christianmcgrath.com/mainpages/turn_coat.html"] Turn Coat Cover[/url] was released recently. Usually this gets some rather huge text telling us about the author and title of the book. [For reference: [url="http://www.jim-butcher.com/books/dresden/10/"]book 10[/url] of the series]. Judging from how the former US Cover art of the series looked like, I enjoy this newer style of the hardcovers made by Chris McGrath a lot. Although putting some image of Harry in Chicago background on every cover might get repetitive, it's in my opinion still a neat thing to have an actual drawing artist creating the covers, who is not putting graphics together as main effort (not judging this low, it's just a different style). I guess for the Sapkowski covers I would go with the first, but it's a colour decision more than one based on how the items and text are set. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted July 26, 2008 Author Share Posted July 26, 2008 Nice image there, and I agree that color does make a huge difference in how many are going to view a book's cover art. Didn't know that purple was a "girlish" cover until a few here and on wotmania commented on it. Maybe that's something that is featured a lot in urban fantasy cover art? I dunno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 Purple is not necessarily a girlish colour of course, it's all about the context. Here the purple is combined with a very prominently featured red-haired woman, which together, gives me that girlish impression. On the other hand I have seen some gorgeous purple-blue covers by Edward Miller for instance. Re; Sapkowski I don't like the US cover but the Gollancz covers are very striking and classic looking. sfsignal.com has a feature every couple of days in which they post all teh new books and the covers they have received and ask for feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted July 26, 2008 Author Share Posted July 26, 2008 [quote name='Calibandar' post='1457570' date='Jul 26 2008, 16.58']Purple is not necessarily a girlish colour of course, it's all about the context. Here the purple is combined with a very prominently featured red-haired woman, which together, gives me that girlish impression. On the other hand I have seen some gorgeous purple-blue covers by Edward Miller for instance. Re; Sapkowski I don't like the US cover but the Gollancz covers are very striking and classic looking. sfsignal.com has a feature every couple of days in which they post all teh new books and the covers they have received and ask for feedback.[/quote] True, but I wonder what your impressions of [url="http://thebooksmugglers.blogspot.com/2008/06/book-review-blood-engines.html"]this cover[/url] would be, since it has a similar color scheme. As for the US Sapkowski, I don't think too many care for that compared to the others, but it is based on the cover art for the video game, so that likely explains the color/design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Road To Awe Posted July 26, 2008 Share Posted July 26, 2008 [quote name='Chriskele' post='1456953' date='Jul 25 2008, 18.47']Yeah, I like that one. I don't like covers that scream "This is FANTASY."[/quote] Now I have Gerard Butler screaming "THIS! IS! FANTASY!" in my head. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted July 27, 2008 Author Share Posted July 27, 2008 Cover art for [url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/best-american-2008-cover-michael.html"]Best American Fantasy 2008[/url](and an announcement of an upcoming non-fiction book on Mervyn Peake). Thoughts on this cover? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shevchyk Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 [quote name='Dylanfanatic' post='1457685' date='Jul 26 2008, 21.38']Cover art for [url="http://ofblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/best-american-2008-cover-michael.html"]Best American Fantasy 2008[/url](and an announcement of an upcoming non-fiction book on Mervyn Peake). Thoughts on this cover?[/quote] Oh My. That is not a terribly good cover for an anthology of fantasy stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gertiekeddle Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 [quote name='Shevchyk' post='1457830' date='Jul 27 2008, 08.44']Oh My. That is not a terribly good cover for an anthology of fantasy stories.[/quote]Agreed. I'm a bit surprised by the choice. :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted July 27, 2008 Author Share Posted July 27, 2008 It's funny, but I kinda like that cover because it's so strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joanna vander Poele Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 Looks like the cover artist hit some shrooms beforehand... :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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