Friday 7 August 2009

Which cover would you go for...?

Every so often, I get the same book through the post from both the US and UK publisher. Instead of tossing a coin to see which one I'll read (and giving the other copy away without really talking about it) I thought it would be fun to compare the covers and also find out what you guys think of them as well. It worked quite well last month so I thought that I'd go for it again and see what happened.

This time round, both ACE and Orbit sent me copies of Charles Stross' short story collection 'Wireless'. I enjoyed 'The Jennifer Morgue' and 'The Atrocity Archives' but couldn't get into 'Saturn's Children' so it will be interesting to see what 'Wireless' is like...

Here's the UK cover,



And here's the US cover,



This time round I find myself going for the US cover over the UK one. There's a little bit too much happening on the UK cover; sometimes 'simple' is more effective and the US cover has the edge in that regard. What do you think?

Comments please! :o)
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17 comments:

  1. Libby's Library7 August 2009 at 01:04

    I agree with you!

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  2. Anonymous7 August 2009 at 01:58

    It's sort of Cthulhuish so I like the US one better. Love me some Cthulhu.

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  3. Social Ghost7 August 2009 at 02:29

    Both seem pretty average to me, but I have to go with the UK one. I wouldn't even give the US a second glance, much less pick it up to see what it's about.

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  4. SciFiGuy7 August 2009 at 02:30

    I have to go with the UK cover crisp looking, ominous.I like that. The US one looks murky and remind me of the bottom of my fish tank.

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  5. broken serenity7 August 2009 at 02:32

    either would be a good cover imo, but the uk one stands out more on a bookstore shelf imo so i'd probably go with that one.

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  6. KP7 August 2009 at 03:46

    The US cover has a touch of elegance to it, much less cluttered. Also the ambiguous aspect may help draw potential readers.

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  7. shaneo527 August 2009 at 04:50

    Yeah, I agree with you too, Graeme. The US has the better cover for once.

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  8. JamesY7 August 2009 at 09:10

    I'm a fan of the UK cover.

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  9. Blodeuedd7 August 2009 at 09:51

    I guess the 2nd cover, but honestly I am not drawn to any of them

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  10. Maarten7 August 2009 at 10:10

    I prefer the UK one US cover to "empty" maybe with this Stross picture on it
    http://speakertomanagers.googlepages.com/SpeakerToManagers.jpg

    Is there going to be a Giveaway for this one?

    Maarten

    maarten.bouwman@ets.eni.it

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  11. Sweet Vernal Zephyr7 August 2009 at 14:27

    I agree. The US cover is for me, but then I am in the US. I guess that means they have their target market well... targeted. The wide open spaces seem to be a trend in book covers here lately - I guess they are leaving room for the imagination.

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  12. Gregory7 August 2009 at 21:51

    I like the UK one more... but then again the US cover for Saturns Children was so wretched I can not see me ever liking an american cover for a stross book again. Its no f'n wonder the us has such a high teen pregnancy rate

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  13. Pissenlit8 August 2009 at 03:26

    The UK one's not bad but a tad cluttered. I prefer the clean lines and simple design of the US cover.

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  14. Kendall8 August 2009 at 05:21

    I lean toward the U.S. cover. the U.K. one seems more tech, and the name is "Wireless"...but it's kinda cheesy trying-to-hard-to-look-tech for me. the U.S. cover is cleaner and a bit spooky. ;-)

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  15. Marjorie8 August 2009 at 15:42

    I like the US cover better looked at solely as art, but suspect (based on the other books of his that I have read) that the UK may more accurately reflect the contents.

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  16. Nikki in Niagara8 August 2009 at 17:58

    the US one for sure, it's more artistic and pleasing to the eye. Well, my eye at least!

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  17. Graeme Flory11 August 2009 at 09:32

    Sci-Fi Guy - I'm now in the position where I find myself wanting to see the bottom of your fish tank. Photo please? ;o)

    Maarten - There might be a giveaway for this one, don't know yet...

    GL - I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the cover for 'Saturn's Children' in the US. You would have thought they could do so much better than that!

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