Monday 21 June 2010

Cover Art Monday!

Having a little one in the house means that the reading pile is steadily growing once more and laughs at my feeble attempts to scale it. I'm chipping away at it (and have reviews in the pipeline) but I often find myself just looking at the cover art instead. And so this post was born. Here's a look at some cover art which has caught my eye for one reason or another...

If you've been around for a while then you'll know that I occasionally get review copies of the same book from different publishers. Here's the latest book from Jackie Kessler and Caitlin Kittredge (courtesy of Piatkus and Spectra),





Not sure why they had to go for a different title for the UK and US release but there you go I guess. Anyone know?
In the ocean spanning battle between UK and US cover art, 'Shades of Gray' steals it for the US in my opinion. Congratulations also go to the Book Smugglers who got themselves quoted in that edition. I had some fun with 'Black and White' so will give this a go soon.

The Black Library always come up with the goods with their cover art and the artwork for the 'Enforcer' omnibus is no exception, check it out...



Lovely stuff by Marek Okon but there was something about this piece that nagged away at the back of my mind, almost like I'd seen that person before... It took me a while but I finally worked it out. Is the blogosphere's very own Amanda Rutter enforcing Imperial law in the Hydraphur system under an assumed identity? Have a look at Amanda's photo and decide for yourself. I think the evidence speaks for itself...

Hannu Rajaniemi's 'The Quantum Thief' gets a mention here because the cover looks darn cool,



See what I mean? Adam loved this book, I'm not such a huge fan of hard sci-fi but could easily be persuaded to give this one a shot.

Finally, I have a not so proud reputation of being the last one to the party whenever there's a great book that everyone is talking about. A lot of people on various forums have enjoyed Michael J. Sullivan's 'The Crown Conspiracy' and I've finally got my hands on a copy...



It's not often that you come across a cover that gives you no clues about what the book itself might hold, that's just what this cover does though (apart from hinting that trees and a castle might play some kind of role in the plot...) I shall give it a read and let you know how those trees get on... ;o)

And now it's back to the books themselves. The plan is to finish 'The Anubis Gates' this week; things are starting to speed up after a slow start and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes (although an intuitive leap saw me solve the mystery of William Ashbless before the book had barely begun...) I can't believe that I 'spoilered' the book for myself...

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Adding my $0.02 to the mix here. The Quantum Thief isn't just a pretty face, Graeme. Best sci-fi I've read this year, without a doubt. And I don't mean to damn it with faint praise. I'll read others, and I'm sure it'll outclass every one of 'em. Tough to start with but find your feet and it's a hell of a fun ride.