Cover Art! 'Among Others' - Jo Walton (UK Edition)

Because it feels like a nice summery cover and it's really horrible outside at the moment. I wish it was still summer...

After seeing what actually goes on in a cover art meeting, I have a feeling that these posts are going to be a little harder to write from now on... I like this one though with its hint of magic setting the cover off nicely rather than making it 'all about the magic'. If you want to read genre fiction on the train, but for no-one else to know that you're doing it, then this is just the kind of cover you're looking for.

Everyone else has read 'Among Others' already (sounds like a love it/hate it read from what I've seen) but here's the blurb for anyone who hasn't...

Fifteen-year-old Morwenna lives in Wales with her twin sister and a mother who spins dark magic for ill. One day, Mori and her mother fight a powerful, magical battle that kills her sister and leaves Mori crippled. Devastated, Mori flees to her long-lost father in England. Adrift, outcast at boarding school, Mori retreats into the worlds she knows best: her magic and her books. She works a spell to meet kindred souls and continues to devour every fantasy and science fiction novel she can lay her hands on. But danger lurks... She knows her mother is looking for her and that when she finds her, there will be no escape. 

I'm trying to sort out what books I want to have read by the end of the year and 'Among Others' will be somewhere in that pile. I'm also a person who likes to retreat into a book... ;o)
Have you read it? What did you think?

Cover Art! 'Out for Blood' (Kristen Painter)

It's very unlikely that I'll be picking this one up, for the simple reason that it's Book Four and I haven't read the other three... It's not like I don't have other long winded series to get all caught up on first ;o) Doesn't the cover look lovely though?

Gorgeous isn't it? Loads of lovely detail but, like I said, the cover is about as far as I'm likely to get here. Has anyone else read this series?

Here's some blurb if you're interested...

Will she ever be free?

After nearly dying Chrysabelle finds new determination to move beyond life as a comarré and grasp hold of some normality. Until a new task is brought to her doorstep: rescue the child kidnapped by her rival Tatiana, or Mal becomes enemy number one.

But before Chrysabelle can begin that mission, the mayor declares a curfew in Paradise City in order to control its othernatural population. A close friend gets caught and when Mal takes his place, the mayor decides to make an example of him. Running to Mal's rescue, Chrysabelle unwittingly unleashes a power that's lain dormant in him for centuries...

Cover Art! 'Only Superhuman' (Christopher L. Bennett)

Raymond Swanland is great isn't he? I'm a lot more used to seeing his art grace the covers of fantasy novels so this one almost passed me by. I say 'almost'... There was something about this cover that caught my eye, enough to make me feel that a cover art post was in order. It started with the gorgeously retro laser gun and ended with me thinking how well the artist had captured the feeling of a split seconds worth of action. Then I saw who the artist was and it all made sense :o)

Here's the blurb,

2107 AD: A generation ago, Earth and the cislunar colonies banned genetic and cybernetic modifications. But out in the Asteroid Belt, anything goes. Dozens of flourishing space habitats are spawning exotic new societies and strange new varieties of humans. It’s a volatile situation that threatens the peace and stability of the entire solar system.

Emerald Blair is a Troubleshooter. Inspired by the classic superhero comics of the twentieth century, she’s joined with other mods to try to police the unruly Asteroid Belt. But her loyalties are tested when she finds herself torn between rival factions of superhumans with very different agendas. Emerald wants to put her special abilities to good use, but what do you do when you can’t tell the heroes from the villains?

I'm a little wary of the 'Hard SF' label that I've seen applied ('Hard SF' and I don't play well together) but I think this could be interesting. It's back to the commute next week so maybe I'll take 'Only Superhuman' along for the ride. Has anyone else read it? Would you want to give it a go?

Cover Art! 'The Annotated Sword of Shannara' (Terry Brooks)

Because it just arrived in the post, this morning, and I thought this would tide things over until I can expand on my review of the 'Eisenhorn' trilogy (currently three words, 'I loved it!') Here you go,

I don't know... It looks very nice but I can't help but think that, well... It's the 35th anniversary of the book being published! Surely they could have come up with a cover that looks like it's happy about the fact. I'll admit that I'm not sure what that would involve something with a little more energy than this. Cool looking sword though :o)

Cover Art - 'The Lost Stars: Tarnished Knight' (Jack Campbell)

For no other reason than that I have a touch of 'spaceship nostalgia' tonight and this cover reminds me of the spaceships that I used to see on Asimov novels (and the like) around thirty years ago. That really makes me feel old :o( Anyway...

Not only does the cover take me back to the days when spaceships looked cool, they just did, but 'Tarnished Knight' looks like it's a standalone novel (requiring minimal knowledge of the rest of the series). No having to catch up for me then :o) I'll move this one up the pile accordingly...

Cover Art! 'Throne of the Crescent Moon' (UK Edition)

I already reviewed 'Throne', a few months ago, but I also received an advance copy of the UK edition (and I've only just managed to find a picture of the cover, thanks Pat) and I thought it was worth posting. Here goes...

On the whole, I do like this cover. It's understated but very much what the book is about at the same time. Unfortunately, the sparing use of blood means that every time I catch the cover out of the corner of my eye I keep thinking that there's a new 'Twilight' book in the house. It's not the books fault at all but is still very disconcerting when it happens...

Whatever is on the cover though, I'd recommend you give 'Throne' a go. It's definitely worth the read :o)

Slightly Bemusing Cover Art... 'Under the Dome' (Stephen King)

This was originally going to be a post about the worst cover art on my shelves until I realised that I'd shown you all the old Moorcock covers already... ;o)

Whilst browsing my shelves, I saw the cover for 'Under the Dome' (a book that I still need to read) and it got me thinking. Check it out and see what you think,

The little girl can't be on the outside, staring at the dome, because that would be pointless (in terms of the cover) wouldn't it? That means the little girl is stood 'Under the Dome' staring, well... out. This is all well and good until you realise that the dome is invisible and you can't see it behind her... What you have then is a cover that is hamstrung by the whole point of the plot. I mean, there's nothing interesting about a person staring blankly at something we can't see... Is there?

'Slightly Dull Cover Art!' - 'Black Bottle' (Anthony Huso)

I never read Anthony Huso's 'The Last Page' (couldn't get into it for reasons that escape me now) so wasn't really sure whether to read 'Black Bottle' or not. That still doesn't stop me thinking that the cover art for 'Black Bottle' is ever so slightly, well... look at it,

Wow... A rusty looking cityscape obscured by, I'm not sure... An attempt at sunbeams? An attempt at highlighting the title? This sort of thing never did my primary school work any favours either... But hey, there are airships in the corner so that makes everything steampunk and that's ok isn't it? Not really, no...

The blurb looks intriguing though,

Tabloids sold in the Duchy of Stonehold claim that the High King, Caliph Howl, has been raised from the dead. His consort, Sena Iilool, both blamed and celebrated for this act, finds that a macabre cult has sprung up around her.

As this news spreads, Stonehold—long considered unimportant—comes to the attention of the emperors in the southern countries. They have learned that the seed of Sena’s immense power lies in an occult book, and they are eager to claim it for their own.

Desperate to protect his people from the southern threat, Caliph is drawn into a summit of the world’s leaders despite the knowledge that it is a trap. As Sena’s bizarre actions threaten to unravel the summit, Caliph watches her slip through his fingers into madness.

But is it really madness? Sena is playing a dangerous game of strategy and deceit as she attempts to outwit a force that has spent millennia preparing for this day. Caliph is the only connection left to her former life, but it’s his blood that Sena needs to see her plans through to their explosive finish.

Like I said, really not sure about this one? Did anyone here read 'The Last Page'?

Which Cover Would You Go For? 'Wards of Faerie' (Terry Brooks)

I've been having a bit of a book cull this morning, not that you'd think it looking at the books left on the shelves :o) Oh well, a little book cull is better than no book cull at all!
While I was putting books in bags I realised that I have two copies of Terry Brooks' 'Wards of Faerie', the latest Shannara book. I've never really got on with this series (although I did like the trilogy that bridged 'Shannara' and 'The Word and the Void') but 'Wards of Faerie' looks like it could be a good place to start so I'll give it a go at some point.

With two books, both with different covers, in front of me the time seemed right for an impromptu 'Which cover would you go for?' post before I take all these books to the charity shop. So, here goes...

The US Cover

The UK Cover

You know what? I really can't call it here. One cover decides to hint at evil by whacking a large dragons skull on the front; the other does something weird with a broken coin. Both look pretty bland from where I'm sat, doing nothing that hasn't already been done in fantasy cover art. Colour me unimpressed...

What about you though? What cover (if either) do you like the most? Comments in the usual place please :o)

Cover Art - 'The Rise of Ransom City' (Felix Gilman)

For no other reason than that my advance copy has no cover art on it, at all, so I googled it in a brief moment of curiosity. One brief moment of curiosity later and...

I really like this cover. It's clear, it's simple (with nice hints at what you can expect inside) and that green bit on the side reminds me of all those old books I used to pore over as a kid. You can't beat cover art with added nostalgia :o)
Here's the blurb if you're interested,

This is the story Harry Ransom. If you know his name it’s most likely as the inventor of the Ransom Process, a stroke of genius that changed the world. Or you may have read about how he lost the battle of Jasper City, or won it, depending on where you stand in matters of politics.

Friends called him Hal or Harry, or by one of a half-dozen aliases, of which he had more than any honest man should. He often went by Professor Harry Ransom, and though he never had anything you might call a formal education, he definitely earned it. 

If you’re reading this in the future, Ransom City must be a great and glittering metropolis by now, with a big bronze statue of Harry Ransom in a park somewhere. You might be standing on its sidewalk and not wonder in the least of how it grew to its current glory. Well, here is its story, full of adventure and intrigue. And it all starts with the day that old Harry Ransom crossed paths with Liv Alverhyusen and John Creedmoor, two fugitives running from the Line, amidst a war with no end.  

I have to say that I'm half and half over whether I'll read this though. There's nothing that looks bad about 'The Rise of Ransom City' but I never read 'The Half Made World' (can't even find my copy...) and I'm a little wary about jumping in at the second book. We'll see what happens...

'No Nonsense' Cover Art! 'Zombie Apocalypse: Fightback'

Because as I've said before, sometimes you want cover art that gives it to you straight with no messing around! Like this...

Go on, take a look at that cover and tell me that you're having trouble guessing what the book is about... :o)
You are? Oh well, have some blurb to go with it then...

This long-awaited sequel to the bestselling Zombie Apocalypse! is once again a 'mosaic novel' which weaves together contributions from big-name horror writers in the form of essays, reports, letters, official documents and transcripts to create a coherent and compelling narrative. In volume one old-school, flesh-eating zombies spread 'The Death' around the world. Now, the fightback begins.

Guess what I'm reading right now :o) (Actually, I'm reading 'The Dirty Streets of Heaven' as well so either answer gets a point!) There's a Neil Gaiman tale lurking in here somewhere and I'm looking forward to checking it out. My review for 'Zombie Apocalypse' is over Here if you fancy a look.

Cover Art - 'The Mad Scientist's Daughter' (Cassandra Rose Clarke)

 I enjoyed 'The Assassin's Curse' (albeit with some reservations) so I'm looking forward to 'The Mad Scientist's Daughter' already. It's not out until February 2013 though so have some cover art and blurb to be going on with in the meantime... :o)

There’s never been anyone - or anything - quite like Finn.

He looks, and acts human, though he has no desire to be. He was programmed to assist his owners, and performs his duties to perfection. A billion-dollar construct, his primary task is to tutor Cat.

When the government grants rights to the ever-increasing robot population, however, Finn struggles to find his place in the world.

Angry Robot have pretty much always come up with the goods with their cover art (except perhaps with 'The Hammer and The Blade'...) and it's good to see that this cover proves to be part of the rule rather than the exception. I need to clear the 'Reading Pile' first but like I said, I'm looking forward to reading  'The Mad Scientist's Daughter' when it finally reaches us next year :o)

The 'Look, the sun was out...' cover art post!

Give me a break, it's not often the sun comes out these days; I had to make the most of it! That leaves me with little/no time for review writing though so have some cover art instead. Cover art like this...

I'm hoping that the novel is as unique and stunning as we've been told because that cover isn't up to much is it? I don't know about you but if the blurb mentions a 'dimension jumping inn' then that's exactly what I want to see on the cover dammit! Another example of 'cover art for the commuter' rather than art that celebrates the book... I have been looking forward to 'Ecko Rising' though and would have started on it tonight but I'm already late for the Fantasy Faction signing at Blackwells (Cole, Abercrombie, and Brett; just in case you were wondering)...

Cover Art! 'The Black Mausoleum' (Stephen Deas)

For a whole number of reasons, that were nothing to do with the books themselves, I never got into Stephen Deas' 'A Memory of Flames' books but the blurb for 'The Black Mausoleum' makes it look like a very good place to jump on board. Not only that but the cover art quite literally grabbed me by the eyeballs and demanded that I read a bit more. Check it out and you'll see why,

The resolution isn't brilliant, sorry about that, but I think you can see where I'm coming from here :o) It's not clear who came up with the cover art, not from the book anyway, but it's clear that they are the person to go to if you're after a dragon drawn in all its 'I'm going to eat you puny man-thing' glory. Great stuff.

Here's the blurb for those who are interested. Beware spoilers if you haven't read the first three books either...

Two years have passed since the events of the Order of the Scales. Across the realms, dragons are still hatching. Hatching, and hatching free.

Skorl is an Ember, a soldier trained from birth to fight dragons. He is a living weapon, one-shot only, saturated with enough dragon-poison to bring down a monster all on his own. Misanthrope, violent and a drunk, to fulfil his purpose and slay a dragon, means to be eaten. Now Skorl has a choice: he can hang for his crimes, or he can go with the last of the Adamantine Men, fighting against an enemy he was born to face. Rat is an Outsider. He's on the run and he's stumbled onto something that's going to make him rich beyond all his dreams. It's just a shame that the end of the world has started without him. Kataros is an alchemist, one of the order responsible for keeping the dragons in check. One of the order that has just failed, and disastrously so. 

Two men, one woman. One chance to save the world from a storm of dragons ...

'The Black Mausoleum' is on the 'I'll definitely read this one' pile but, unfortunately, so are around a hundred other books. I'll get to it at some point :o)

Which cover would you go for? 'The Dirty Streets of Heaven' (Tad Williams)

I'm a big fan of Tad Williams (still need to read the last two 'Shadowmarch' books but I'm pretty sure it's impossible for him to write a bad book) so I chased down an advance copy of 'The Dirty Streets of Heaven', to the very ends of the earth, just to be sure that I got a copy. Well, I chased it all the way to DAW, in the US, but you know what I mean... :o)
And after all that chasing, a copy of the UK edition arrived in the post this morning. Should have saved myself the bother, and just waited really, shouldn't I? In my defence I was expecting to see 'Dirty Streets' released by Orbit, for some reason, and they'd been awfully quite about it (which they would be, given that it's Hodder who are publishing it over here...)

I'm only going to read one of the two editions (might read one and keep the other) so I thought it would be a good time to run another one of those posts where I show you the US and UK covers and you tell me which one you like the best. That way, both editions get a shot at appearing here (I'm nice like that).

Have some blurb first,

Bobby Dollar is an angel—a real one. He knows a lot about sin, and not just in his professional capacity as an advocate for souls caught between Heaven and Hell. Bobby’s wrestling with a few deadly sins of his own—pride, anger, even lust.

But his problems aren’t all his fault. Bobby can’t entirely trust his heavenly superiors, and he’s not too sure about any of his fellow earthbound angels either, especially the new kid that Heaven has dropped into their midst, a trainee angel who asks too many questions. And he sure as hell doesn’t trust the achingly gorgeous Countess of Cold Hands, a mysterious she-demon who seems to be the only one willing to tell him the truth.

When the souls of the recently departed start disappearing, catching both Heaven and Hell by surprise, things get bad very quickly for Bobby D. End-of-the-world bad. Beast of Revelations bad. Caught between the angry forces of Hell, the dangerous strategies of his own side, and a monstrous undead avenger that wants to rip his head off and suck out his soul, Bobby’s going to need all the friends he can get—in Heaven, on Earth, or anywhere else he can find them.

And here are those covers...

The US Edition

 The UK Edition

The more I do these posts the more I come to realise that the whole 'UK cover art is better than the US covers' is more than a bit of a myth. I mean, look at those two covers. What I like about the US cover is that it's a hell of a lot more honest than the UK cover. 'Dirty Streets' is a story about an angel and the US cover isn't afraid to tell us that. The UK cover though... Clearly designed for the guy on the tube who doesn't want to admit to other commuters that he's reading a fantasy book. It's a cover that emphasizes the detective element of the book over the fantasy stuff and that's fair enough, whatever sells the book I guess. I prefer the up front nature of the US cover though, it has to be said.

That's me and my opinion, what do you think? What cover do you prefer and would you be caught reading the US edition on a packed commuter train? I would :o)

Comments in the usual place please!

P.S. The two editions will be released within about a fortnight of each other in the first two weeks of September. That's close enough for me to start reading my copy now so look out for a review in the next couple of weeks.

Subliminal Cover Art...? 'The Butcher of Anderson Station' (James S.A. Corey)

I was browsing one of my favourite blogs when I came across this cover art...

 

Has it been just a bit too long since I quit smoking (eight years since my last cigarette, three since my last cigar...) or is 'The Butcher of Anderson Station' a tale of tobacco companies rampaging through space in cigarette shaped spacecraft...? Did I miss the press release about the Orbit/Marlboro merger...? ;o)

On a slightly more serious note, I'll be downloading this the first chance I get. I thoroughly enjoyed 'Leviathan Wakes' and 'The Butcher of Anderson Station' should keep me ticking along just nicely until the next book.

In case you were wondering, reviews have been thin on the ground recently as my current contract ends today and things have been mad. There will be something up later though... :o)

Cover Art! 'Exile' (Rowena Cory Daniells)

Because Clint Langley came up with the art here and I've been a fan of his work since before I even realised that it was his :o)

Lovely cover art from Langley (again) but any hope it gives you of a cameo appearance from Elric is probably best ignored ;o) That's two books, in this series, that I have now so I really ought to give it a go. My job (a short term contract) ends tomorrow so maybe that will free up some time...

P.S. For those of you who remember the last Solaris cover art post, I just couldn't get into 'Hush' at all (possibly because I never read 'Greatshadow' first and I really should have done...) Oh well...

Which cover would you go for? 'Some Kind of Fairy Tale' (Graham Joyce)

You know how it goes... A UK publisher will send me a book and then a US publisher will send their edition of the same book. Sometimes it goes the other way round :o) I'm not going to read both of them but always end up wanting to give the 'other book' a chance at some blog time, so... The 'Which cover would you go for?' posts were born.

This time round, the UK and US editions of Graham Joyce's 'Some Kind of Fairy Tale' face off in a battle that will only be decided by your votes (which go in the comments section). First up though, some blurb...

It is Christmas afternoon and Peter Martin gets an unexpected phonecall from his parents, asking him to come round. It pulls him away from his wife and children and into a bewildering mystery.


He arrives at his parents house and discovers that they have a visitor. His sister Tara. Not so unusual you might think, this is Christmas after all, a time when families get together. But twenty years ago Tara took a walk into the woods and never came back and as the years have gone by with no word from her the family have, unspoken, assumed that she was dead. Now she's back, tired, dirty, dishevelled, but happy and full of stories about twenty years spent travelling the world, an epic odyssey taken on a whim.


But her stories don't quite hang together and once she has cleaned herself up and got some sleep it becomes apparent that the intervening years have been very kind to Tara. She really does look no different from the young women who walked out the door twenty years ago. Peter's parents are just delighted to have their little girl back, but Peter and his best friend Richie, Tara's one time boyfriend, are not so sure. Tara seems happy enough but there is something about her. A haunted, otherworldly quality. Some would say it's as if she's off with the fairies. And as the months go by Peter begins to suspect that the woods around their homes are not finished with Tara and his family...

My copy has been waiting, on the pile, for me to be in the mood to pick it up, mood is so important to my reading choices these days... It will be read though.
But what about those covers? Check em' out,

The US Cover.

The UK Cover.

My money is on the UK cover, purely because it doesn't look like a badly staged photograph with a smoke machine just out of sight... I've never been a fan of 'photo covers' actually; if they're not done right then they look awful and I'm yet to come across one that looks 'right' to me.

That's what I think anyway, how about you? Go on, leave a comment :o)

Cover Art : 'The Goon #40' (Shameless Fan-Boy Edition)

In the absence of anything else to post today (it's been a slow day like that...) have a little cover art action courtesy of Eric Powell and 'The Goon'...

Back in his teenage days when Prohibition was going on, Goon used to hot-rod moonshine past the law for fun and profit. That is, until he ran into a gang of gearhead rockabilly ghouls out for blood!

Issue 40 is up for pre-ordering apparently :o)

It's no secret that I love 'The Goon' and I reckon that if you give it a go then you'll love 'The Goon' too. Cover art like this is one of the reasons why. I haven't read this issue yet (obviously) but I'll tell you now that the art inside will be just as good as what's on the cover. I like being able to pick up a  comic with that in mind :o)

So give 'The Goon' a go then, if you're into gorgeously drawn pulp stylings then you really can't go wrong with this title...

Some Solaris Cover Art...

A couple of books, from Solaris, arrived last night and they got me thinking... You're a publisher with two books that you want to sell really well. Cover art sells a book (no doubt about it, if not to serious fans then definitely to the casual browser) so what do you do? This is what Solaris did...

Did the cover art budget only stretch to a 'book and a half' or are people banking on 'Besieged' being the book that shifts the most copies? Hardly seems fair on 'Hush' either way. I would have thought that if you want both books to sell then you give both of them a decent cover...

Out of some weird sense of solidarity (what? I'm tired...) I'll be giving 'Hush' a go as soon as I finish 'Mockingbird', even though I haven't read the prequel 'Greatshadow'. Sometimes you've got to stick up for the little guy ;o)