The Book Stacks

Welcome to the Wild Magic edition of Battle of the Book Covers! (I need theme music for these posts. Something macho and all ‘growly’.)

I decided to do the Wild Magic edition because, after deciding I must have one of my favourite childhood quartets, I ordered them. Lo and behold, they had covers much different than the covers I had grown up with. I went on amazon.com and searched and found yet another cover, but not the one I had grown up.

So it goes. There are still two different covers here to have at each other to decide which one is best.

The first cover is, I have to admit, very cool. Even if you don’t know the horse on the cover is Cloud, it’s still cool. The colours work, the fonts work even better, and they worked in “The Immortals: Book 1” quite nicely. Having read the book, I have a few nitpicks, but I’m trying not to let that influence what I say because we’re voting strictly on cover art here.

If I were to pick this book up, I would think it was mainly about horses or at least a horse. Even upon reading the back blurb, I might wonder why they would feature a horse rather than a more exotic animal or Daine herself. Even so, I doubt I would put the book down over that.

This is my first time seeing the second cover (as in I haven’t seen it before I started this search), and I rather like it. Honestly, I’m actually not very attracted to these types of covers, I like it. It has a lot going on, and I like being able to look at a cover for a while, maybe even seeing something on the second viewing that I didn’t on the first.

Given it’s a fantasy book, I am more inclined toward the second cover. It gives more of a ‘this is a tale’ feel than the first cover does, if that makes sense. It doesn’t matter that’s not at all how I imagine Daine (blame that on the cover that I have yet to find) because the cover as a while makes it feel like a true fantasy book.

This one is a pretty tight call, but I declare the second cover the winner!

What do you think? Agree or disagree?

It took me a while to find the two covers for this battle, but I finally did.

Welcome to another edition of Battle of the Book Covers! I have another round of the same book with different covers, and I find this one just as interesting as the Sabriel covers.

So let the battle begin!

I think this edition more than any others are based on my personal preferences. These covers are similar and what I have to say about them is mostly what I find aesthetically pleasing rather than drawing purely on my experience with graphic communications.

That being said, I very much like the first cover. This cover has Polgara facing the cover in what is a very body choice in body language. Polgara is a spunky woman with a lot of sass along with power. I feel this cover does a better job of portraying that. Not only that, there are the elements of the tree and the white owl that are clear with their own place on the cover after the dominant Polgara.

In the second cover Polgara looks more wistful and sad, which is okay, but in comparison with the first cover, I’d rather read about a take charge woman. This cover is very cold (I’ve seen the actual cover – not just the one on Amazon.com). It does less of inviting me to come in and enjoy the story and more of telling me to sit down and be a witness.

Which could be just as well, given the story.

I think the Eddings name shouldn’t have been quite so big. Perhaps Polgara is looking so sad because she’s about to be crushed by the massive Eddings name…

Overall, I declare the first cover the winner. As I said, though, this is by far the battle that is most about my personal preferences.

What do you think?

Happy Halloween! Hello and welcome to the second round of Battle of the Book Covers: The Horror Edition. Last week we had the first ever battle between to Sabriel covers. This week we have two recently released horrors. One is a horror novel and the other is a horror anthology.

Join in and do what we’re all told not to do – judge a book by its cover.

VS.

I don’t know about you, but this is definitely a tough one for me. I’ve been watching horror movies and reading scary books since I was a little girl. I’ve learned to appreciate all different forms of horror.

Dark Lullaby has a great cover. A lot of people agree when it comes to one of the scariest things can be children who do evil things. That may or may not be what this book is about, but the cover implies some connection to children, or a baby. Evil and children? Scary stuff.

My criticism of this cover is first of all the font of the title. It’s big, it’s red, and it says (to me), “Hulk big! Hulk smash! Hulk be scary!” The crib implies a subtle perhaps psychological sort of horror, but the big font takes away from the unease the cover could create.

Otherwise, I could just be a traditionalist with the placement of the author’s name, but I do believe a different font and different position is in order for this book. The author’s name, like the title, takes away from what the cover could achieve by being right nearly in the middle. One or the other (title or author’s name) might have worked in the middle like that, but not both. I’m distracted from the crib and background, which you don’t want.

In Bad Dreams also has a great cover. The crow has long been associated with horror and fear. The picture-within-a-picture type framing works a lot in the favour of this book. The crow and branches seem to be coming out of the picture but not out of the outer black frame, which makes me feel ‘safe’ but your subconscious wonders if the crow and branches will be coming out of that frame next. (Did anyone else see The Ring?)

My criticism of this cover isn’t all that much and is purely of personal preference. I simply would have made the black stand out more and all other colours paler so the crow could have made more of an impact.

Otherwise, the font works for me, the positioning works for me, and the colours work for me.

Overall, I have to declare In Bad Dreams as the winner!

What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments.

Which book cover will win?

I thought I’d try out something a little different today and hopefully start something people will enjoy.

Now, it won’t always be a battle of the same book with two different colours. However, in my searching for a copy of Sabriel, I’ve come across four different covers so far. Some are similar, but I thought I’d take the ones not so similar and weigh in on which cover is better. The you all can comment and tell me I’m completely wrong.

Keep in mind I haven’t actually read Sabriel (I will in the future) in case that would somehow influence what you think about my dissection of the cover art.

VS.

The first cover is the one I have seen advertised on U.K. sites and have seen in the bookstores here in Australia. This cover is filled with brighter colours like whit and orange. A lot of fantasy novels don’t use such colours, which means this one gets a point for standing out.

The cover is somewhat plain, but the symbol in the middle is fire, which gives the impression of struggle and perhaps poverty/starvation/or something lacking in combination with the minimal cover otherwise.

I find this cover interesting and can promise you I would be looking at the back to see what it’s all about.

The second cover is the one I recognize as being the cover on the first copy of Sabriel I ever saw, which was in the US. The evil eyes of the black figure behind the hero…yeah, it makes for a nice cover, but it’s not going to get me to read the book by itself. There are plenty of fantasy heroes who go up against big evil things.

Admittedly, the whole holding the bell thing on this cover makes me quite curious, which scores a point in its favour. This is also a bit of a minimalist cover in its own way in that there is a person, there is a bad guy, and that’s about it. However, I’m on the fence as to whether or not that actually works to the advantage of the book.

It’s an interesting cover, but it’s certainly not the best or most interesting I have seen.

So which one is better?

I have to vote for the first one. It would instantly get me to look at the back cover to see what it’s about, I feel it conveys more emotion (fire, desolation) than the second, and it appeals to me personally.

So what do you think? Does the second work more for you? Feel free to comment and let me know what you think.

Behold! The Cry of the Icemark by Stuart Hill is lucky enough to have a cover containing art by K. Y. Craft. I have yet to read this book, and I know that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but this cover really makes me want to read the book. Heck, there is already some talk of making it into a movie.

Well, I suppose that the book description also has something to do with my interest. Amazon.com lists the description thusly: “After the death of her beloved father, headstrong princess Thirrin Freer Strong-In-The-Arm becomes warrior queen of her homeland, Icemark, defending it from a formidable invader. Despite Thirrin’s bravery and the support of Oskan, the Witch’s son, the task proves more difficult than Thirrin ever dreamed. She must assemble a force to rival her opponent. And, in the chill winter of Icemark, she only has until spring to unite the strange beasts and frightening creatures who live just outside her country. Ultimately, it is Thirrin’s vision and determination that will see her through to victory.”

Have any of you read this book? What did you think? Is it as good as its cover would suggest?

The Cry of the Icemark, Stuart Hill, K. Y. Craft

Most of you know by now that I am a fan of Kinuko Craft’s artwork, which can be found on the cover of many a book. Well, now she has a book all her own: Kinuko Craft: Drawings And Paintings. Apparently it features 80 full color pages. May I just say…Want! And look at the beautiful cover. Sigh.

Kinuko Craft, Kinuko Craft: Drawings And Paintings

This version of Cinderella is yet another example of the incredible work of K Y Craft. Her art always seems to be full of light and minute detail. In this case, that attention to detail is not confined to the cover. This is the kind of book that makes you want to go buy prints of the artwork and hang it around your house. Actually, it is a dream of mine to own some of her original artwork. Sadly, it looks like I may need to win the lottery first.

Cinderella, K Y Craft

Well, my library finally received its copy of The Summer King by O. R. Melling. (It’s the sequel to The Hunter’s Moon. I talked about its cover art last month.) As the cover art is just as beautiful as the art that appeared on The Hunter’s Moon, I had to share it with you all. Or, to put it another way: Oooo! Shiny! I hope that I have time to read this one very soon.

The Summer King, O. R. Melling, The Hunter’s Moon

The Hunter’s Moon by O. R. Melling is the first in the Chronicles of Faerie series. I received my copy of the book for my birthday this last year, after I had read it for Book Club and absolutely adored it. (I received The World of the Celts, Celtic Gods and Heroes, and The Celts: A Very Short Introduction at the same time. Sense a trend?) It’s a madcap rescue mission through an Ireland that is modern-day time-wise, but in which the old ones have not left. As you can see, I don’t just enjoy the story, I also love the cover art. The image of winged creatures dancing in front of a full moon really gives the reader an impression of what they will find within the book. At some point I will review this book, once I have had a chance to re-read it. For now, here is the cover art for you to enjoy.

The Hunter’s Moon, O. R. Melling, Chronicles of Faerie

I read Son of the Mob by Gordon Korman a while ago, and I really enjoyed its Romeo and Juliet dynamic. (The son of a big time mobster and the daughter of an FBI agent fall in love, and it ends up being not as straightforward as you’d think.) I also think that it would make an entertaining film. Mostly though, I love the cover art. This is a book that gets checked out a moment after you put it on the display. I know that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but…well I did. The use of color and and the figure’s stance really draw the eye to the roses that are held like a gun. How cool is that? The best part is that the cover really reflects the story itself. Anyway, this is one of my favorite covers, so, I thought I’d share it with y’all.

Son of the Mob, Gordon Korman, cover art