Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish which I am taking part in.
The Immortality Virus by Christine Amsden
This book isn't officially released yet but I have read the ARC and I loved the story, it was dark, gritty and enjoyable. The cover however is just plain horrid, I just hope that maybe this is just the cover being used for the ARC and it will be changed come final release.
New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
What is this cover actually all about? Can someone out there explain to me what this cover actually has in common with the story?
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling
The cover itself is actually designed okay and I have no idea what the current covers are like. However, the one in the UK
Gone Series by Michael Grant
Why do publishers insist on putting up covers with photographs of characters as "they" see them? The moment they put images on the cover like this you can't help but see characters in this way. Stop ruining the chance for my imagination to create something based upon what the author writes. At least the paper books in the UK
Monster by Christopher Pike
Thank god that they changed this cover in the end because it was horrendous. I am speechless nearly every time I see it. His face is the same colour as the sun for crying out loud!
Mills & Boon Books
Can you get anything cheesier and similar than these? I have zero intention of reading them but please stop assaulting my eyes in libraries with your covers!
Wonders of the Universe by Brian Cox & Andrew Cohen
The BBC TV series that this book acompanies is superb and Brian Cox is a good host. Why though did anyone feel the need to splash his big noggin on the front of this book? There are plenty of cracking images that could be used of space for the cover and instead we get this messy thing.
Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
Going Postal had an okay cover at first, then a TV series was made and suddenly they felt the need to slap the actors faces all over it. The art on Terry Pratchett covers are part of the charm so stop ruining them once you make them into TV shows!
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
When I first heard someone tell me that this was a great Sci-Fi novel I had no idea because the one I saw had the most boring cover in the world. To be honest though, from what I have seen since of the other covers used, it may actually be best of a bad bunch.
Darkship Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt
Now this may be fresh in my mind as I only recently read it, however when I first saw the cover I really didn't know if I wanted to read it. A Semi naked woman being manhandled by tree branches or something similar didn't appear to be a Sci-Fi novel I wanted to touch.
Anyway, I managed to make it to the full list of ten this week. So feel free to share your own thoughts, I mean some of you may actually like some of the covers I have listed above.
Quote from Stephenie Meyer's website, FAQ about New Moon
ReplyDelete>>That is a ruffled tulip. As for the meaning... If you've read the Twilight FAQ, you know that the apple cover had a lot of meaning for me, and I was an active part of the covering process. However, that experience is more the exception than the rule in the publishing world. Something to keep in mind if you intend to embark on a career as a writer: lots of things you might expect to be under your control are not. Covers, for example. Those are mostly up to the publisher and the marketing and sales departments. So I don't know what the tulip means—I didn't have anything to do with this one.<<
So basically.. It means absolutely nothing :D
I love science fiction but I think the sci fi covers in general tend to be quite ugly. Yet, I think some people love the art work and seem to know a lot about the artists. I myself am not a fan.
ReplyDeleteI agree, you don't need a picture of the presenter spalshed on the front cover. I think some publisher assume people are thick and won't realise the book accompanies the series without it. Bit insulting really.
Haha, brilliant Top Ten! I pretty much agree with most of what you put here. I also put the US versions of the Gone series. I just hate covers with models on!
ReplyDeleteHere's mine:
http://ramblingsofoneinsixbillion.blogspot.com/2011/04/top-ten-tuesday-3.html
nice picks and amen on the twilight book. I would have put a bright white full moon on it--I'm sure the artist could have found something red to float in front of it--like rose petals or something. But a tulip has nothing to do with the story. But I will say the covers are highly recognizable and often imitated. It was a great marketing idea.
ReplyDeleteYou have taken interesting covers. Some of those do need to be redesigned! I have another cover for the Harry Potter novel. And I read that in my 30s!! Some covers are SO trashy! I have posted about that.
ReplyDeleteHere is my Top Ten post!
I agree with your choices. Especially THE DOOMSDAY BOOK which is Connie Willis at her best. It is a BORING cover which doesn't give any inkling of what lies inside.
ReplyDeleteAgree with HP and the Philosopher's Stone. I like most of the UK covers, but a few of them are just a little too childish/cartoonish for my tastes. I also liked your choices of Mills & Boon and books with actors/TV hosts on the cover.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Going Postal but the cover you show creeps me out. Ha!
ReplyDeleteThat Going Postal cover made me laugh. I also remember those old Christopher Pike covers, which are pretty terrible.
ReplyDeleteHere is my list: http://hawthornescarlet.blogspot.com/2011/04/top-ten-tuesday-stop-embarassing-me.html
Based on the cover alone for Christopher Pike's MONSTER, I'd believe it to be "a story about a tomato-faced football player who takes a girl on a date and TERRIBLE AND AWFUL THINGS ensue!"
ReplyDelete