I got a kick out of the Dick covers. You can just hear the designers thinking, "I gotta stick some damn sheep on the cover somewhere? Christ. How the hell am I gonna do that?"
Awesome!
For me, it's the polychrome space derelicts of Chris Foss's covers, that will forever populate the endless Oort cloud of my mind........ [en.wikipedia.org] .
@SJ_Edwards: Berkey did some really nice giant space ship covers. I keep coming back to THE SKY IS FILLED WITH SHIPS. Great cover, great title, just above average novel. The same author (Richard C. Meredith) did another long titled book- WE ALL DIED AT BREAKAWAY STATION. That one had another Berkey cover, but it was much muddier. Then Meredith died incredibly young (41?).
This is an awesomely cool idea. After all, it's the cover that catches our eye. And covers are representative of the time and space from whence they came. So these covers should tell us as much of their era and culture as they do about the book they illustrate; for some covers, more.
I frequently order British editions of my favorite UK authors from Amazon.co.uk because I get paperbacks a year sooner than their American release. I find I generally like the UK cover art better.
When I order older or used books from Amazon.com and there are several paperback editions available, I usually choose the one with the prettiest cover art. #bookcovers
@Chip Overclock: I totally go out of my to order British editions as well, especially when I'm giving a beloved book as a gift.
I picked up Michael Marshall Smith's "Only Forward" and "Spares" completely on a whim in a UK bookstore because the covers looked so awesome and they became two of my favourite books of all time. A good cover art designer is... well they're good because they make me want to read books. #bookcovers
I'm surprised the collection of Farenheit 451 covers didn't include what I would consider the obvious design answer: the cover itself appearing heat damaged, cracked and partially burned as if it was one of the books destroyed within the tale. #bookcovers
I love these posts, except for one thing - I look at some of the copies I have of these and realise there are much, much better editions out there I should have got instead.
Having said that, I've got that iconic edition of A Clockwork Orange and I'm really quite smug about it. #bookcovers
@Discodave: R.O.A.C.H. M.O.T.E.L.: I feel your pain. I'm continually annoyed by the fact that Will Smith stares back at me every time I pick up my copies of I, Robot and I am Legend (which is actually a collection of Richard Matheson's work to which Will Smith’s face has been randomly plastered). If only the movie-tie-in version of books weren't significantly cheaper and I weren't a poor, poor university student. #bookcovers
@Discodave: R.O.A.C.H. M.O.T.E.L.: Is that the US or the UK version?
I happen to own both, and while the cover is the same, the book itself is different. The US version doesn't come with the last chapter, which completely changes the ending, but it also has the Nadsat glossary in the back. The UK version doesn't have the Nadsat translations, but has all 21 chapters.
You know, I really love these posts. I'm not just saying that - I think they're awesome, and I love all the art Lauren digs up. (Go find the Travis Charest gallery and link to it, L!) But please, please tell me, isn't there some way to stop you people from making each gallery a separate story? It totally screws up the homepage for like, hours. #bookcovers
I was pretty disappointed. I couldn't stand how Ren was sloppily retconned into Jimmie's life. (actually, the whole character of Ren was annoying) I could see involving Glenn with the Gardeners and exploring how their their ideas (the waterless flood) would have influenced his decision to, you know, destroy humanity, but Atwood shied away from that and instead focused on Ren's inexplicable lifelong crush on Jimmie.
In the end, I finished it just to finish it. I didn't really care about any of these characters and the end was a little to "neat" for me (hey, welcome to the end of the world, how convenient that we all know each other). Which is a shame because Oryx and Crake is one of my favorite books and I'm a huge Atwood fan, Cat's Eye and The Blind Assassin are also favorites. #yearoftheflood
@Fate'sBitch: I was in the same boat. I love Atwood, Oryx and Crake is my favorite of hers, but I didn't like this one as much. The relationships between the characters in general rang false, in my opinion. In Oryx and Crake, relationships like Crake and Jimmy's snippy-but-affectionate co-dependency and Jimmy's maybe-one-sided obsession with Oryx felt authentic and intense. In The Year of the Flood, I felt like the only reason these characters were connected was because they were all briefly mentioned in the last book. Ren's crush especially was dull--maybe it was supposed to mirror Jimmy's long-lived pining for Oryx, but it just felt tagged on. #yearoftheflood
@Fate'sBitch: These were pretty much my thoughts too. The Year of the Flood felt more like fanfiction than a continuation or companion piece to Oryx and Crake. I also felt there was a lot less "science" this time around. The concepts from the first book, though "fanciful," were at least interesting and well-developed. This time around, it just felt like a re-hash of what was mentioned previously.
I also agree about not really connecting with the characters. I didn't find them all that engaging and I wasn't invested in what would happen to them. #yearoftheflood
Just a small quibble: they're always called Gardeners, but the actual name is God's Gardeners.
And to call the science in a work of science-fiction "fanciful at best" seems weirdly derogatory? Unless there is some definite template on what exactly a lion/lamb hybrid would look like? I mean, what other option is there but to imagine the science of the future? #yearoftheflood
@Pope John Peeps II: I'm no scientist, but to me, the science in Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood didn't seem that implausible (well...maaaaybe the neon herpes in Oryx and Crake, but who knows?). It seemed to be in the general vein of what current scientists and corporations are looking into. I also wonder if that's why Atwood has called her work "speculative fiction" instead of "science fiction." Maybe she feels that science fiction features only purely fictional science? #yearoftheflood
@englishmajorennui: Well, she's given a bunch of interviews on that subject, so I don't think anynoe has to repeat any of what she has said. Just go Bing it! hahah. microsoft. nice try. #yearoftheflood
@englishmajorennui: Nah, she's just always had a derogetory view of science fiction. Robert J. Sawyer's commented on it once or twice. And just so I don't get pegged as a bandwagon jumper, I've been reading Sawyer for 11-12 years now.
@Pope John Peeps II: Again, as I said before, it wouldn't matter if Atwood hadn't said stuff like "my book isn't science fiction because it's about things that could actually happen." #yearoftheflood
@Wookie1972: Once an author tries to present their work as some sort of prophecy of an inevitable dystopia my interest begins to wane. There's a reason there isn't a section in the bookstore called "Fiction...FOR NOW!!1!" #yearoftheflood
@Pope John Peeps II: The science in both books is appallingly bad. There is a good reason why Atwood refuses to be called a science fiction writer. She doesn't give a crap about science, or scientific realism. All of the science in this novel and in Oryx and Crake were purely intended as symbolism.
The pig thing reminds me of the graphic novel Oink by John Mueller in which the government has created humanoid pigs to work in Public Slaughterhouses tending to giant pigs. #books
11/18/09
11/17/09
I got a kick out of the Dick covers. You can just hear the designers thinking, "I gotta stick some damn sheep on the cover somewhere? Christ. How the hell am I gonna do that?"
11/17/09
I bet the answer came to them in their sleep. #bookcovers
11/17/09
11/17/09
#bookcovers [www.chrisfossart.com]
11/18/09
11/17/09
For me, it's the polychrome space derelicts of Chris Foss's covers, that will forever populate the endless Oort cloud of my mind........
[en.wikipedia.org] .
11/18/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
I frequently order British editions of my favorite UK authors from Amazon.co.uk because I get paperbacks a year sooner than their American release. I find I generally like the UK cover art better.
When I order older or used books from Amazon.com and there are several paperback editions available, I usually choose the one with the prettiest cover art. #bookcovers
11/17/09
This post made me warm and fuzzy- thanks Lauren! #bookcovers
11/17/09
I picked up Michael Marshall Smith's "Only Forward" and "Spares" completely on a whim in a UK bookstore because the covers looked so awesome and they became two of my favourite books of all time. A good cover art designer is... well they're good because they make me want to read books. #bookcovers
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/17/09
Having said that, I've got that iconic edition of A Clockwork Orange and I'm really quite smug about it. #bookcovers
11/17/09
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11/17/09
@PlasmaGlory: This one. #bookcovers
11/18/09
I happen to own both, and while the cover is the same, the book itself is different. The US version doesn't come with the last chapter, which completely changes the ending, but it also has the Nadsat glossary in the back. The UK version doesn't have the Nadsat translations, but has all 21 chapters.
11/17/09
11/17/09
11/12/09
I was pretty disappointed. I couldn't stand how Ren was sloppily retconned into Jimmie's life. (actually, the whole character of Ren was annoying) I could see involving Glenn with the Gardeners and exploring how their their ideas (the waterless flood) would have influenced his decision to, you know, destroy humanity, but Atwood shied away from that and instead focused on Ren's inexplicable lifelong crush on Jimmie.
In the end, I finished it just to finish it. I didn't really care about any of these characters and the end was a little to "neat" for me (hey, welcome to the end of the world, how convenient that we all know each other). Which is a shame because Oryx and Crake is one of my favorite books and I'm a huge Atwood fan, Cat's Eye and The Blind Assassin are also favorites. #yearoftheflood
11/12/09
11/12/09
I also agree about not really connecting with the characters. I didn't find them all that engaging and I wasn't invested in what would happen to them. #yearoftheflood
11/12/09
11/12/09
And to call the science in a work of science-fiction "fanciful at best" seems weirdly derogatory? Unless there is some definite template on what exactly a lion/lamb hybrid would look like? I mean, what other option is there but to imagine the science of the future? #yearoftheflood
11/12/09
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11/12/09
11/12/09
11/12/09
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11/12/09
@Pope John Peeps II: I'm thinking a lion/lamb hybrid would be sort of like this... #yearoftheflood
11/12/09
10/30/09