Judging a Book, November 2007

By Fence

It is Halloween season, and so I’m reading along with a spooky themed challenge, Carl’s Reading Imbibing Peril, or RIP for short, Challenge. And one of the books I chose to read was Michael Collin’s Lost Souls. It is blurbed (yes, I verb random nouns) as a suspense or mystery novel so it fits with that part of the challenge. Plus, it takes place at Halloween so I thought it’d be perfect. And it turns out that cover is one I want to talk about, so it lets me kill two birds with one stone.

The cover of the book shows the victim of the hit and run that begins the story: a 3 year old girl, dressed up as an angel for Halloween. There are lens flares that obscure parts of the photograph, and it looks overexposed, too much washed out white over which the title, the author’s name is plastered across the front, plus the information that this has been shortlisted for the Booker; one can’t forget that sort of PR.

It is, in my opinion, the perfect picture for this novel. It fits the theme well--that fleeting innocence of childhood. And of course the fact that we can’t see the child clearly, well if I said that it echoes the fact that we often can’t see that innocence because as we grow older we tend to become slightly cynical would I be stating the obvious? Then there is the fact that she is dressed as an angel which may remind the prospective reader of hope, or redemption, another central theme of the novel.

So this is a clear example of a cover design that works so much better after you’ve read the book. Before, when you may be just browsing the shelves in a store, it is simply a pretty picture and doesn’t have any such resonance. And strangely enough that fits in with the story as well. After all doesn’t every suspense story involve trying to make the reader look a little harder at what is right in front of them?

Judging a Book?, August 2007

By Fence



This month what other book could I possibly mention but Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? After all, this is the book that has gripped so much of the public’s attention for quite a while now. The final Harry Potter book. The end of the series. Even before the cover art had been decided upon it was available for pre-order, but instead of the usual blank, “no image yet” we had a design. Yes, it is fairly blank, but at the same time it shouts out exactly what it is. That familiar Harry Potter font standing out in white against the black background. Why was the colour black chosen? Could it have been because this was supposed to have been the darkest HP book yet, full of death, “a bloodbath” as Rowling herself said?

And then, once the designs were finalised there wer comparisons between the different versions. The US and the UK versiona. The children’s versus the adults’.



Above you can see the full US cover, back and front together. Harry is joined by Voldemort, but they don’t share the spotlight, as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is hidden on the back. Still, it is an indication that things are coming to a head. As if we needed that hint.



Above is the full UK version. The front and back covers, as well as the flaps from the dust cover. Obviously, as one part of a series, Bloomsbury is using the same general format as they have for all the others in the series. If I’m totally honest, I don’t really like the main illustration. It is seems more suited to a comic novel. Perhaps the thinking was that this is a children’s book so a more light-hearted cover was appropriate. I tend to disagree. However I do like the little illustrations on the dust cover’s flaps; the stag patronus and almost its opposite, the snake of Voldemort. Also, I like the fact that it isn’t only Harry up there; he has Ron and Hermione with him, even if they do appear to be in somewhat of a predicament.



The adult version appeals more to me. It is very simplistic; the front cover is a locket, on a dark, possibly stone, background. Nothing more, nothing less. Yet to anyone who has read the previous books it hints at quite a lot of things. The S of Slytherin? The Horcrux? Of course, all of these adult versions have these dark covers, but none as black as this one. It certainly fits the mood of the book.

My personal favourite is the adult version but that isn’t the one I bought. Instead I purchased the UK children’s cover, because that is the style of the rest of my HP’s, and I’m a completionist like that.


And of course, we still have all the various international versions to come yet. So which is your favourite, and why?

Judging a Book?, July 2007

By Fence

Cover design for a work of fiction must involve some sort of interpretation, don’t you think? The designer should know what the book is about and maybe even have read it. They should be aware of certain key aspects, like the physical features of any characters they might be portraying. Or at least you’d hope that the design might pay some sort of attention to the work between the covers. I know, sometimes it seems as though the cover has nothing at all to do with the book. But that is fiction, what about non-fiction books? In many cases the title will let the browser know what subject the book covers, does this mean that the design is then simply to attract attention?

In the case of Tim Pat Coogan’s The I.R.A. this seems to be the case. The design is simplistic. The author, the title and a shamrock, all on a white background. But this is slightly deceptive. Anyone who has an interest in Irish history will be aware of the name of Tim Pat Coogan. He has written many well received books on Irish history. So it stands to reason that using a large font for the author name serves a purpose. But the title is larger, and darker, The IRA, all in capitals, taking up almost half the cover. That is a lot of space for six letters. A design intended to alert the potential reader to the subject, no ambiguity at all there, but it also dominates the cover the way the actual organisation has dominated Irish history. I’d like to think that that is a deliberate effect.

And of course there is the shamrock. The emblem of Ireland, just in case you were wondering, and complete with a gun sight. A not very subtle hint at the violent history of the organisation. All in all, a simple yet effective design.

Another effective design is that of Letters from a Lost Generation edited by Alan Bishop and Mark Bostridge. This is another non-fiction work and as the title says, it is a collection of letters. The writers are Vera Brittain and four of her friends; Roland Leighton, Edward Brittain, Victor Richardson, and Geoffrey Thurlow. All four of those men lost their lives in the Great War; they are the lost generation of the title.

This cover uses an iconic image, the soldiers in silhouette, going over the trenches. There can be very little doubt as to what the subject matter of this book is. This, together with the book details are overlaid across some handwriting. The letters from a lost generation which I thought a nice touch. And then there is the recommendation from the Mail on Sunday "touching, angry, bewildered ... demands to be read". Okay, so maybe that is a little over the top, but given the subject matter, not a lot. And given the fact that all four of the soldiers who wrote the letters died, perhaps more accurate than hyperbole.

The third, and final, cover is different from the first two. The image doesn’t really tell you anything about the subject matter. Instead it is a detail from a work of art, a cartoon from 1797. Then again, it would probably be quite hard to come up with a work of art that gets across the subject matter of The Stories of English by David Crystal, as it is all about the English language, the different versions that evolved, and its history. So instead we get a colourful cartoon to attract our attention. And I suppose you could argue that the fact that the individuals in the cartoon are having a discussion means that it has slightly more relevance to the book than some others. Both the title and the author’s name are in a font that evokes a slightly old fashioned way of writing. And the quote from Philip Pullman reveals exactly what the book is about, the English language, and of course promotes the book as a "marvellous" one.

The primary purpose of most book covers must be to attract attention, and then to hopefully get the browsing individual to buy the book. Whether that actually happens depends on a lot more than the design, but I think that these three designs, in very different ways, do attract attention. And in a positive way. What about you? What is your favourite cover design?

Judging a Book?, June 2007

By Fence


When I first started to read Terry Pratchett’s books I really wasn’t impressed by the cover art. They were too, I don’t know, noisy. So much seemed to be going on, and more than a few seemed to have women with enormous breasts and very little clothes on. But back then I was more concerned with devouring the stories as quickly as possible and so didn’t pay too much attention to the design. I then stopped reading Pratchett for a number of years, and when I came back to them I made the discovery that the covers were fantastic. Just take a look at this one for Reaper Man:

Isn’t it fantastic?

Yes, there is a lot to take in, but if you actually look at it, instead of having a quick scan as I used to, you can see much detail. And unlike many fantasy covers. this actually depicts a scene from the book.

In Reaper Man, Death, that’s him in the dungarees, takes a break from the whole reaping souls business. And what job could be more perfect for this expert with a scythe than helping to bring in the harvest?

You may spot a smaller skeleton on Death’s knee? That’d be the Death of Rats, he may only say SQUEEK, but he gets his point across.

What I love about Josh Kirby’s work is the sense of fun. Look at Death’s eyes, and the fact that he is having tea with a little child. The scene is totally incongruous, and yet at the same time could be viewed as pastoral and restful. These covers fit Pratchett’s books perfectly. Pratchett after all writes humorous fantasy novels, set on a world that sits on top of four elephants, who in turn stand on the shell of the great turtle who swims through space. And yet, despite the seeming light and frothiness of his books, Pratchett writes more about what it is to be human than many more “literary” novelists. Kirby’s covers do a similar job. They have a sense of whimsy and comedy about them, yet if you look a little closer you can see how much detail and effort has gone into producing them. Pratchett and Kirby really had a perfect mix, and up until his death in 2001 Kirby created the covers for all the Discworld novels published in the UK. If you get a chance you should take a look at some of them.

Recently a number of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels have been reissued in the UK, and so Corgi, the publishers, have given them all a brand new look. Gone is the wonderful clutter and comic magic of Kirby’s art, and instead we are a given a much more sober cover. For the most part, these new versions are all in black, with one or two items across the front. No doubt to appeal to the same sort of people who buy children’s fantasy book only when they have “adult” covers. If I am totally honest I do like these plain designs. But they don’t fit the books the way the Kirby ones do. Here is the new version of Reaper Man:

All very grown up looking, I think you might agree. Serious even.

As I already mentioned, in general, I do like this more simple cover design, I’m a fan of the plain, and these are very well done. Plain, but with just enough decoration to attract your attention. I’m sure that having all forty odd Discworld books on your shelves with this cover would look impressive. So I like the design. But, then again,I don’t like it. Not for Pratchett’s work. Not when I can compare it with Kirby’s art.

So I’m conflicted by them. They should work for me. And yet, they just don’t.

Kirby’s designs gave an indication of what was between the covers while these tell nothing. If anything, they lie. They hint at the serious. They are even slightly pretentious. They call attention to themselves by pretending to be serious and simple. Minimalist, but somehow, in all the wrong ways.

If given the choice I’ll take the glorious art of Kirby in preference to these over-designed exercises in simplicity. Yes, I am being harsh, especially considering that since Kirby passed on he couldn’t very well have come up with new designs, but, you know what, I’ll complain if I want to.

Judging a Book?, May 2007

By Fence

So far all my comment about book covers have been positive. I think it is time for a change, so for this article I’m going to talk about two covers I hate. The first is one for a book I have yet to read; Lois McMaster Bujold’s Cordelia’s Honor.

Just look at those garish colours! And what you can’t see from that picture is how shiny the cover is. It all gives a terrible impression of cheapness. Of a tacky book. Plus it makes me really hope that the blade in the foreground is blunt, either that or the holder has extremely tough hands.

But not only is the picture itself off-putting, but the cover is covered with attempts to gain any and all attention. The combination of announcing that the novel is a Hugo winner coupled with the selection of praise hints at desperation to me. One would have been more than enough, preferably the Hugo announcement. Those strategically edited extracts from reviews always remind me of the fact that they could be taken out of context. Even if they weren’t I don’t need all that “Pick me! Pick me”.

I can’t be too critical however, I still bought the book didn’t I? Yes, that was because I’ve read other novels by the same author and enjoyed them, but also because it was fairly cheap. So here is hoping that Baen, the publisher, saved a heap of money on cobbling together this hideous cover.

The other cover that I’m going to complain about is that of Sherri S. Tepper’s Grass:

There is nothing quite as horrific about this one. It simply doesn’t appeal in any way to me. However, the large font indentifying the author more than does it job, so any Tepper fans can easily ignore the picture. I like the general idea of the cover. Big blue skies and the hero in the coloured grass that gave the book its name, and the strange planet that much of this sci-fi story is set on. But the figure in the centre just doesn’t work for me. She seems far too young to be the character of Marjorie, but I can’t really think who else she might be. And then there is the outfit she is wearing. Parts of it I understand, but it just looks wrong.

Science fiction and fantasy novels are often guilty of poor design. Maybe because they aren’t really treated as “proper” books, or maybe because the publishers think that readers like these weird images. Scantily clad damsels in distress are often a feature, these two covers don’t fall into that cliche, but that doesn’t make them any more visually appealing.

From my point of view a cover should draw the reader in. Make them wonder what the story will be about. It should delight the eye, not make you wince as the cover to Cordelia’s Honor does. It should not be instantly forgetable as Grass’s cover is.

Judging a Book?, April 2007

By Fence

This month I’ve chosen two very different covers to talk about. Design is a very subjective thing, but I think that these two covers work especially well. The first is for a non-fiction book entitled The Squad and the Intelligence Operations of Michael Collins by T. Ryle Dwyer. For those of you who haven’t heard of Michael Collins, he was one of the most famous Irish revolutionaries of all time, involved in the War of Independence and killed in the Irish Civil War. The cover design features a pale, almost washed out photo of Collins, with a separate photo of the Squad members overlaid on the bottom of this photo. And of course, on top of all this is the title and the author’s name.

And of course there is a gun. The revolver is probably the most prominent aspect of the design, and this fits in perfectly with the book. It is, after all, concerned with The Squad and Collins’ intelligence operations, much of which concerned murdering people at close range, and in cold blood. Violence is part and parcel of the book.

Every intelligence operation must operate in the shadows, never clearly seen, perhaps the reason for the washed out appearance of Collins’ and the squad on the cover?

One of the main objectives of a cover is to make a casual browser curious, to attract their attention in the hope that they will pick it up and buy it. Bright colours attract attention, so the eye is immediately drawn to this book. In that I think it more than fulfils its purpose. There aren’t all that many photos of Collins. He was a shadowy figure, not being recognised was the reason he was able to come and go around the country despite being a wanted man, but there are some photos. That the designers of this cover chose not to use one of the more iconic images shows, I think, that they wanted to portray Collins in a different manner than other biographies and historical accounts have done so up until now.

The Squad uses historical interviews and first-hand accounts of the men and women involved in the intelliegence operations. It is important, therefore, that the cover also feature some of those faces.

The second cover I’m looking at is for a fiction novel, Tatty by Christine Dwyer Hickey. A coming of age story, detailing a Dublin childhood of the recent past.

The version over on the left hand side is the cover that seems to be most common at the moment. My copy of this novel must be an earlier printing as it is slightly different. The photo used seems to be the same one, but in my copy it is arranged differently, and there is less extraneous text. Instead of the Colum McCann’s quote there is simply a three word extract from a newspaper review. Personally I prefer the earlier design, so I’ve scanned it in to show that slight differences can make a huge difference.

As you can see it has the same photo of the young girl, slightly blury, her features obscured by her hair, and by the fact that she is looking down, away from the camera. And it is a lovely simple and uncluttered design that becomes a little clunky in the other version, in my opinion at least.

I’ve always liked sepia toned photos, so this cover appealed to me on that level, and it fits in with the story of the novel perfectly. The narrator of the book isn’t a straight “I” narrator telling the story. Instead it is a voice that tells Tatty’s story, sometimes in first person, sometimes in third, just like the face on the cover the person telling the story is hidden from the reader. There is also the slightest hint of sadness about that girl on the cover, a sadness echoed in the story of Tatty’s dysfunctional family. If the novel is “Beautiful and heartbreaking”, then the cover is evocative and beautiful.