Books Received: June 2008 (Pick Your Favorite Cover!)
Through the good graces of publishers and authors, we get way more books here than we can possibly review. Although we do post everything we get on our Books Received page, it seems worthwhile to give those folks a little more publicity. Thus, from time to time, we will be posting the books and other items we receive. This inaugural post is kinda big on account of me wanting to throw some love to some recent acquisitions.
Fun for the reader: Pick your favorite cover!
(See mine at the end of the post.)
My favorite cover: The Affinity Bridge by George Mann. Seriously…check this out.
(Close runners up include: Necroscope, The Shadow Pavilion and Shadow of the Scorpion.)
What’s your favorite?
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- TOC: Jim Baen’s Universe Volume 3, Number 1, June 2008
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The Affinity Bridge cover is indeed very cool, but honestly?
Arthur C. Clarke, Frederik Pohl: The Last Theorem
Although not the coolest cover in terms of style, the names of these two authors and the fact that this is the last Arthur C. Clarke book makes this cover stand out to me.
None of them…seen them all before.
Agree on The Affinity Bridge(Mann). I’d definitely pull that off the shelf.
Although, it’s hard to ignore the outstanding work of John Harris featured on Zoe’s Tale(Scalzi).
Incandescence is also nice.
Of these, my vote for best cover is Incandescence. I’d likely pick it up and read the blurbs if I saw it in the bookstore. Isn’t that what the cover is all about?
I’d probably pick up The Last Theorem, too, but mostly due to the Clarke and Pohl names hidden in the upper half of the cover.
I’ll admit my prejudice: I like hard SF. Fantasy covers don’t appeal to me (except, of course, Boris Vallejo covers).
The Last Plague. It looks like I’ve seen it before, but I like the dusty darkness of it.
Dennis: I was talking about aesthetic value only. if we start talking about the ones I want to read…well, don’t get me started.
I have to say, the Necroscope cover gets the job done quite neatly, yes?
The Summer Palace
Clarke and Pohl. I have been waiting so long for this book…but it is now a sad wait as it is the last Clarke and Pohl ain’t looking very spry, alas.
John: Yeah, I knew I was cheating a bit. But I would definitely check out The Affinity Bridge if I saw it on the shelf based on the cover alone.
Incandescence by Greg Egan looks the best but I also like the Affinity Bridge cover too.
The cover’s from A Wealth of Energy snd Same Planet Different World The Ashes of Worlds kond of remind me of Alastair Reynolds book covers. Don’t they?
Jim
Definitely The Affinity Bridge because it’s got a zeppelin on it and I am about 7 years old when it comes to zeppelins. I came very close to hating my grandmother when she told me about her youthful honeymoon trip about the Graf Zeppelin. Nasty old bag. The grandmother, not the zeppelin.
Necroscope is the most direct and, I’d say, the most effect jacket design. But personally, I like the Egan cover the best.
No one’s mentioned Hawkspar yet (probably because the illustration has very little spark), but the lack of clutter appeals to me. If I saw it at B&N I’d probably pick it up and read the C4 text.
A couple of those book covers look like the covers to — gasp — romance novels! (Holds up garlic necklace.)
And orange seems to be popular color choice…
I’m going to go with “The Last Plague.”
Yes on Affinity Bridge. Love the pull quotes!
Other covers that would encourage me to thumb through the book: Outrageous Fortune, Same Planet, Different World, Incandescence.
@Jim: That Anderson cover does look Reynolds-ish, yes. And the more I look at it, the more I like it.
@OldFan: LOL!
@Eric and Anonymous and Matt: I think, too, that when comparing covers like this, it matters what company you keep. I like so many more (basically any one that isn’t overtly fantasy, and even then, some of them look fairly cool.
ANyway, this is fun. Keep going!
For my part, I plan a post like this every week instead of every month — the next one is coming tomorrow, then hopefully every Sunday of Monday after that.
I love The Affinity Bridge cover, but was annoyed when I clicked on it that it took me to amazon.co.uk and that I couldn’t actually pick it up and look at it any time soon. Any word on when we can see it in the US?
I love The Affinity Bridge cover, but was annoyed when I clicked on it that it took me to amazon.co.uk and that I couldn’t actually pick it up and look at it any time soon. Any word on when we can see it in the US?
And for those who like The Affinity Bridge cover, check out Chris Ware. Jimmy Corrigan may be the best comic ever.
Paul,
Plans to publish this in the U.S. should be announcing soon…
Thanks John.