Book Cover Smackdown! ‘Blackveil’ vs. ‘The Inheritance’ vs. ‘The Floating Islands’
By AidanMoher |
Saturday, February 26th, 2011 at
12:25 am
Curl up with your kittens, folks! It’s time for another Book Cover Smackdown!
Here are the contenders…
Your Mission (should you choose to accept it): Tell us which cover you like best and why.
Books shown here:
- Blackveil by Kristen Britain (Artist: Donato Giancola)
- The Inheritance by Robin Hobb/Megan Lindholm (Artist: Unknown)
- The Floating Islands by Rachel Neumeier (Artist: Unknown)
NOTE: Bigger, better cover art images are available by clicking the images or title links.
Related posts:
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- Book Cover Smackdown! Dragon Haven vs. The Infernal City vs. The Zeppelin Pulps
- Book Cover Smackdown! ‘Pegasus’ vs. ‘The Unremembered’ vs. ‘The River of Shadows’
- Book Cover Smackdown! The Hugo Awards Showcase vs. Gardens of the Sun vs. Retribution Falls
- Book Cover Smackdown! ‘The Blackness Within’ vs. ‘By Light Alone’ vs. ‘Behemoth’
Tagged with: Blackveil • Book Cover Smackdown • Cover Art • Kristen Britain • Rachel Neumeier • Robin Hobb • The Floating Islands • The Inheritance
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That gave me a good laugh. Although it isn’t clear from the cover, Robin Hobb & Megan Lindholm are in fact two different pseudonyms of the same author. Megan Lindholm began publishing earlier, and I understand that Robin Hobb was created when Megan Lindholm’s sales were stuck in the mid-list.
The Floating Island … even if too much miayazakian… if you know what i mean
Blackveil: Donato Giancola, nuff said. Waaay better than the UK version.
Easy win for Blackveil. It pulls you into the story. Unless I caught the name Robin Hobb, I would walked right past The Inheritance. Two cats making a yin-yang symbol, really? And though Floating Islands is pretty and probably straight out of the novel, the Gorillaz “Feel Good, Inc.” video was pretty much the end of floating islands for me.
I would go with Blackveil too. The typical fantasy images, but very well-rendered, with a hint of menace and density in the background. The Hobb book is too plain, although I understand that her names are the selling point. The Floating Islands cover certainly resonates with the title, but you get no sense of activity from the image.
Floating Islands for me. Beautiful cover!
Tough call. I suppose Blackveil gets the nod. It strongly delivers what readers of fantasy look for in their covers. And Giancola creates magnificence the way I create… er, sweat, I suppose. But I really like The Floating Islands cover a lot. It looks a little like an N.C. Wyeth illustration. Unfortunately, that storybook feel coupled with the uninspired title treatment sort of strands the cover. With a little better art direction I think it could have been the standout. And yes, the snuggling kitties on The Inheritance do absolutely nothing for me. I will assume they are there as a warning that I will enjoy nothing about the book and should stay far away.
Although, in full disclosure, I am allergic to cats.
Blackveil, Yes that is the one. When I opened the page, Blackveil jumped right at me. The mostly white with a circle, I passed right over. The islands? OK, but eyes went right back to the dark forest, shining city, and dark-vs- purple and wanted to stay there.
I like the chiaroscuro on Blackveil, but Floating Islands is better.
I would go with “The floating Island”…it seems lofty (hee hee) and magical. Plus it reminds me of “Castle in the sky”. I would choose “blackveil” next. The cover is intense and I expect to be bombarded with fantasy lore and action. i can easily dismiss “the inheritance” as a romance novel of some sort.