blacknorth
Stuck Inside a Cloud
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Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
Some books don't need anything except a cover:
Some books don't need anything except a cover:
Book Covers
- Thread starter Lady of Winterfell
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blacknorth
Stuck Inside a Cloud
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Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
And here's a few from my own collection that I adore - all these books are outstanding; content is served very well by presentation, and they are simply consummate examples of book art:
And here's a few from my own collection that I adore - all these books are outstanding; content is served very well by presentation, and they are simply consummate examples of book art:
D_Davis
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dask
dark and stormy knight
Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
You can't judge a book by its cover but you can judge whether you want a book by its cover. I used to buy books for cool covers all the time. Still do when I can afford it. I came to books from comics. Good covers never seemed a problem. If it's okay not to like them it should be okay to do the opposite.
Nice collection of MORE THAN HUMAN artwork.
You can't judge a book by its cover but you can judge whether you want a book by its cover. I used to buy books for cool covers all the time. Still do when I can afford it. I came to books from comics. Good covers never seemed a problem. If it's okay not to like them it should be okay to do the opposite.
Nice collection of MORE THAN HUMAN artwork.
soulsinging
the dude abides
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Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
That IS a really cool cover! Is it a hardcover or paperback? I've been saying I'd love a bare bones copy of LOTR minus all the appendices and the like... if they can fit GRRM novels into one copy, surely they can do LOTR as one convenient mass market copy.
Nice idea for a thread. One of my favourites has always been the Pauline Baynes cover for The Lord of the Rings.
Ever since I was a kid, I've been intrigued by the characters at the edges and in the corners; and I've always loved landscapes that fade into blue distance for the desire to explore they invoke, which works particularly well in fantasy.
That IS a really cool cover! Is it a hardcover or paperback? I've been saying I'd love a bare bones copy of LOTR minus all the appendices and the like... if they can fit GRRM novels into one copy, surely they can do LOTR as one convenient mass market copy.
Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
It was a paperback cover back in the 70s, probably UK only (publisher George Allen & Unwin). You can sometimes find them on eBay, but it would have UK spelling. (And the only one I could find just now was pretty expensive.)
I don't think anyone would ever publish LOTR without the appendices, but there have been plenty of one-volume paperback editions. (Amazing to think the whole of LOTR including appendices takes only a bit more space than ADWD.)
It was a paperback cover back in the 70s, probably UK only (publisher George Allen & Unwin). You can sometimes find them on eBay, but it would have UK spelling. (And the only one I could find just now was pretty expensive.)
I don't think anyone would ever publish LOTR without the appendices, but there have been plenty of one-volume paperback editions. (Amazing to think the whole of LOTR including appendices takes only a bit more space than ADWD.)
soulsinging
the dude abides
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Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
True, but they tend to be larger than mass market and kind of unwieldy. I think I did the math once and LOTR without the appendices is about the same length as ASOS.
True, but they tend to be larger than mass market and kind of unwieldy. I think I did the math once and LOTR without the appendices is about the same length as ASOS.
Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
I think any book >600 pages is unwieldy. I definitely prefer LOTR as three volumes.
Another favourite, though not (all) SFF -- and I just found out they're making a film of it!
(Strangely, I can't find a pic of my first-printing cover, which has pale blue instead of green and looks better imo.)
I think any book >600 pages is unwieldy. I definitely prefer LOTR as three volumes.
Another favourite, though not (all) SFF -- and I just found out they're making a film of it!
(Strangely, I can't find a pic of my first-printing cover, which has pale blue instead of green and looks better imo.)
D_Davis
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Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
A couple of covers that I can't stand:
Dreadful. Terrible font with a tired drop-shadow over a Photoshop color-transition background, and a boring looking icon in the center. Looks like it was thrown together as a placeholder, and then once the book got published they forgot to update it. It actually reminds me of a web page someone might have made in the late '90s or something. And that the series continued with these terrible designs is all the more baffling. When I first picked this up I thought to myself, well, I hope the book is more thoughtful and well-made than its cover is...unfortunately, I didn't find that to be true.
When I was reading these two books, I couldn't bring myself to read them in public. Just terrible, uninspired, juvenile nonsense. The books weren't any better, either.
A couple of covers that I can't stand:
Dreadful. Terrible font with a tired drop-shadow over a Photoshop color-transition background, and a boring looking icon in the center. Looks like it was thrown together as a placeholder, and then once the book got published they forgot to update it. It actually reminds me of a web page someone might have made in the late '90s or something. And that the series continued with these terrible designs is all the more baffling. When I first picked this up I thought to myself, well, I hope the book is more thoughtful and well-made than its cover is...unfortunately, I didn't find that to be true.
When I was reading these two books, I couldn't bring myself to read them in public. Just terrible, uninspired, juvenile nonsense. The books weren't any better, either.
Anne Lyle
Fantastical historian
Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
I love the paperback covers for Joe Abercrombie's books, but they are best enjoyed in the flesh - lovely thick textured card, digital images don't do them justice:
My LotR paperbacks were bought in the late 70s and have covers that use art by the man himself (this is the original - it was wrapped around the book as a cover):
I love the paperback covers for Joe Abercrombie's books, but they are best enjoyed in the flesh - lovely thick textured card, digital images don't do them justice:
My LotR paperbacks were bought in the late 70s and have covers that use art by the man himself (this is the original - it was wrapped around the book as a cover):
Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
Was this one? or more landscapy?
My LotR paperbacks were bought in the late 70s and have covers by the man himself, but I can't find any images online
Was this one? or more landscapy?
D_Davis
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Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
One of the few modern SF covers to really get it right:
It expertly captures Simak's pastoral style, downplaying the SF elements and enforcing the rural, Americana vibe of the novel's protagonist and setting.
I also really like these two versions, although they are vastly different:
This is another book that I collect in every version I can find.
One of the few modern SF covers to really get it right:
It expertly captures Simak's pastoral style, downplaying the SF elements and enforcing the rural, Americana vibe of the novel's protagonist and setting.
I also really like these two versions, although they are vastly different:
This is another book that I collect in every version I can find.
Anne Lyle
Fantastical historian
Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
Thanks, harebrain, but I found it online just after I hit "submit" on my post. Doh!
Thanks, harebrain, but I found it online just after I hit "submit" on my post. Doh!
Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
Ha ha, and now the prematurity(?) of your post is immortalised in mine!
Seems odd that they used an illustration from The Hobbit as a cover for LOTR. Were all three volumes' covers pictures from the earlier book?
Ha ha, and now the prematurity(?) of your post is immortalised in mine!
Seems odd that they used an illustration from The Hobbit as a cover for LOTR. Were all three volumes' covers pictures from the earlier book?
Anne Lyle
Fantastical historian
Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
No, they used "The Halls of Manwe" for The Two Towers (not the whole thing, just the base of the mountains and the sea):
and I'm still trying to find the other one - they're not credited inside the paperback at all, even though they're proper George Allen & Unwin editions. It looks like maybe the Misty Mountains - peaks with a dark bird flying over.
I think they just chose sections of JRR's artwork that fitted the books - FotR does focus on getting to Rivendell, after all.
No, they used "The Halls of Manwe" for The Two Towers (not the whole thing, just the base of the mountains and the sea):
and I'm still trying to find the other one - they're not credited inside the paperback at all, even though they're proper George Allen & Unwin editions. It looks like maybe the Misty Mountains - peaks with a dark bird flying over.
I think they just chose sections of JRR's artwork that fitted the books - FotR does focus on getting to Rivendell, after all.
dask
dark and stormy knight
Yeah, I'm bumping this thread too in case D Davis missed it. Sorry for any self-aggrandizement this implies.
dask
dark and stormy knight
Re: Judging a Book by its Cover
Part of that gut instinct no doubt comes from the cover.
Part of that gut instinct no doubt comes from the cover.
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