This meme was started by Books by Proxy, whose fabulous idea was to compare UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This week’s topic is comparing covers featuring shining, buttery gorgeousness. I found this one something of a challenge, but decided upon this one – Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Empire in Black and Gold, the first book in his successful Shadows of the Apt series. Apart from anything else, it’s a fascinating twist on epic fantasy – see my review here.
This first cover was published by Tor in December 2008 as the paperback edition. This is the edition we own, so I do like it for that reason. But in comparison to the other two, it is fairly boring, I think.
This second cover is the Kindle edition released by Tor back in 2008 – and to be honest, I’m not sure why they didn’t use this one for both editions. I particularly like the alien feel of the warrior and the font, which works really well.
This third cover was released by Pyr in 2010 and I love it – apart from the truly dreadful font. What were they thinking?? It reads as though the book is entitled Empire – as well as being garishly ugly. So… if I could pinch the font from Tor’s Kindle edition and transfer it onto this one, then it’s a clear winner. Otherwise – it’s a draw this week! What do you think?
Brainfluff 