Friday Faceoff – So much universe, so little time… #Brainfluffbookblog #FridayFaceoffhorizoncovers

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 meme is being nurtured by Lynn’s Book Blog and this week the theme for finding covers is HORIZON. I’ve selected one of my all-time favourite science fiction reads – that beginning blew me away – Heavy Time – Book 4 of The Company Wars by C.J. Cherryh.

 

This edition was produced by Grand Central Publishing in March 1992 and I think it is fabulous. And yes… I know the actual artwork is only a small part of the cover – and it could be argued that the dreaded textbox actually takes up most of the cover area. But just look at the way the shading of that very funky font matches the background colour in the airlock. The incident, where they are rescuing poor old Paul relates directly to action in the book and catches some of the drama of the amazing writing. And despite the fact that this one was designed before ebooks became a thing, it looks wonderful in thumbnail. And yes… this one is my favourite.

 

Published in May 1993 by Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, this Geman edition adopts a far more relaxed mood, with this encounter clearly being an approach from the man, chatting up the girl. It could be anywhere – except for the backdrop where we can see the spacescape through the implausibly large porthole. Although, I’d like it whole lot more if it wasn’t for that nasty tomato-coloured textbox plonked across the top.

 

This edition, published by The Easton Press in June 1991, is far more successful. I love the spacescape with the girl’s face superimposed through it, which makes it look far more modern than it actually is. And the font, though large and blocky, really sings out in thumbnail.

 

This Polish edition, produced by Solaris in December 2001, is a very near miss as my favourite. I love the bright, glowing colours and the boxy, businesslike mining shuttle approaching this moon, with the large processing ship in the background. And I love the way the title and author have been worked into the image, rather than imprisoned in a textbox and splatted any old how across the artwork.

 

This German edition, published by Heyne Verlag in May 2016, is another solid offering. I am always a sucker for a cool spacescape, particularly one that works well with the story – and I appreciate the stunning view of this asteroid belt, given that is the initial setting of the story. It is really simple, with the plain white font for the title and author fonts – but I like the style of it, which works well as a sci fi font and yippee for a clean, uncluttered cover with no unnecessary chatter across the front. Which is your favourite?