Friday Faceoff – Words may inspire, but only action creates change… #Brainfluffbookblog #FridayFaceoffactioncovers

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 we are featuring ACTION covers. I’ve selected The Line of Polity – Book 2 of the Agent Cormac series by Neal Asher.

Tor Books 2003

This offering was produced by Tor Books in March 2003. I’ll be honest – it’s something of a hot mess. Clearly there is a large, destructive event unfolding – but that thing cluttering up the spacescape looks rather like a huge anemone – and I’ve no idea what those red lines denote… Neither do I particularly care – because it looks exciting and action-packed, and I really like the way the title runs down the side of the cover. This isn’t my favourite, but it is a contender.

Tor UK 2004

Published in May 2004, by Tor UK, I think maybe this cover is giving us the inside view of that anemone creature, which – having read the blurb – is apparently a nanomycelium. Whatever it’s called, it is clearly on the warpath and by the look of it – all set to blow something up… I like the way Asher’s name is colour coordinated with the cover design, though perhaps the title could be just a bit larger and punchier.

Tor 2018

This edition, published in July 2018 by Tor – and this cover… Wow… Just – wow! I absolutely love it. Explosive in gorgeous fire-shades of red and orange that glow against the darker edges with spaceships doing their thing. This one is my favourite, in case you hadn’t already guessed😊.

polaris 2007

This Czech edition, published in Polaris in 2007 is another great offering. Clearly, someone is having a bad day. I love the slight blurring of the poor soul staggering through the glowing vegetation so that we cannot really gauge the enormity of the damage, which means we cannot totally come to terms with it, either. The construct in space is very similar to the second cover – a clever nod to one of the default covers for this book. I also like that title down the side, again.

Eridanas 2008

This Lithuanian edition, published by Eridanas in 2008 is far calmer. Just a spaceship flying through a narrow defile – in fact, it’s positively chilled in comparison to the former offerings. But I love the detail of the cliffs glowing in the sunlight, the hint of a glowing stream of lava right at the bottom of the chasm and the colouring of the spaceship that picks up some of the colour palette of the backdrop, so drawing our attention to it. It’s subtle and effective, but I’m not sure if I’d have noticed the lava stream if it hadn’t been for the flare of the exhaust highlighting the same colour. I think all these are strong covers – but which is your favourite?