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 BRIGHT FUTURISTIC covers. I’ve selected Synners by Pat Cadigan – see my review – and I’ve linked this post to #Sci Fi Month 2020
This edition was produced by Thunder’s Mouth Press in October 2001. It’s a really clever, eye-catching cover with the face in the bottom half nicely contrasting with that intense red above it. And a mushroom cloud effect made by a brain… So this cover works on all sorts of levels with this classic book. I particularly love the title font running right up the centre of cover and through the mushroom cloud/brain – and the fact that it is made of dots – a bit like one of the earlier printers.
Published in August 2012 by Gollancz, this Masterworks edition is another successful cyberpunk cover. The cityscape outlined against the grungy yellow backdrop can also double as synapses or brain connections. While that face staring out at us looks mournful and slightly wrong. This is the cover of the book that I read, so I have a soft spot for it, memorable and disturbing as it is.
This edition, published by Spectra in February 1991 is so nearly my favourite. I love the colour and chaos of it – and the slightly old fashioned feel, which is achieved by the use of that large, colourful font that some of the publishers – Baen, in particular – used as their trademark in the 1980s.
This hardcover edition, produced by HarperCollins in October 1991, is my favourite. It’s a classier version of the second cover, playing with the same theme. I love the unusual aspect of the face tilted back as if the character is sunk into a VR trance. The lines running from the cyberscape up, across her neck and face pull your attention back to it, and create stronger links between the two. I particularly love the detail where it looks as though her face is starting to depixelate across her forehead. Again, this cover works on so many levels.
This Polish edition, published by Solaris in March 2003 was the one that popped into my head when I thought of bright covers. It is great fun, but I don’t like it quite as much as the others. That ugly box in the right-hand cover, in particular, really spoils the look of the overall design and neither am I a fan of the rather clunky text box across the top of the cover. What about you – which is your favourite?
than Himself. Though we did drive across to my daughter’s house and deliver her bike, so she could also cycle with the children. It was bittersweet seeing them after such a long time and I’m hoping this month, with the easing of the lockdown, I might once more be able to be a regular visitor, again. The weather continues to behave as if we are in July or August, further skewing the sense of abnormality. But thank goodness for books and writing projects!
It’s 2049, and the survival of the human race is at risk. The earth’s inhabitants must turn to their last resort, a plan to place genetically engineered children inside the cocoons of large-scale robots—to be incubated, birthed, and raised by machines. But there is yet one hope of preserving the human order: an intelligence programmed into these machines that renders each unique in its own right—the Mother Code.
regulated and short. But Nico and Twostar are survivors, and when they’re offered a way out of the slums, they take it. Unfortunately, no one told Nico the deal included being sentenced to death for the murder of one of Harmony’s most notorious gang leaders. Or that to gain his freedom, first he must lose his mind.
cheap drugs to the poor, Jack’s latest drug is leaving a trail of lethal overdoses across what used to be North America—a drug that compels people to become addicted to their work. On Jack’s trail are an unlikely pair: an emotionally shut-down military agent and his partner, Paladin, a young military robot, who fall in love against all expectations. Autonomous alternates between the activities of Jack and her co-conspirators, and Elias and Paladin, as they all race to stop a bizarre drug epidemic that is tearing apart lives, causing trains to crash, and flooding New York City.
High up in the Treacherous mists of the Murderous Mountains, Hiccup and the Company of the Dragonmark are in hiding. The witch’s Vampire Spydragons are guarding the shores of Tomorrow — but Hiccup is determined to become King of the Wilderwest. Can Hiccup dodge the dragons and steal back the King’s Things from Alvin before the Doomsday of Yule? And is there a traitor in Hiccup’s camp who, in the end, will betray them all?
well observed plan, to flee her privileged life in London and the cruel man who would marry her, and ruin her, and make a fresh start in Scotland. She dreams of faery castles, surrounded by ancient woodlands and misty lochs… and maybe even romance, in the dark and haunted eyes of a mysterious Laird. Despite the superstitious nature of the time and place, her dreams seem to be coming true, as she finds friendship and warmth, love and safety. And the chance for a new beginning… Until the past catches up with her.
Divorced single mom Mandy Meadows scrapes by working as a barista and receiving payments from her cousin, Ryan, who rents her basement apartment. At night, she and her teenage daughter Vellum run a successful home business creating journaling content on their popular social media channels. But Mandy’s carefully organized world is about to come crashing down. While filming their latest journaling tutorial, Mandy and Vellum hear a loud noise on the basement stairs, and Mandy makes a horrifying discovery…
This hardback edition was produced by G.P. Putnam’s Sons in July 2014 is a really interesting cover as it features a mirror design with two different skylines of Pittsburgh. The interesting thing to note is that the post-apocalyptic world is the one where the air is fresher and the sky is blue, whereas the pre-apocalypse scene depicts large chimneys belching out smoke to the extent that the vista is a sickly yellow. This one is my favourite as I also really love the treatment of the font.
Published in May 2015 by Berkley, this cover features the protagonist’s wife. It’s an interesting cover, especially as parts of her image is starting to disintegrate – which is a clever reference to one of the main themes in the book. I would have liked this cover more if there wasn’t quite so much chatter cluttering up a strong, eye-catching design.
This edition, published by Headline in July 2014, is another strong contender, this time focusing on the protagonist, John Dominic Blaxton. I love the way this outline is tilted and we then get paler copies of him in various attitudes of his former life – a cool reference to the book. I think this cover gives a strong clue about the genre, which is a big plus in its favour. Once again, the font is done well and it was a close-run thing between this one and the first cover as to which was my favourite.
Produced by Heyne Verlag in April 2015, this German edition is eye-catching and effective. The twisting building reflected and fractured in the mirrored background provide big clues as to the futuristic aspect of the genre, which is always a major plus. Once again, I love the treatment of the font, which works well. My one grizzle is that I would have liked a greater colour contrast between that twisting building and the background which would have given a cover with more visual impact.
This Polish edition, published by Buchmann in March 2015, goes back to the shattered landscape of Pittsburgh. I love the silhouette of John against the dramatic cityscape as the title reaches into the boiling clouds. It works really well. This week there isn’t a bad cover here, so it’s all a question of personal preference – this is another one that could easily have been my favourite. So this week in particular, I’m fascinated to see which cover is your favourite – do let me know!
Core is dark and Slip is everywhere, vital to everything that happens in the world and outside of anyone’s control. Avis float the skies and their arrival will trigger a tide of rebellion against the system in Foon Gung.
Brainfluff 