[Cover Battle] The Bulgarian cover for "The Passage"

I sometimes dread, when books I'm excited about [I admit that I want to read The Passage, cause everyone else has] are translated in Bulgarian. Not so much because the translation would suck. I either read it in Bulgarian or in English [don't re-read]. I've come to terms with translated books not entirely capturing the mood of the original language. No, it's the covers that bother me. When Bulgarian publishers try to be creative and fashion a new cover for a bestseller [especially in the SFF field], the results are disastrous.

Take the newest desecration of art. I'm talking about The Passage by Justin Cronin. Look at the covers below. They look good, right? The UK cover [on the left] being superior cover, but that's irrelevant at the moment.

Look at the Bulgarian cover... Right, I will wait for the vertigo to pass.

You can see how the Bulgarian publishing house [Intense] incorporate the concepts of the two covers. They want the pretty trees [US] and some human element to it [UK], because in order for the title to be The Passage, you need a) something to pass through + b) someone to do the passing. FINE. Okay, I can live with it, but really... This looks like a half-assed draft of someone, who has amateurish [at best] Photoshop skills. Everything needs smoothing. I can SEE the pixels on the silhouette, which was so badly inserted in the trees.

AND really, look at so many things done wrong:
1) The font makes me believe that this is self-publishing
2) This ugly, ugly font just brings out the cover design's fault.
3) The logo seems so out of place that it's driving me insane.
4) The actual cover is not hardcover, nor is it the tougher softcover material. NO, they used a thicker magazine type paper that bends and wrinkles into waves. Reinforcing the idea that this is a waste of money and time.

And actually these all could have been avoided, if someone spent a bit more time on it. I think an additional 4-5 hours to smooth out the kinks would have sufficed.

[Cover Art] Mort by Terry Pratchett, French Edition

The art fiesta with French Pratchett covers continues. This installment features one of my all time favorite characters, Mort. I'm somewhat fascinated with the personification of Death and I jump at the chance to read a story about Death be it dramatic or humorous. Now, I have not read "Mort", which I hope to remedy soon, but I've enjoyed Reaper Man [which is a bloody fun novel to read].

Although I'm not in love with the human form of Mort prior to his promotion as Death, I do think this is a better cover for current fantasy readers, yet unaware of Pratchett [I think that each new generation has an indoctrination]. It's colorful AND like the original it has many elements, but without looking cluttered.

[Cover Delight] The Color of Magic, French Edition

Click the image to enlarge.

Again I bring you the art of Marc Simonetti. This is the cover for the French edition of "The Colour of Magic" by Sir Terry Pratchett. As with the cover of Lords and Ladies, I love this cover way better than the original. It's mainly because of the colors. The red of the dragon contrasts very well with the greens and the blues in the background and makes the whole cover pop for the readers. Then the hues used are vibrant and bright, making the book seem energetic.

People say to never judge a book by its cover, but then again covers are a factor when buying books and new generations might find this a lot better. Fresh and updated. The composition is very dynamic and the small things such as the uber-muscle warrior and the chest biting the dragon's tail convey the spirit of the novel the same way the original cover did. Well, not exactly the same. No cover can beat the original, the iconic:

[Cover Delight] Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett, French Edition

Some people have all the luck. In this instance I am looking at France with incandescent indignation for they will receive Sir Terry Pratchett books, but new covers. The image above is the cover for one of my favorite novels in the Discworld series, Lords and Ladies, the fourth novel in the Witches sub-story. What I enjoyed immensely is how elves are represented as evil and a bit monstrous and Magrat was totally hilarious. Which reminds me that I need to re-read, but shhh keep it a secret since I don't re-read. Anyway, the talented man behind this image is Marc Simonetti.

Isn't it better? Seriously, I understand why Pratchett's iconic covers are humorous grotesque. It fits the genre and allows you understand from the first look what a book you will be reading, but I still can't swallow the fact that they are not pretty. I envy the French. Will it be okay to hold a grudge over this?

Not pictured: Prettiness.

"Shadow of the Wind" Cover Battle

Okay I have seen this from Graeme, where he has paired the cover art based upon country, but so far we have all seen the UK and US pairing everywhere. How about adding a third variable? As you might know I am a bit off the speculative fiction book map and not many books come through, but sometimes bestsellers get translated and sometimes we decide to add our own spin on the cover art. I want to present you people with a sample of how covers can change from culture to culture. But first, let's start with the original Spanish cover:

US Cover:

UK Cover:

Bulgarian Cover:

So what's the conclusion. The Spanish cover is good, bujt looking at it I would have mixed it up with something mainstream. The US cover and the UK cover share similarities and both carry the mystical feeling that this is not an ordinary story and might be speculative fiction. Also they carry class and elegance, which stands out in my opinion. The Bulgarian cover is a bit of a train wreck, okay a huge train wreck. It has the lamp post as a central image that can be traced in all covers, but it certainly has done nothing else to make this one stand out. The letters are very bland and it all reeks of very bad photo shop work. I think that the technique of just translating the title and slapping it on either these cover version would have been a better strategy and one we usually apply.

Anyway, you should see what we did to "The Time Traveler's Wife" cover... *shudder*