Wow, it seems that we’ve done a lot of posts on Robin Hobb’s cover art lately! That said, I’m not complaining… a big problem that the publishing industry has is that they tend to concentrate too much on the new up and coming titles whilst forgetting the ones that – we think – are still great examples of modern fantasy literature that should be being read by today’s readers (sadly, this seems especially true with women writers). Cover redesigns are a very good sign though. They show that the publisher is taking a novel/series and looking to market them to a modern audience. When this happens (a cover redesign occurs), I like to play a game called ‘trace the cover’ where I try and work out what books the cover is being based on and try to guess what kind of market / audience the publisher is trying to reach.
I should now say that I LOVE Robin Hobb’s original covers. I think they are beautiful, but there is no denying that they scream out ‘Lord of the Rings’ or ‘Wheel of Time’, which as described in a recent article are books that do feel slightly dated when you read them today (without knowledge and appreciation of their importance to the genre). Here are Hobb’s previous few covers for those who need reminding:
Today’s cover trends tend to be different than what you see above, the top three especially (which are examples of that long-gone epic scene of fantastical-ness in a strange world). Today’s covers tend to be some kind of symbol/weapon/object (A Song of Ice & Fire, The Dagger and Coins, The Faithful and the Fallen, The Dark Legacy of Shannara, The First Law, etc). Often this ‘thing’ is dark – examples from above include a dragon’s skull, a bloodied axe or regal looking such as the signals on the A Song of Ice & Fire books. The bottom three are early examples of this ‘symbol’ type cover that didn’t quite hit their mark (having been printed in about 2007). The other cover that we now see in abundance is one that focuses on the main character(s) (The Demon Cycle, The Black Magician, The Defenders of Shannara, A Throne of Glass, Night Angel, etc). It is likely no coincidence that these covers come at a time fantasy books of today are more character orientated than quest orientated either.
Anyway, back to Robin Hobb’s cover redesign… we’ve already shown you the UK covers, but if you missed them:
Returning to our ‘trace the cover’ game, you can see which trend Harper Voyager UK have gone for, right? They kind of hint towards the ‘epic’ fantasy fans who are looking for a Game of Thrones type read and yet suggest that the contents aren’t going to be quite as dark. They also look very similiar to the covers of the very popular historical novelist Conn Iggulden (such as the one to the right). And, if you consider the Fool’s Assassin cover below, VERY, VERY similar. This is important because it suggests Voyage trying to position the books as having a strong historical vibe / low fantasy setting. Now, the USA have gone for something very different to the UK. They’ve gone with a cover that seems to suggest a read similar to that of say The Demon Cycle, The Broken Emprie or one of David Gemmell’s books maybe, here there are:
It is pretty cool to see and personally I think they both look great. Interestingly, a similar contrast in styles was used with Joe Abercrombie’s books when we compare the UK and US versions (UK first, US second, below):
Cool, right? My guess in that the US believe character based covers work better with their epic fantasy markets and the UK believe that more symbol-based covers work well with their markets. I guess though it may just be the designers having different interpretations of the book (it is certainly a book that contrasts emotions and adventure very well).
One final observation, you can’t see it, but the quote on the UK version of The Heroes reads: ‘Joe Abercrombie is probably the brightest star among the generation of British fantasy writers’ and is provided by The Times. Notice that the quotes chosen for Hobb’s UK books are also by newspapers, except the one from Martin, which reads very different to the one he has provided Abercrombie on the US version of his book. Also notice that the US quote by Martin is nowhere near as focused on the writing and the beauty of Hobb’s work (much like the cover).
Well, anyway, as most of you will know Robin Hobb’s latest, Fool’s Assassin, comes out soon and will continue the story of one of fantasy’s best characters, FitzChivalry Farseer. Early reviews of the new book have been amazing. Here – as promised – are the covers for it, UK first and US second:
See what I mean about Stormbird now?
Well, thanks for playing along with me, but before you go: What do you guys think of the cover contrast? Which would you be most likely to pick up and why?
