Pat's Fantasy Hotlist: The 5 new Malazan covers

The 5 new Malazan covers

Kind of makes you wonder what it was all for, doesn't it?

I'm not saying the book covers are atrocious, but I did prefer the originals. Are these any less generic, any less fantasy?

Food for thought. . .

19 commentaires:

Robert said...: I think the cover for "Midnight Tides" is a lot better than the original, and I also kind of liked the one for "Gardens of the Moon". The one for "Memories of Ice" is pretty atrocious though...; 10:19 AM
Dave said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10:37 AM
Dave said...: I agree they're kind of generic, but I definitely prefer the new GoTM. At least it doesn't have Fabio on the cover.; 10:38 AM
Anonymous said...: So do we have to take your opinion as gospel, or can I say, "Gee I kind of like them", especially next to the U.S. covers--those are bleh and colorless. I already have the covers shown of Deadhouse Gates and House of Chains (bought them from the UK). And, uh, I like the new one for Memories of Ice. I'd buy them.; 10:52 AM
Aragos said...: I actually like the new covers better, but that might just be my personal taste. In fact, I am waiting for these new covers to be fully published (GotM isn't out in the new one yet) to start on the Malazan series.; 11:27 AM
Amit said...: I live in India, and generally get British Releases of stuff. I started on the Malazn books couple of months ago(am reading Midnight Tides now), and 3 of those covers(GoTM,DG,HoC) are the same as what I have. I bought HoC and MT a month ago, so not sure how new they are. Could they have replaced US covers with some from other editions? Most of the books we get here are British Version, though the only one I cn check right(Midnight Tides) now has a different cover.; 12:13 PM
Luis said...: "Are these any less generic, any less fantasy?"
I believe the original cover for Gardens of the Moon was totally generic, in particular the hardcover edition with the girl with the metal bra on the cover.
I do agree that they are "less fantasy", looking more like historical fiction but that's not really a bad thing IMO. Also the covers seem to stress the importance of the author (now that he has gained some fame) in order to sell the books, instead of the title, which is shown discreetly at the bottom. I would have liked a bit more detail in the illustrations, since they seem a bit too dark.; 12:52 PM
Anonymous said...: They're exactly the sort of illustration that my eye passes right over on the bookstands without a spark of interest.

Where's Donato when you need him?; 1:45 PM
Abalieno said...: GotM is already out with the new cover. Same for Deadhouse Gates.

That's the cover I received ordering from Amazon.co.uk, the site is just not updated with the new ones.

For Memories of Ice instead they still haven't updated to the new cover. Imho it just sucks to have the style changed midway, they should have continued with the old one in parallel.

About the quality of the covers I agree that once again they don't do justice to Erikson. Erikson needs an author similar to the one who's doing Glen Cook's omnibus. Someone who can do gritty and epic, evocative.

It's true that the new covers are more generic and suggesting historical fiction.

They aren't plain ugly as the US covers, but they are anonymous and uncommunicative.; 2:32 PM
Joe said...: Ooh! I like those. They look more serious and dangerous.

And if they lead to another cover for The Bonehunters, all is well.; 2:43 PM
Anonymous said...: The new GoTM cover is boring. its just a light house. But i will say that it is at least better than the old one. The old GoTM cover actually turned people off from reading it.

I really liked the original Memories of Ice cover, but the rest seem to be improvements.; 4:02 PM
Jeff C said...: I like these covers a lot. Especially compared to the US covers.; 12:39 AM
Anonymous said...: This is a strange mix of old and new, although I'm not surprised they left the DG one. As often as it's used as an example of perfect cover it would be stupid for them to do otherwise but it makes the whole set look even weirder. If they decide to change style it should be either all or nothing.
After RG and new TBh I thought they all going to have a single person on dark background. It would make sense and be consistent. This isn't. That's my main problem with this covers.
BTW have you seen Polish cover for eaper's Gale? Reaper's Gale - click on cover to see (slightly :P) bigger version.; 6:31 AM
Anonymous said...: I am in agreement with a few here. I actually really like the covers. They are not Tor Fantasy style, which is good. Being in Canada I have the UK style covers....and because I am a serious collector of my books....I will re-buy the whole series with these covers....but I am not complaining. I REALLY do like them alot. Especially the MOI one. I thin that one kicks ass!; 10:37 AM
Anonymous said...: There's no doubt these are better than the US covers...I actually think the MoI cover is just as good as the old UK version...figure the GotM one is about as bad. I quite liked the old MT one so I'm not so partial to the new one either. Obviously the DG and HoC are pretty much the same...

Sir Thursday; 5:57 PM
Anonymous said...: Compared to the US covers, these are great. In my opinion, all of these covers are upgrades.; 9:14 AM
Anonymous said...: The Midnight Tides one I like more than the original, I don't think the GotM one is any worse, and obviously the HoC is exactly the same, seems like colouring too? But I don't like the new colouring of DG, it's less distinctive, and the MoI cover is just... poor. Nothing eyecatching about it at all imo. I thought it had the best of the old ones too.; 12:01 PM
Anonymous said...: The english covers changed to these a few months back; i have GoTM and DG in these styles. im not sure about how they looked before; im new to the malazan books but i do like these. Though i think GOTM is abit... uninventive. And what tower is that anyway?; 12:48 PM
Patrick said...: Truth be told, compared to the American covers everything looks fantastic!:p; 2:31 PM