Books spotted 8/31/09 at Borders Books at Alamo Quarry
Brom
THE CHILD THIEF
HarperCollins/Eos
Cover illustration & design by Brom
Everyone knows Brom as a preeminent fantasy painter, but the guy can write too. This is a novel-length work with interior illustrations. Brom creates a terrific cover as usual, and I especially love the use of spot gloss on the color painting against the matte background. Notice that the book is wider than the normal hardcover. I’m not sure why HarperCollins/Eos did this, but I sure like it. When the book is spine-out on a store shelf, the spine pops forward from adjacent spines, because of the book’s wider cover proportion. Nice move. 
I enjoyed Brom’s earlier illustrated works, THE PLUCKER and THE DEVIL’S ROSE, and I’m really looking forward to this book.
Jonathan L. Howard
JOHANNES CABAL: THE NECROMANCER
Doubleday
Cover design by Michael J. Windsor
This is a striking cover design. It grabs attention, but does anyone have any guesses what’s up with the big red “X”? It doesn’t have anything to do with the title, as far as I can tell. Perhaps there’s a narrative reason for it that can’t be deciphered by surface inspection? I hope so. Heads up — if this book becomes a runaway bestseller, look for some marketing genius to get the bright idea that giant random red letters on covers are the new hot thing. (Don’t laugh. It’ll happen.)
Ray Bradbury
FAHRENHEIT 451
Ballantine/Del Rey
Cover illustration by Joseph Mugnaini
I believe this is the cover art for FAHRENHEIT 451’s first edition. The book has had a slew of covers over the course of its 56-year publication life, but Ballantine has chosen to re-issue the book with the original. Still incredibly resonant, isn’t it? I love this image.
George Mann
THE AFFINITY BRIDGE
Tor
Cover illustration by Viktor Koen
I like the nice, restrained cover art by the collage illustrator Viktor Koen, and I really dig the frame of gears and clock pieces. You can’t see the cover’s soft metallic finish, but it looks really good when you see it on the shelf. I like the font choice as well. SFSignal calls this “an engrossing steampunk/Sherlock Holmes story. With zombies.” It’s interesting that the cover doesn’t choose to offer any overt signal to Holmes fans. I wonder if the publisher’s strategy was to go that way in hopes that non-genre readers might pick up the book. Steampunk is so hot right now that anything with a zeppelin on it sucks in cash these days. This book is getting outstanding buzz and rave reviews, so it’s a winner all around.
John , you are correct, that is Joe Mugnaini’s original cover for FAHRENHEIT 451, though the original had a dark blue/purplish background if I recall correctly. The Joseph Howard and George Mann books really catch my attention. Brom, unfortunately, does nothing for me.
“Steampunk is so hot right now that anything with a zeppelin on it sucks in cash these days.”
Got that right. Next stop, the library!
Like the Affinity Bridge cover a lot, but I do not like the typeface on the title. Cute how the type beneath the title is curved. Interesting how they use a restrained palette as a stand-in for B&W or Sepia-tone photography.
Zeppelins are way cool. I pass by Moffett Field every day, a little bit of rigid airship history in the middle of Silicon Valley.