Books spotted 12/1/09 at Borders Books at Alamo Quarry
THE DEAD THAT WALK
Edited by Stephen Jones
Ulysses Press
Cover art by Les Edwards
Zombie book covers were all the rage this year, weren’t they? Just when I thought I was well and done with any more zombie covers, Les Edwards does one that makes it all seem fresh again. Dynamite cover art by Les. I like the way the type treatment integrates with the illo as the zombie hand intersects the “W”. Nice move. The type is still perfectly legible, and the cover gains added depth. It’s also nice to see that a gouged-out eye and a bloody, amputated limb are so mainstream now that this book got faced-out at Borders Books. Or does that mean that blood-sucking limb-eaters are so mainstream that they need to retire until they regain their edge? 
You make the call.
John Langan
HOUSE OF WINDOWS
Night Shade Books
Cover art by Santiago Caruso
Cover design by Michael Gin
This one makes me think fondly of THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI. It’s a great piece of cover illustration, and stands on its own. Caruso’s an Argentinian illustrator, and I’ve never heard of him before. Glanced at his blog, and I really like a lot of what I see. Not every image of his hits home for me, but the ones that do are deeply potent and resonant. I love the way he sees the world. Note: if you view his blog at your workplace, you might turn down the sound as he has a nice soundtrack that accompanies his blog. Terrific music, but probably not worth losing your job over.
Scott Westerfeld
LEVIATHAN
Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse
Jacket design & illustration by Sammy Yuen, Jr.
Wing illustration by Keith Thompson
Westerfeld’s LEVIATHAN probably doesn’t need any further pimping from me. It’s been well-pimped throughout the intertubes and its readers already can’t wait for the next book, but I’ve gotta tip my hat to Westerfeld and Thompson for shining a spotlight on inspired writer/artist collaboration for the interior illos and storytelling. And I think the cover packaging speaks for itself for sheer baroque steampunky goodness.
Jeff Vandermeer
FINCH
Underland Press
Cover art & design by John Coulthart
I’ve commented on Twitter how much I admire this cover. Now that FINCH has been released in softcover here in the US, let me restate that. Coulthart’s long been admired as a supremely gifted designer, but this is one of his greatest hits ever. Whenever he works on a Vandermeer book, it seems to bring out the best in him (remember THE THACKERY T. LAMBSHEAD POCKET GUIDE TO ECCENTRIC & DISCREDITED DISEASES?). This is definitely one of my favorite covers of 2009.
