New US cover art for Joe Abercrombie's BEST SERVED COLD


I was one of the few people who actually thought the US cover art for the hardcover edition of Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold (Canada, USA, Europe) was kind of cool.

This new cover for the mass market paperback doesn't appeal to me. Not because it's bad, but because it doesn't grab the attention at all. Nothing entices me to pick it up from the hundreds of other SFF books on the shelves of bookstores everywhere. And if a cover doesn't catch the eye, then in a way it fails to do its job as a marketing tool. . .

16 commentaires:

Basil said...

I think what's great about this particular cover is that it's open to readers from outside the sff genre. And most sff readers have heard of joe abercrombie by now - the cover art is eye-catching because it's modern and different to most other sff covers.

Anonymous said...

sorry, that's god awful. Abercrombie deserve's far better. poo on you distributors..

Marc said...

I'm not impressed, but if it does bring in readers new to Abercrombie, then that is a good thing.

Bryce L. said...

I think it's way better than the current US cover. Not that it's the best cover ever, but I think they should have stayed with the map theme.

Jeff said...

Count me among the new cover haters. No one outside the genre is going to see this and think, "Oh, wow. I've been so wrong about not reading fantasy!" They might pick it up, but as soon as they read the blurb they'll put it back.

Of course I kind of like the hard back cover, so I guess I'm in the minority there.

Isis said...

I think that is WAY better than the previous one. More mainstream cover = more readers, hopefully.

ediFanoB said...

What’s that??? A new crime thriller series? For me the cover is totally misleading. It may be arouse the interest non-Fantasy readers. But as soon as they will detect the content…. I definitely don’t like this cover.

Wilfred Berkhof said...

I didn't know mainstream meant bland and nondescript.

Todd Newton said...

Yeah, this cover totally doesn't say "fantasy" to me at all... especially because of the title. This could be just some generic fiction novel with that combination. Never thought I'd miss the map & bloody Swordy Herogal, but I do.

Cecrow said...

Understandable, this trend to draw readers from outside the genre - but what about if I'm looking for fantasy and my eyes pass over this without pause? It's completely camouflaged.

logankstewart said...

I like the cover. I thought the US original hardback looked a little cheesy. Granted, the covers to the First Law books were awesome, but I think this one has what it takes to catch the eye. It's bold and black, and the red and white shines on the cover.

sbp said...

Uggh.

Anonymous said...

I don't really like this one. It's not that it's really that bad, it's just not as good as the old one.

Jebus said...

I quite liked the one with Monza on the front, it didn't look bad at all. This one looks fucking atrocious.

Why exactly do genre books all of a sudden have to look like they're not genre any more? What is so God-awful about people knowing you're reading a fantasy or sci-fi novel?

Elfy said...

I didn't think it was possible, but they've managed to come up with an even worse cover that is even less relevant to work inside than the original US cover.
That is hideous. It looks exactly like the books you always seem to find on the bargain table.

Anonymous said...

I, for one, love this cover. Think what you want.

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