Four fonts (only ONE of which is SF-looking) and a back-cover blurb on the front – in a sentence with no punctuation. Too bad we don’t have any awards on this site for the NUMBER of bad choices!
I don’t often disagree with you, Nathan, but this might be one of those times. 😉
Yes, the fonts and layout could have been much (MUCH!) better handled. But I like the art. I’m a big fan of Mateusz Skutnik’s art and this has the same feel to it.
I would not be repulsed by this cover to the point of not buying the book. In fact, I might even give it a try. 😉
I like the art, too. But for the purpose of a cover for this book, maybe the city should be more obviously deserted. Definitely get rid of the blurb, though.
I think the picture could be improved by a colour effect that makes the ground less brown and the sky less blue (why would other worlds look like ours?), and of course making more of the “stellar conflict”‘s font.
Why wouldn’t other worlds look like ours? There’s this conceit out there that alien worlds need to look alien.
Have you seen pictures of Mars? While we share the same sun, it has only a wisp of an atmosphere and it’s primarily carbon dioxide. But looking at the pictures, they could pass for hazy days out in the western US.
If the alien world in this book shares similar physical characteristics with Earth, and its host star is yellow, then there’s no reason why it shouldn’t look like Earth. Nitrogen gives our atmosphere its blue color. Our oceans are blue. Water vapor forms white clouds and ice is white. While there are many possible different colors for plants to absorb light, chlorophyll (green) has proven to be the best for yellow stars.
Now if these people breathe methane or chlorine and their world orbits a red star, yeah, you should have different colors. 😉
Ericb
10 years ago
When Roger Dean was 8 his mom’s refrigerator was covered with stuff like this.
Next to this, I imagine Roger Dean’s stuff at 8 looked like the frickin’ Mona Lisa.
Take Cover
10 years ago
I like the artwork, and for a certain type of introspective scifi (which, however, it turns out this isn’t) it would be appropriate too. The problem is that the layout is all wrong and there are far too many words.
![cover[1]](https://lousybookcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/cover133.jpg)
Four fonts (only ONE of which is SF-looking) and a back-cover blurb on the front – in a sentence with no punctuation. Too bad we don’t have any awards on this site for the NUMBER of bad choices!
Way too busy for a ‘quiet world’. 😉
I don’t often disagree with you, Nathan, but this might be one of those times. 😉
Yes, the fonts and layout could have been much (MUCH!) better handled. But I like the art. I’m a big fan of Mateusz Skutnik’s art and this has the same feel to it.
I would not be repulsed by this cover to the point of not buying the book. In fact, I might even give it a try. 😉
I like the art, too. But for the purpose of a cover for this book, maybe the city should be more obviously deserted. Definitely get rid of the blurb, though.
I think the picture could be improved by a colour effect that makes the ground less brown and the sky less blue (why would other worlds look like ours?), and of course making more of the “stellar conflict”‘s font.
Why wouldn’t other worlds look like ours? There’s this conceit out there that alien worlds need to look alien.
Have you seen pictures of Mars? While we share the same sun, it has only a wisp of an atmosphere and it’s primarily carbon dioxide. But looking at the pictures, they could pass for hazy days out in the western US.
If the alien world in this book shares similar physical characteristics with Earth, and its host star is yellow, then there’s no reason why it shouldn’t look like Earth. Nitrogen gives our atmosphere its blue color. Our oceans are blue. Water vapor forms white clouds and ice is white. While there are many possible different colors for plants to absorb light, chlorophyll (green) has proven to be the best for yellow stars.
Now if these people breathe methane or chlorine and their world orbits a red star, yeah, you should have different colors. 😉
When Roger Dean was 8 his mom’s refrigerator was covered with stuff like this.
Next to this, I imagine Roger Dean’s stuff at 8 looked like the frickin’ Mona Lisa.
I like the artwork, and for a certain type of introspective scifi (which, however, it turns out this isn’t) it would be appropriate too. The problem is that the layout is all wrong and there are far too many words.
Curiously, there’s a paperback version of this where the same artwork is misused in a different way. This time, the cover is given a frame that makes it look like a children’s book: http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-World-Stellar-Conflict/dp/149916534X/