Getting back into this feature I wanted to highlight one of my favourite books ever - it's smart, funny and has dragons in it..Guards! Guards! by the ever wonderful Terry Prachett. It's the eighth Discworld book but the first to star Captain Sam Vimes of the City Watch, one of my favourite characters ever. But what do the different covers look like...?
 |
| UK Cover 1 |
 |
| UK Cover 2 |
 |
| US Cover 1 |
 |
| US Cover 2 |
 |
| Italian Cover |
 |
| Estonian Cover |
UK Cover 1: Josh Kirby covers are so famous in the UK (and hopefully elsewhere!) it seems wrong to compare this with anything else!
UK Cover 2: This is very dark and depending on your point of view either sophisticated or boring. With the raft of dark covers with a single item on them recently - from Twilight to 50 Shades, this just feels like jumping on a bandwagon which considering the content couldn't be more wrong.
US Cover 1: Lots of characters on the front, a dragon breathing flames, swords, crossbow - loads of colour. I like it!
US Cover 2: I find this a little dull. TO me it looks like the dragon is smoking a cigarette!
Italian Cover: This cover almost looks like an engraving, but I have to admit I'm not a fan of the dragon...it doesn't look right for some reason. Hmm...
Estonian Cover: This is a lot of fun. It reminds me of Horrible Histories with the cartoon style cover and the slightly bewildered guards. However, it also makes it look a lot younger than Terry Prachett actually is - or is that because I only discovered them in my 20s...?
My verdict? UK Cover 1 - cos it's unique and colourful!
Which cover is your favourite...?
You just can't beat the Josh Kirby covers, that's for sure. I must confess I do like the other more minimalistic UK cover as well. The rest? Not so much.
ReplyDeleteI prefer the second UK cover - I don't mind dark covers at all, I think it looks nice :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you picked this as one of your cover comparisons. I will always love the original UK covers for Terry Pratchett books. When I first saw them I thought they were a bit weird, but they're so distinct, and it's a pretty good reflection of the book, really. It made me so sad the first time I saw one of the alternate covers - it just wasn't the same.
ReplyDeleteNo question, the Josh Kirby covers are perfect. I started reading Pratchett with those covers and, for me, they will always define his books.
ReplyDeleteBleh I mostly hate all of them
ReplyDeleteI'm with you, #1 is the best! Btw, I also thought the dragon was smoking a ciggy. LOL
ReplyDeleteOh now this is one author and series that does have many and amazing covers for the books. :D
ReplyDeleteYou can't beat the originals. However I think the dark redesigns were done before the big Twilight explosion and I do think they look elegant. I would like them if I hadn't seen the Kirbys :)
ReplyDelete