It’s time to look through the covers for last week - and here we have the very honest covers, some highly dubiously misleading covers and covers that completely missed the potential of their books. But they make a strong case for truth in advertising!
Banishing the Dark (Arcadia Bell #4) by Jenn Bennet
Ooooh pretty - and congrats for avoiding all the so easy tropes. She’s in a natural pose, all her clothing appears to be there, there’s no special focus on breasts or buttocks - a great start for a female character on the front cover! The shadow of the caduceus is intriguing and mysterious and would certainly have me check it out - but I feel it has little to do with the book. In past books, maybe, but in this book does anyone even remember Arcadia using one? Still, definitely a good cover even if it does slightly imply a medical link.
Stone Song (Cold Iron #3) by D.L. McDermot
A romance cover with a twist - turning its back on the standard Mantitteh. This emphasises the extremely pretty sword and the leather tooling; there is a story and history and fantasy elements to this book, with a strong celtic slant!
While still having the muscular nekked back to remind us that, no matter the pretty accoutrements, it’s still a book where two people of the opposite sex are going to be mushed together regardless of what plot, world setting or characterisation demands.
Tales of the Hidden World by Simon R Green
Ah, the curse of the anthology! How do you create a cover that sums up several stories? Well, in this case I think the plan was to grab one (the apparently popular Drood series) then fuzz out all the details to make it as generic as possible. We end up with “suited man is clumsy with fecking huge jewel”
Which is… a shame. This is an anthology that manages to maintain some really great themes about death and dying - something the cover could have easily shown - a wasteland, falling leaves, autumnal and winter colours, an elderly person bent with time - you could have gone really evocative here. Instead we get something that looks almost comic-like.
Fevered Souls by S.K. Falls
Passive smoking kills, kids! I can’t get past the idea that this romantic moment is going to be interrupted by a severe hacking cough
I also think this cover is a horrendous case of false advertising. Looking at that, my mind thinks this is going to be a steamy romance, quite likely erotica. And inside we have wall to wall bland, struggling attempt at romance and all the sexual tension of the gardening section of the local newspaper.
Frat House of the Dead (Salt Lake After Dark #1.5) by J.K Walker
Awesome, dark and menacing - perfect for a zombie apocalypse
Except this zombie book isn’t exactly apocalyptic. I think my appreciation for the cover is tempered by the theme clash of the book. It’s awesome, it’s dark, it’s spooky, it’s excellent - but I kind of think the blank eyed menacing zombie woman should have a party hat or a clown’s nose as well.