News flash, intrepid readers. France knows how to paint. I could say Marc Simonetti knows how to paint, but it seems like everyone in French publishing gets it to a degree America does not.
Look at this gorgeous cover for Sam Sykes’ newest novel, The Skybound Sea:
I don’t want to belittle the covers for Sykes’ US and UK editions, but I’m going to anyway. I mean, it’s like comparing a US aircraft carrier to my rubber ducky.
Am I wrong?
Justin
Justin Landon is the Overlord of Staffer's Book Review. When he's not writing things of dubious value to the world, he's at the gym or being a dad. You can follow him on a multitude of social media, which is strongly suggested lest you miss out on vital information that could someday save your life.
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Night and day!
Good god, that’s fantastic! (Fantastique, even.)
I love the French covers. They’re insane and pulpy and gorgeous. Rubber ducky vs aircraft carrier it is…
French cover kicks US cover’s ass in terms of overall artistic style. However, I will give props to the US cover for putting the female character in actual, practical clothes.
Wow, is there any way to get an English version of this cover other than buying both and going at them with scissors and glue?
I should point out that the US/UK cover above was a rough prototype. We went with something slightly less boring as the main cover (currently featured on the front page of my website).
ARE YOU POINTING OUT MY AMATEUR REPORTING?!?!?!
Maybe not so much “amateur” as…well, hm. What’s the word that’s like “amateur,” but attributed with malice?
“Blogger”?
Now, now.
Incredible. I want a poster, and to have written the story that cover illustrates. Cheers, Sam, you win this round.
The second cover has the woman in leather armor, and armed, in a defensive pose. The first cover has an armed female in a very open, easy to hit pose, in a glorified bikini. I like them both, but common sense weighs out. Cover #2 for me.
I’m not a fan of the French version but the US/UK ones for this series are embarrassingly bad.
Marc Simonetti has done better covers for the French covers, but the UK/US covers are, well, let’s say “unattractive” for me.
Absolutely no contest – that French cover absolutely blows away the US/UK one. Sets a completely different tone/expectation, so I’d be curious to see which is a better reflection of the text.
I’d probably say the French covers have a better representation.
Personally, I’m okay with the US/UK covers. I’ve had a long time to get used to them, though. After a lot of reflection, I think they don’t really represent the book all that well. These are very high-emotion, high-action, stab-in-the-face books that aren’t really well served by a dude standing in water.
I mean, eventually, they’ll get re-covered and we’ll try better next time. But for now, Marc’s probably one of my favorite cover authors.
Please correct the name of the artist,it’s ‘Marc’,not ‘Mark’.
Good catch, thank you.
Hey thanks Justin!
By the way fur bikini warriors are by far the best. (that’s why they don’t need armours, they can both fight AND sell a book at the same time
)
Sam’s book are truly fun, and violent too, I had to put that it the cover art.
For those interested you can see the whole making off there: