Beauty Contest: Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

By Patricia C. Wrede
ISBN: 978-0545033428
Publisher: Scholastic (April 2009)
Page Count: 320 List Price: $16.99

Summary: (From Amazon)

In this alternative history, a magical barrier protects most people from the dangerous magical creatures of the Wild West. Eff is a 13th unlucky child who supposedly will cause doom and misfortune, and is twin sister to Lan, the lucky and extra-magical 7th son of a 7th son. This novel covers a lot of ground both in time, following Eff from when she’s 5 until she’s 18, and in distance, as Eff’s family moves to the Western frontier when Eff’s magic-professor father and practical mother decide that the move will hide Eff and Lan’s differences. Then Lan’s potential is revealed after he causes an annoying classmate to float. When he leaves to go to school back East, Eff follows her own path to learning more about magic, including assisting in caring for the magical creatures at her father’s college. Her narration provides background about life in this version of early America, where magic helps with daily chores but brings its own dangers. Eff’s life in Lan’s shadow will ring true to all siblings of a particularly talented child, but at the conclusion it’s Eff who uses her own magic to rescue her twin. Reminiscent of Orson Scott Card’s “Alvin Maker” books (Tor), this is an interesting, but often slow-moving tale.—Beth L. Meister, Milwaukee Jewish Day School, WI

My Thoughts:

I spotted this on a train the other day in HC.  Okay…so I spotted the dragon first.  As soon as I could, I googled it up, and boy did I get more than I asked for.  There was whole mess of controversy that I had apparently missed, but first thing first: let’s talk about the packaging. <3

I love covers like this where an imaginative treatment is given to text and that becomes the main component of the cover.  It reminds me of an old newspaper or farmer’s almanac; however, this is not a trend I’d like to see widely used.  Can you just imagine the tunnel vision if this sort of treatment were as prevalent in the bookstores as the current photo-realistic, single female standard?  Oye.

It’s so simple, but it all works.  The font is elegant, but sharp.   The starkness of the tea stained background really sets off the text and the simple images of a farm and dragon.  It’s obvious that it’s Victorian, maybe steampunk-esque but you can’t tell much else from the cover.

I’m looking forward to picking this up in paperback in April 2010 all controversy aside.  You can hit up the Amazon comments and reviews for a briefing on all of it.  The removal of all Native Americans from this alternate American landscape and a comment or two by Patricia C. Wrede during the writing process of this book was the heart of it during the whole RaceFail 09 saga.

From a consumer standpoint, I am disappointed that these societies were removed from the story because it’s something I would have liked to have read.  From what I can tell of the premise, there is a lot of cross-cultural blending of magic systems and beliefs. I’d have liked to have maybe seen Native American spiritualism interact with some of these things, but ah well.  I remain interested and excited for this book. It is was it is.  The whole point of alternate and fantastical histories is to explore a moment in time with additions or subtractions contrary to the known timeline.

/End of Line

~ L.

Dune Cover Roundup (of Sorts) & Design Trends

So on a whim I wanted to do another cover round up, as I did for A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami.  And originally I set off to do Dune because being such an internationally well known piece of classic SF, I figured there would be a treasure trove of awesome vintage covers.  It’s also one of my favorite books, period.

 Shortly upon setting off on this mission I came across the cover index of Arrakis.co/uk thus rendering my efforts unnecessary. 

Anyway for your enjoyment while I go find something else to do this morning: Link!  Posted would be favorite of the lot from an older Brazilian printing of Dune.  I love vintage cover art.  It’s dated as hell, but the over the top colors have a strange sort of charm.  An electric blue sky over Arrakis?  Oh hehe. 

I wonder how book covers will appear to me twenty years from now.  Gone seem to the days of intricatlly painted 2-D covers in a Darrel K. Sweet type style, and a lot of people are probably happy about that.  How will we perceive these photo-realistic covers twenty years from now?  It’ll be curious to see the new trends evolve, and they’ll have to.  I was commenting to a friend the other day while we were at the B&N in Union Square, how hard it was to find a book in the YA section these days.  It seems like every book for females features a sole female protagonist, centered on the cover, and staring out at the audience.  There are only so many ways you can vary the book cover with effects.  The book shelves are reaching max capacity; I’m finding it hard to keep them all straight.

/End of Line

~ L.

Beauty Contest: The Name of This Book is Secret

So currently, Little Brown put in a strong showing towards winning my own “Best Book Packaging” award for 2009.  I picked this book up, free, at Comic-Con on Kids Day.  The giveaway packaging was even impressive.  It had it’s own printed box, containing the book and a book mark.  It was gorgeous and fun, but just wait until I get to the best part. The book itself is the quirkiest thing I have picked up in a long time.

The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
Publisher:  Little Brown 
ISBN: 978-0316113663
List Price: $16.99 Page Count: 364
Available on the Kindle?: Yes ($4.79)
Available on the Sony?:  Yes ($5.99)

 Summary:  

If this were a normal cover for a normal book, I would tell you that this book is fantastic!  Gripping! (According to their covers, all books are fantastic and gripping.)  You’d meet the brave young heroes, Cass and Max Ernest.  And you’d hear about how a mysterious box of vials, The Symphony of Smells, sends them on the trail of a magician who was vanished under strange (and stinky) circumstances.  If this were a normal book, I would brag about the hair-raising adventures that follow – about the brain-twisting riddles Cass and Max-Ernest solve and the nefarious villains they face.  But sadly, I can’t tell you about any of those things; they might make you want to read the book.

You see, not only is the name of this book secret, the story is too.  For it concerns a secret – a big secret – that has been tormenting people like you for over…oh no!  Did I just mention the secret?  Then it’s too late.  

I’m afraid nothing will stop you now.  Open the book if you must.  But, please, tell no one.

With apologies,

Pseud. Bosh

My Thoughts:  And it gets better.  The photo up on amazon does not do this book justice.

The are just so many elements incorporated into the design and packaging of this book.  It is quite impressive.  The jacket is a green foil, die cut piece.  There is a hole through the top of the magicians top hat revealing a bright, orange hardcase.  The hardcase is specially designed with a glossy lamination over it.  The copy on the back of the jacket is in reverse.  So a child is going to have to hold this up to a mirror to read it, adding to the sense of mystery and fun in this book.  This was a very expensive book to print.  Particularly to have the die cut done. 

Flipping further, the interior of the book continues to abound in cuteness.  (Shut up.  I’m having a girl moment.  But it is adorable.  :p)  The original title of the book is scratched out, replaced with the quickly scraweled words “The Name of This Book is Secret”  on the title page.  The copyright page is broken up and pasted down at odd angles.  And of course what is a good mystery without a disclaimer warning on page one.  

 There are also letters and artwork between chapter breaks. I think I’ve hit all the highlights by this point.  I haven’t read it all yet, so I can’t comment on the writing.  It’s worth it to preview this book on Amazon, just to get a sense of the fun going on here.  I imagine this book is for a very young crowd, the 8-10 crowd and kids who like Sage’s Magyk books.  I really wouldn’t recommend it to anyone older that from the bit’s I have read.

Things like this appeal to me.  I will probably take some flack for this, but I like gimmicks.  They make me smile.  They make me laugh, and even before I have to read a page, I’m already enjoying myself.  So I’ll buy a book on a gimmick, usually without regrets even if I end up not liking the narrative.  It’s good packaging.  

At the same time, it really doesn’t pay to put lipstick on a pig.  Gimmicks need to be chosen with great care.  If the book is only so, so it’ll hurt more in the long run to build a fancy campaign around a title that you know is likely only going to attain a lukewarm reception just to drive the sales of that particular title.  You don’t ever want the reader feeling like they were tricked into buying a book.  They will remember that middle-of-the-road-book that they wasted twenty dollars when they happen across one of the author’s other books or a title that is comparable.  You risk loosing the ability to affect them with similar gimmicks again.

/End of Line

~ Darcy

Beauty Contest: Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker

Mister B. Gone by Clive Barker
ISBN: 978-0061562495
Publisher: Harper Paperback
Page Count: 256 List Price: $13.95

First off, I have to share the back cover copy because OMG.

Summary: You hold in your hands not a book at all, but a terrifying embodiment of purest evil. Can you feel the electric tingle in your fingers as you are absorbed by the demon Jakabok’s tale of his unintentional ascent from the depths of the Inferno? Do you sense the cold dread worming its way into your bloodstream, your sinews, the marrow of your bones as you read more deeply into his earthly education and unspeakable acts? The filth you now grasp has been waiting patiently for you for nearly six hundred years. And now, before you are completely in its thrall, you would do well to follow the foul creature’s admonition and destroy this abomination of ink and paper before you turn a single leaf and are lost forever.

You have been warned.

My Thoughts: I love the look of this book. The cover makes this little paperback look like an old decaying tome such as one you might find in the basement of a library. And even though the colors are dark and drab (even the gold tones are a muted mustard yellow), the uniqueness of it does manage to jump off the shelf. The effect, along with the back copy, is all together charming. You do get that sense that you hold in your hands a book that could start you on your own Evil Dead/Necronomicon adventure. You also can’t help but crack that sucker open, come what may. Just don’t forget that curiosity killed the cat.

But the thing that makes this book even better is the surprise waiting for the reader inside. The design is carried over into the interior of the book. The pages themselves are patterned to look like aged pieces of vellum, water stains and all. And if I remember right, the print is a dark brown rather than straight black which makes the type easier to read against this complicated paper.

Sadly this book doesn’t seem to be doing so well as far as reviews go. Its Amazon customer rating is only three stars, receiving only five more 5 star reviews over 1 stars.

~ Darcy

Beauty Contest: A Bride in the Bargain

In a PW cover story from the week of November 17th there was a great article about romance covers.  Among the books chosen was A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist. (Published by Bethany House)  I loved the design of this book.  I have a thing for big dresses and folds, such as on the Luxe novels.  Gist’s cover communicates so many elements: it’s pretty, ladylike, earthy, and DUDE SHE HAS AN AXE!   So of course I wanted to know more.

Sadly, it doesn’t look like she’ll be using that axe to go on a rampage against the wedding industry.  

Amazon’s Plot Description: In 1860s Seattle, a man with a wife could secure himself 640 acres of timberland. But because of his wife’s untimely death, Joe Denton finds himself about to lose half of his claim. Still in mourning, his best solution is to buy one of those Mercer girls arriving from the East. A woman he’ll marry in name but keep around mostly as a cook. Anna Ivey’s journey west with Asa Mercer’s girls is an escape from the griefs of her past. She’s not supposed to be a bride, though, just a cook for the girls. But when they land, she’s handed to Joe Denton and the two find themselves in a knotty situation. She refuses to wed him and he’s about to lose his land. With only a few months left, can Joe convince this provoking–but beguiling–easterner to be his bride? 

All in all, however, I’m not uninterested which is surprising cause historical romance novels aren’t usually my thing.  I hope Anna lives up to that same spunk as seen on the cover.

A Bride in the Bargain will be available in June 09, according to Amazon.

Beauty Contest: Fragile Eternity + Wicked Lovely, Desert Tales

So it’s been a while since I did this sort of feature but OMG!  Melissa Marr just posted a book cover for Fragile Eternity and I’m as giddy as a Japanese school girl.

Seriously, whoever is on the production team that does her book covers, they are amazing.  Wicked Lovely is still my favorite, but the cover to Fragile Eternity is a beautiful compliment.  

Also up on her blog: the cover to Wicked Lovely, Desert Tales the graphic novel. 

And again, its a great cover for the format.  I’m so excited by the graphic novel and really happy for her.  She seems so happy with the product that’s coming out and that’s awesome!  I would be nervous wreck while someone penned my characters into a visual form.  

Beauty Contest: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

I saw this book being talked about over at Bookshelves of Doom yesterday, but like a dolt, I left it out of the roundup.  Anyway, how incredibly gorgeous is this cover!?  The soft colors make the edge of that blade really pop off the page.  Beautiful!  The premise also looks quite attractive. 

The Amazon Description:  Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.

Wanting more?  What about wanting now!?  -whines- It’s not fair; the book doesn’t come out till October. Curses….