[pat5150]

Hi there!

Transworld finally sent me jpegs of the five reissued Malazan covers. I just posted them on the blog.

Since they're not any less generic and fantasy than the originals, I wonder why they went through the trouble of redesigning them. . .

Patrick

[Illuyankas]

GOTM is dull, thankfully DHG is the same, who the hell is that in MOI, I really think the Lockwood cover is better for HOI than this even if it's less accurate and YES the MT one is a vast improvement (though again the Lockwood one is better). Granted, the new ones have no connection with the contents of the books, except RG and TBH, but on the whole it doesn't look incredibly worse. Just pointless.

Now for everyone to disagree with me.

[Aptorian]

Hmm. I'm undecided.

New GotM is better than the silly original with cartoon lightning and some weird stronghold that isn't in the book.

DG no change from the cover I have.

New MoI is interesting. I don't see who it's supposed to be, a greysword? with an axe?
I like the style and it is better than the fuzzy details of an army of T'lan Imass storming some castle. It's less epic though

HoC, again no change from my version.

MT is weird. I don't see what it's supposed to depict. A chest standing in water? Perhaps it's ment to symbolise the place of the old sea gods? I guess it's as good as the weird tribal warrior cover on MT.

[Elan Morin Tedronai]

I liked the army of T'lan Imass storming the castle... this new one is a bit meh.

Happy that DG is still the same, that's my favorite cover of all the books/versions sofar. Just looks really cool

No idea as well on what the MT one is supposed to be... weird indeed.

Like the new GotM one much better than the old one. Looks cool

[Skinner]

I kind of liked the original GOTM cover, even though it looked like a graphic novel. At least it stood out from all the other generic fantasy book covers.

GOTM - the new cover is not terrible, just ok I guess.
DG = same (why mess with perfection?)
MOI - liked the old epic cover better. New one is derivative fantasy "art"
HOC - same. So no problems there.
MT - like the overall theme, but what is that "chest" or monument supposed to be? Maybe if they had the Edur fleet invasion on the shore and at night time instead? More dramatic image.

[caladanbrood]

I like the new GotM cover, but not as much as the old one! DhG and HoC obviously need no comment, MoI is... meh. The old cover wasn't great either, but this isn't really any better. I like MT, but struggling to see what building that is supposed to be, exactly. If it's even a building at all...

[Aptorian]

Perhaps the MT cover is showing the part of the wall Trull was chained to? The water is pretty high in the picture but it could fit, allthough more of the seawall should have been shown for it to work.

[Krupee]

They all look cool, the drawings have improved a lot.

[Kurt Montandon]

MoI could be a Seerdomin - they did have a thing for axes.

The rest are either unchanged, or unnecessary.

[Menandore]

I actually like the old GotM and MoI covers better. MT, well I guess I like the look of the new one but I don't know what it's meant to be and I disagree with Apt's suggestion. I don't like it when covers get changed like this. I haven't bought all the books yet and I'm the kind of obsessive person who wants all her covers to be matching, in the same style. Now I'm probably gonna have some old and some new

[Ellestra]

The DG and HoC are the same as they used to be.
The MT one looks like the people were replaced by chest and it doesn't really makes sense.
I like the GotM one as a painting but I don't know what it is supposed to show - Mock's Hold? The same goes for MoI - if they had to put somebody on the cover it could've been somebody recognizable - Gruntle maybe (hey maybe it is Gruntle only slimmer, younger, pre-Trake and very Roman looking).
After Reaper's Gale and the new The Bonehunter's covers I assumed all new cover's will have one, easily recognizable character on a dark background. I even liked both idea and paintings. That would make some sense and be consistent and all. Instead they'd gone for some strange mix of new and old with an odd tower or something thrown in. It makes me long for old look at least it was consistent.

A propos consistency - have you seen Polish cover for Reaper's Gale?. It is old style - fits better with previous books.

[Aptorian]

What the hell does wicher smierki mean? and is it translators name on the bottom of the tittle?

I really like the cover. Gory.

[Menandore]

@Ellestra - I like that cover and you're right it does fit well with the old style.

[Ellestra]

@Aptorian - Wicher means gale and smierc means death so it's Reaper's Gale in Polish. And each book is divided in two so it's the sub-title for the first part - Empire. The translator's name is not put on the cover. Not even when it matters like during translation disputes that we had for some books. There are few translations for Lord of the Rings and Dune and when people look for the ones done by specific translator and they have to look inside.

@Menandore - I know. I hate when they change the look at the end of the series. Even if the previous was bad (and it wasn't).

[Urb]

Midnight Tides I would guess is either a picture of the sword Withal made for the Crippled God, or an altar for Mael.

Could the cover for MoI be Itkovian? Cause he seems all serious and stuff.
My guess is either Malazan or Grey Sword soldier if not Itkovian.

Hope they put a seguleh on the cover of TtH. Or Traveller, or Kallor, or Rake as a dragon...

[caladanbrood]

Itkovian never used an axe, not that being true to the books has ever been a concern for malazan covers...

[Grumble]

Itkovian fought mostly from horseback so I would rule him out which is a pity as he my favourite character from MOI.

[Shiara]

Beefcake;227464 said:

...or an altar for Mael.

That's what first came to mind for me - though Mael's altar didn't actually get mentioned until Reaper's Gale, correct?


I don't really like the cover of the new GotM - might just be me, but I've sort of come to associate conical-roofed towers with more whimsical fairytale fantasies. Is it supposed to be the Jaghut tower at Morn? If so, shouldn't it be on an obsidian plain rather than perched on a jagged mountainside?

The inconsistency bothers me too - a series of covers with the black background and lone character/object would've been better, even if the originals are cool. Maybe that's the design student in me - all my books have to be the same size too

[End of Disc One]

I don't believe the Jaghut tower was in GotM. My guess is Shadowthrone's tower.

[Shiara]

creffett;227602 said:

I don't believe the Jaghut tower was in GotM. My guess is Shadowthrone's tower.

There was a tower when Toc woke up in Morn, I'm sure of it - near the rent? And isn't Shadowthrone's tower all shifting shadows and made up of sharp angles and stuff? I don't think it was mentioned in GotM either...

...or I could be completely wrong