[Zaku]

Does everyone agree that UK covers, in general, are far more tasteful than US. Why is that?

[Cannon Fodder]

Yes, I would agree. Why, I don't know. I guess it might just be a matter of personal taste.

[azaz]

I agree fully. UK ones tend to be better than the US.
Here's a few, Robin Hobbs - Farseer Trilogy, the UK ones are miles better than the US ones.
I don't know, IMO the US ones tend to be more cartoonish(Farseer, US) or too realistic (ASoIaF, US). Whereas the UK ones seem about right.

There have been some where I prefered the US covers but 95% of the time I prefer the UK covers.

[wolfshead]

I agree too. The US covers tend to be more gaudy and cartoonish.

[James Barclay]

It's an interesting subject and I agree with the premise that UK covers are generally more tasteful, better or whatever, than their US counterparts.

But here's another for you - why do US publishers demand new artwork when UK fantasy/SF comes across the pond?

Clearly, they feel they know their audience but, given these latest posts, are they right? And remember, it is publishers that dictate cover style and I can say with some authority that UK authors of both fantasy and SF are not sure why they change perfectly good artwork for, shall we say, less good work...

And, do people feel that US fantasy and SF coming to the UK benefits from better artwork than the original when it hits British shelves?

[hclark]

I don't think US covers are always more cartoonish, but they certaintly are more gaudy. They must think we buy books here by finding the most shiny one we can. http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

When I was in Scotland and England I bought all the Terry Pratchett books I could because the covers there were TONS better than the US versions. Has anyone seen the bright ugly florescents of the 5th elephant? Pink, yellow and blue with some white text.

[Keyoke]

Interesting, in general, I agree that the UK covers are better, but, I prefer the print (font, size, paper) on the US editions than I do on the UK..

Keyoke

[Hobbit]

That's a good point, Keyoke. I guess it shows different tastes or different standards. Although I personally feel that cover work here in the UK is 'better', (but hey, it's all relative!) the quality of hardbacks from the US in terms of the actual build of the book, the paper and the print are much better than the UK. Must be something about economies of scale...printing more in the US means cheaper production costs which means better hardback books, perhaps.

Having said that, some US paperbacks are not very good at all - quantity rather than quality? (I realise this is a little contradictory - I don't understand it either!)

Hobbit

[Rob B]

Tor generally gets the bad rep for cheesy covers (Darrell Sweet?) from what I've seen and heard.

Some of the UK covers seem more classy. On guy that does a great job is Geoff Taylor. Most of his stuff is on UK editions of John Marco and Ray Feist.

[Hobbit]

Yes, and also on many of the more recent David Eddings.
Must admit though, I wasn't too impressed with his cover for the UK version of John Marco's Jackal of Nar.